7 Great SMS Marketing Examples for Agencies To Learn From
In 2022, there will be 1.43 billion shipments of smartphones globally, according to Statista.
But consider this…in 2009, there were just 173.5 million.
Now, that’s a pretty staggering fact.
And since virtually everyone in your agency’s target audiences owns a smartphone, maybe it’s time to start reaching out to them with SMS marketing.
So you might be wondering, “What’s in it for me?”
Well, today’s article will help you answer that question.
By reading this article, you will:
- See 7 SMS marketing campaign examples that show off the vital importance of using text messaging in your agency marketing mix.
- Learn what the SMS marketing industry looks like now and what the future holds.
- Get a clear understanding of what makes consumers tick when it comes to SMS marketing.
Ready to begin looking at what successful SMS marketing campaigns look like?
Let’s kick it off…
All You Need To Know About SMS Marketing
I’d always been told about how effective email marketing is. You know, just how it’s your greatest chance for a consumer or customer to read about your content or your product.
And while email is still an absolute necessity in your agency’s marketing mix, SMS potentially surpasses it.
I mean, just think about it ... if you can get someone’s phone number, you can notify them about your promotions pretty much instantly. No worries about your message being buried.
As stated by Campaign Monitor, SMS messages are opened as much as 98% of the time while emails average a 20% open rate.
What’s more, people usually respond to texts within 90 seconds compared to 90 minutes with email.
If you can have personal, one-on-one communication with a consumer 24 hours a day, then life is pretty good.
And you might be wondering, “Mark, providing an email address is one thing, but why would anyone want to give me their cellphone number?”
Seriously, I’d think the same thing.
Giving up your cell number to a company feels like a little bit too far.
After all, we mostly use text messaging to talk to friends and family.
But the truth is, 62% of U.S. consumers allow brands to send SMS messages, as COVID-19 saw record high usage of smartphones, according to SimpleTexting.
There’s also research from the Harris Poll that shows more than 6 out of 10 U.S. consumers prefer texting over voice when it comes to customer service.
Keep in mind that if your agency’s target audience is a younger demographic, it’s even more likely they’ll want you to text them.
In that same Harris Poll, 77% of people less than 40 years old (as of 2022), are more likely to have a positive perception of a company that texts them.
But what about in other places of the world besides the U.S.?
Well, in Europe, the use of brand-consumer text messaging is a little less prevalent than in the U.S.
Although places like France and Sweden have similar popularity levels as the U.S., only 45% of the overall European population has used SMS to keep in touch with businesses, according to Yotpo.
Here’s the thing, I’d still strongly consider using SMS as a marketing strategy for your clients since, even by lowball estimates, nearly half of your consumers expect it.
Worldwide, the SMS market is expected to grow by 21.30% annually between 2021 and 2028, as per Data Bridge Market Research.
The bottom line is, regardless of where your clients are located or where your target audience lives, SMS is going to be a fruitful proposition for any agency.
Just take a look at the graph below that shows the growth in every region of the world.
Now that you see the demand for text messaging from consumers, what kind of content should you even use the platform for?
What Do Consumers Expect From Your SMS Messages?
So the biggest thing that consumers want from your text messages is a discount. That’s going to be universal.
As you probably already know as a digital marketing agency, incentives are the foundation of virtually everything in the marketing world.
With so many products and services to choose from, consumers don’t need to enter your clients’ brand ecosystem unless they have a really niche offer that’s rarely replicated.
By giving people a chance to save some cash, they’ll be much more likely to subscribe to your client’s SMS contact list.
Although SimpleTexting’s research reveals incentives rank No. 1 when it comes to reasons to opt-in for text communications with a business, the following are other motivating factors to remember:
- In-stock alerts
- Customer service
- New launches
- Event reminders
- Abandoned cart notifications
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #1: Fullstaq Marketer
What Was It?
Fulstaq Market is an online platform that educates entrepreneurs on how to grow their business.
With the available courses, customers can learn everything from building website traffic to money management.
For its SMS marketing strategy, Fullstaq Marketer focused heavily on nudging leads toward the bottom of the sales funnel (something that your agency knows all about).
To do this, they would send text messages notifying them about upcoming webinars — which, according to ON24, 72% of companies state that webinars have a direct impact on their revenue.
