Did you know that SMS Blast has many pros but also a few cons? While a lot of marketers have pointed out the fact that this new strategy can increase ROI, its potential disadvantages can also let you down.
In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of SMS blast and what can you do about it.
Let’s start with the advantages of SMS blast.
Pros
Better direct response rate than email – Simply because people prefer to receive text alerts than newsletters. Let’s be real, smartphone users are growing in numbers exponentially and texting is like second nature to these people. The moment they receive a text message, they’ll open and read it, and if lucky, you’ll get a response in seconds!
Software integrations – Business growth can be developed over the years, but not having the right tools to capitalize on it is a wasted opportunity.
What’s great about SMS marketing is that you can do API integrations with your existing customer relationship management software. This will allow you to automate a lot of marketing efforts you need to do to keep up with the demand.
Adaptable to changes – And as your customer base grows, so will your subscriber list. You will need to contact your SMS service provider to let them know that you want to upgrade your current subscription plan to accommodate more text messages monthly.
Guess what? It’s possible with text message marketing, and you can even ask to have a plan customized for you.
And now, here’s the other side of the coin: The CONS!
You can be on the verge of getting too personal with your recipients – Text messaging is a personal activity for many people. You can’t be too intrusive in your messages nor raise your text frequencies weekly unlike in social media where you can post up to 6 updates daily and no one will bat an eye.
Little to no advertising space – There’s no way to include a display ad in your text messages. But if you do sound like a spammer though, sending your customers irrelevant junk, expect to receive an “unsubscribe” or “STOP” response. Just leave your display ads on the web, social media and apps.
You’re limited to 160 characters – Most standard SMS blasts do have this limitation. But think about it, if you’re not going to need a 1000-character text message on a regular basis because your recipients don’t like it that way, then 160 characters would suffice.
So, are you ready to benefit from an SMS blast and accept its challenges?