Small and medium businesses can make a great impact with SMS marketing. You must be getting those SMSes from the local mobile store announcing great discounts on the iPad or a local restaurant announcing a new buffet menu. The benefit is primarily because of the low cost and immense reach that SMS marketing can offer small and medium businesses. No wonder, most of the SMS campaigns that we receive on our mobile phones is primarily from typical small and mid sized businesses. The success rate that businesses derive from traditional advertising via print or through the local Radio station is less compared to SMS marketing. For one, an SMS advertisement ‘stays’ with the recipient if it is not deleted. It can be always referred later but a one time advertisement campaign is not sustainable. No wonder large corporations with deep pockets spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to run sustained print and media campaigns.
There are 2 different types of SMS marketing that businesses can adopt to ensure maximum success. The first is push marketing and the second one is pull marketing. In push marketing which is more common, advertisers send SMS text to a target group of customers. Another very intelligent way of marketing is to provide free information to a target group possibly related to city traffic, latest rock show information or weather forecast for the day. Those who are interested can ask for additional information and this is a nice way of generating revenue and branding the service. Mobile coupons offer another cost effective way of discounting your product and at the same time marketing your brand. There is has a good chance of success because if you are offering a 20% discount on a product over the weekend, more people will flood your shop to buy it. The results are instantly visible and you have clocked 20% more sale for that month. Interesting, isn’t it?
SMS marketing campaigns can help establish great brands. Small and medium businesses can build great brands using the viral effects of SMS marketing. If you can send a great message or an image which appeals to your target customer group, there is fair chance that they will forward that image or message to their friends. This can have a tremendous viral marketing effect giving you a fantastic ROI.
The factors that drive the success of SMS marketing are content, personalization and device technology that is used for the marketing campaign. A personalized message for ‘opt-in’ target groups can have a better effect than a generic message. Device technology plays an important role in the success of SMS marketing. A 160 character text may not be as attractive as an image. In some European countries, marketers have no other option than 160 character messages. With many advantages and some challenges, mobile marketers are hopeful that SMS marketing campaigns will be preferred by small and medium business in the near future.
Brands are aware of the potential of mobile marketing, which is why many of them are spending considerably on SMS advertising. Before you take the plunge, find the right package and consider your target audience, specific geographic location and budget.