And everyone, whether they attended or didn’t, received a follow-up message sharing a recording of the webinar.
Now, this is a fantastic idea for your agency to consider since following up with people after a webinar makes it 60 times more likely that they’ll convert, as stated in an infographic from ReadyTalk.
The team made it a habit to broadcast upcoming events and let their subscribers know via text.
What’s more, they even promoted Zoom classes where contacts could learn more about how to register for events. That’s definitely above and beyond.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
According to the case study, Fullstaq Marketer saw click-through rates as high as 20%.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- SMS isn’t only for promoting your clients’ products or services, it can be used to nurture leads with valuable content.
- Taking an aggressive approach with your SMS marketing strategy has its payoffs.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #2: Beekman 1802
What Was It?
Beekman 1802 is a body care and skin care e-commerce brand that differentiates itself by using the power of goat milk. Who knew?
One of the most important things to Beekman 1802 was to have a new SMS partner that offers a 5-digit code for text campaigns.
Before signing on with Attentive, a mobile messaging marketing company, Beekman 1802 had been stuck with a 10-digit code, which was negatively affecting deliverability.
First, the Beekaman 1802 team promoted the SMS channel on its website where customers could opt in for not only email but also SMS messaging.
Next, Beekman 1802 decided to segment its SMS contacts based on their interests.
Because not everyone is going to have the same body care and skin care needs.
And they also used geo-targeting to message only their contacts in their “Neighbors” segment, which comprises die-hard fans that live near the Beekman 1802 flagship physical location in Sharon Springs, New York.
So every once in a while, Beekman 1802 hosts some in-person events. Using SMS messaging, the company can let nearby customers know about those events as they approach.
Another really cool thing that Beekman 1802 did with their SMS marketing that’s of vital importance was engaging in live conversations with customers.
Sometimes, they’d respond within seconds or minutes, much to the delight of their customers.
Although chatbots have their uses for businesses, 71% of consumers prefer talking to a person, according to PWC. It’s hard to replace that personal touch you get from a live rep.
What Sort of Results Were Achieved
Beekman 1802 attributed 10% of its sales to SMS.
Moreover, the team introduced cart reminders that converted 55% of the time.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- If you want your SMS campaigns to succeed, you must use audience segmentation.
- Keeping things personal delights customers and boosts brand sentiment.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #3: Pizza Hut
What Is It?
What better way for your agency to generate leads for clients than by offering free stuff?
In fact, it’s one of the most important (and popular) ways for companies to grow their audience.
So when Pizza Hut wanted to increase its contact list, they decided to offer 100,000 free pizzas to consumers that texted “Freepizza” to their shortcode.
Since the giveaway was promoted on social media channels, the free pizzas didn’t last long.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
Within just 12 hours, all 100,000 free pizza codes were used, according to a case study from Upland.
But Pizza Hut must have felt bad because they extended the offer to an additional 60,000 consumers for a total of 160,000 pizza codes handed out.
Actually, I doubt it had anything to do with feeling bad. Instead, it was just good business as they generated more mobile numbers and email addresses.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- Offering incentives is a trusty tactic for growing your clients’ SMS contact list.
- Utilize the power of social media to aid your agency’s SMS strategy.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #4: Tide
What Is It?
Back in 2012, Tide wanted to spread awareness for its high efficient (HE) laundry detergent.
And to do that, they turned to a SMS campaign.
After all, Tide is a huge company with highly talented marketers that obviously understand the importance of SMS in digital marketing.
So, as a first step, a landing page was created on Tide’s website. This where users provided the following information:
- Type of washer machine
- Mobile phone number
- Phone carrier
In exchange for their personal information, users would start receiving relevant tips, offers and promos every two weeks.
But the big hook was the chance to win a year’s supply of the new HE Tide detergent.
Although most users won’t win, they will regularly see messages from Tide, keeping them top of mind.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
With the SMS marketing campaign, Tide grew its subscriber list by 48,000 contacts, according to Tatango.
Not only that, the campaign was extended 3 times due to its tremendous success.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- Again, providing incentives is a valuable way to grow your mobile contact database, especially if your client is new to SMS marketing and needs some new subscribers.
- An effective landing page is key to generating more SMS leads.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #5: Pinewood Golf Course
What Is It?
Pinewood Golf Course had traditionally been using Facebook and email to reach out to golfers.
