Marketing has come a long way and great marketers have realized that standing out is the only competitive advantage in marketing. But that’s easier said than done. Especially since most channels are overcrowded, it’s difficult to compete with big budgets and spend tons of money only to get a 1-3% conversion rate.
Luckily, this guide to SMS marketing for agencies will make standing out a lot easier, and provide you with useful insights about utilizing SMS marketing in your agency to get another stream of revenue and happy clients.
Welcome to SMS marketing 101 – the ultimate guide to SMS marketing for agencies. Sell SMS to your clients, the channel with the highest engagement, and prepare for your agency to stay ahead of competitors.
Put your seatbelt on and prepare for a ride to the world of SMS marketing, where a 40% conversion rate doesn’t have to be a dream.
What Is SMS Marketing?
SMS Marketing is a part of marketing that bridges the gap between digital and traditional marketing. It’s been around for decades, and it doesn’t rely on social media or websites, but on mobile phones that 98% of adults have in their hands for hours every day.
It allows businesses to reach and engage with their audience instantly, on a channel they gladly check almost immediately when the notification pops up. SMS marketing messages can range from anything such as reminders to promotional SMS that offer special discounts.
Compared to other channels, SMS marketing stands out due to its great performance and results because it has an open rate in the range of 90-98% and a conversion rate that can go as high as 40%.
It’s only a matter of time before every business realizes its power, and marketing agencies such as yours can easily capitalize on that demand.
Dive Deeper Into SMS Marketing Use Cases
Not every business is suitable for SMS marketing, but most businesses are. What are SMS marketing use cases?
- Ecommerce stores can send promotional SMS to increase sales, especially when running big marketing campaigns such as for Black Friday.
- Healthcare facilities can nurture their patients and send them appointment reminders, thus increasing customer satisfaction and consequently their own revenue.
- Delivery companies can increase brand loyalty and enhance customer experience with delivery tracking through SMS marketing.
- Big FMCG stores can utilize SMS loyalty programs and beat the competition by always having loyal customers who always buy from them.
- Nonprofits can use SMS marketing for fundraising campaigns and raise both awareness and funds for things that matter.
Of course, different industries have different ways to get the most out of SMS marketing. Some ways are more obvious than others, such as sending discount codes to SMS subscribers and get instant results. But SMS marketing doesn’t have to be just promo texts. It’s the way to reach customers, grab attention and keep it while building trust among audiences that matter the most.
SMS marketing strengthens the bond between brands and customers, and that bond is more important than ever.
Make the Most Out of Benefits of Bulk SMS Marketing
As a marketer, you know that benefits sell better than features. And there are multiple benefits of bulk SMS marketing you can use to persuade your clients to use it. But you need to be convinced first, right? So here are 5 main benefits of bulk SMS marketing:
1. Instant Delivery
You don’t have to wonder whether it will end up in spam, or if a subscriber will read it in two weeks. SMS has instant delivery, and most people open it in 3 minutes after receiving the text.
2. Personalized SMS Marketing
People text with their friends, and if they subscribed to the company’s SMS list, they trust them. Because of that, SMS marketing is highly personal in nature, and offers you a chance to create a strong bond between brands and customers.
3. Strengthen Brand’s Relationship With Customers
SMS marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your customers, thus building the brand loyalty and helping them choose your brand over competitors. Strengthen the relationship with customers by offering them special perks and benefits with every SMS campaign you publish.
4. Powerful Analytics
Track every important metric such as delivery rate, open rate, and click through rate of SMS marketing to make smarter decisions in the future. Powerful SMS analytics offer you the chance to perform better with every SMS campaign, and optimize it for tangibly better results.
5. Low Effort, High Gain
Forget long-form copy, SMS is only 160 characters long. It doesn’t require much time to come up with SMS copy, but it also guarantees subscribers will read it through the end, no matter how bad their attention span is. Fill every SMS with value, and watch your conversions going through the roof. SMS marketing is super simple, cost effective and less time consuming than any other channel.
Still not convinced? We have a list of additional 11 benefits of bulk SMS marketing you can enjoy immediately after you start utilizing it.
Explore Different Types of Bulk SMS Marketing
With SMS marketing, there are endless opportunities to engage with potential customers and increase the revenue. While promotional in nature, you also need to be aware of the long-term potential of SMS marketing.
Measuring SMS ROI is great, but as a marketer you know that metrics are not always straightforward. Sometimes you’ll only see minimum growth, but over time that growth will become exponential. The same goes with texts, and here are some types of bulk SMS marketing you can start utilizing right now:
1. Send Promotional SMS
Promotional SMS is the way to go if you want to increase your sales fast. Send SMS campaigns along with running campaigns on other channels, and experience powerful results of cross-promotion firsthand.
