SMS marketing has been a useful tool for some time now but it’s a constantly-evolving field and I’ve seen many important changes in the way SMS campaigns are run. The industry has grown by leaps and bounds as mobile technology has spread around the world. This shows that there’s more potential now to reap the advantages of SMS marketing.  

SMS marketing is not a replacement for other marketing activities as it’s best when you incorporate SMS marketing into your overall marketing strategy. We all know that SMS marketing can complement other strategies such as SEO, social media, and email marketing.

How to integrate SMS marketing into your marketing campaigns

Nowadays, we’ve seen how smartphones and mobile devices have become a popular way to access the Internet. We all use them not only for phone calls, but also to access social media sites, check our emails, and, of course, to send and receive SMSes.

Because phones are now such a ubiquitous part of our modern culture, we can now integrate them into our other marketing efforts. SMS marketing offers many apps and services that make it easy to connect this type of marketing with other platforms such as these four examples:

1. Capture emails

You can use an app that lets you capture email addresses via SMS. This gives you another way to build your email list and give power to your email marketing campaigns.

2. Social media

We can use an SMS to get more social media followers by running contests and sweepstakes that are promoted by both social media and SMS. For example, you can get people to enter an SMS-to-win contest by sending a short code via SMS. 

You can then place the short code on Facebook or Twitter, making it easier for followers to enter the competition. You can also do it the other way around and send an SMS to your contacts about a competition running on your social media pages.

3. App downloads and website traffic

You can use SMS marketing to direct people to download your app or visit your website. By delivering a direct link to download on the App store, people can immediately download it instead of having to search for it.

4. Live events and offline marketing

We know that SMS marketing is a powerful way to boost the effectiveness of your offline marketing campaigns such as sales and special events at a retail store. We’ve seen that the traditional practices of putting up billboards or hanging up flyers can be enhanced and modernised by SMS or QR codes - this allows people to enter your contest or join your list instantly. 

Enter the new wave of SMS marketing

SMS marketing has significantly evolved over recent years. When it was a new concept we saw lots of experimentation and initial flaws such as sending messages without permission or creating lists that were not well-targeted.

We are now entering what we see as the second wave of SMS marketing. Here are four of the characteristics that we believe characterise this new and more powerful wave:

1. Building targeted and segmented lists

The key to successful SMS marketing, which holds true for all types of marketing, is to send messages to the correct audience.

2. Developing good timing

You want to send messages consistently but not so frequently that it becomes annoying. You also want to identify the best times of day and days of the week to send messages. We believe this is another area where testing and analytics help you become more effective.

3. Integrating SMS marketing with your other marketing efforts

As we’ve discussed, you should look for ways to make SMS messaging fit seamlessly with your overall marketing strategy.

4. Create compelling offers

We can see that the benefits of SMS marketing are that there are many ways to provide value with your messages. Contents, promotion codes, and giveaways encourage others to respond to your SMSes and check out your offers.

While SMS marketing is no longer new, you still have plenty of time to benefit from this industry’s new wave. We know now that there are more ways than ever to make SMS marketing a powerful component of your marketing strategy.