Top sms marketing trends 2023

Top 10 SMS Marketing Trends in 2023

Entering the 2020s, SMS has proven the most popular form of marketing. It’s easy to set up with the right text message platforms and can provide a greater return on investment than either phone campaigns or advertisements in the mail. The popularity is showing no sign of waning and it will be vital to take note of these current and developing marketing strategies going into the new year.

Personalized Marketing is Still Effective

Customers very much like it when advertising is leveled specifically with them.  Out of the surveyed customers, 73% prefer marketing that works around their interests.  It gives them a sense of being heard and being valued by the marketers, and that their demands are being met.  Even using variables to autofill messages with their names can help garner their attention much more readily.

Personalized Marketing is Still Effective

Customers very much like it when advertising is leveled specifically with them.  Out of the surveyed customers, 73% prefer marketing that works around their interests.  It gives them a sense of being heard and being valued by the marketers, and that their demands are being met.  Even using variables to autofill messages with their names can help garner their attention much more readily.

Diversify Your Marketing

SMS marketing will not necessarily replace the entire marketing mix, but will be a crucial component to better supplement whatever marketing is being conducted.  When it comes to communicating with customers it will make the process just that much more seamless.  As a basic example, if a customer has left a site with a partially filled cart, marketers can send a reminder that the customer was buying from their online store and that they have yet to finish.

Diversify Your Marketing

SMS marketing will not necessarily replace the entire marketing mix, but will be a crucial component to better supplement whatever marketing is being conducted.  When it comes to communicating with customers it will make the process just that much more seamless.  As a basic example, if a customer has left a site with a partially filled cart, marketers can send a reminder that the customer was buying from their online store and that they have yet to finish.

Influencers Realize the Potential

Text messaging was built around typing back and forth between two users.  It works especially for one-on-one communication and serves as a good way for building that relationship with an audience regardless of place or time.  Because influencers are just one person among potentially hundreds of fans, developing that more personal relationship is not easy.  SMS provides a level of focus that isn’t central to platforms like Youtube or Instagram.

Influencers Realize the Potential

Text messaging was built around typing back and forth between two users.  It works especially for one-on-one communication and serves as a good way for building that relationship with an audience regardless of place or time.  Because influencers are just one person among potentially hundreds of fans, developing that more personal relationship is not easy.  SMS provides a level of focus that isn’t central to platforms like Youtube or Instagram.

Texting is for More Than Advertising

SMS is good for driving traffic and increasing revenue, but there are other potential opportunities that expand upon business text messaging.  Reminders for appointments have been frequently used by the likes of medical and dental clinics to ensure that customers arrive on time.  Messages could also see use in onboarding, either informing candidates of their application status or informing them of a second interview.  Texting is incredibly useful as an extended arm of customer service.  For more on the use of texting in the hiring cycle, check out our article here.   Alternatively, we have a good article on the use of SMS in the medical industry here.

Texting is for More Than Advertising

SMS is good for driving traffic and increasing revenue, but there are other potential opportunities that expand upon business text messaging.  Reminders for appointments have been frequently used by the likes of medical and dental clinics to ensure that customers arrive on time.  Messages could also see use in onboarding, either informing candidates of their application status or informing them of a second interview.  Texting is incredibly useful as an extended arm of customer service.  For more on the use of texting in the hiring cycle, check out our article here.  Alternatively, we have a good article on the use of SMS in the medical industry here.

SMS Marketing for Business

SMS Automation

There are ways to use text messaging to avoid diverting resources or employees away from critical tasks.  Already, automation is good for individually tailoring messages to fit specific customers with values and names or setting up messages to automatically send after specific triggers.  If customers have inquiries, it’s highly likely that most information is already made available through Q&As and it’s just a matter of directing them to the right resources.  Finally, using the customer’s interests, messages can attempt repeated prompts to maintain interest in other products.

SMS Automation

There are ways to use text messaging to avoid diverting resources or employees away from critical tasks.  Already, automation is good for individually tailoring messages to fit specific customers with values and names or setting up messages to automatically send after specific triggers.  If customers have inquiries, it’s highly likely that most information is already made available through Q&As and it’s just a matter of directing them to the right resources.  Finally, using the customer’s interests, messages can attempt repeated prompts to maintain interest in other products.

Cost-Effective Customer Retention

Speaking of maintaining interest, where teams of people would have been working around the clock to keep a two-way conversation going, automated SMS provides convenience for both parties.  It’s faster, more efficient, and won’t require an available employee to be on the line to answer questions about the status of a shipment.  With more employees to go around, efforts and funding can be focused on other marketing methods.  For more tips and tricks on how to avoid making customers unsubscribe, the pointers mentioned so far are shared in greater detail here.

