Text message marketing for small business is an effective way to reach users and grow your customer base by sending coupons, special deals, current events and other information with the help of a text message marketing software directly to users’ phones. A lot of text message marketing services allow companies to send MMS (multimedia messages) or ask questions with a survey or poll.
Text message marketing for small business is particularly useful. More established businesses can afford to spend millions on advertising above the line e.g. billboards, TV advertisements etc. Unfortunately, this is not a luxury that small businesses can afford. Hence text message marketing for small businesses is the perfect solution. It is extremely cost-efficient, easy to use, flexible and boasts a much higher open rate as well as a higher response rate. TV advertisements are the most expensive and are only usually aired by multinational companies that have the financial resources to do so. Billboard advertisements, on the other hand, cost 80% less than TV ads (according to Air Outdoor). Even so, an average billboard advertisement costs $10000 for 4 weeks in the United States whereas mass text combined does not even cost half this amount.
Text message marketing for small business includes restaurant franchises, cafes, boutiques, retail brands, newly established businesses and especially entrepreneurs that run online home-based businesses. Due to the numerous benefits and the ability to reach users directly, not only small but also large businesses opt for this method of marketing. Multinational companies like KFC and McDonalds use text message marketing to send discounts and deals to their customers frequently. Since most text messages are opened and read within a rapid 90 seconds by teenagers (as researched by EZ Texting) businesses do not have to worry about their advertisements reaching users. In fact, time-sensitive offers, promotions or even awareness issues are sent through text to reach consumers as soon as possible.
The problem with above the line advertising is that even after spending huge sums of money, the chances of an effective marketing campaign are still less. For example, billboards are only limited to one place, can only display limited information and are only rented for a limited amount of time. This decreases the chances of people viewing it. With text marketing, entrepreneurs can enjoy much better results at a much lower cost. Text local has found that businesses boast a much higher response rate than mobile advertising (more details available on the website). A good example of this would be a local dentist who is running a private clinic with no business expertise. He/she does not have to spend large amounts of money on a marketing team to attract clients. Instead, the dentist can just sign up on a web based texting platform, import a list of subscribed clients living in the area and send out text messages informing them about the business. Text message marketing for small business is a much more personalized approach where interested users are more likely to read and respond to the text. They can easily call up the clinic and pay a visit. Thus, the best method of gaining a higher Return on Investment is through text message marketing.
SMS marketing for small businesses is especially useful, since you can interact directly with your customers on their mobile device, and offer them special deals, discounts, or other promotions that they can redeem immediately or use at their convenience.
Benefits for small business include: easy, cheap direct marketing to customers, targeted messaging for different customer groups, higher acceptance of marketing messages since they’re opt-in only, and high redemption rate of coupons & offers received via SMS.
No, you can get started with SMS marketing for free. You can start with a free trial of an online texting platform like Express Text to evaluate the service, and expand to other pricing packages as your business needs and marketing outreach grow.
Getting set up to start sending SMS blasts is easy! Just sign up for a free trial account with Express Text, upload or add your customer phone numbers, create your first keyword and message, and start texting customers today!