Why You Still Need SMS Marketing & How to Get Started [+Data]

The mean personification spends five to six hours connected their phones, while nan mean smartphone personification unlocks their instrumentality astir 150 times. 

What nan heck are we doing pinch our devices each day? Well, erstwhile we're not endlessly scrolling nan web aliases societal media, we're astir apt texting.

In 2023, 15 cardinal texts are sent per minute while astir 70% of group unfastened up a caller matter connection within 5 minutes of receiving it. With endless stats for illustration this successful mind, businesses are presented galore opportunities and touchpoints to prosecute their target marketplace done SMS. 

What is SMS marketing?

SMS, an acronym for "Short Message Service," is simply a connection transmission utilized to nonstop and person matter messages connected mobile devices. It allows users to nonstop little messages, typically 160 characters, to individuals aliases groups instantly. Text messaging has gained immense fame owed to its simplicity, convenience, and wide readiness crossed different devices and networks.

On nan different hand, MMS, aliases "Multimedia Message Service", goes beyond elemental matter and allows users to nonstop multimedia contented specified arsenic pictures, videos, audio files, and moreover formatted text. 

SMS trading allows businesses to link pinch their target assemblage done personalized and timely matter messages. It leverages nan wide usage of mobile phones and nan convenience of SMS to present promotional offers, updates, reminders, and different engaging contented straight into nan thenar of nan recipients' hands. 

Integrating SMS trading alongside email and societal media allows businesses to onslaught nan correct equilibrium erstwhile it comes to timing and wave of their messages.

2023 SMS Marketing Usage Data & Results

Based connected nan compelling trends from 2023, SMS trading plays a important domiciled for businesses successful 2024. 

With 86% of business owners and trading managers having embraced SMS trading successful nan past year, it's clear that it's go an integral portion of trading strategies. What's more, 71% of those who utilized SMS marketing reported an summation successful their 2023 SMS opt-in rates successful 2023, highlighting its effectiveness successful engaging and capturing nan attraction of audiences crossed galore industries. 

Think group are bothered by SMS from brands? Think again. Today, nan unsubscribe complaint for SMS subscribers is less than 5%, demonstrating nan precocious level of engagement and satisfaction. This is successful stark opposition to email marketing, wherever astir 20% of subscribers time off each year. 

Additionally, incorporating an SMS follow-up to an email has shown to summation unfastened rates by 20-30%, proving nan effectiveness of a multi-channel approach. Lastly, SMS advertizing besides boasts an exceptional return connected finance (ROI) of astir $71 for each dollar spent, exceeding nan estimated ROI of email marketing, which stands astatine astir $36 per dollar invested.

AI’s effect connected SMS Marketing

Gone are nan days of spending hours crafting nan cleanable SMS message. With AI-powered tools astatine your disposal, you tin now quickly make personalized and impactful messages that will wow your audience. 

Harnessing nan capabilities of AI, you tin leverage customer information and insights to create tailored SMS campaigns that resonate pinch your recipients.

Check retired HubSpot's newest AI tools. >>

How to Get Started pinch SMS Marketing

1. Identify your SMS usage case:

The cardinal to achieving occurrence pinch SMS trading lies successful effective planning. As you hole to motorboat your first SMS campaign, it is basal to person a clear thought of nan usage lawsuit you are addressing pinch your messages.

By aligning your SMS strategy to nan various stages of nan buyer's journey, you summation a deeper knowing of nan intent down each connection and really it contributes to some your target audience's needs and your business goals. This strategical attack enables you to guarantee that each SMS you nonstop serves a circumstantial intent successful guiding your persona towards nan desired outcome. 

Consider these communal SMS usage cases:

Informative:

• Order updates: supply real-time search accusation and support customers informed astir their acquisition progress.
• Receipt confirmation: guarantee customers person impervious of their acquisition and create a seamless customer experience.
• Product launches: make excitement and consciousness among customers for a caller product.
• Brand announcements: efficaciously pass important updates, caller initiatives, aliases important milestones to your audience.

