In recent years, SMS and email marketing have become two of the most popular methods for businesses to reach their customers. But if you are new to both SMS and email marketing, it might be difficult to recognize the benefits and drawbacks that each form of marketing brings.
SMS marketing is great for reaching audiences at all times during the day, while email marketing is perfect for presenting the right offer in the best possible light. However, that’s only nudging this complex topic. Below, you will find which marketing strategy better suits your business needs.
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing can be a powerful tool for promotion when used correctly. It allows businesses to quickly and easily reach target audiences in a cost-effective and direct way. On the other hand, it’s important to take time to consider the disadvantages of SMS marketing as well.
For example, some people may find receiving unsolicited SMS messages intrusive or annoying and might opt out. Additionally, messages are limited in terms of length and images, so there isn’t always enough space to provide full details of your services or offers. Despite these potential drawbacks, if done correctly, SMS marketing can see great results for companies who are willing to invest the appropriate resources into their campaigns.
If you want to achieve success, you first have to build your SMS marketing list. You can do that on your site with the help of pop-ups that carry a strong incentive, such as a discount code or a freebie.
While the drawbacks of SMS are apparent in terms of content limitation, there’s a little cheat code you can use. For those that have subscribed to your SMS list and filled their carts but have yet to complete their purchase, all you have to do is prepare a personalized message and send it out at the right time.
To put things into perspective, sending an SMS to respawn shopping carts will remind the individual in question that they wanted to purchase your products but haven’t gone over the finish line just yet.
If you want to ensure that a purchase is made, offer a limited-time offer if the link attached to the SMS message is clicked. This will create a sense of urgency and incentivize the prospect to act fast and not miss the opportunity.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a popular marketing strategy that is used by many businesses today. It allows companies to quickly reach their customer base with information about upcoming promotions, discounts, newsletters related to their products and services, and so much more.
While email marketing can be highly effective in getting the word out to an extensive list of subscribers, there are both pros and cons associated with it.
Some advantages include being able to track who opened the message, how long they stayed on it, what links they clicked on within the email, and allowing customers to share your message with their own personal networks.
On the other hand, some potential drawbacks include having customers unsubscribe from your list because of too many emails, unreliable delivery of messages due to certain firewalls and spam filters, and not being able to properly customize messages for each customer. All in all, email marketing can be an effective way for businesses of any size to connect with their current followers as well as attract new ones.
As with SMS, you will first have to build your email list if you want to see ROI from your efforts.
A Head-To-Head Comparison
While both SMS and email marketing can offer great returns on investment, it’s important to consider the differences in cost and performance when deciding which is the best option for businesses. For example, compared to email campaigns, SMS messages have a higher read rate and open rate, making them a more valuable communication tool.
Additionally, the cost of setting up and running an SMS campaign is lower than that of an email campaign, making it more accessible to companies of all sizes. Still, email marketing is as cost-efficient as digital marketing gets. You can expect to earn $36 for every $1 invested in an email marketing campaign.
However, SMS’s ROI of $8.11 for each message shows how effective this marketing format can be. So, if you want something that works and brings results, keep both email marketing and SMS marketing on the cards.
Bottom Line
All in all, SMS marketing and email marketing each offer their own unique benefits and drawbacks. For those with a limited budget, SMS is a cost-effective way to get messages quickly to many customers. Email marketing offers more flexibility in design and content, which can be of huge benefit if you know how to create the perfect email copy.