In today's business world, there are unarguably two popular digital marketing strategies in full use: Email and SMS. Well, some companies prefer email because of its dynamism (all-around communication channel). Still, SMS is well known for reaching customers who are primarily on mobile.
According to a 2020 report by Statista, email marketing worldwide is valued at $7.2 billion, while Grand View Research estimates SMS marketing to reach $12.6 billion by 2025. Having these reports suggests that both email and SMS have huge worth, and deciding to use them in your business means you're in for a faster rate of progress. It's worth noting that email is one of many channels that can help enterprises to get customers, but with a powerful combination with SMS, the results will be mind-blowing.
Why Email and SMS Are Essential for Companies
There's been a constant evolution with marketing strategies, and since the world is experiencing full-blown digitization, businesses have to come up with means to keep surviving. In every industry, several companies are present, and it's impossible not to have them come up with innovations to edge over each other since they are rivals. Understandably, email and SMS are the two famous digital strategies, and many companies will always look for creative ideas to fine-tune them to their advantage.
In light of that, let's take a look at some importance of having email and SMS operating in tandem in your business:
- Both Email and SMS are cost efficient
- While emails can officially respond to customers, SMS provides quick responses
- Email can help foster your relationship with potential customers, but SMS will validate their commitment
- Through the use of email and SMS as multi-messaging platforms, customers can reach your business and be sure to get feedback
- You can deliver personalized campaigns
How Does Email and SMS Marketing Differ?
Email and SMS are indeed communication channels with several similarities; however, they also have some notable differences. In fact, most businesses that use either of the two platforms do so based on the needs and missions they set for accomplishment. For instance, when introducing a new item to your customers, you'll want to write sufficient content that can convince them to convert, and this is where email excels.
Some differences between email and SMS marketing include the following:
- While SMS has a total character number of 160, emails have no such restrictions
- Most of the time, people use emails for sending deep information about products and services like tips and newsletters, while SMS is used for timely news like reminders and flash sales
- Emails include all types of media content (be it videos, documents and so on), while you can change SMS to MMS to send only pictures or GIFs
- Emails require internet access, while SMS can reach customers without connecting
Avoiding Regular Mistakes
The ways companies use both emails and SMS are constantly changing, so you have to be alert to avoid being behind.
You can use Email and SMS for your business in the following ways.
- Gathering feedback from customers
- Engaging clients with creative content like storytelling
- Re-engaging passive customers and those who stopped patronizing your business halfway
- Developing leads
SMS
- Confirmations
- Sending reminders
- Notifying customers of delivery
- Verifications (i.e., for security alerts)
There are some typical mistakes that you must avoid when using email and SMS. These mistakes include the following.
- Sending emails too frequently
- Not providing correct links
- Failing to assess mail performance
- Going against regulations regarding email sending in different countries
SMS
- Sending the same content via both SMS and email
- Failing to seek customer permission before sending a message
- Dispatching content at the wrong time
- Sending a long message without a clear call-to-action
Trending Tips for Effectively Combining Email and SMS in Your Business
According to a survey by Quora of 500 customers, 99% of them averagely open their SMS, while 22.54% open their emails. Well, that tells you about some email deficiencies that SMS can help make up for. This information can also help when it comes to overall goal-setting for your marketing efforts and beyond.
That aside, let's consider some trending ways how to use both email and SMS for your business.
1. Customer Targeting Campaigns
Since you're using email and SMS for your business, you can maximize their tips for getting more customers. For example, some email personalization tips can help improve your reach and attract more clients.
These tips include:
- Using unique content
- Separating audience according to their needs
- Using zero-party data
With the help of such tips, you can be sure of an improved market strategy
2. Grow Your Subscribers’ Lists
Businesses can continue running their operations because they can offer their products to customers through subscriber lists. You can use email and SMS to grow your subscriber lists by informing them about the change in communication channels in case your mailing or text messaging list is overloaded.
Benefits of using email and SMS to grow your lists of subscribers include:
- Maintaining contact list hygiene
- Retaining customers
- Ability to remove passive customers from the list, thereby preventing spam messages
3. Tracking Frequency of Sending Texts
When sending emails or texts, a business owner's first thought is to get more clients. Sending your message at the wrong time can lead to some unwanted problems. In fact, there are SMS marketing tips that can help you to send emails and text messages.
They include:
- Mindfulness of time zones
- Cautious of sending too many messages
- Timely response to customer feedback
4. Constantly Remind Customers About Events and Announcements
Most of the time, the purpose behind sending messages to customers is so they can take action. Using both email and SMS can help you to achieve such an aim. While using email to make announcements about your upcoming events, you can send them text messages to ensure they sign up or carry out whatever instructions are outlined.
Using email and SMS to remind customers brings benefits like:
- Building up customer excitement
- Encouraging customers to take action promptly
- More patronage for your business
Conclusion
According to a report by Quora, the click-through rates for email are 2.95% and 36% for SMS marketing. Combining email and SMS is an excellent way of getting a high click-to-open rate ratio. You can use email and SMS for your business by following trends such as targeting customers, growing your subscriber list, and updating clients about events.
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