By Abbi Minessale, Content Strategist

Consumers spend an average of 2.1 hours a day on their computers and 3.3 hours on their cellphones. Over 5 billion people use mobile phones. The average smartphone user checks their phone once every 10 minutes. With such rapid development in technology, smart phones have quickly become a powerful tool for consumers and businesses alike. SMS marketing, or text marketing, is an excellent communications solution for businesses looking to reach their customers more effectively.

In a world of Facebook campaigns, blast emails, and Instagram stories, it can be difficult to get the attention of your customers and create a real connection with them. Text marketing is a great way to add that personal touch that other methods lack. If your business is looking for an innovative way to interact with its customers, consider a few of these reasons to try using SMS.

It’s not spammy

Everyone hates getting spammed. Even spammers hate getting spammed. One great thing about integrating SMS into your marketing strategy is that everyone you’re texting has opted in, which means that they want to hear what your business has to say. This opting-in also guarantees that your messaging is being highly targeted to a receptive audience.

Try listing your companies’ number on your website or giving it out at promotional events such as a conference or networking event. People will be keen to text your number if you offer a strong incentive such as monthly deals or exclusive updates.

Of course, with any marketing strategy, it’s important to respect your customer’s time. Even though people have opted in, it’s best not to send more than about 4 texts a month and to keep your messaging to a concise point.

If you are not currently using a communications platform that supports SMS or are looking for more cost effective and flexible options, try using SignalWire’s services. We have been building communications tools for 15 years and are constantly rolling out new features that our customers need to succeed.

It works the best

While there are many effective ways to share what your business has to offer, SMS marketing boasts an unbelievably high open rate of 98% with 45% of people responding to these messages. In comparison, successful email campaigns only reach open rates of 20-40% and cold calls average at 2%.

While traditional marketing strategies can still be effective, SMS is revolutionizing the way you can communicate with your customers. Our lives are busy, and customers appreciate that text messages are short and to the point. Having an entire phone conversation or participating in an email thread requires formality and time investment, but an SMS is easy to read and easy to respond to. In a world taken over by robo-calls, text messages with a brief and useful purpose are incredibly refreshing and your audience will be much more receptive to the information you are sharing.

A more personal interaction

As cell phones cement themselves in 21st century culture, text messaging has evolved from a novelty into a personal experience. When you have someone’s phone number, they are more likely to interact with you on a personal level because you’re speaking to them on the same platform in which they communicate with family and friends.

As we mentioned above, SMS allows for customers to easily reply to your messaging. Not only does this make them more likely to respond to your campaigns but it also offers a great opportunity to conduct polls and gather feedback. When customers are able to give direct feedback in an effective way, it makes them feel like their input is valued and that they have a personal stake in your company.

Easy to deploy

Setting up an application that allows you to send mass text messaging back and forth between your business and your customers seems like a daunting task, but it can be simple thanks to SignalWire. We’re the OGs of the telecommunications industry and we have made it our mission to empower developers and businesses of all sizes with the tools they need to build custom communications applications for any use case.

You can learn more about getting set up on our A2P solutions here

SMS marketing is also much quicker to execute compared to other advertising methods because it doesn’t require hours of work going into email templates or writing out poetic content. Texts are short and simple to write and they don’t require any of the painstaking work that goes into building aesthetic graphics. You could send out a text marketing campaign in a matter of minutes if you wanted to.

It’s disruptive

While it has been proven that using SMS for marketing is effective, many businesses are still behind the trend; 61% of marketers don’t utilize texting despite 52% of business leaders saying that it’s a disruptive technique. As Software Defined Telecom continues to grow, more and more industries are being affected in revolutionary ways and text marketing is just one of the products of this change. Right now is the perfect time to consider deploying SMS marketing software as this method of communication is just starting to grow. Jumping on this trend while it’s still fresh will make your business stand out and will show your customers that your business is more than able to keep up with the demands of modern communication.

It’s affordable for all business sizes

Many businesses don’t even consider SMS marketing because they are intimidated by the cost. At SignalWire, we feel that communication is a necessity and we don’t believe in overcharging for the simple technologies that we’ve been using for decades. Our goal is to decentralize communications and pricing is just the first step.

Our Pricing:

To compare our rates with other providers, visit our pricing page.