SMS Marketing vs. Mobile Marketing: Where, When and How to Use Them

SMS marketing

Here’s a rundown of SMS marketing and how you can effectively use business texting. 

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing, is a strategy where a brand sends SMS or text messages directly to consumers with promotional content, such as special deals, product updates, customer loyalty program perks, and other marketing information.

“SMS messages, like app push notifications, go directly to mobile home screens,” explained Reed Kuhn, head of business strategy at Branch. “These two pathways allow for the most immediate marketing engagement possible, and SMS can still be leveraged when users have opted out of app notifications or if they don’t have an app at all.”

Businesses use SMS to create permission-based marketing campaigns. In other words, customers opt in to receive your marketing offers via SMS. Customers can permit you to add them to your SMS campaign and database in several ways:

• Texting a designated keyword to a shortcode (usually a five-digit number) 
• Opting in via a phone call
• Opting in via an online form
• Opting in while at your brick-and-mortar location 

What is SMS marketing used for?

SMS marketing is a great way to issue reminders, delivery notices, limited-time or exclusive offers, and redeemable coupons to your customer base. SMS marketing is also an effective method for driving customer engagement through polls and survey-type messages.

“By giving brands a way to affordably maintain a regular presence in their customers’ lives, SMS marketing helps level the playing field for small businesses against their larger competitors,” noted George Raptis, CEO and co-founder of Breef. “We encourage small businesses with limited marketing budgets to consider SMS marketing seriously.”

What SMS marketing tools are available?

Many SMS marketing tools can help you launch text message marketing campaigns, including the following top platforms: 

• Twilio: Twilio offers SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing options, as well as tools for traditional email marketing campaigns. Read our Twilio Flex review to learn about the company’s overall digital engagement platform.
• Textedly: Textedly provides easy short code creation, list opt-in tools and text message scheduling. Read our Textedly review for a detailed look at the solution’s features.
• EZ Texting: EZ Texting includes keyword options and text-to-landline capabilities. Read our detailed EZ Texting review to learn more about this feature-packed text message marketing platform.
• Mobiniti: Mobiniti offers free, unlimited support and integrates with numerous email and content marketing platforms.
• Avochato: Avochato includes market segmentation tools and integrates with many internal databases and communication platforms.

Advantages of SMS marketing

SMS marketing has numerous advantages, including the following:

• SMS lets you market directly to your audience: SMS marketing helps you reach your target audience and build customer loyalty instantly. “SMS marketing is highly effective and offers almost immediate access to interested customers,” Raptis said. “Almost automatically, people open and read their text messages, giving your brand direct access to invested customers.”
• SMS provides personalization options: Additionally, many SMS marketing tools allow you to personalize messages, thereby boosting your digital marketing ROI. Personalized messages are more likely to capture recipients’ interest and improve response and conversion rates. “Text messages also feel more personal since they appear on a person’s phone,” Raptis noted. “Small businesses can leverage this by using personalized offers or starting a VIP SMS marketing list. Plus, small businesses can leverage the personal aspect of SMS marketing more effectively than larger businesses because it’s easier to believe a small business cares about its customers.”
• SMS facilitates automated responses: Text message marketing often includes built-in automated response functions. Depending on your subscribers’ actions, you can automatically send messages that trigger follow-up replies and actions from your software to further engage customers.
• SMS provides contact management: SMS marketing tools provide options for easy segmentation and contact database management.
• SMS achieves high open and click-through rates: Raptis emphasized that SMS marketing enjoys high open rates compared to more traditional marketing channels, such as email. “SMS marketing naturally enjoys a high click-through rate: 19.2 percent vs. 2.5 percent for email,” Raptis explained. “People use SMS to make purchases from flash sales, confirm appointments or sign up for events.”

