Five reasons to use bulk SMS in business

SMS — “short message service” — is the oldest way to send text from one mobile phone to another. The first SMS in the world was sent over 30 years ago.

Since then, social networks and messengers have overtaken this communication channel, but only in household and personal interactions. Meanwhile, SMS mailings for business remain a priority communication channel with customers both in Ukraine and worldwide.

Why is that? We highlighted five reasons: two well-known ones and three you probably haven’t considered. Why good old SMS aligns with the latest trends in the marketing market — read on.

Reason 1. Mass reach

Everyone has a personal phone. It’s very hard to find people who don’t own at least the simplest mobile device.

Therefore, all mobile subscribers receive SMS. It’s a built-in option on every device, which can be used without installing an app or registering in the system.

Text messages are delivered within seconds to almost any location where there are people and, accordingly, cellular networks. No mobile internet connection is required.

Among the top reasons why SMS is essential for businesses:

• More than 90% of users view them within minutes of receiving them.
• About 30% of people who read the message react to it — use the service or visit the website for more detailed information. This is the highest rate among other marketing channels.

For comparison: less than half of the recipients pay attention to emails. Moreover, some people have separate mailboxes or set up a folder in their inbox just for “advertising” — and clean it out once a year without even looking at what’s inside. Or they immediately send promotional offers to spam.

Reason 2. Stability

To stay afloat, businesses need to be flexible and omnipresent, meaning they must be represented on all available platforms. However, the digital world is unpredictable.

For instance, Google, Facebook, and Instagram constantly change their algorithms and display principles. At any moment, your page can be blocked or sent into a shadow ban with numerous technical restrictions.

Access to TikTok and Telegram is periodically threatened with shutdown, and no one guarantees that it won’t eventually happen.

Messengers like Viber, WhatsApp, Signal, etc., are not used by everyone. The same goes for social networks.

However, short messages on mobile phones are unaffected by these disruptions. Thus, SMS mailings for business remain reliable under any circumstances. It’s also worth noting that, according to current legislation, government institutions must communicate with the public via SMS, as do banks.

Reason 3. Subtlety

SMS is the most subtle form of advertising. It doesn’t interrupt the recipient at inconvenient moments, like company phone calls might. Nor will a pop-up window appear on the screen right when someone is focused on an important task. In other words, it takes effort for the user to block the sender.

Additionally, SMS are short messages. It only takes a few seconds to read them. And if the offer is interesting, the person will definitely find more information, as the SMS remains stored in the phone. Brevity does not mean limited content.

Through SMS, clients are informed about:

• stock updates;
• promotions or sales;
• new location openings;
• seasonal or holiday offers;
• individual offers (discounts or bonuses as part of a loyalty program);
• order status (funds received, package shipped, etc.).

SMS is also used for post-sale communication. This includes holiday or birthday greetings, invitations, reminders, etc.

In addition, business mass texting are indispensable for time management — reminding clients of scheduled appointments, confirming bookings, etc.

Reason 4. Individual approach

Personalization fosters loyal customer relationships and even emotional connections with your business. According to American research, B2C businesses focused on people grow nearly twice as fast as those that prioritize a generalized approach.

SMS marketing for business doesn’t lag behind other advertising channels in personalization opportunities, as each campaign can and should be tailored to specific audience segments, including:

• by age,
• by location,
• by average purchase amount,
• by product preferences.

Thanks to personalization, you can be sure that the messages reach the customers who are interested in the product or service. And they will receive them on time.

Transactional messages — those that inform about package shipping or receipt of funds — have a positive impact on the company’s image. In many businesses, they significantly reduced the number of support requests.

Reason 5. Cost-effectiveness

Text messages save time and money. This happens due to:

• Short format. Texts of 2-3 sentences, limited by the number of characters, are not only read quickly but are also written much faster compared to emails or producing and editing Reels.
• Boosting the efficiency of other promotion methods. It’s easy to “embed” links to promotions or sales on your social media pages into SMS advertising mailings. Learn more about shortening links correctly here 
• Automation of bulk SMS, minimizing the impact of the human factor. You can set up such mailings in the personal account of the relevant service. If you have questions about the best settings, you can always consult specialists.
• Affordability. The cost of one message is less than 1 UAH, even for international messages. Often, the effect exceeds expectations. That’s why many industries prefer this type of marketing, and SMS mailings are essential for small businesses.
• Personalization. We’ve already written about the benefits of an individual approach above, but here there is also an economic advantage. Ads are sent not to everyone, but only to customers interested in the product. This doesn’t entirely prevent “ad budget waste” but significantly reduces the risk.

Conclusions

SMS is one of the marketing tools that is equally relevant for all business segments. Messages are sent by both large brands and small businesses.

It allows you to achieve various marketing goals, from increasing customer loyalty and reminding clients of your business to situational sales boosts and getting feedback.

The only drawback of this type of promotion is that it doesn’t attract a fundamentally new audience. SMS should only be sent to your own customer base, with the client’s consent to receive promotional messages.

But if you have a client base, and it’s of good quality — meaning you clearly understand who you are offering to and why — an SMS strategy can bring pleasant and sustainable results.