SMS & Multichannel Communication: How To Make Your SMS Count

Phonexa

13 minute read

The emergence of new communication channels gave rise to multichannel marketing campaigns. This practice refers to businesses using different communication methods to get in touch with different people or to accomplish different communication objectives with the same person simultaneously. This evolution of communication caused a shift in user expectations, where the audience expects to utilize the channels they prefer for specific purposes rather than the ones that the companies are comfortable with.

In this realm, SMS messaging stands out as a core element of a multi-channel marketing strategy, with 80% of companies using specialized text messaging software to reach their audience. Despite more than two decades of history, SMS continues to grow in popularity, offering new ways to connect with customers and drive success.

This article will help businesses new to multichannel marketing by explaining how SMS can be exploited as a cost-effective, result-driven communication channel. If you’re already taking advantage of text messaging for business, make sure to check out the practical examples, dedicated SMS automation software, and best practices below to elevate your multi-channel marketing strategy.

The Key Benefits of SMS in Multichannel Marketing

Knowing the advantages of SMS helps in understanding the role that text messaging can play in creating seamless marketing strategies. It’s crucial to compare text messaging with other channels and identify suitable applications for multi-channel communications.

High Open and Response Rates

There are several key strengths of SMS messaging, but the nearly 100% open rate is one of the most crucial. SMS gets seen more than any other marketing message because of how easy it is to see it by the recipients: SMS doesn’t require opening an inbox or any other phone app, as text messaging is an inbuilt feature for all smartphones or cell phones.

Moreover, SMS boasts a 45% response rate, indicating that text messaging is a simple yet effective solution to trigger an action from the user. The action can be simply answering the message, clicking the link, or opening an email letter. Response rate is important for measuring user engagement and can be used for A/B testing in multichannel marketing to identify various factors that impact recipients’ decisions:

• Message content and tone of voice
• Time of the day and day of the week
• Action types required from users
• Level of personalization
• Frequency

One of the following sections includes tips for increasing response rates to SMS text messaging.

Immediate Delivery and Read Times

If timing is crucial in attracting leads in your business, then an SMS marketing company should be an essential component of your multichannel communication with potential customers. Mass text messaging can be executed near-instantaneously using SMS marketing automation and setting triggering conditions, such as user sign-up action, specific time, etc.

The instant delivery is also characteristic of other channels, such as email campaigns. However, the importance of SMS marketing is that users are more likely to read the messages immediately or within the first five minutes. On the contrary, an email message or a post on a social media platform may lie for hours or days before the prospect sees it.

Consider these multi-channel communication strategy examples that incorporate SMS messaging for its ability to deliver information quickly:

• Delivering information that is only valuable when fresh, such as news headings to prompt the user to go to your news website or stock updates so the user can shop for the products before they are gone
• Promoting product launches or updates that can create an immediate buzz, trigger presales, and drive traffic to your platform
• Reacting to the competitors’ actions, such as countering their promotions with your offers or responding to criticism
• Following up shortly after customers leave the shopping cart, saving sales that were canceled by accident or distraction

Personalization Capabilities for Targeted Messaging

Multi-channel customer communication doesn’t have to make users feel like they are bombarded with your information regardless of their interests and preferences. To avoid creating this unpleasant feeling yet leverage multiple marketing channels, personalization is key.

Even with bulk text messaging, you can send personalized messages to your audience. Indicating the recipient’s name or automatically switching between several content versions based on past purchase history or preferences captured by the lead tracking system are simple ways to make each interaction with a person feel unique and valued.

The targeted approach offered by SMS marketing campaigns improves user experience which leads to enhanced brand reputation and increased conversion rates.

Cost-effectiveness Compared to Other Channels

Text messaging marketing outperforms most other digital channels when it comes to return on investment. To calculate the cost of the SMS marketing campaign, you typically need to know the price per message offered by the carrier, such as AT&T or Verizon in the U.S., and add the fee offered by your chosen CRM platform or a dedicated text messaging software.

Additionally, consider the time and resources required for writing the text for the messages. Since concise SMS messages under 160 characters are most effective, they are cheaper and easier to compose than emails. Remember that SMS are five times more likely to be read by the recipient than the emails. Hence, they can be more source-efficient to transfer the message.

If you need an all-encompassing marketing automation system that includes SMS marketing software with the lowest per SMS price, Phonexa is the best option. Its E-Delivery solution is a top-notch SMS text marketing service, offering SMS transactions for as low as 0.011 cents.

