Comparing email and SMS marketing: which of these channels is better for business? Pros and cons of emails and SMS. Using “email + SMS” combo – a huge mistake or a future strategy?
For many years email communication has been the only regular tool to remind customers of your brand. And since text marketing has come into business, it competes with emails in speed, cost-effectiveness and reliability. So, when we compare both email and SMS marketing, which of these channels is better?
In modern digital marketing mix emails and SMS should work together to provide complete task performance. But when one type of message is better to deliver via email, the other is more efficient to be delivered via SMS. The question now is how to use both email and SMS marketing to increase your business ROI.
Navigation of Contents
SMS and emails: what’s the difference?
As people see tons of different content during each day (in smartphones, on TV, on the streets), businesses are constantly in search of the best method to win consumers’ attention.
According to statistics 78% of buyers choose text messages as a priority way of using their smartphones. So why not place bets on SMS marketing?
There is a huge difference between email and SMS marketing across several important criteria:
- The open rate of SMS texts is 98% when emails perform only 20% of open rate
- Emails have 2.5% Click-Through-Rate (CTR), when SMS show more than 9% CTR which is the highest number within all the digital channels
- Respond rate: people answer emails within 90 minutes. And SMS responses come on average after 90 seconds!
When it comes to open rate and response rate it’s obvious that SMS marketing is a complete winner. But does it mean that emails lose? No! Email marketing comes on stage when you need to send:
- Long-form educational materials
- B2B messages with technical content
- Press releases
- Visual information, presentations based on photo and video content.
How to find balance between SMS and email usage?
These two channels work best when they are complimentary. Use SMS for time-urgent offers, text polls and other ways of communication when you need feedback. And benefit from emails when you need to share long, photo/video rich content with continuous access.
Tips on using SMS marketing
- According to the law you can text only to those clients who subscribed to get messages. Also, you need to include an unsubscribe option in your every SMS.
- Limit your messages, your customers don’t want to feel bombarded with them.
- Make your SMS maximum personal.
- Promote exclusive offers or timely sales to get a fast reaction from your clients.
- Brief text is a must. It’s better when SMS is less than 160 characters.
Tips on using email marketing
- Clients should choose whether they want to receive your emails. Unsubscribe option also needs to be in every email.
- Be regular but don’t spam your customers. 1 email every 2 weeks will be comfortable for your clients to receive.
- Promote long-form quality detailed content. It must be easy for your clients to come back to the info any time it’s convenient for them and read on.
- Try to make your emails interactive. It’s the unique feature of emails! Quizzes, interactive forms, previews of your products are perfect to add.
Tips how to use SMS and email together:
- In SMS you can encourage clients to subscribe for your email newsletter (where you announce promos weekly, for example). Email newsletters are irreplaceable as they can generate up to 50% more sales for the company than any other promotion method.
- After receiving a customer's order, you confirm it with email and then follow up the delivery with SMS sending tracking updates.
- Announce new products, services and updates via email. And then go SMS when you need to mass inform about flash sales.
According to statistics 58% of customers would like to hear from brands several times a week via SMS. So why shouldn’t you stay in touch using text marketing?
The best marketing strategies include both emails and SMS without choosing between them. And multifunctional marketing software allows to implement and automate both. So you shouldn’t discard any of these two mailing methods but maximize the effect and the strength of each one in your business.