SMS marketing tips

Consider the following tips for maximizing your SMS marketing efforts: 

• SMS messaging should be clear: Be clear in communicating what your SMS marketing campaign is about, including what types of messages your customers will receive, how often they will receive them, and how recipients will benefit when they opt in.
• Make opting out of SMS messages easy: Provide subscribers with the opportunity to opt out of your notifications at any time by including clear instructions in your text campaigns.
• Keep your SMS messages professional: Don’t text during irregular hours or use shorthand texts — aim for a professional tone.
• Remind users about potential SMS data charges: Add a disclaimer in your initial message about possibly incurring data and message charges if customers don’t have unlimited data plans.
• Be selective with your SMS messaging: Kuhn emphasized the importance of relevance and personalization in SMS campaigns. “One-size-fits-all campaigns might work for television commercials, but they are wasted when sent to an individual phone,” Kuhn cautioned. 
• Link SMS messages to the right destination: If your brand has a mobile app, Kuhn advised deep linking SMS users directly to in-app content. “Fallback destinations can be the mobile web, but it’s now a given that conversion rates in apps are the highest of all platforms,” Kuhn explained.

Mobile marketing

Mobile marketing offers many tools for reaching consumers. Kuhn noted that the amount of time people spend on their phones creates several advantages for marketers.

“Consumer time spent on mobile devices is at an all-time high and is growing higher every day,” Kuhn said. “The vast majority of how we spend money is now digital, and within that, most is mobile spending. That means that mobile marketing taps into the largest pool of consumer dollars and is an area that can’t be ignored.”

Here’s a closer look at mobile marketing and its business advantages.

What is mobile marketing? 

Mobile marketing is the practice of marketing your business on mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and smartwatches. It is a multichannel digital marketing strategy that uses content marketing tools such as websites, social media, mobile apps and SMS/multimedia messaging services to send targeted ads to audiences.

“Mobile marketing, which includes SMS, emails, marketing on apps or mobile-friendly websites, offers quick, personalized access to your customers almost daily,” Raptis explained. “Reaching your customers through an app, email, text, etc., creates priceless opportunities for engagement or even more sophisticated techniques like location-based marketing.”

Mobile marketing is a versatile digital strategy with several ad-format options. Some of the most popular mobile marketing strategies include the following:

• Video ads: Thanks to digital technologies, your customers and prospects can watch videos on their mobile devices. With mobile video marketing, you can create video ads tailored to your target audience. Using video in your content marketing strategy is effective because many consumers find video ads entertaining and engaging.
• Mobile apps: Mobile app-based marketing, also known as in-app advertising, is a popular marketing strategy. For example, Facebook ads that appear in the app can enhance your overall Facebook marketing strategy.
• In-game mobile marketing: Mobile games can host your mobile ads. Ad formats include banner ads, pop-ups, full-page image ads and video ads that load between games.
• Location-based marketing: Location-based marketing lets you send ads to users’ mobile devices when they’re within a specific distance from your business or store. Fast-food restaurants and specialty retailers often use this strategy to promote brand awareness.
• Mobile search ads: Customers see mobile search ads after conducting Google searches on a specific topic. These ads often feature extensions such as click-to-call or maps to help users easily locate your business.

What is mobile marketing used for?

Mobile marketing uses smartphones and other handheld devices to provide potential or existing customers with personalized and time- and location-based information about your business.

“Marketing to a mobile device can be highly targeted and personalized, and it’s delivered essentially in real-time and with immediate visibility to the end user,” Kuhn explained.

While some mobile marketing channels — like SMS and email — require customer opt-in, others, such as display ads or in-app ads, do not. Mobile marketing is often used to boost brand awareness and generate leads, ultimately increasing sales, rather than solely engaging existing customers.

What mobile marketing tools are available?

Some top mobile marketing tools include the following:

• Google Analytics: Google Analytics provides relevant metrics for mobile marketing campaigns, including traffic reports, keyword referrals, event tracking and attribution. Visit Google’s marketing platform to learn more about how Google Analytics can support your mobile efforts.
• AppsFlyer: AppsFlyer monitors app engagement, tracks installation locations and helps improve mobile marketing campaigns. Visit the AppsFlyer website to learn more.
• Sensor Tower: Sensor Tower (which acquired mobile analytics company data.ai in 2024) ranks apps and keywords, estimates app usage and ad performance, and offers SDK insights. Visit the Sensor Tower website to learn more.
• OneSignal: In addition to SMS messaging, OneSignal provides tools for sales funnel analysis, user segmentation and event tracking. Visit the OneSignal website to learn more.
• Braze: Braze offers live customer views, customer journey building and real-time mobile marketing optimization. Visit the Braze website to learn more.

