The face of the high street is changing, and now more than ever before, brick and mortar businesses are under pressure to up their marketing game and appeal to a wider audience.
According to a survey performed in 2016, 51% of customers are choosing to make their purchases online, rather than in stores. This is a figure that, in recent years, has been noticeably on the rise. To increase sales and keep the loyalty of their customers, stores need to be proactive in their approach to diversifying their marketing campaign.
This starts with the adoption of modern marketing practices that have been shown to perform exceptionally. SMS marketing is a prominent player in the world of modern marketing, and one of the best ways to enhance brand visibility. It’s also incredibly capable of outperforming traditional marketing, giving brick and mortar businesses that edge they need to keep competing.
Considering improving your marketing campaign and seeking a modern strategy that will outperform traditional marketing? Take a look at our top 10 reasons why SMS marketing is capable of exceeding traditional marketing:
1. Increased Reach in the Local Area
Reach is everything when it comes to marketing. You need to be able to ensure that your marketing is reaching enough people and that they are able to see the message loud and clear. Traditional marketing, such as brochures, flyers, and billboards, only have a limited reach. Potential customers need to be in the right place at the right time, to actually see the marketing.
With SMS marketing, the reach you have is limitless. As of the spring of 2017, 237.72 million people in the US owned a cell phone. This kind of reach gives you massive control over your local marketing, and even the potential to expand.
2. Guaranteed Speed of Delivery
The other limit with traditional marketing is speed. If you have a promotion to offer or there are important changes to your business, getting that message out there through the traditional routes takes a long time.
SMS marketing can step in to get the message out there much quicker. As soon as the message is sent, it is almost instantly received. Have a limited time promotion that you want to launch? Text message marketing can get the message spread quickly.
3. Allows for Easier Management of Time
The speed of delivery also opens the door to an easier management of time. With SMS marketing, you know exactly when your message is going to be seen. SMS marketing is also incredibly quick to set up, monitor, and execute, freeing up valuable time for you to be focusing on other parts of your business. No longer will hours need to be spent printing flyers, handing out leaflets, or designing billboards.
4. A More Personal Way to Send a Message
Text messages also give you the ability to make your message personal, enticing, and special. You are writing a message to a target audience that you know and can tailor the information as needed – perhaps with a special offer just for them. This establishes a relationship with your business and its customers by building communication. Achieving this level of communication is very difficult through traditional marketing.
5. Gets Your Point Across
SMS marketing is also incredibly direct. You have a limited space to get your message across, which can be highly beneficial when trying to give your message value. There’s no room to provide information that is not important, forcing you to focus on exactly what you want your customer to take away from the marketing.
6. Boosts Brand Recognition
When a person thinks of a particular service or product that they need, you want them to think of your business first. Receiving regular messages from your business keeps your brand in the mind of your customers. Slowly, through a successful campaign, you’ll build a strong brand recognition.
You build customer loyalty and establish an essential presence that can make your business the number one place to go to for a specific service.
7. Ability to Create Word of Mouth
With the use of text message marketing, you have a much wider reach than you might expect. That brand loyalty is going to stretch much further thanks to the wonders of word of mouth. If you’re giving your customers a form of value in each message, then they’re very quickly going to spread the news with everyone they think will also find value in it.
8. Customers Can Choose to Receive Texts
The ability to opt-out may seem like a bad thing, but in fact, it’s incredibly beneficial. This helps you to build an audience that wants to listen and is excited to hear what you want to say. Also, just as people can opt-out, they can opt-in, giving you an audience that is all ears.
9. Very Cost-Effective Marketing
With an audience that wants to listen, you’re saving money on sending messages to those that don’t. But there are also other things that make text marketing a lot more cost effective than many types of traditional marketing. It is virtual, so there are no physical products that need making. It’s direct with a wide reach, and one message can be tailored to everyone. The high open-rate also means that your getting the most back from every text!
10. Works with Any Marketing Campaign
One of the best things about SMS marketing is that it’s flexible. You can incorporate it into any style of marketing campaign, both for big and small companies alike. Every type of business can utilize it, from salons to restaurants, and even local shops. And the best bit? You tailor it to be unique to your business!
If your current marketing campaign is not delivering the results you need, or you want to enhance your reach and get your message out there, SMS marketing is one of the best modern marketing techniques to bring on board. As a partner to your traditional marketing or a whole new campaign by itself, you may be pleasantly surprised by what this modern tool can do for traditional businesses!
Reach Out To Us
Contact us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have. Check out our free demo and take the platform for a test drive!