2. Utilize SMS Coupon Marketing
Everyone loves to get coupons with discounts. When people get something valuable from it, SMS marketing isn’t invasive as many people think it is.
3. SMS Announcements
Have something important to say? Say it loudly with SMS announcements. Perfect for launching new products, and informing customers about product restocking.
Collect Marketing Phone Numbers and Grow SMS Subscriber List
If you haven’t collected marketing phone numbers from your customers, growing an SMS list can feel daunting. But like with any other marketing channel, it requires time and patience. You’re an experienced marketer, so you know it’s important to have an audience on multiple channels because that opens the door for powerful cross-promotion.
Here is how you can collect marketing phone numbers and grow SMS list for any client:
- Include an SMS Sign Up Form on Your Website
- Exclusive Offers Are the Way to Go if You Want to Grow Your SMS List
- Run SMS Keyword Campaign and Collect Marketing Phone Numbers
- Turn Your Email List Into Engaged SMS Subscribers
- Run On-Site Campaigns
- Get Creative with QR Codes
- Reward Referrals
- SMS Coupon Marketing
- Instagram Followers to SMS Subscribers
Do you know how to keep a secret? If so, we have even more ways to collect marketing phone numbers and grow your SMS list, but shhh!
Master International SMS Marketing
For global brands, the rules of the SMS marketing game are a little bit different. But don’t worry, with these international SMS marketing tips, we’re 100% sure you’ll nail it:
- Utilize International SMS Remarketing
- Manage Time Zones Like a Pro
- SMS Copywriting for International Brands
- Choose an International SMS Platform
Track Everything With SMS Marketing Analytics
Numbers are important in marketing because often they speak louder than words. Use SMS marketing analytics to gather and analyze quantitive data that will tell you how well you’re performing.
Easily find areas that have room for improvement, and optimize your SMS campaigns based on real-time results. Track these 3 main SMS campaign metrics:
- SMS delivery rate
- SMS click through rate
- SMS conversion rate
After you’ve mastered these 3 SMS metrics, you’ll own the game of SMS marketing analytics.
Set Smart SMS Marketing KPIs
You won’t know your efforts are successful if you don’t set SMS marketing KPIs before publishing your first campaign. What should you measure and which goals should you try to achieve?
- SMS opt in rates
- SMS opt out rates
- SMS marketing response rate
- SMS cost per subscriber
- SMS marketing ROI
Some SMS marketing KPIs are simple and pretty straightforward, while others are more complex and require more effort to calculate and predict. However, as your SMS marketing efforts grow and as you have more data, you should adjust your KPIs as well. In that way, you’ll achieve more with every campaign and get valuable insights to perform better.
Calculate SMS Marketing Cost
Before starting a new marketing endeavor, you need to plan your budget carefully. Because of that, it’s important to know the approximate price you’re going to pay before you start planning SMS campaigns. No one likes unforeseen expenses, especially C-executives, so why not get ahead of it and calculate the price right now?
SMS marketing cost depends on three main factors:
- Your location
- Location of your SMS subscribers
- The monthly volume of SMS messages you send
Most SMS marketing providers charge less than 0.1$ per message, but also offer monthly subscription plans with different pricing tiers tailored to your needs.
Pro tip: The higher your monthly volume of SMS is, the lower your cost per SMS will be. We’ve developed an SMS marketing cost calculator, where you can enter different parameters such as location, and SMS marketing volume and get a 99% accurate price for your SMS campaign.
How to Become a Reputable SMS Marketing Agency
Emitto is built for marketers. Become your clients’ safest bet in these uncertain times and sell SMS as a channel that’s built for increasing their revenue. Transform your agency into a successful SMS marketing agency and expand your services.
Emitto guarantees instant delivery to all of your campaigns, has powerful built-in analytics, offers audience segmentation and highly personalized SMS marketing to achieve better results. We’re fully transparent about SMS marketing cost, so you’ll always stay on the budget.
To provide the best experience, we all need to put customers first. Because of that Emitto is CCPA and GDPR-compliant, which protects your clients’ data but also the data of their customers. If you’re ready to strengthen the relationship between your clients’ businesses and their customers, you can utilize SMS marketing in 3 simple ways:
- Become a member of our bulk SMS marketing affiliate program, where you’ll earn a commission for every SMS you send through Emitto for your clients.
- Use our white label SMS platform to impress your clients with SMS marketing results. You get to rebrand Emitto as it’s your own software, set up your own pricing and skyrocket your revenue.
- Simply sign-up for Emitto, choose a plan that suits your needs best or request a custom plan. We offer generous discounts for high monthly SMS volume, which will make SMS one of the cheapest channels you use.