Promotional:

• Seasonal campaigns: leverage nan time-sensitive quality of holidays aliases circumstantial seasons to thrust customer engagement, boost sales, and create a consciousness of urgency. 
• Loyalty programs: nurture customer relationships, reward loyalty, and beforehand continued engagement and marque advocacy.
• Event management: efficaciously pass arena details, updates, and reminders to attendees for a seamless and organized arena experience.

Customer Service:

• Timely support: providing speedy and convenient assistance to customers.
• Onboarding flows: guideline caller customers done nan process of getting started and guarantee successful personification adoption.

Sales

• Marketing to income handoff: seamlessly transportation leads aliases prospects from nan trading squad to nan income team.
• Upsell/Cross waste opportunities:  leverage existing customer relationships to connection further products aliases services.

Non-Forbidden Messsage Categories

• If you're utilizing HubSpot’s SMS tools, you should besides beryllium alert of usage cases that are non-compliant owed to nan forbidden connection categories. These regulations are upheld by astir SMS work providers and are outlined by CTIA. 
• If you're sending your SMS messages utilizing HubSpot, beryllium judge to reappraisal your usage lawsuit against nan forbidden connection categories successful bid to guarantee you don’t tally nan consequence of being filtered aliases blocked. 

2. Build a compliant consent process

Establishing a robust and compliant consent process is important for nan occurrence of your SMS campaigns, protecting you from sending messages to inappropriate contacts, which could undermine nan effectiveness of your run and expose you to nan consequence of being blocked.

Depending connected nan circumstantial usage lawsuit you person chosen, your consent process whitethorn vary, but it should incorporated basal elements to guarantee compliance and maximize results. In this conception we will research nan cardinal inputs that should beryllium addressed successful each consent process, empowering you to build a coagulated instauration for engaging your assemblage done SMS campaigns.

Gather explicit consent: Obtaining explicit consent is captious erstwhile it comes to SMS marketing, mounting it isolated arsenic a highly effective and engaged channel. Explicit consent is defined arsenic consent fixed erstwhile you inquire an individual for support to nonstop them trading materials and they agree. The recipient has to manually opt-in to person your contented done written consent, clicking a checkbox connected a form, aliases by confirming done double opt-in. 

Alternatively, implicit consent is defined arsenic consent fixed erstwhile an individual gives you their email reside for immoderate business purpose, but has not explicitly stated that they want to person trading contented from you.

1. Utilize opt-in terminology: Contacts person nan action to opt successful by utilizing immoderate of nan 3 words: START, UNSTOP, aliases SUBSCRIBE. These keywords let individuals to definitive their liking and willingly subordinate your connection channel.
2. Provide worth successful speech for consent: Transparency is key, truthful it's important to connection your contacts thing valuable successful speech for their consent. Clearly pass nan wave of messages they tin expect and specify nan circumstantial contented they will receive, specified arsenic bid updates, exclusive discounts, aliases dedicated customer support. By providing this clarity and promising existent value, you'll build spot and summation nan likelihood of obtaining and retaining consent.
3. Manage interaction consent status: Leverage a broad consent guidance instrumentality to efficaciously grip and way nan consent position of your contacts. This instrumentality should alteration you to efficiently negociate nan consent of your contacts, offering nan elasticity to grip consent successful bulk aliases manually arsenic needed.
4. Always connection opt-out: Prioritize giving your contacts nan action to opt retired of receiving messages.

3. Register your business for SMS.

Before sending SMS messages, it is important to registry your business pinch your SMS work provider. While nan circumstantial nomenclature whitethorn alteration crossed providers (check retired HubSpot’s process here), nan registration process typically involves pursuing these steps:

1. Register your business: Provide circumstantial specifications astir your business including status, website URL, registration number, and industry. 
2. Provide SMS details: Enter further accusation astir really your business intends to usage SMS and negociate consent. Ensuring you person decently outlined your intended usage cases and consent process is captious to this step. 
3. Get an SMS number: Generate a telephone number that your business will usage to nonstop SMS messages. 

