Is texting the new email marketing?
More and more companies are letting customers opt in to receive text alerts announcing sales, promotions, events, etc. This seems like it would be more effective because everyone opens their text messages, while it's easy to delete emails before you even open them. Could it potentially replace email marketing? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Collette: As reminders or as alerts, I think text messages are great. They cut through the clutter and get the users attention when needed. As a lead nurture tool to help move a prospective client from awareness to purchase, I do not think they are valuable. I think email provides a better means of moving a prospective client down the funnel. I know if I started receiving text messages with the frequency that I do emails, I would start opting out like crazy because it would be too disruptive. With email, I schedule time during the day to review my messages and take appropriate action, this keeps me in control.
Hi Colette,
This is a great question! I think a world where text replaces email marketing is a ways away. At the moment, texts are great for reminding customers and users of appointments and to use reward points, etc. Email marketing still allows for very visual and action oriented buttons and messaging.
I'm not sure what kind of tracking is available for text messages sent either. The analytics behind an email send are so powerful and insightful.
Hope that helps and if you move towards text marketing, I would love to learn more!
Charlotte Chipperfield
CEO Chipperfield Media LLC.
It's not replacing anything. It's text AND other forms of marketing not text OR....
I feel that in general there will likely still be a place for e-mail marketing besides texting. For example because e-mail allows you to send more visual feedback along with your message. On the other hand when your company gets more response to texts rather than e-mail I see no objection to completely focus on text.
On the other hand you could check if there is a specific reason why your e-mail marketing campaign doesn't get the desired results (any more), perhaps you are doing something wrong.
Each business is different. For medical appointment reminders text reminders are brilliant. It comes down to the value in what you're texting and are they happy to remain opted in for continued similar value? If they are happy then it will be more direct and succinct than email as you have less competition and noise to compete with.
I agree with both Steven & Daniel The use of "txt" marketing has been growing and whilst my first experience was also a "txt" reminder from my doctor's surgery, parcel delivery, pharmacists and most hospitals now use text as their primary CRM and marketing channel for most of the reasons given but mainly because of the way people view txt messages (requiring an instant call to action) as opposed to email (delayed call to action). I was recently approached by a theatre company enquiring about this service and whether my business can help integrate such services into their existing CRM system.
Hope this helps and feel free to connect if i can be of further help
Hi Colette,
I would take a different view on this.
Following on with my comments, to @Steven's Freeman's, I somehow disagree with some of the comments that "text messaging" is years away from replacing email.
While I agree email gives us much control over when we respond to a CTA, text messaging engages the user in a different way.
1. It increases the urgency to respond - How often do you stop to quickly respond to a text message as opposed to an email (no matter how urgent).
2. Initiates an immediate response where a CTA is visible and uses a mix of media content.
3. Delivers information on-demand directly onto the scree without any iteration (i.e.; no sign in required)
If you happen to follow the new businesses and disruptive models especially outside of America and Europe, you will be amazed at how "SMS" Messaging are transforming how businesses work and more importantly, how it is enabling businesses to reach and engage a wider audiences (especially with a non-educated demographic) who don't have access to instant email messaging.
Like many other platforms, yes emails aren't going away but SMS is on the rise and fast becoming the No1 platform for user acquisition and conversion.
Hope this helps and feel free to connect if I can be of further help.
Best of luck
Hi Colette,
I personally feel that it would be great to do this in parallel, as both has advantages and disadvantages. More importantly, it also depends on the product you are selling.
Texting is, in my opinion, a unique way of marketing. Since people today use a lot of smartphone you can easily connect new person to your pages with this method. And it has more conversion rate than email.(but still lower than telemarketing)
I wouldn’t say that texting is a sort of modern email marketing. These 2 methods are still both widely used but in different ways.
Emails have some informative value when you can read some detailed and important information while SMS texts act like notifications or a quick update on a certain case.
