Over the last decade, emails have seen a decline in click-through rate leading many to seek a good email marketing alternative.
While the opening rate of email remains the same, most people don’t bother to go beyond the message, leading to fewer conversions overall. It is a sign that other channels are converting more than emails. Data shows that SMS, or text message marketing, is the next big step as an email marketing alternative.
Emails: What’s Going On?
Email marketing continues to bring success to many companies, but many can attest that it isn’t quite as effective as it used to be. Many factors are working against it.
People are becoming more accustomed to avoiding email marketing due to saturation. People get emails all the time from various websites and partners they aren’t interested in. Their minds have become set to have a stricter filter for their emails.
It means that unless you have something that interests them, they won’t acknowledge your message. There is even a lower chance that they go to your website after reading your email. People get too many emails in general, and they want to maintain an uncluttered inbox. They delete, unsubscribe, and send most messages to the spam folder.
Email services also have built-in spam filters that reject many legitimate marketing campaigns. It’s hard to argue against this when the average person receives 121 emails a day, half of which is spam. Users have also turned their focus only to the most important messages. Unless it is something that affects them directly, the email will likely get relegated to spam.
SMS Is the Effective Email Marketing Alternative
While using text messages may seem a little old school, a lot of data proves it a superior alternative. For one, it is the main form of communication used by millennials. Along with Gen Z, these groups comprise half of the US population.
Estimates suggest that this trend will continue to stay relevant for many years. Add to the fact that most people today have their smartphones with them throughout the day and text messages are seen more often and faster than any other form of communication.
This constant access to their phones increases the chance that they open any message they receive. Emails only get opened 24.8 percent of the time, while SMS messages get opened 98% of the time. This increase in open rates also means higher conversion rates. Some campaigns have even reported 45% conversions using SMS.
As this data spreads, many businesses will transition to include SMS marketing plans. It is vital to stay ahead and take advantage of the strength of SMS campaigns before they become saturated like emails.
Comparing SMS and Email Marketing
Putting marketing campaigns for both platforms side-by-side, you’ll notice how they are quite similar. You could send a text message in a similar way to an email. SMS marketing can be as convenient as emails thanks to:
- Automation software that handles texts and responses on your behalf
- You can gather data from SMS to help you build a list of leads and customers
- You can use SMS to send promotions, campaigns, content, and more.
The distinct advantage that SMS has is the way people treat it. From a psychological perspective, people treat their phones as very personal properties. Being able to communicate through SMS brings in a sense of trust, like you’ve broken the barrier of being strangers or acquaintances.
The only real disadvantage of SMS is that it isn’t suited for long-form emails. SMS messages are meant to be brief and impactful.
Going Beyond Standard SMS
Various SMS programs also have integration with other services and applications. You can integrate AWeber to help you connect your email marketing contacts. This way, you can engage them from two fronts and receive better responses. You can also use CRM and automation services offered by SendInBlue or MailChimp to help ease the process of handling SMS campaigns.
Combining SMS And Email Marketing
While there has been a strong advocate of using SMS, it doesn’t mean that you leave behind email marketing. Emails are still a solid part of the plan and both can supplement each other in your marketing endeavors. What is good about both methods is that there are various tools to help make the process easier. Combining them brings you the best of both worlds, and you can get better overall results using them together.
SMS now has a foothold that makes it a viable email marketing alternative. It will only grow from here on out. 2021 is the best time to be a part of the wave of growth in the SMS world. Many businesses have attested to more success thanks to it.
