When marketing your brand, you have to go for as many diverse options as possible. Digital marketing has been delivering great results to brands that take time to carefully plan and strategize their market positions. Digital marketing is an umbrella term that includes a range of channels and techniques.
Social media marketing is a famous marketing process that uses online social platforms to promote a business. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, etc., see huge activity from businesses around the world.
Be it a startup, home business, mid-sized enterprise, or a global mega-brand, everyone can use social media platforms to attract more followers and customers. After all, statistics show that around 70% of US citizens have a social media account.
Sounds great, right?
There’s another marketing process that has gained fame in recent years and has immense potential in the coming years. We are talking about SMS marketing. Also known as text marketing, it is the process of sending promotional and informational messages to customers.
SMS Marketing is becoming popular as 96% of Americans have mobile phones, and a majority of them prefer to receive a text from a business instead of a phone call. Moreover, landline texting is possible with SMS marketing, and you don’t even have to change your business contact numbers.
So which one should you opt and why? Let’s take a look.
Social Media Marketing
There’s no denying the advantage of using social media to reach a wide range of audiences. Geographical barriers are not a concern when you use social media for promoting the brand.
• Instagram is the best place to attract teens
• Pinterest is a favorite site for women
• Facebook has users from all age groups
Furthermore, social media platforms allow direct interaction and communication with users. You have a higher probability of convincing your followers to convert into customers.
• Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., provide analytics to help track views, new audiences, and the reach of every post.
• You can place ads and select your target demographic to take the brand to newer markets.
• With persistence and continuous effort, you can build an organic follower base and steadily build the brand name over time.
However, social media marketing is not without a few drawbacks. The major cause of concern is the ability to attract the audience’s attention and keep them interested in the brand. You could share valuable content and still not get the level of results you expect. Also, with the platforms keep changing their algorithms, it is hard to constantly change and optimize the content to increase visibility.
Another disadvantage of social media marketing is the increase in pay-to-play models. Organic growth is getting slower as more brands are investing heavily in paid ads to increase their reach. You are competing with large budgets and algorithms that may not always work in your favor.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should stop social media marketing. The platforms are still vital to keep in the public’s eyes and allow direct communication with prospective leads.
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing helps you minimize and balance the disadvantages of social media marketing. For example, text messages don’t compete with other posts. There is no scrolling involved in a text message. The text is short, crisp, and to the point.
It takes less time to read and grasp an SMS than a social media post. And you can also add a shortened link in the message to take the customers to your business website. The click-through rate of a text message is close to 30%, and around half of them end up making a purchase.
People have their mobile phones with them almost throughout the day. They may not have access to an internet connection, but they can still receive and read text messages. SMS marketing doesn’t require an internet connection (for the customers). You need an internet connection to manage business text marketing and automate the messages.
A person who doesn’t check their emails or social media accounts is not likely to know about your brand unless you send them a text message. While it is true that you need the customers to opt-in to receive the messages, this permission is not hard to get.
Another biggest advantage of SMS marketing is Landline Texting. Companies like TXTImpact offer business text marketing and text-to-landline services. This enables you to use your existing landline number to send and receive text messages. You can establish a direct communication channel with each customer. There is no need to place ads for SMS marketing.
SMS Marketing Vs. Social Media
Though both marketing methods are necessary for a business, SMS marketing has more potential to increase the conversion rate, customer experience, and returns. TXTImpact works with businesses from all industries.