There are really many different ways you may use text messaging in business from SMS marketing campaigns to your further customer support.
Modern software like TextMagic, TextLocal, SendSMS, etc are very flexible and have numerous features which allow you to implement these tools for daily business needs.
If you want to achieve higher results it is better to combine both marketing methods. As we don’t often check our emails but will definitely take a look at the received message.
There will always be a role for email, however when businesses need to push immediate opportunities text is far better. There is no "one" best way to market thesedays . . . TV is cluttered, email is spammed, but text is personal and direct with a sense of urgency about it all.
I think that, whiy out a sistem of lead generation , the email marketing doesn't work.
The email marketiing work only if is it support from a sistem information marketing.
No offer mail , but attraction mail!!!
Yes, That could be the way to go. However, in texting you can put much emphasis on details. Just a reminder or welcome phrase. Even a quick offer to go for can be well managed through texting.
Today texting is everywhere and everything to consumers, according to the CTIA 2.27 trillion text messages are sent every year, in the US alone which 6.3 billion per day or about 20 text messages per person. But despite huge numbers, when it comes to brands reaching their consumers still it needs to get effective. Even though text messages which include coupons, special offers, and participation in loyalty programs is redeemed 8 more times frequently when compared to email marketing.
SMS is a cost-effective solution and serves to be the significant choice of advertisement and marketing to promote business, in order to run an effective SMS campaign need to consider some important aspects.
1. Simple and precise: The text you are sending to the consumers need to be simple and in an understandable form. The open rate of text promotions/offers is a whopping 98% compared to a 22% open rate of emails.
2. Segmentation and targeting: Consumers opt into mobile programs and make a careful decision on which text campaigns they choose. This differs from an email where consumers subscribe more generally for brands they may only be temporarily interested in.
3. Build your brand conversation: While email communication is a one-way street, people can actually reply to an SMS promotion and engage with the brand through two way SMS dialog.
4. Sell more and drive awareness: Unlike email, which tends to drive online sales, text promotions drive engagement to bring consumers in store. Once in-store, the consumer is more likely to buy other attractive products and a consumer’s basket size is on average three times larger. SMS gets your consumer in the store and opens their eyes to additional offerings they might not otherwise Interested in.
5. Measure your ad value: With so many customer acquisition points with SMS programming, brands can easily track where users are texting in to join (via in-store advertising, print advertising) and measure the relative effectiveness of that advertisement. This allows marketers to measures advertising in a way like before and is a valuable tool for marketers.
SMS practices are not just an efficient way to reach today’s consumer but also the most relevant way to engage with them, build brand trust, and even track the effectiveness of advertising. If you are not engaging with customers via SMS based campaigns, now it’s time to go mobile.
Want to know more about in texting in great detail, visit: https://goo.gl/tgtJjb
When I receive a text from a company I feel that my privacy has been invaded and I immediately reply STOP to stop further texts from coming in. As for emails I often click and read advertisements from companies that email me. I don't know why but I feet texts are more personal than emails.
no. no no no. I rarely give out text messages, and add messages to spam quite quickly. more people have unlimited messaging options now. but no - i think its too personal - thats like a phone call and I can't see that ever replacing email. just like websites wont ever replace magazines - we love our in-hand magazines and flyers and coupons!