But the results were not what they were looking for.
With that, they decided to give SMS marketing a go.
One thing they wanted to really solve for was when there weren’t many golfers on the course.
And by reaching out to its subscriber list, Pinewood can notify golfers that the tees are open for them.
For example, in one campaign, the team used the keyword “GOGOLF” to let golfers know they can claim a free golf cart when they show the text to the cashier.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
In just 4 months, Pinewood Golf Course added 1,556 more subscribers to its database with a single campaign.
Plus, retention rates skyrocketed with the use of SMS marketing, as the average golfer came back 3 more times per year than usual.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- Sometimes, the same old marketing tactics you use become ineffective and you need to be bold by trying something new.
- SMS strategies are crucial to the success of companies outside of e-commerce too.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #6: Dolores Marshall Opticians
What Is It?
Dolores Marshall Opticians is an independent optician that takes care of all the eye care needs of residents in the Carlisle, England, region.
But their problem was that they were spending too much time communicating with customers.
You see, they were writing letters by hand.
What’s more, they had to call each customer individually for follow ups and to collect their glasses.
So Dolores Marshall Opticians committed to using SMS as a way to put these nuisances to rest.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
Although this SMS marketing example doesn’t have any tangible numbers to summarize the results, that doesn’t take away from the fact that there were indeed some results.
For example, administration costs were cut down for Dolores Marshall.
And they could send group messages to similar patient lists to save time.
Another note of importance is the fact that more patients were happier and more likely to show up for their appointments.
As you’d expect from cutting costs and completing more appointments, the clinic’s revenue increased.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- SMS marketing is a great communication channel for clients in any industry, even if they’re local.
- Customers sometimes need to be reminded about their “problem” and text messages get the message across quickly and conveniently.
Example of SMS Marketing’s Importance #7: Vivint Smart Home
What Is It?
Vivint Smart Home sells smart home devices to more than a million North American households.
If you haven’t heard of them, they’re pretty big.
According to Companies Market Cap, Vivint Smart Home sees over $1 billion in annual sales.
As you’d expect, a lot of people show interest.
However, the company was finding it impossible to follow up with every person showing initial interest.
And since its sales reps only have so much time in a day, they focus mostly on new inbound prospects, which leaves thousands of cold prospects staying cold.
But following up with prospects is paramount since 80% of sales require 5 calls, according to Invesp.
To start connecting with more cold leads, Vivint Smart Homes used Aktify’s AI-powered conversational engine.
In other words, a bot would connect with cold prospects via mobile text with the hope of arranging a call with a salesperson.
Below is a screenshot of an actual conversation a prospect had with the virtual sales agent, Monica.
Honestly, I don’t think the prospect even realized he was talking to a bot. To be fair, the conversation was very natural and Monica’s responses do sound like they’re from a human.
So picture thousands of your cold leads having conversations just like the one above, all while your sales people continue with their usual tasks.
Literally no effort required on your end.
What Sort of Results Did It Achieve?
Using Aktfiy’s SMS solution, Vivint Smart Home saw the most impressive results on this list of SMS marketing examples.
Not only were nearly 68,000 new inbound calls generated, but the company netted $25.5 million in additional revenue.
Important Takeaways for Your Agency
- Investment in clever technology like Aktfiy can help you not only reach out to lapsed leads but even get them to take action and become customers and clients.
- Just like in any other aspect of your agency’s marketing operations, you must stay committed to following up with SMS subscribers too.
Conclusion
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As an agency, you need to always be looking for new ways to attract new customers for your clients while keeping your existing ones happy.And what better way than to meet them where they already are?
Since pretty much everyone uses a smartphone these days, having a SMS marketing strategy in place is of utmost importance.
Because if you don’t, your customers and potential customers will go to your clients’ competitors who do communicate via text.
Even worse, your clients may ditch you for an agency that does excel with SMS services.
When it’s all said and done, implementing SMS marketing is a win-win for you and the consumer.
Your SMS messages have a high probability of being seen within 90 seconds, plus the consumers don’t need to log into their email or search anywhere online.
Everything is just a click away.
Nowadays, it would be unwise to ignore the benefits of SMS marketing.
No matter what industry your clients are in, your target audience expects it.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read this resource.
And if you learned anything new, let me know in the comments below.
Keep AutoGrowin’, stay focused.
Mark
