Why you should use mobile marketing
To be successful in business, you must utilize every type of marketing strategy available. One very popular and effective marketing strategy is mobile marketing. Mobile marketing gained massive popularity with the introduction of the iPhone, Blackberry, and multiple Android devices. The technology in smartphones (SMS, or short message service) allows people to send sophisticated text messages with video and full-color graphics.
Many business owners are taking advantage of mobile marketing by allowing customers and website visitors to opt in for text alerts for coupons, special discounts and new promotions.
If you are not yet using mobile marketing in your overall marketing campaign, you are potentially losing a lot of revenue for your business. Out of all text messages sent on a daily basis, greater than 95% are opened, and over 80% are opened within just a few short minutes.
So, let’s break this down and discuss three reasons why you should use mobile marketing.
1. Texts are personal.
Granted, we still use email as one of the primary forms of communication, but how it’s used is evolving as we’re now fully embracing social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. As of late, many people are primarily using their email address to create accounts for various sites and using social media to communicate. However, it is true that many businesses still use email as a primary means for communication.
Texts, however, are still personal. One text message initiates a one-on-one conversation with another person, which creates the personal effect. Business owners can use mobile marketing to establish that personal connection with customers. For an even greater effect, the texts should be casual.
So, let me briefly share with you how I came to realize the importance of mobile marketing in my business.
Now, some of you may feel strongly one way or another about texting in the business environment. It’s mostly for teenagers, right? Well, I was reading a few articles about the average monthly texts for teenagers clocking in at around 3000-3500. I stumbled onto these articles around the time I picked up my first Android device (stepped over from a Blackberry), and started to increase my “business” texts between colleagues and clients. So, as I reviewed my first bill at the time this activity was increasing, I was nothing short of shocked by the number of texts, 3219. What!? I’m texting as much as a teenager?
Here’s the thing. As my business grew, so did the emails. My inbox was filling up at a rapid pace. I realized that many of these emails could have been answered by way of a quick phone call, or even more quickly, a text. I was making important decisions and essentially running my business via texts. Here’s the light bulb moment. I also realized the level of engagement with my customers had also increased, which this leads me to my next two points. How can I convert this into business growth?
2. Texts have a high visibility rate.
General statistics reveal that less than 10 percent of all emails from an email campaign are ever opened. The majority of all business related emails are moved into the trash folder or sent to the spam vortex – even if the user opted in for those emails. I know that this was becoming common practice for me personally. As my inbox was filling up, I felt that I had to just move the “fluff” out of the way to get to the messages that really needed my attention. So, those emails that weren’t relevant to my day to day business activities, just got buried, or ended up in that vortex.
Text messages have a near perfect open rate, and most speculate that convenience is the major factor why people usually open their text messages. They do not have to log on to their cell phone, entering usernames and passwords to view texts that do not interest them. Each text is received instantly and the cellphone owner only has to push one or two buttons to view the message.
3. Texts are straight to the point.
To effectively keep your reader’s attention, you need to get straight to the point of your message, using as few words as possible. Text messages are great for this purpose. In a simple text with less than 30 words, you can tell your customers about current sales, discounts and coupons available to them. This can work for both products and services, and in most industries.
Initially I thought that it was going to be more challenging to get people to opt in for text alerts, but I had greater conversion rates with the customers who do sign up for these text alerts. Email marketing receives a response of about 6%, compared to SMS campaigns that have seen as much as a 45% response rate. With that type of conversion rate, it’s time to start using mobile marketing in your campaign.
Do you find yourself opting in for more SMS marketing? Let me know your thoughts.
Also, I’m looking to feel better about my texting habits. How many do you send and receive a month?