Advantages of mobile marketing

Like SMS marketing, mobile marketing has several advantages. Raptis emphasized that the most important may be personally connecting with customers as part of their community.

“Consider it: a consumer is emailed a promotion from a big corporate coffee shop and their favorite local cafe,” Raptis said. “Which one will make the customer feel more connected and inclined to buy? Likely the local coffee shop.”

Other advantages include the following: 

• Some mobile marketing channels don’t require recipient opt-in: Channels like in-app advertising or mobile web display ads let you reach a broader audience without needing prior consent. (However, other mobile channels — like SMS and email — do require customers to opt in.)
• Mobile marketing can deliver qualified audiences: Some mobile marketing methods deliver highly qualified audiences, making them effective for generating business. For example, if you’ve developed a mobile app for your business and someone downloads it, they’re clearly interested in your brand and more likely to buy. If you use in-app advertising with an app whose target audience aligns with yours, your chances of converting are higher.
• Mobile marketing enables location-based marketing: With location-based marketing, the individual is near your business, making it easier for them to stop in with the proper motivation. Since many people conduct product searches on their phones in-store, mobile ads can surface new products or promotions that drive sales. 

Mobile marketing tips

Consider the following tips for maximizing your mobile marketing efforts: 

• Optimize ads for mobile: Optimizing for a mobile experience means formatting your ad’s message and design specifically for mobile platforms. “Your website and every digital asset, such as emails, must be optimized for mobile devices,” Raptis emphasized. “There is zero point in reaching out to your customers through your website, app, texts or emails if they cannot read them on their phone.”
• Ensure your website is responsive to mobile SEO: A mobile-friendly website is crucial. Additionally, your homepage must be optimized for mobile SEO so users can easily find you when conducting a mobile search.
• Know your audience when conducting mobile marketing campaigns: Make sure your mobile marketing efforts are targeted to the right platforms. For example, in-game ads are more effective for reaching gamers than sponsored posts on social networks like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or Facebook.
• Segment your customers: Raptis emphasized the importance of audience segmentation. “Review your data to build and refine your mobile marketing strategy,” Raptis advised. “Finally, use automation as much as possible to connect your customers’ journeys through your mobile offerings; e.g., send a personalized welcome email after someone signs up for SMS.”
• Focus on current customers: Kuhn advised small businesses to leverage their existing customer base for tailored messaging. “You always want to do more with the customers you have (seeing that it costs 5x more time to acquire a new customer than to retain one), while simultaneously recruiting net new customers to try out your brand,” Kuhn said.
• Choose the right channels: Raptis recommends thinking strategically about the mobile channels you use. “SMS is ideal for urgent, short messages, such as confirming appointments or sharing a sale,” Raptis said. “Emails offer depth and personalization; tell stories in email or share more details about a product or service, replete with branded photos.”

Should you use SMS marketing or mobile marketing?

When considering SMS or mobile marketing, keep your goal in mind: 

• SMS marketing: SMS marketing is best for building relationships with current customers and committed prospects. Personalizing SMS messages is crucial, as it helps you sell specific items based on a person’s purchase history. For example, someone who has bought a crib is probably a good prospect for receiving a promotion on high chairs. However, while texting can be an effective means of personal interaction, it should be used in moderation. If a recipient feels like you’re spamming them with promotional material, they’ll opt out quickly.
• Mobile marketing: Mobile marketing is best for expanding your customer base and moving prospects through the sales funnel. While many mobile tactics don’t require permission, some — like push notifications or app tracking — do require consent, especially under data privacy regulations. Use mobile search, social media, in-app and in-game ads to build brand awareness and generate leads. Then, use your mobile app and location-based marketing to drive sales, loyalty and engagement.  

All businesses should consider incorporating both top-of-funnel activities into their overall marketing plan to boost sales, provide customer care and increase loyalty.

Amanda Hoffman contributed to this article.