When we think of affiliate marketing, we often envision our favourite YouTuber or blogger showcasing products with affiliate links or offering their subscribers a discount by using a code at checkout. While this approach is highly effective, the wide net that is cast can lead to lower sales per viewer.
SMS marketing, alternatively, is an effective way to generate additional revenue by targeting those customers who want to be notified. It is also convenient, due to its wide accessibility on multiple devices, and offers a high return on investment thanks to high click-through rates.
Why Use SMS When Online Affiliate Marketing Is Already Successful?
SMS marketing should not be considered as an either/or situation when compared with online marketing. Both have their place, and both can be cost-effective means of advertising. A key advantage of SMS marketing, however, is that the target audience is likely current customers or potential customers who have opted in to receive messages.
Affiliate marketers who use blogs to promote and sell products via affiliate links must rely on each individual blog post to sell the product. SMS messaging provides an instantaneous offer delivered in a personalised manner directly to the target customer.
Marketers can also offer exclusive discounts for those who sign up to receive the messages. This leads to a feeling of exclusivity that promotes brand loyalty.
Tricks of the Trade
SMS messaging can be a double-edged sword in affiliate marketing. Sending messages too often can lead customers to opt out. Sending too few messages can lead to confusion, as a potential customer may have forgotten about signing up and dismiss incoming messages as spam. Finding a balance in frequency is critical, as is ensuring messages are succinct and understandable.
Targeted SMS marketing campaigns designed around seasonal promotions are another way to drive engagement. These offers arrive at the perfect time to incentivise a customer to purchase something for an upcoming holiday.
Seasonal promotions aren’t the only way to boost clicks. Personalisation is a huge factor in a customer’s decision to click. Sending messages, such as a congratulatory note for being a one-year member or a birthday greeting with a large discount, can help magnify the impact of a message. When addressed personally, rather than “dear audience,” individuals feel that the business cares about them as a person.
Cost Considerations
One of the primary advantages of web-based text messaging is its ability to outperform other types of web-based advertising. This is because emails go unread, YouTube videos promoting affiliate products and services remain unwatched, and blogs are passed over due to SEO difficulties. SMS messages have an astonishingly high engagement rate of more than 90% and a click-through rate several times that of other methods.
The reason for this is the ubiquity of smartphones. People instinctively look at their phones the second they hear a notification so that they don’t miss an important message.
This approach ensures messages are read almost instantly. While the cost per person reached may be higher than an email campaign, it can be orders of magnitude more effective.
An Important Tool in the Toolbox
Affiliate marketing is a numbers game, and SMS messaging offers the opportunity for dramatically increased sales. These increased sales more than offset the cost of the SMS messages, and when targeted correctly, they can actually decrease a business’s marketing budget. Money saved combined with money earned means additional profit, This additional profit that can be used to further expand brand awareness and customer loyalty.