Book a demo or take a product tour of Phonexa’s offerings to discover how to enhance your multi-channel strategy most effectively.

Reaching a Wide and Diverse Audience

SMS enables reaching the largest audience compared to any other existing marketing channel. It has been estimated that in 2023, 69% of the world’s population were smartphone users.

However, this number still doesn’t include a large portion of people, omitting significant segments of the population in countries like India or the ones in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the rate is only 55%. For many people without smartphones or in areas without Internet access, text messaging on simple cell phones is the only reliable means of digital communication.

Leveraging SMS text message marketing ensures that businesses reach a wider and more diverse audience, including those excluded from other digital marketing strategies. It offers additional capabilities to increase conversions and customer engagement.

Examples of Multichannel Marketing With SMS

The customer journey is a complex process that consists of many stages, from the initial touchpoint to conversion to customer retention actions. Each stage requires marketers’ attention and contributes to the general effectiveness of multi-channel marketing campaigns.

Source: Everlytic

The multi-channel approach allows leveraging SMS messaging for various conversion and retention processes.

Using SMS Channels for Lead Nurturing and Customer Acquisition

• Brand awareness: Send short, unique messages to hinder interest in your company. Repetitive exposure to your brand will create familiarity and predispose prospective customers to your offerings.
• Assessing user needs: Use SMS surveys with short, targeted questions to gather information about potential customers’ needs and preferences. Employ collected data to segment the audience and create email lists.
• Product education: Send links to video reviews of your products and educational blog posts to demonstrate how you can solve your potential customer’s problems.
• Re-engagement & win-back: Use existing data compliantly to send disengaged customers personalized incentives via SMS, drawing them back into the customer journey.
• Reminders: For businesses relying on paid event participation and appointments, SMS messaging services can help avoid no-shows by ensuring that customers follow through on their initial interest.

SMS and Customer Retention in Multichannel Marketing

Nurturing and converting prospects is only part of the task for the multi-channel marketing strategy that integrates SMS messaging. As is often emphasized, acquiring a new customer is five times more expensive than retaining an existing one. You can leverage SMS along with other available channels to communicate with your existing customers, manage the customer lifecycle, and improve customer satisfaction with your brand.

Customer journeys that can benefit from text messaging include:

• Onboarding: Guide new customers through the onboarding process, prompting them to take specific actions at relevant times with triggered messages or guide them to resources on your website.
• Satisfaction: Express your interest in user experience by providing links to survey forms. Even if users ignore these messages, your business will stand out as one that values its reputation and user satisfaction.
• Up- and cross-selling: Send exclusive promotions to existing customers to encourage them to purchase additional products or services.
• Transactional messaging: Send order confirmations, shipping updates, and delivering notifications to create a well-rounded user experience.
• Loyalty: Send SMS reminders about free product updates, new educational materials, or other VIP experiences available to existing customers. This direct line of communication makes customers feel valued and incentivizes repeat business.

By incorporating SMS into their retention strategies, businesses can create a more engaging, responsive, and personalized customer experience. This not only helps in retaining existing customers but also in turning them into brand advocates, driving long-term growth and success in an increasingly competitive market.

Businesses need to be able to send and receive text messages. Phonexa offers SMS automation with the E-Delivery platform. This capability opens up new avenues for customer support and feedback collection. By allowing customers to initiate contact with businesses with the help of text messages in the blink of an eye, brands can provide quick, convenient assistance. This immediate responsiveness not only resolves issues efficiently but also demonstrates the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

To try out Phonexa’s functionalities for building an effective multi-channel marketing strategy, book a demo today or take a product tour to explore diverse features, including email and SMS automation.

SMS vs. Other Channels: A Comparison of Customer Engagement

While SMS is powerful on its own, its true strength lies in its ability to complement other retention tactics. As part of a multichannel strategy, SMS can reinforce messages sent via email, amplify social media campaigns, and drive traffic to web-based content. This integrated approach ensures that customers receive a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints, strengthening their overall relationship with the company.

Seasoned marketers should master utilizing different combinations of communication channels for various purposes according to each channel’s strong sides. Below is a simplified comparison table explaining the weak sides and benefits of SMS marketing and several other channels.

Best Practices for Integrating SMS Into Your Multichannel Strategy

As you have seen, there are many reasons to integrate SMS with multi-channel campaigns. Each of the mentioned multichannel marketing examples requires unique approaches for maximizing effectiveness.

However, the following best practices apply to every multichannel messaging strategy with SMS marketing services.

