Why bulk SMS marketing should be your top priority this year

Bulk SMS marketing tips

It’s a new year and it makes sense that you’re looking for something new, fresh, and exciting to enliven your marketing strategy. Well, look no further. The answer you’re searching for is simple. It’s bulk SMS marketing. This form of marketing has been around for many years but remains the single most effective way to reach customers and encourage conversion.

Research has found that 70% of people feel that bulk SMS is an ideal way for organizations to grab their attention. Another study found that these messages are opened a massive 98% of the time compared to email’s 22% open rate.

And, new research by eMarketer found that mobile ad spending is continuing to increase at the expense of desktop, taking more and more share of marketers' digital advertising dollars. The research forecasts that by 2019, mobile ad spending would increase to $65.87 billion – a massive 72.2% of total digital ad spend.

Also, application to person (A2P) messaging, used by businesses to send out bulk SMS messages to customers, is expected to grow to a massive $78.6 billion in 2022.

Related: The role of SMS marketing in your B2B strategy

These statistics show that bulk SMS is here to stay and that it’s not just a new trend. And that’s why it’s essential that you understand how it forms part of your online marketing strategies. So, here are several ways for you to think about bulk SMS messaging this year.

Separate your clients

Legally, you must have your customer’s consent before you send messages to them. And that means they want to receive messages from your business. It’s up to you to ensure they receive the most relevant message possible. Use whatever data you have, including purchase history, to ensure you’re sending the right messages to the right people. Having separate lists for your customers ensures you’re sending the right message to the right customer, depending on where they are in their buying cycle.

Send at the right time

Timing is crucial when it comes to bulk SMS messaging. An SMS sent at dinner time could have a vastly different impact on your burger joint and your customer’s lives than one sent at 7 am. Of course, having insight into your customer’s location is crucial to ensure your messaging isn’t crossing time zones.

Keep your bulk SMS marketing messages short

It’s essential that you keep the 160 character limit in mind when crafting these messages. In fact, try to keep your messages to about 100 characters. Attention spans are short. Your customers don’t want to read long messages, they simply want to know what they can get and when they can get it.

Here are some of the other marketing trends which are sure to form part of your strategy:

CRM and marketing

Customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing work hand in hand: CRM to build loyalty and marketing to drive sales. CRM and marketing could not work without each other and their efforts must always complement each other.

Video

The statistics make it clear: consumers retain more information after watching a video than they would after reading an article or blog post. That's because of consumers’ limited attention spans. Don't fight it. Give them video content.

Voice search

According to Google, one in every five searches happens using voice. And that number is only going to increase. Google's organic search results are expected to decrease as the use of voice search increases. It's therefore essential that you do whatever possible to increase your chances of appearing on those results pages.

If you’re not yet convinced about the importance of implementing bulk SMS marketing into your strategy, read our recent article. It highlights why SMS must be the cornerstone of your marketing strategy and the benefits it can bring to your business.