In in the present day’s advanced world, electronic mail advertising and marketing alone isn’t sufficient. Corporations must develop a wealthy buyer engagement technique to get a leg up on their competitors and enhance buyer relations.
Top-of-the-line methods to do that is to marry SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing, utilizing each platforms in a strategic option to talk seamlessly together with your prospects.
Though electronic mail and textual content advertising and marketing each have their locations, it’s solely whenever you merge the 2 into one content material advertising and marketing technique that you simply see their full advantages. In reality, prospects want it when manufacturers use omnichannel engagement methods moderately than counting on anyone advertising and marketing technique alone.
What’s SMS advertising and marketing vs. electronic mail advertising and marketing?
Textual content and electronic mail advertising and marketing could seem comparable, however they’re two distinct advertising and marketing practices.
After all, the largest distinction between the 2 advertising and marketing methods is how they’re delivered to prospects. However there are different similarities and variations between SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing which can be price figuring out. Being conscious of them will show you how to glean the best advantages from each methods.
SMS advertising and marketing
SMS advertising and marketing is usually regarded as one other time period for textual content messaging, however in actuality, it’s a lot greater than that. SMS stands for “quick message service.” These messages are restricted to 160 characters and can’t comprise photographs, which signifies that utilizing SMS advertising and marketing requires intelligent, concise messages.
Among the issues that make SMS advertising and marketing so necessary embrace its excessive open charges, timeliness, and supply to generally-receptive audiences. It’s a really highly effective technique — a lot in order that it’s anticipated to develop right into a $12.6 billion trade by the 12 months 2025.
E-mail advertising and marketing
E-mail advertising and marketing refers to sending advertising and marketing messages on to your prospects’ electronic mail inboxes. This may occasionally consult with direct advertising and marketing messages about gross sales or occasions, however it could additionally embrace issues like newsletters, buyer re-engagement emails, and deserted cart summaries.
E-mail advertising and marketing has been proven to boast severe advertising and marketing advantages, from constructing credibility and model recognition to rising site visitors to your web site. In reality, electronic mail advertising and marketing has an ROI of $36 per greenback spent.
What’s widespread between SMS advertising and marketing and electronic mail advertising and marketing?
SMS advertising and marketing and electronic mail advertising and marketing are each permissions-based. To market to both of those channels, companies are legally required to have permission from recipients.
Whereas this may occasionally sound troublesome, a notable profit to opt-in advertising and marketing channels is that recipients have already proven an curiosity in listening to out of your model. Consequently, they might be extra receptive to the content material you share with them, which may give you a greater return in your funding.
What are the largest variations between SMS advertising and marketing and electronic mail advertising and marketing?
One of many largest variations between SMS advertising and marketing and electronic mail advertising and marketing is the dimensions of the messages you’ll be able to ship.
SMS advertising and marketing is sweet for short-form content material to drive speedy engagement. This may occasionally embrace appointment reminders, details about flash gross sales, and occasion reminders.
E-mail advertising and marketing, however, is nice for long-form content material with advanced messages. Bulletins about new product choices, newsletters, and occasion invites are normally greatest despatched by electronic mail.
Advantages of mixing electronic mail and textual content advertising and marketing
While you mix SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing, you stroll away with a easy, but strong, advertising and marketing technique.
E-mail advertising and marketing with SMS is well scalable, well timed, and highly effective. It has the flexibility to ship the suitable messages to your prospects on the proper occasions, resulting in improved engagement and an enormous return in your funding.
Listed below are some noteworthy advantages that come from utilizing SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing collectively.
Cross-compatible information units
Combining SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing signifies that you should use buyer information from one channel to bolster the success of one other channel. For instance, if one buyer reveals an curiosity in baby-related textual content messages, you should use that to replace their buyer profile in your electronic mail checklist to make sure they’re included in baby-related checklist segmentation.
More practical outreach and segmentation
Utilizing a number of advertising and marketing channels to advertise the identical message may show you how to attain extra prospects.
While you use each channels, it’s also possible to observe open charges and engagement. Having that information will help you phase your customers in order that they obtain advertising and marketing messages by way of their most popular channel.
This improves buyer satisfaction together with your model’s advertising and marketing and reduces the probabilities you’ll get marked as spam or placed on a do-not-call checklist.
Higher engagement
Final however not least, utilizing each SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing in the identical marketing campaign helps you enhance omnichannel buyer engagement.