1. Obtaining explicit consent and managing opt-outs

Ensure you have clear permission to send SMS messages by implementing a robust opt-in process. Provide easy opt-out options in every message. This builds trust, maintains compliance, and ensures your target audience genuinely wants to receive your communications, leading to higher engagement rates and better campaign performance.

2. Segmenting your SMS audience based on preferences and behavior

Divide your SMS subscribers into distinct groups based on their interests, purchase history, or engagement levels. This allows for more targeted and relevant messaging, increasing the effectiveness of your campaigns. Personalized content resonates better with recipients, leading to improved conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

3. Timing your SMS campaigns for maximum impact

Send messages at optimal times when your audience is most likely to engage. Consider factors like time zones, work schedules, and past engagement data. Avoid sending messages too early, too late, or too frequently. Well-timed messages have higher open and response rates, enhancing the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.

Source: Textline

Remember that under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, “Callers may contact residential consumers only between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM,” and this prohibition applies to marketing calls and text messages.

When choosing the day of the week for launching mass SMS marketing campaigns, consider that more marketing text messages are sent on Monday, gradually decreasing towards Saturday. Therefore, unless these messages require specific timing at the beginning of the work week, set your SMS marketing strategy to start on a day other than Monday to cut through the noise.

4. Crafting concise, engaging, and valuable SMS content

Given the character limitations of SMS, focus on creating clear, compelling messages that provide immediate value. Use action-oriented language and strong calls to action. Ensure each message serves a purpose, whether it’s informing, promoting, or engaging. Valuable content keeps subscribers interested and reduces opt-out rates.

5. Leveraging automation and personalization tools

Utilize SMS marketing platforms that offer automation and personalization features. Set up triggered messages based on customer actions or milestones. Use dynamic content to insert personalized information like names or recent purchases. This approach saves time, increases relevance, and improves the customer experience.

Phonexa’s E-Delivery is a top SMS and email distribution platform. Its campaign settings allow creating target lists and selecting triggering conditions in no time, while the user-friendly interface makes it accessible even for beginners.

If you’re looking to enhance your multichannel marketing automation by increasing email deliverability, check out Phonexa’s ebook, which offers valuable strategies and solutions.

6. Monitoring and analyzing SMS performance metrics

Regularly track key performance indicators such as delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Use these insights to refine your multi-channel marketing strategies and identify successful campaigns and areas for improvement. Continuous analysis helps optimize your SMS marketing efforts and maximize ROI.

7. Ensuring compliance with SMS regulations and best practices

Stay informed about SMS marketing laws and industry guidelines, such as the TCPA in the US. Adhere to best practices like sending during appropriate hours and respecting frequency limits. Compliance protects your business from legal issues and maintains a positive reputation with customers and carriers.

Recap on the Role of SMS in a Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy

Bulk SMS marketing is a tried-and-tested strategy that many businesses use in multichannel communications. It is effective in nurturing leads, acquiring new customers, and managing many aspects of day-to-day business with the clientele. The benefits provided by SMS messaging, such as high open rates, low cost, and immediate deliverability, make it the optimal solution for:

• Sending reminders about events and appointments
• Re-engaging customers who propped out during the customer journey
• Delivering time-sensitive messages about sales or new items in stock
• Up- and cross-selling
• Navigating customers to other marketing channels via links

Phonexa is an advanced multichannel marketing platform that provides an excellent text messaging service as part of its E-Delivery platform. The unique value proposition of Phonexa lies in flawless multi-channel management, allowing tracking leads across multiple touchpoints, including SMS messages.

Phonexa’s comprehensive and diverse functionality is divided into eight specialized modules that seamlessly integrate into a single intuitive dashboard.

Book a demo or take a product tour to create your multi-channel marketing strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a multi-channel marketing strategy?

A multi-channel marketing strategy involves interacting with the audience using various communication channels, such as social media, website content, emails, SMS messages, and live events. By combining these channels, businesses can broaden their reach, diversify their audience, enhance customer experience, and increase conversions.

What are the benefits of multichannel marketing with SMS messages?

The main benefit of SMS messaging is maximized open rates and immediate deliverability. These characteristics can be used to drive users to their preferred channels of communication by offering incentives, sending reminders, or including links.

What is the law on SMS marketing in the USA?

Several federal laws and regulations govern telecommunications, including SMS messaging. The TCPA is the primary law in the USA. Among other things, it states that businesses must obtain explicit documented written consent before sending text messages, are prohibited from sending messages between 9:00 PM and 8:00 AM, and offer easy opt-out methods, such as answering with the word “STOP.”