Despite the rise of social media apps as a primary form of communication, the SMS market continues to grow, year after year. A large portion of the growth in the text messaging sector is thanks to businesses.
Making sure customers get timely notifications that don’t get lost in the shuffle is a key reason businesses big and small continue to rely on SMS messaging. Because it works regardless of the mobile platform the SMS recipient is on, it allows businesses to reach a wider audience through online SMS services.
Even though the message is sent virtually, it is typically delivered via a standard cell signal, instead of using a data connection. This means the marketing potential of SMS remains strong and is projected to continue to grow.
How Big Is the Market?
Being that nearly every adult human on the planet has a smartphone or cell phone, the market is theoretically only limited in scope by the global population. Practically speaking, however, sending messages to that many people simply isn’t feasible.
The reason that businesses are the key driver of the SMS market expansion lies in its simplicity. Customers don’t need another app clogging up their screens, and they don’t have to worry about forgetting to open unexpected emails.
The biggest advantage of SMS is that messages reach customers instantly with little to no additional tech or software. This makes it a boon for businesses across a range of sectors and uses, such as:
- Healthcare: Sending appointment reminders and follow-up instructions automatically
- Education: Alerting students and parents of scheduling changes, closures, and critical updates
- Delivery services: Updating customers with package arrival and tracking status
- Financial companies: Notifying customers of payment due dates, confirmations, deposits, and withdrawals
With highly successful delivery rates, business communication through online SMS will only continue to grow.
Why Is SMS Still Successful?
Cutting through the notification clutter is a key hurdle for any digital marketing campaign. SMS bypasses this by arriving in an entirely separate inbox that users are far more likely to open. SMS messaging also typically relies on an ‘opt-in’ model rather than mass spam emailing campaigns. Many customers of businesses agree to receive the messages and therefore expect them.
The engagement rates for SMS are also impressively high when compared to alternative forms of marketing, like emails and social media. An email or social media campaign is considered successful if a click-through rate reaches 5%. SMS boasts click-through rates of up to 20%, once again thanks to their opt-in nature.
Furthermore, SMS marketing often offers insights that are simply unavailable via social media campaigns. While a social media campaign may note how many eyes saw an ad and provide the number of clicks, it won’t show who clicked. SMS marketing offers the ability to see exactly which phone number a click came from. Because these numbers are often stored alongside additional user data, it allows for laser-focused targeting.
This allows businesses of all sizes to concentrate their SMS marketing on a particular niche, potential customer, or current customer. Focused messaging helps reduce the costs associated with mass marketing, and it enhances the return on investment by sending messages to those with the highest engagement.
Planning Ahead
At the end of the day, SMS marketing allows businesses to reach their customers via targeted and timely campaigns. By relying on traditional cellular infrastructure rather than complex apps that require constant updates, SMS messaging will remain a major player in digital marketing for the foreseeable future!