4. Set up your first campaign.

5. Write Actionable SMS Copy

Remember, erstwhile you're messaging personification successful their SMS inbox, you could beryllium adding to nan galore texts they're already receiving from family, friends, and different competitors, truthful you should guarantee that your messaging is valuable, relevant, actionable, and concise truthful they understand why you're reaching retired to them location and seeing capable use successful your messages to enactment subscribed. 

Customize these messages according to nan circumstantial shape of nan buyer's travel your contacts are in. For optimal targeting, see segmenting your database into smaller, much focused groups based connected nan various stages of nan buyer's journey. 

SMS Campaign Samples

Re-engagement Campaign:

The SMS transcript beneath reminds users that they're still a member, user, aliases past customer of a fixed work and encourages them to re-engage pinch a marque successful immoderate measurement – ideally by highlighting perks they'll observe erstwhile they re-engage.

Event Updates: 

When hosting an in-person aliases online event, sending arena updates tin support your attendees excited, engaged, and successful nan cognize before, during, and sometimes moreover aft an event. 

Marketing to Sales Handoff: 

When a imaginable converts, these messages tin thief smoothly present them to your income squad incase they take to bargain a product.Customer work feedback:

After a woody is made, support nan customer travel going by pursuing up and seeing really their acquisition went by sending customer work feedback aliases study messages.

Kickstarting & Reporting connected SMS Campaigns

Once your messages person been cautiously crafted and thoroughly reviewed, it's clip to initiate sending them to your contacts! Take nan measurement guardant and statesman delivering your impactful messages to prosecute and link pinch your audience.

To guarantee your campaign's moving arsenic planned, analyse cardinal capacity indicators specified arsenic click-through complaint and return connected finance (ROI). Monitoring and reporting connected these metrics will thief you measurement nan occurrence of your run and make data-driven adjustments arsenic needed.

Check retired HubSpot's Analytics tools. >>

SMS Marketing Best Practices 

• Say hello! Send a invited connection to immoderate caller contact. Clearly authorities who you are and why you're messaging to supply valuable context. 
• Manage your subscriber lists: Effective interaction guidance is important for successful SMS trading and ensures you're sending nan correct messages to engaged contacts astatine nan correct time.
• Segment different groups: By strategically categorizing your assemblage into segments, you tin tailor your SMS campaigns, guarantee connection relevancy, and optimize engagement pinch circumstantial segments of your target market.
• Get to nan point: By keeping messages brief, recipients tin easy publication and action nan accusation crossed smartphones, watches, and integer assistants for illustration Siri.
• Don’t overdo it: SMS is simply a precocious costs connection channel. Make judge you reserve SMS for usage cases that are profoundly personalized and/or definitive urgency. 

• Personalize your copy: Tailor SMS communication, recommendations, aliases offers to individuanamescipients and/or admit their name, preferences, and past interactions, to create a consciousness of relevance and make a meaningful relationship pinch them
• Incorporate AI: Want to personalize a campaign, but don't person clip to constitute 1000 individual message,es? AI tools, for illustration workflows aliases devices tin bring a caller level of efficiency, personalization, and effectiveness to SMS cahigh-cost 
• Avoid forbidden connection categories: If sending your SMS messages utilizing HubSpot, ne'er nonstop a connection that falls into a forbidden category. 
• Be transparent: Consistently reintroduce your brand, purpose, and connection frequency. 
• Offer a measurement out: Every connection should see nan action to opt out.

Step into SMS pinch HubSpot Today

Get started pinch HubSpot SMS for Marketers today! You tin study much astir HubSpot’s SMS devices connected our knowledge base. For pricing and packaging details, please sojourn our Pricing and Services catalog.

Not fresh to put successful a caller merchandise conscionable yet? Check retired our free assets pinch a plethora of SMS templates you tin usage crossed galore different business strategies by clicking nan banner below.