At ENX2, we’re always trying to provide everything we can for our clients so they have every marketing opportunity available to them. We work to provide SEO-optimized websites, active social media accounts, email marketing blasts, and more. But there’s been one avenue that we haven’t provided that our clients have asked about: SMS marketing.
Text messaging is how most people communicate, and it only makes sense that marketing goes there too. We haven’t rushed in with the different and heavily enforced laws around marketing through text messages and their SMS technology. We want our clients to find success, not get in trouble with the government powers in charge.
But now, with a text messaging platform we can use freely–and eventually open to our clients– we have entered the foray of SMS marketing.
What is SMS Marketing?
SMS stands for short-message-service. If you’ve ever sent a text message from your phone, you’ve likely used an SMS message. This technology uses one message for every 160 characters and contains pictures, videos, and links. If you go over 160 messages, it’ll count as two messages to the phone provider.
SMS marketing is sending marketing messages through SMS. While technically anyone can make up a marketing message and send it out… that would be costly, expensive, inefficient, and just plain difficult. Instead, we have a platform where we upload contacts like any email marketing platform and schedule a message to go to them at a specified date and time.
There is also MMS or multi-media service. For the recipient, it doesn’t look much different. The main difference is that the texts are longer and have a 1600-word limit, so marketers splurge on words. They also don’t store media like images, videos, and gifs in links like SMS does. Instead, MMS shows the image right before or after the image, as smartphones do. There is a price difference between them, but not a large difference.
How Does Our SMS Marketing Work?
We’ve already tested the platform with several of our clients to help them boost their upcoming events. Our platform is easy to log in to, with login and sign-up buttons in the top corner of our website now.
This makes it easy for us and our clients to start. From there, it’s the usual sign-up and login you usually see. Then you just have to start a new campaign and place the content and extra features you want for your text marketing campaign.
How it Worked for Us!
We offered this to one of our clients as a new addition to their package at no extra charge if they would be our guinea pig. They’re a restaurant and music venue that has been successful at serving people a great menu before a spectacular musical performance.
They took a break over July to prepare for having a new headliner every weekend of August. We sent 380 of their previous visitors text messages about the first concert of the weekend! Now, SMS has a high open rate of 98% and a high click-thru rate of 45% on average, but that’s for SMS marketing that’s been at it for a while. When just starting, a click-thru rate is lucky if they get something half that high.
Well, our client was very lucky! For their first marketing message, they had 29% of the people who received it open the link. This link went right to their online portal where people can buy tickets to the soonest upcoming show. Their open rate also matched the industry rate of 98%, exceeding our expectations!
Now, the goal is to continue building trust with the audience, raise our client’s click-thru rates to match and supersede SMS marketing standards, and sell even more tickets!
Contact ENX2 Marketing to Learn More About SMS Marketing
This is a new venture for us and to compete, we brought on marketing specialists experienced in SMS marketing. We’re dedicated to making this an exciting and successful marketing for our clients so that they’re reaching out to as many of their potential customers as possible. Brands and businesses everywhere have the chance to be on everyone’s mind, and SMS marketing is another way to do that.
If you have any interest or questions about what SMS marketing can do for you, contact ENX2 Marketing. We’re ready and excited to help you.