If there is one thing us humans can’t seem to live without, it’s our mobile phones. From browsing social media, online shopping and listening to music to answering work emails or sending the traditional text or making a call, the power that these handheld machines yield is truly powerful. 

And they can be even more so from a marketing perspective too. That’s right, this month is all about the benefits of SMS (or text – whichever you prefer) Marketing. If your business doesn’t have a text marketing strategy, then this is certainly one to consider implementing. 

What is text marketing?

In simple terms, it’s reaching out and interacting with your customers directly on their mobile phones through text messages. In fact, text marketing can be an effective complement to social marketing, allowing you to engage in real-time with targeted and effective messaging. For the furnishings trade, this can prove to be a vital channel to help drive sales.

Text message marketing is so effective due to that that us humans are hardly ever without our phones. Globally, today’s consumers are more addicted to their mobile phones than ever. According to research on the topic, around 74% of those asked ‘felt uneasy’ about going out without their phone, and 53% never go more than 24 hours without it – even these figures are probably changing in an upward direction.

Here’s a note to remember – when developing and maintaining a website, there has long been a crucial factor that involves keeping your online site mobile friendly. Those that don’t often get penalised by Google in terms of search rankings. So, the notion – and more importantly, the implementation of delivering first-class websites and an online experience to cope on mobile devices is a big clue to why text marketing is a no brainer. 

Your customers most likely found you via their mobile. 

Some other key reasons as to why text marketing is a must include convenience, simplicity, engagement and effectiveness. Let’s explore these a little more.

Convenience – research suggests that 91% of the world owns a mobile phone, so reaching customers where they already are is both convenient for you and your customer.

Simple – text messages get right into the view of your customer and get straight to the point.

Engage – text messages allow another channel to engage with the customer and build relationships by allowing them to respond.

Effectiveness – text message open rates are super high – as big as 98%, while 90% of texts are read within the first few minutes of landing, making this a powerful platform for targeted strategies. 

Did you know?

With the text marketing machine full in motion, let’s turn our attention to some data to support just why this channel is for your business. 

• 91% are interested in signing up for text message marketing
• Average click-through rate of 35%
• Over 70% of consumers use phones for shopping
• Over 7 billion people are expected to own a mobile phone by 2025
• 95% of texts will be read in less than three minutes after being sent
• Globally, five billion send and receive text messages every day

How to use text marketing?

There are a number of different ways to take advantage of this channel, which includes targeted promotions, discounts, remarketing, follow ups and general information (order/delivery tracking).

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering what’s next and how to get texting. Well, RetailSystem has the answer. 

To setup a Text Campaign only takes a few moments with the RetailSystem ‘step by step’ guide. You can filter targeted customers and schedule the campaign to send at a chosen time, to suit your customers time zones. What’s more, setting up a promotion is completely free. You will only be charged once a promotion is sent out.

So, is your business ready to embrace the power of text marketing?