Cost-Effective Customer Retention

Speaking of maintaining interest, where teams of people would have been working around the clock to keep a two-way conversation going, automated SMS provides convenience for both parties.  It’s faster, more efficient, and won’t require an available employee to be on the line to answer questions about the status of a shipment.  With more employees to go around, efforts and funding can be focused on other marketing methods.  For more tips and tricks on how to avoid making customers unsubscribe, the pointers mentioned so far are shared in greater detail here.

New Telecommunication Regulations

The FCC recognizes that SMS is rapidly becoming a vector for change – and harm.  New requirements will impose upon wireless providers the need to sift through on a network level and block messages that are from invalid or unused numbers and numbers from a blacklist.  It will make sending advertisements a bit more difficult without unwittingly landing in the blacklist, but customers will more easily trust what advertisers send.

New Telecommunication Regulations

The FCC recognizes that SMS is rapidly becoming a vector for change – and harm.  New requirements will impose upon wireless providers the need to sift through on a network level and block messages that are from invalid or unused numbers and numbers from a blacklist.  It will make sending advertisements a bit more difficult without unwittingly landing in the blacklist, but customers will more easily trust what advertisers send.

10-Digit Long Codes are a Safe Bet

People are wary of shortcodes and other hallmarks of potential scammers and identity thieves.  Using a 10-Digit Long Code (10DLC for short) is a local number that businesses can use for sending texts and making calls.  While not consistently, people tend to trust local numbers more than a toll-free numbers.

10-Digit Long Codes are a Safe Bet

People are wary of shortcodes and other hallmarks of potential scammers and identity thieves.  Using a 10-Digit Long Code (10DLC for short) is a local number that businesses can use for sending texts and making calls.  While not consistently, people tend to trust local numbers more than a toll-free numbers.

Discounts and Promotional Events

It’s important to ensure customers will be repeat customers through the use of brand loyalty.  People want to know about discounts on their favorite brands and are keen on remaining informed about such offers.  VIP programs, birthdays, and anniversaries are also very effective times to implement timed discounts on products that are only up for grabs during limited times.  Or if a new product is being launched, they want to know.

Discounts and Promotional Events

It’s important to ensure customers will be repeat customers through the use of brand loyalty.  People want to know about discounts on their favorite brands and are keen on remaining informed about such offers.  VIP programs, birthdays, and anniversaries are also very effective times to implement timed discounts on products that are only up for grabs during limited times.  Or if a new product is being launched, they want to know.

From Website to SMS

Chatbots are a common and popular feature on a lot of websites for getting help quickly without having to wait for company staff to provide insight.  As AI technologies continue to improve, generating a natural conversation with minimal insight can provide custom answers to customer inquiries.  Customers enjoy the feeling of employee interaction and AI is steadily overcoming its rigid, mechanical limitations in simulating an organic conversation.

From Website to SMS

Chatbots are a common and popular feature on a lot of websites for getting help quickly without having to wait for company staff to provide insight.  As AI technologies continue to improve, generating a natural conversation with minimal insight can provide custom answers to customer inquiries.  Customers enjoy the feeling of employee interaction and AI is steadily overcoming its rigid, mechanical limitations in simulating an organic conversation.

The Bottom Line

Email marketing still has a place in this world with the majority of marketers agreeing that email campaigns provide the greatest return on investment for marketing expenditures.  However, SMS campaigns are much cheaper than their email counterparts, have a much higher open and interaction rate, and are visible on a device people much more frequently interact with.  Generally speaking, SMS is going to reach more people.  While it would be unwise to decree email as a completely antiquated method of marketing, marketing strategies going into 2023 will just be much more pivotal using SMS over contemporary methods.

The Bottom Line

Email marketing still has a place in this world with the majority of marketers agreeing that email campaigns provide the greatest return on investment for marketing expenditures.  However, SMS campaigns are much cheaper than their email counterparts, have a much higher open and interaction rate, and are visible on a device people much more frequently interact with.  Generally speaking, SMS is going to reach more people.  While it would be unwise to decree email as a completely antiquated method of marketing, marketing strategies going into 2023 will just be much more pivotal using SMS over contemporary methods.

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Dolan Cleary

Dolan Cleary

I am a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and am now working as a web technician. Currently working within the marketing department.

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