I don't know if Text/SMS will ever replace email. It's not something I think about nor is it a selling point. Text is definitely growing, but business owner's are only now coming around to it's value. A couple of misconceptions that continue to slow down my firm are, however, directly related to email marketing. For one, people think that text marketing is just like email. Spamming, endless, daily, multiple emails. Does this really work for anyone? Reputable firms, like ours, do not send unsolicited messages. It's illegal and definitely foolish. We also never, ever sell,share, or otherwise distribute users data. A second misconception is that Text is really only for kids or millennials or only effective for a limited number of products, services, or businesses. There are plenty of studies that show how a Text/SMS program that follows good push guidelines is a very powerful tool for just about every business, product, or service under the sun. The secret is that it's really not about texting, per se, it's that 7 in 10 adults own a smartphone, keep it at arms length 24/7, and check it, on average 150 times a day. And, finally, there is a giant disconnect between business owners and consumers, especially in brick and mortar retailers located in mature locations. While 89% of consumers say they are more likely to engage a brand that offers a mobile option, over half of business owners don't think it's worth looking into. However, the big brands, like Target, are going all in with mobile. They were one of the few retailers that had good sales during Christmas. There's also a narrow vision on how texting can be utilized. We are very imaginative and look for custom options to fit a particular business. We offer free consults. Text to 72727 with freeconsult as the message.
Absolutely not. Text messages are good for a meeting reminder or something like that but as a business email.
For personal communications it seems to be the new norm however.
I couldn't disagree more. In another business I have, we deal exclusively with high networth clients and they very often prefer to communicate by text. furthermore, we update them on projects via text alerts that link them to a mobile site. Luxury brands such as Hermes have actually began seeing more sales growth through mobile than in-store sales. I also find that in this marketing company it's been far more effective to initialize a conversation that converts to business with a text as opposed to a phone call or email. I've been in sales and marketing for almost 20 years. I started off cold calling and raised millions for oil and gas. Doesn't work anymore. But, I regularly get responses to text messages. Your response, though, is classic.
There is a very clear possibility here. As the population of Digital Natives continually rises, the convenience of texting vs. the formality of emailing, increases proportionally. To communicate your message successfully, you've got to effectively reach and engage your target market via their primary language and style.
I dislike having someones advertising thrust down my throat (or in this case ear/sight).
To that end as a form of marketing I do not take any notice. As an observation, I would note that many of the e-mail/text marketing usually have no relevance to the business I am withing nor matter that are of interest to me. Notably is insurance offers relating to a would be family I do not have. This includes the number of businesses who state that I have a claim for insurance mis-selling where I know very well that I have never taken that would be insurance.
I am fortunate in so far that I have a legal background and training. What is worrying is that when the persons who have called me are challenged, they have no knowledge of what I am referring to. They are unable to support their claim that I was supposedly entitled to receive compensation, and what grounds that I had to a claim. Most had no knowledge of English Law. Notably that the people who have telephoned me to say that I had a claim, were clearly below 25 and probably just left college with no knowledge of the matters they were discussing.
When I want your services, I will look you up on the internet, or through good old resources such as the paper directories, including newspaper advertising. More frauds have been commited over the internet than any advertising resource. I take great care in even opening these "advertising shots"; since one cannot be sure that the person originating the message is genuine.
Regrettably there are still people who are very gullible.
Lets first clarify a couple things that it seems people are confused about.:
TEXT MESSAGES: Appointment Reminders Ie David had a 2:00 Dental appointment at Natural Life Dental Press 1 to Confirm 2 to Cancel and 3 to STOP further text messages
TEXT MARKETING: Customer or consumer engagement in a transaction good for sales, specials, dales: ie: Maggies: All the Hot Wings you can eat - FREE to the first 100 people! Stop? txt StOP
By law all SMS messaging people need to double opt in to receive text marketing. Meaning they want to engage with your brand, think about it . the average person checks their text message within 90 seconds of receiving it as compared to 3 days for emails. Emails have no opt in requirement. Spam is rampant. Mobile has just now taken over search. So it makes sense that in this Local On Demand Economy that people that consumers are in more control than ever as to what messages they can delete than ever. if you make them feel like VIP's and they want to engage with you they will want to receive your TEXT MARKETING.
I am happy to help anyone who needs help with Text Marketing its actually very simply if you do it right it can be very effective, extraordinarily cost efficient your clients will love it! they love because you're giving them something they want, what your're giving them and that great deals to loyal clients!
You clearly haven't used them to actually evaluate them.