As a marketer, you must know how to promote your business and ways to adopt for maximum customer reach. Choosing smart and wise is imperative for achieving the highest return on investment (ROI).
Marketing campaigns can be conducted through various channels, but you should know which of your preferences and research will work the best for you. Deciding between Email Marketing and SMS marketing can be difficult, given the various pros and cons of both these means.
While email marketing has been popular amongst marketers for decades, the last couple of years has seen a steep rise in the popularity of SMS marketing.
With the end goal of achieving maximum ROI, choosing between email and SMS marketing for your campaign can be confusing.
Factors to consider: SMS vs Email Marketing
There are several things you need to consider before choosing between SMS and Email Marketing such as:-
• Open Rate - This is of utmost significance as it can be a decisive factor in grabbing the customer's attention. SMS marketing has the upper hand in this field, with an open rate of around 98%, while email campaigns have an approximate open rate of 20%.
• Delivery and reception - Each day more emails are sent out than text messages. Yet almost 50% of these emails end up in the spam folder of the customers. Text message marketing, on the other hand, has a better response rate. The customer receives an instant notification.
• Click-through Rate - Customers are much more likely to click on the links provided over SMS than through email. It is primarily because text messages are much shorter, whereas long emails can cause the customer to lose interest before reaching the link.
• Customization - Emails can be better customized than text messages due to the word limitations of the latter. Email marketing thus has the advantage of being more customizable and detailed, whereas text messages will have to be extremely precise and brief about the information the marketer is seeking to get through to the customers.
Pros of Email Marketing
• Email marketing can help to boost brand trust while adding a sense of authenticity.
• A large percentage of customers have shown their preference for emails as a method of communicating with brands. It also leads to higher brand recognition and increases conversion rates.
• Email marketing has a high ROI rate making it a great option for businesses trying to expand themselves.
• Automation of email can help you reach the right customers at the right time with less work.
Cons of Email Marketing
• Primary hindrance to email marketing is the blocking filters employed by various email service providers. So most marketing emails are grouped under spam, gravely affecting their visibility amongst emails labeled as important.
• Customers can be bothered by emails sent from large and impersonal lists. Spamming a potential customer can be detrimental to the growth of a business, and thus, it is essential to personalize emails for better effect.
• Email marketing has lower click-through and open rates. Considering that a customer receives many marketing emails daily, it is uncertain if your emails are being seen.
• Long emails can lead to a customer losing interest in your service, causing lower engagement rates.
Pros of SMS Marketing
• The response rate of text message marketing is much higher than any other medium. An SMS, on average, is read within three minutes of receipt and has a greater chance of grabbing the attention of the customer
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• The aforementioned point also points to a higher engagement rate as compared to email marketing. A consumer is more likely to read through an SMS than through a lengthy email.
• A big plus point of SMS marketing is that it does not require the use of the internet. It can help you reach a wider audience through text message marketing.
Cons of SMS Marketing
• Ill-timed and poorly constructed text messages can harm a brand's reputation by lowering the customer's trust in it.
• SMS marketing can be costlier than email marketing.
• The word limitations on text messages is a big disadvantage. Marketers will have to work harder to get across their message in a clear and precise manner.
How to Choose?
If you want to promote multiple products or send company updates and newsletters, email marketing is the right choice for you. Emails are generally more personalized and interactive, making them effective in increasing sales. On the other hand, you can opt for SMS marketing, if you want to promote a single product or want customers to join your loyalty program through attractive offers. Text messages can also be used to answer customer queries or ask for reviews.
In conclusion, it is best to use a combination of both these marketing strategies to get optimal business growth.
