Originally, SMS was just a tool for personal conversations. However, businesses have learned to take advantage of its direct and personal nature to create meaningful connections with their customers. Over time, SMS has evolved into a powerful sales and marketing tool that allows businesses to engage with customers instantly, send exclusive offers, and get immediate feedback.

Don't worry. You don't need much to make SMS marketing work for your business. We're here to inform you about SMS marketing, how it can benefit your small business, and the steps you must take to reap its benefits.

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing, or text message marketing, is the process of communicating and promoting products, services, or brands to customers via text message. It is not the same as mindlessly sending messages to random people all the time. SMS marketing is permission-based, and only people who have subscribed can receive text messages from businesses.

SMS marketing is a direct and personalized approach. By communicating with your customers through their personal numbers in real-time, you can build a connection with them and ensure your brand is top of mind. Let's look at the three types of SMS marketing messages you can use:

1. Promotional SMS

Are you releasing a new line of products or having a limited-time sale? You can send a promotional message to your subscribers and give them a head-start. Promotional SMS informs your customers about your exciting events and encourages them to try new products or take advantage of an offer.

2. Transactional SMS

How do you confirm orders or request additional information? You can use a transactional SMS for that! Transactional messages instantly relay important information like order details or reference numbers to ease customers' minds.

3. Reminder SMS

In SMS marketing, you don't always have to promote a product or service. Sometimes, using text messages to make your customers feel valued is enough. Reminder messages are friendly SMS that ensure customers remember important appointments or events with your business. This message can also reduce no-shows or last-minute cancellations at your events.

Why SMS Marketing Works for Small Businesses

SMS marketing may be a small part of marketing campaigns for enterprises, but it's a core component of maintaining a close and personal relationship with customers for small businesses. We often share our email addresses or work phone numbers with many people, but only a select few can access our personal cell phone numbers. Here are six reasons why SMS marketing is an effective tool for small businesses:

Cost-effective

Most small businesses may not have huge marketing budgets like large companies, but they always find successful ways to use limited budgets and resources to stand out. SMS marketing is an affordable channel that allows small businesses to reach hundreds of customers with minimal effort and costs. The price of an SMS service rarely changes and is usually cheaper than online, print, or TV ads.

Personalized

Because SMS marketing is permission-based, customers who subscribe will surely want to receive your text messages. You can use their information to divide your SMS marketing contact list based on location, interests, or past purchases and tailor your messages to them. You can also personalize messaging by inserting a customer's first name!

High open rate and CTR

More people are likely to read messages and take action through SMS marketing. Research shows that 98% of text messages are opened and read within minutes. Text messages also have a higher engagement rate than email or social media marketing. The average click-through rate (CTR) for text messages is 19%, significantly higher than email's 2-3% CTR.

Instant reach

Just like you, most customers keep their phones within reach all the time. This means customers can easily notice and read your SMS marketing messages wherever they are. Plus, text messages are instantly received, unlike other marketing channels. Small businesses can make the most of mobile phone accessibility by using texting to notify customers about time-sensitive offers or events.

Scalable

Because SMS is simple, direct, and familiar, you won't need extensive training to execute an SMS marketing campaign. You can also use a virtual phone system to simplify SMS marketing for your business. Your contact list will grow as your business grows, provided you consistently deliver value to your subscribers.

Increases profit

SMS is a direct way to connect with your customers, build trust, and increase brand retention. Through tailored messages, SMS marketing can help small businesses to retain customer and even attract new ones. These combined efforts can lead to higher profits with reduced costs.

With the right strategy in place, SMS marketing has the potential to set your small business apart from competitors.

Key Grasshopper SMS Marketing Features

Before creating your promo messages and generating your contact list, the best way to kickstart your SMS marketing efforts is to obtain a dedicated business phone number. Using a phone number exclusively linked to your organization makes it trustworthy for your customers and easier for you to keep track of business transactions.

Grasshopper is an easy-to-setup virtual phone system specifically built for small business owners. You can get a business phone number on your personal device to receive business calls and texts from anywhere while keeping your personal number private.

Here's how Grasshopper can help your SMS marketing campaign:

Plus, Grasshopper is all about being limitless, so you can send as many business messages as you want!

Best Practices for Effective SMS Marketing

How can you conduct SMS marketing that contributes to your small business' success? Here are 6 SMS marketing best practices to grow your business and keep your subscribers engaged:

Grow your contact list.

Proactively encouraging potential clients and existing customers to subscribe to your SMS marketing list will make your strategy more effective. Grow your list by linking your SMS sign-up form to your email marketing campaigns and social media accounts. You can also use QR code sign-ups to gather more subscriptions.

Start with a confirmation text message.

After someone signs up, verify their subscription to your SMS marketing list. Your first message should include the following:

Be mindful of the message frequency and timing.

Your customers subscribed to your marketing list because they want to receive valuable updates from your business, and they won’t appreciate notifications in the middle of the night. Minding your timing and avoiding overwhelming them with too many texts shows your company values your customers.

Keep messages concise and relevant.

Access to your customers' phone numbers is a privilege requiring the utmost care, and the last thing you want to do is waste their time. Ensuring your messages are short and sweet keeps them engaged. Quickly describe the product, service, or event you are promoting and provide a link or short code for subscribers to know more.

Be consistent.

Always include your business name and maintain the same conversational tone in all your SMS marketing messages. It's a good idea to schedule your messages at least once a month to increase brand recognition and prevent them from seeming unexpected. If your messages lack proper identification or you send them sparingly, your subscribers might forget they signed up.

Consider customer preferences.

Knowing your customers' phone numbers opens up new doors for more personalization. You can divide your contact list based on their preferences to keep your messages relevant. Customers who have already transacted with your business will most likely appreciate receiving text messages about upcoming events or sales. You can also send a follow-up survey link for feedback and more information about their preferences.

Offer exclusive value.

What benefits can your customers enjoy by subscribing to your SMS marketing list? You can share limited-time events or holiday specials exclusively on your text channel. This will make subscribers feel like they have a reason to stay subscribed. You can also use SMS message marketing to send appointment reminders to your customers, including contact information for rescheduling, to help you stay organized.

Include a call to action.

Some people might read your text message and immediately close it if it doesn't provide a way to access more information. Text messages sent to drive traffic to a product/service page or an event sign-up form should include a clear call to action. Calls to action include "buy now, ""schedule an appointment," etc.

Monitor performance regularly.

Always check delivery rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribes to monitor your SMS marketing performance. These results will help you craft better text messages for future campaigns. Observe which texts achieve a high rate of clicks and which text messages cause unsubscribes, then make adjustments to see what drives better results. You can also include a feedback form or a link to customer support to get more insights from your subscribers.

Other Mobile Marketing Strategies

Messaging can also be done using different platforms, each offering unique strengths. Here are other platforms businesses use to implement mobile marketing strategies:

Grow Your Business with SMS Marketing

Imagine announcing a flash sale or special discount directly to your customers without it getting buried in their email inboxes–it's already possible with SMS marketing! Ready to elevate your customer connections and give your business a boost? Sign up for a free trial with Grasshopper and experience business texting yourself!