How SMS marketing can help boost your sales

The importance of digital marketing and trading has been demonstrated by the Coronavirus pandemic - but its importance will long outlast the crisis.

The Coronavirus pandemic has provided a unique demonstration of the capacity of the economy to function at a time when normal forms of social interaction have become either impossible or highly restricted.

It is no surprise that those doing performing best have been online firms or those where restrictions such as social distancing have not removed their capacity to function, such as food retail outlets. Some more stores and attractions have been able to reopen on a limited basis and more will do so in July, but others are a long way off full reopening.

Given the limitations placed on firms, the need to find ways to boost sales will be clear. That is where SMS marketingmay be a particularly useful part of your digital marketing strategy.

Why use SMS marketing?

SMS marketing uses text messages instead of emails as a means of delivering marketing messages. Like email, it can be sent directly to a recipient who has subscribed or signed up to receive various messages, meaning you can send out mass mailshots and filter them to ensure they go to the right people.

These can include:

•          Promotional messages

•          Product launches

•          New lines in stock

•          Sales

SMS marketing offers many benefits for business that will help ensure you get through to your target audience easily, for various reasons:

•          Most people will look at their phones many times a day, meaning they will see if a text has been read.

•          98% of texts get read

•          95% of texts are read within three minutes of receipt, as phones will have an alert such as buzzing or a sound to indicate one has been sent

All this means the chances of your marketing message being both seen and seen quickly is very high.  

Other benefits from using SMS marketing include being able to provide details of delivery times, as well as customer support. This enables you to secure greater customer satisfaction.

How can SMS help your firm during Coronavirus restrictions?

SMS marketing can benefit firms in different ways and at different times, but with it being so important to generate sales remotely during the pandemic, it can be particularly useful for those who normally generate business in customer-facing settings.

A garden centre might be a good example of this. At the start of the pandemic, these were among the stores not permitted to open, which was unfortunate timing as they could not sell seasonal plants to gardeners blessed with a sunny spring. However, one source of income for garden centres is vouchers, which is something that could be sold remotely. These could then be spent once the centres re-opened.

Selling vouchers for future purchases is something SMS marketing could do across a range of settings, easing cashflow for many kinds of organisation:

•          Theatres

•          Sports venues

•          Cinemas

•          Outdoor attractions

•          The hospitality sector

All this can provide some much-needed income and also ensure that because people have already paid for the vouchers, you need not worry that they will not come along when restrictions are lifted. As well as the upfront payment, the fact the money has been spent means they will lose out if they do not use the vouchers. That means they will get back into the habit of patronising venues they might otherwise have stopped going after discovering online means of entertainment.

How SMS marketing will work after the pandemic

Eventually, the crisis will pass, either due to effective reductions in infection or a vaccine, enabling life to return to something approaching the old normal.

SMS marketing will then have a range of opportunities that would normally exist but are limited at present.

A good example of this is to text people at key times of the day about goods and services they might be in close proximity to. A good example of this would be a coffee shop that would send messages to consumers at rush hour times, which could prompt some of them to come in and grab a takeaway coffee as they head to work.

By being able to communicate so swiftly with consumers, SMS marketing will offer a great way of trading fast moving consumer goods.

How BeUniqueness can help

At BeUniqueness, we can help you build a digital marketing strategy that suites your firm and enables you to achieve all your goals. That means you can combine SMS marketing with other tools to get the best possible return on marketing investment.