The Truth Behind 4 Common SMS Marketing Myths

By now, you have likely either received a text message from a business or considered using text message marketing for your own business. No longer a futuristic concept, SMS marketing is very much the present—and very much here to stay.

There are many myths that make some businesses, especially small businesses, hesitant to take advantage of this method of reaching customers. Before you make your final decision on whether or not to get into the SMS game, take the time to look those myths square in the eye and see the real truth.

Myth #1—Customers Don’t Want Text Messages

Are you sure about this? According to Hipcricket, 57% of of today’s consumers indicate they would happily join a text-based loyalty program and a staggering 90% of people who have actively participated in such programs believe they benefited from them. Upstream reports that 70% of American consumers say they actually want to receive SMS offers from companies. The message here is that your customers are very open to receiving text messages from you—if they are relevant and offer something to them.

Myth #2—It’s Too Expensive

This could not be further from the truth. SMS messages cost mere pennies to create and send and most businesses can get a solid text messaging program in place for less than $20 a month. For most companies, that is a cost that can be recouped in just a few sales, if not only one. Even if you utilize a vendor for help, the lack of setup costs and onerous backend processes are non-issues in this arena.

Myth #3—My Customers Don’t Use SMS

If you think that only teenagers and maybe young 20-somethings are the only people who text, you could not be more wrong. Acision reports that 96% of people with smartphones text and they text to the point where 41% of them feel that they would be lost without texting. No matter what your business, you can bet that your customers use SMS on a regular basis.

Myth #4—It Doesn’t Work

Once again, the metrics can show the truth here. Cellit’s data shows that engagement rates from SMS messages are to 8 times greater than those from emails. Mailchimp and Textboard numbers corroborate this indicating that the average email click-thru-rate is 4.2% but the average SMS CTR is 19%. In the world of coupons, text-based offers outperform their hardcopy counterparts with a use or sharing rate 10 times greater.

Are You Ready Now?

The truth is simple—these facts spell opportunity in capital letters for your business. Now is the ideal time for you to implement a text-based marketing program as many of your competitors have yet to go there. When you are the first to capture your audience in this way, you will not only engage with them but you will set yourself apart from the competition.