8 Benefits of SMS Marketing for Small Businesses

By 2022, micro, small, and medium-sized businesses were the driving forces of the economy, accounting for over 99% of registered businesses in Ukraine. Currently, the situation hasn’t changed drastically, despite market fatigue. 

How small businesses manage to maintain their positions is another story. But even in uncertain situations, the formula for resilience remains standard: balance between price and quality — and promote yourself in all possible ways.

One of these ways is sending SMS messages to customers’ phone numbers. We analyzed the pros and cons of this tool. Spoiler alert: there are more advantages, but some pitfalls should be considered.

1. Reach

Almost everyone has a mobile phone, and SMS support is built into every device. This means any mobile phone user can receive SMS marketing messages, whether they live on the edge of an ancient forest or in the most expensive apartments in Zurich.

Each recipient is guaranteed to receive and often read the message — over 90% of texts are viewed within 3 minutes of receipt. Thus, SMS marketing for businesses opens doors to all social classes.

The only downside is that, under current laws, you can’t send promotional messages to everyone indiscriminately. You must have the recipient’s consent to receive messages. How to obtain such consent — read here.

2. Building “Your Own Circle”

We all like feeling part of an inner circle and visiting our favorite places. Everyone has a favorite store, taxi, hairdresser, and even a favorite table at a café. And we all have our “blacklist”, too.

It’s the same for sellers: some customers are a joy to see, while others not as much. This is normal.

SMS marketing for small businesses is a channel for direct communication with your actual customers. Through this, a “chance acquaintance” can easily turn into a loyal connection.

Businesses experienced in sending messages to hot customer lists report that this communication method is 20-25% more effective than others and allows them to maintain a high level of customer loyalty.

3. Targeting Opportunities

To make it work, you need to genuinely care about your customer and spend a lot of time learning about them: who they are, what they like, what interests them?

Then — organize this information: here are people who only respond to discounts, there — those who follow fashion. And over here — fans of patriotic themes who also appreciate flowers and ethnic patterns.

Maintaining a client database with details like customer names, contacts, and at least their purchase history is meticulous, diligent, and continuous work. But it’s this work that allows you to segment your list effectively when needed. That way, you won’t mistakenly send a text about premium cosmetics to a senior who only ordered a basic hand cream as a gift.

4. Brevity

Time is the most valuable, non-renewable resource. Attention is what we spend our time on. Every seller desperately fights for even a fraction of attention. Thousands of creative pieces and miles of content are created just to capture a few seconds of time.

Paradoxically, minimalism and clear messaging help stand out against the background of general informational noise. In this sense, SMS is a unique medium.

Yes, its technical limitations — a 160-character limit in Cyrillic and the inability to attach any media files — have become its competitive advantage.

It takes a person 2-4 seconds to read and understand an SMS, which is even less time than watching a reel. But it’s enough to decide if your offer is interesting. If so, the SMS recipient will likely visit your salon or use the attractive discount.

Importantly, the message doesn’t disappear. It stays on the phone until the person deletes it themselves.

Tip

ometimes, 160 characters aren’t enough. In such cases, consider using one of the popular messaging apps. For more on sending business messages in Viber — read here.

5. Respecting Personal Boundaries

Personal boundaries are invisible barriers each person sets to protect themselves from the world. All advertising, to some extent, infringes on these boundaries: it distracts, flashes before our eyes, and takes up our time. SMS is the only form of advertising that enters a person’s space as delicately as possible. Here’s why:

• People consent to receive messages;
• It’s easy to unsubscribe from SMS, but senders would have to try hard to drive people to opt-out;
• SMS doesn’t demand immediate attention and isn’t annoying — unlike pop-up ads or phone calls.

A True Story 

One bottled water delivery service, during a seasonal sales slump, decided to call their loyal audience. A polite and innocent question, “Would you like some water?” led to… an even greater drop in sales and loss of loyal customers.

In this particular case, the marketing campaign crossed two psychological boundaries:

• Over the last 5–7 years, we’ve grown accustomed to receiving calls only in emergencies and only from close people. All other matters are handled through messengers. And here comes a sales call from a respected company right in the middle of a workday. Where did customers send the manager with their “water offer”?
• Each customer knows when it’s time to replenish their supply. If they’re not ordering, there’s a reason: lack of funds, being away from home, or just not wanting it. The line between “care” and “imposition” is very thin.

A more effective marketing solution in this case would have been an SMS campaign — combined with updates to the loyalty program.

6. Impact on Image

Marketers identify three main types of SMS messages; read more about them here:

• Рекламні,
• Інформаційні,
• Сервісні.

Service messages are designed to inform customers about specific actions or completed transactions: payment confirmation, package dispatch, courier contact, etc. Setting up these messages positively impacts the business image, as it helps customers avoid unnecessary stress due to a lack of information.

7. Saving Time and Money 

Creating an SMS campaign takes less work time. Let’s set aside the preparatory and routine work, which applies to any marketing campaign. But:

• writing 2-3 short sentences within a 160-character limit is faster than crafting a 1.5–2K character text for an email or Instagram post;
• there’s no need to spend time creating illustrations;
• technically, sending an SMS to a base of several thousand numbers takes up to 10 minutes.

Campaign costs depend on various factors. But if you have a quality, easily segmented list, you minimize the risk of overspending.

You can also save by setting up Viber business notifications in a cascade with SMS. This way, the SMS will be automatically sent to the client’s number, but only if they are no longer using Viber.

8. Process Automation

Using specialized services makes it easy to automate various messaging processes.

For example, sending personalized messages if that’s important for your business, or greetings for a customer’s birthday or New Year. Service SMS are also sent automatically — they are configured for specific actions.

This, in turn, saves work time and minimizes the negative impact of the human factor.

Conclusions

SMS is not a one-size-fits-all solution that immediately solves a host of marketing issues. It won’t attract a new audience, but SMS is an important channel for staying connected with your clients. Whether this channel becomes a source of increased sales and customer loyalty depends on your efforts and understanding of audience needs. Contact us; we know how to make SMS work for you!