How Successful is the SMS Marketing Campaign in the UK?

We live in a world of cutthroat business competition. Gone are the days when a particular brand or service had a monopoly in the market. Today businesses are even conducted on the go, merely through the click of a button. Smartphones and the internet have made the reach of businesses really global. Buying or selling of products in different cities or even countries is fast and easy. Survival of any business needs one core ingredient, which is visibility. The quality of your service/ product will help you sustain customers but creating a buzz for your business is vital. This is where marketing campaigns come into
the picture. A well planned and researched marketing plan will help your business achieve those numbers real fast.

What is SMS Marketing Campaign?

SMS Marketing Campaign or Text marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing tools used by businesses to get visibility for their business and lead to sales. One of the benefits of SMS marketing is that it is cost effective and has a good reach. Every mobile phone has SMS facility whether it’s a simple device or a high-end phone model. SMS marketing not only means sending SMS to clients about new offers or schemes launched it is also used to sustain your clientele. For Eg, if you own a beauty and salon service, you can remind your clients about their next beauty session through an SMS. This not only ensures visibility but also is an important customer service tool. Reaching out to customers on a weekly basis helps to keep the connection and also generate brand loyalty. Sending holiday wishes and greetings on personal milestones like birthdays, anniversaries etc are also forms of SMS marketing. According to statista.com, the approximate number of Smartphone users in 2016 is 42.4 million as against 39.4 million in 2015. This trend shows that the number for mobile users is only increasing which literally means that your business can have that much more visibility.

SMS Marketing can be monetary or non-monetary. Monetary SMS Marketing is the one where you offer incentives, discounts, and prizes. Non-Monetary SMS Marketing comprises of reminders, personalized greetings, information about new offers and schemes. The only requisite for SMS marketing is that you need customer consent to receive your SMS. You can get customer consent in a variety of ways. Once the consent is received, you can then plan and send your SMS.

Why SMS marketing?

Simply because owning a Smartphone does not necessarily mean that you know all the features. A major percentage of senior citizens and elderly people have upgraded to smartphones but are still clueless about how the apps work. SMS is convenient and a relatively old feature which every mobile phone user is accustomed to. More importantly, approximately 90% of the SMS messages are read within a mere 3 minutes of receipt! That is indeed an incredible reach for any company or brand. Another factor is that tele-calling might not be that effective as the user can reject your call. SMS, on the other hand, will be read, even for the sake of deletion, you will have to open the SMS. SMS marketing is one of the best ways to intimate with offers and schemes that are time bound. SMS marketing assures instant visibility and will help you achieve your sales target.

Another reason why SMS marketing is successful is that it is cost effective. Many networks offer bulk SMS services that can be used by you to send out the promotional SMSes to your clients. Every company builds its database through its clientele. There are also a number of companies in the UK that offer services like mobile phone directory UK, UK mobile phone numbers list that you can send your SMS to. Some data sourcing companies have UK mobile phone numbers list which has segregated data of males, females, age group, own a vehicle etc. With this, you can choose the type of database you require
according to the target audience of your company/service. If you have an automobile shop, you can promote your business by sending promotional SMS to men/women who own vehicles. Considering the population of the UK, the number database will definitely be higher than say Australia mobile number directory whose population is lesser.

Is SMS marketing campaign in the UK successful?

Definitely, the UK has seen a number of companies who have tasted success with their SMS Marketing campaign. Walkers are one of the most favorite crisps in the UK. Walkers started a massive campaign offering an I-POD every hour to lucky winners. All you had to do was text the code displayed on your crisps packet to a given number. This was a massive success in terms of participation where Walkers has a whopping 17 million entries which meant a staggering amount of sales as well. The main highlight of the campaign was that it was interactive. Walkers sent out a text about the flavor with the most wins, which ensured that the sale of the particular flavor increased. It’s not rocket science that mobile phones are an integral part of our lives. On an average, we tend to check our phones at least once every two minutes. This means that the rate of success for SMS marketing is quite high as compared to any other marketing mode.

There are other examples of successful SMS marketing as well, but the most important part to engage the clientele in your campaign. One of the most essential factors of SMS marketing is its ability to encourage the clientele to show interest in your company/product and then lead it to a sale. The crisp and innovative text is the key. All successful SMS marketing campaigns are the ones which grab the attention of the viewer and entice them to make a move towards the sale. All you need is a well thought out marketing plan, your target audience and the database required to send out those SMS. In addition to this, a reliable network operator will be able to provide you with a good SMS marketing plan.