SMS Vs Email Marketing: which one works best for businesses in 2023?

Intro

Having repeat customers is one of your biggest assets as a business owner. With a loyalty program, you can increase your chances of them returning by up to 75%.

Where are they now? How can we get them back? How should we go about it? You want a program that is easy to use, and engages your customers every step of the way, but how do you implement one?

Traditionally, the answer has been to sign up for an email address. After that is in place, you can follow up with emails about new products, coupons, and promotions whenever you wish. Despite the fact that this has been successful in the past, you may be turning away valuable repeat visitors.

A relatively recent addition to the marketing world is SMS marketing - or text message marketing. Nevertheless, it is becoming an increasingly effective tool for connecting with potential customers and engaging them in conversation.

Email Marketing as a strategy

Digital marketing relies heavily on email. Adverting and investing in SEO are effective and powerful strategies, but a direct message to your audience directly in their inbox is also crucial.

The fact is, email produces 50 percent more sales than any other method of lead generation. You need to reach out to these prospective clients via digital messaging since a significant portion of them probably have a smartphone, laptop, or some other device that can access the internet.

Friends, family members, co-workers, and companies all use email to exchange information. You are constantly receiving email campaigns from businesses, like computer stores, restaurants, and clothing stores, among others.

Aside from being versatile, email marketing is also effective. This method can help you achieve many different goals. A good email campaign can be used to advertise new products, welcome new clients, send product updates, and request customer feedback, among many other things.

SMS Marketing as a strategy

The thing about SMS messages is that they're short and straight to the point. Organizations must be nimble when it comes to their message and cannot overburden their communications with fluff and pointless text.

Your consumers are more likely to keep a phone at hand on a daily basis than any other piece of technology. This marketing approach is best for sending short messages, advertisements, or promotions.

Comparing The Key Variables of Email Marketing and SMS Marketing

Any marketing campaign should consider a variety of factors before choosing the method to be used. In this section, we compare the most significant advantages and disadvantages of using email and SMS marketing.

1. Customization

With email, you can customize a lot more than with SMS. For instance, you can add a video, hyperlink, or attachment to your email. Messages can be customized with colors, GIFs, videos, and images that represent your brand. The result is a higher level of engagement, and increased sales.

2. Open Rate

SMS wins this case. While emails have a 20% open rate, SMS has an average of 98%. Additionally, most people respond to an SMS within 90 seconds, while an email can take 90 minutes.

Your customer's attention will be immediately drawn to the smartphone as soon as he or she hears the beep of the phone. SMS marketing provides a direct route to capture the attention of the audience despite the enormous distractions presented by today's environment.

3. Click-through Rate

In click-through rates, you measure how many of your emails were opened, and how many recipients followed a link you included. SMS marketing and email marketing have high CTRs if done correctly.

Developing a call to action (CTA) that matches your message is crucial. Your call to action determines whether an email will be clicked. CTAs offer a compelling reason for the recipient to click through and explain what you can offer.

Texting presents a distinct challenge when it comes to crafting an effective CTA. This is due to the character limit of 160 characters for SMS text service. As such, it is crucial that the message you send is brief and to the point.

4. Deliverability

The list of SMS marketing customers is comprised of only engaged customers, while the list of email marketing customers is larger. The downside of emails is that they are more likely to end up in the spam folder, resulting in a damaged reputation and damaged trust with customers.

The statistics indicate that one out of six emails ends up in the spam folder. When you are sending your message to someone, it would be helpful if you put in considerable effort to get to their inbox. Millennials receive 67 SMS per day on average, whereas office workers receive more than 120 emails a day.

When someone receives fewer texts, there is a higher chance that she or he will read them. SMS marketing is consequently more likely to reach your target audience.

5. Cost

Regardless of your location, sending a text message is certainly more expensive than sending a message via email. Using email marketing to send messages that are not time sensitive to a large audience is the most cost-effective method. That’s why email marketing is more popular amongst digital marketing freelancers as well as agencies.

6. Internet Requirement

SMS is not dependent upon the internet for delivery, unlike emails that require Wi-Fi or mobile data. This allows customers to interact with brands on the go.

The use of mobile applications is especially prevalent in retail, food, and tourism enterprises. If you mention that your restaurant is offering a meal after work, that could motivate the recipient to stop in on their way home.

7. Responsive layout

Creating messages with a responsive layout isn't a requirement for text messages, but it is when it comes to emails. The reason for this is that not everyone's email will be opened with the same device.

Therefore, the email created must be previewed and tested for the type of device it appears on such as laptops, PCs, smartphones, iPods, etc. Then the content, including photographs, text, and graphics, will be consistent and seamless across all devices.

Email Marketing Vs SMS Marketing; which gets better results for your business?

It is equally important to utilize both SMS and email marketing, as both methods have their advantages. It is important for both methods to work together. Businesses will reap many benefits from complementary Email marketing and SMS marketing. Below are five ideas.

1. Building relationships by email and securing commitments by texting

When firms must communicate long-form messages and newsletters, they should consider email marketing. Short and concise messages are best.

Unlike SMS, emails do not have character limits, so they can include more information than SMS. Make most of your marketing messages by email, and then seal the deal with SMS marketing.

2. Permission-based marketing for email and SMS

Be sure to send promotional emails and SMS only to those who have subscribed to receive them. Using this method will prevent you from sending unwanted messages to recipients unintentionally. By identifying the right audience for your message, you'll also ensure that you provide a more personalized experience.

3. Use a text message to nurture your email subscribers

Emails that are shorter are often more effective than those that are longer. In the same vein, short emails can sometimes belittle the messages you are trying to convey. It is imperative to provide all pertinent information in the launch of a new product, such as specifications and pricing.

A recipient can be told what to expect from an upcoming email message by sending an SMS. Most receivers will just read the message impulsively due to its shortness. But if you send a long email for link building, there will be a higher chance of getting ignored.

4. Send detailed messages by email, and receive responses quickly by text

You should couple detailed messages with short summarized ones when giving out discounts or offers, even though most people have their mobile phones with them at all times. In this way, the recipients are often encouraged to seize this rare opportunity.

5. Personalize your text messages based on your email list

One of the crucial aspects of effective email marketing strategies is personalization. A cliché email subject and generic email template are highly susceptible to getting ignored.

Your email marketing program will grow as you discover the content types that generate engagement and sales. The insights you gain from your subscribers' interests and behaviors will be invaluable as well. Using this information, you can personalize your email to resonate better with your audiences and get a better response from them.

That goes true even in the case of SMS marketing. Customers’ insights can help you create SMS messages that are both targeted and personalized. In the end, the process could be refined without having to start from scratch.

SMS Vs Email Marketing: which one works best for businesses in 2023?

The habits of consumers are constantly changing. In the same way, both channels of the market are effective and can even be combined to increase their effectiveness. SMS marketing is helpful for building an email address book, while email subscriptions can be used for sending SMS messages with personalized content.

Most importantly, don't rely on only one type of marketing - the most effective campaigns use multiple channels as well as touchpoints online and offline. If you have used email marketing effectively, it may seem safest in many cases. Nonetheless, SMS marketing can greatly enhance the effectiveness of these efforts.

You can easily and quickly increase your customers' engagement and retention by combining these two challenges. The benefit of this is especially obvious if you use email to gain reviews and impressions.