For instance, you may ship out details about an occasion by way of electronic mail, however on the day of the occasion, you’ll then ship a textual content reminder. On this manner, the 2 channels can work collectively to spice up engagement together with your model.
Getting began with SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing
Should you’ve by no means used electronic mail advertising and marketing with SMS, getting began might really feel intimidating. Fortunately, each SMS advertising and marketing and electronic mail advertising and marketing are comparatively simple channels to get off the bottom.
Begin by discovering an SMS and electronic mail platform that can help you schedule each electronic mail advertising and marketing and SMS messages from the identical handy location. Ideally, your platform will embrace easy-to-adjust templates in your electronic mail advertising and marketing campaigns, in addition to a database to retailer electronic mail and SMS contact data.
Getting began with SMS advertising and marketing
Everytime you ship an SMS message, there are specific greatest practices price figuring out. For instance, whereas your prospects might have their telephones on them 24 hours a day, they probably don’t wish to hear from you in any respect hours of day and night time. It’s courteous to restrict SMS advertising and marketing messages to regular 9-5 workplace hours so that you don’t wake your prospects up or interrupt their dinners.
It’s additionally necessary that your SMS messages at all times embrace an opt-out choice. This retains your messaging from feeling spammy and ensures that solely your most receptive prospects are receiving your SMS advertising and marketing messages.
Getting began with electronic mail advertising and marketing
While you’re first getting began with electronic mail advertising and marketing, a very powerful factor is to search out an electronic mail template that you simply like and may use again and again. E-mail templates guarantee your emails look skilled and that your prospects can establish emails out of your model at a look.
Subsequent, arrange a couple of automated drip campaigns. This may occasionally embrace:
- Welcome electronic mail sequences, which go to prospects once they first signal as much as be in your electronic mail checklist
- Deserted cart electronic mail sequences, which go to prospects who positioned objects of their procuring carts however by no means made a purchase order
- Re-engagement sequences, which go to prospects once they haven’t engaged together with your model shortly
Identical to with SMS advertising and marketing, your emails ought to at all times embrace data on how prospects can choose out of your campaigns. It will scale back your bounce fee and enhance engagement down the street by guaranteeing that prospects who don’t care to obtain emails out of your model gained’t obtain them.
Lastly, don’t neglect electronic mail advertising and marketing greatest practices, which embrace retaining a tidy electronic mail checklist, designing mobile-friendly emails, and personalizing your content material.
Tips on how to mix SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing to spice up your campaigns
While you’re operating a brand new advertising and marketing marketing campaign, pondering of the way to make use of electronic mail advertising and marketing and SMS advertising and marketing collectively will help you drive buyer engagement.
The concept isn’t to ship textual content messages and emails at the very same time. As an alternative, it is best to stagger your messages, permitting every channel to do what it does greatest whereas bolstering your total message.
For instance, take into account a enterprise that desires to have a advertising and marketing marketing campaign to get extra prospects to return to a charity 5K stroll. That is how they might use SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing collectively:
- Beginning with an electronic mail drip marketing campaign: Within the electronic mail marketing campaign, they could clarify the charity they’re supporting and why it issues to their model. Then, they could have one other electronic mail telling in regards to the location of the stroll, tips on how to contribute to the occasion, and tips on how to buy tickets.
- Supplementing the drip marketing campaign with SMS advertising and marketing: This electronic mail drip marketing campaign may then be supplemented with SMS advertising and marketing within the days main as much as the occasion that reminds prospects in regards to the occasion and builds hype.
- Sustaining engagement with well-timed SMS and electronic mail outreach: After sending out SMS messages, they might ship a follow-up electronic mail that talks about parking choices and has a map to the 5K’s location. Lastly, on the day of the occasion, they could ship out a “Can’t wait to see you there!” textual content to remind prospects that the large day has arrived.
This technique of going backwards and forwards between electronic mail advertising and marketing and SMS advertising and marketing permits every channel to shine and do what it does greatest whereas speaking an total message between the 2 channels that advantages your prospects.
Use SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing collectively to enhance engagement
SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing are two rising engagement methods. However as an alternative of seeing them as fully separate, corporations can profit by understanding how their variations can be utilized strategically to create an omnichannel engagement technique that each builds hype and informs prospects about upcoming occasions or campaigns.
Get began in the present day by discovering an SMS and electronic mail advertising and marketing platform that you simply like. Then, start watching tutorials and designing your electronic mail templates so you’ll be able to ship out professional-quality messages that characterize your model.
