The name of the game in 2023 is making your marketing channels work harder. Here's what makes SMS a standout. 

Between changes in the digital advertising landscape, new privacy regulations, and shifting consumer behaviors, marketers across the globe have had to rethink their traditional strategies.

As retail and e-commerce brands look for new ways to reach and engage consumers, many have turned to text message marketing. 

This channel offers a lot of benefits, including high open and click-through rates, high engagement, and the ability to reach a wide audience. Plus, text message marketing is a personalized channel, and offers marketers the ability to send highly relevant messages to audiences based on their interests, locations, and demographics. 

If you’re not already using text messaging to reach your customers, here are five reasons you should start today:

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1. Text messaging lets brands connect 1:1 with customers without relying on ad targeting or third-party cookies

Digital advertising has long been the go-to marketing channel for brands, but recent changes have made it more difficult to reach consumers. iOS 14 introduced new privacy features that limit data tracking, while new regulations like GDPR and CCPA have put additional restrictions on how companies can collect and use personal data. And with cookies set to be phased out soon, marketers will need to find new ways to target and measure their audiences.

These challenges present a big opportunity for text message marketing. Unlike other digital channels, text messages are highly personal and targeted. Plus, it’s an effective channel for collecting zero- and first-party data, which has become even more important as marketers rely less on third-party data. 

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2. Brands who use text messaging are driving 10x+ more revenue than with email alone

While email marketing isn’t going away and remains a valuable communications channel, it’s become less effective when used on its own. 

Marketers who’ve launched text messaging have found that it complements what they’re already doing with email. According to Attentive’s internal data, brands who use SMS drive 10x+ more revenue than with email alone. 

When paired strategically, using email and text messaging can help your brand deliver better customer experiences, offer consistent messaging and branding, and communicate with audiences where they’re most likely to respond. 

Keep in mind that both channels have their unique strengths: Email is highly visual and great for long form content with multiple calls to action. Text messaging is all about brevity and immediacy. 

Plus, innovations in SMS have made this channel truly conversational. When you invite your subscribers to reply directly to your text messages, and they hear back from real people—who answer their questions and offer helpful advice—they have a better overall shopping experience.

As with any new channel, choosing an SMS platform that can provide a library of resources, best practices, and inspiration will help you hit the ground running. Working with an experienced SMS marketing provider to integrate text messaging into your email marketing strategy will give your customers more choices to interact with you however they prefer—whether that’s via text messaging, email, or both.

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3. People are shopping with their phones more than ever

Mobile commerce sales have continued to grow in recent years, as consumers have become more comfortable using their mobile devices to make purchases. In fact, global mobile commerce sales are expected to reach nearly $4.5 trillion by 2024—making up 69.9% of total e-commerce sales—as more and more consumers use their phones as their primary shopping devices.

This shift means retailers need to make sure their marketing is optimized for mobile users—from their websites to their communication channels. This also means that text messaging will become even more important for brands looking to reach their customers.

4. Text messages are read within 15 minutes of delivery

Text messages are a quick and easy way to reach consumers. On average, consumers read text messages from brands within 15 minutes of getting them, making text messaging one of the most immediate communication channels available to brands. 

This immediacy paired with a 97% open rate provides brands with a unique opportunity to reach their customers with timely and relevant information—such as a new product, sale, customer service updates, or shipping notifications. 

In addition to being quick and easy for consumers to read and act on, text messages are also personal. Consumers have to explicitly opt-in to receive text messages from brands, so they're only getting messages from the brands they're most interested in hearing from.

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5. Consumers want to get text messages from brands

Across the globe, consumers have made it clear that they want to get text messages from their favorite brands. 

In the US, text messaging has gone mainstream. Our 2022 survey of 5,000 consumers found that 81.2% have opted in to at least one brand’s text message marketing program, a 26% increase from 2020.

Other regions are following suit. Take Canada: 80% of shoppers are interested in getting texts from brands. That figure jumps to 87% for Australia, and 90% for the UK. 

But, it’s not just about getting and reading text messages. People are making purchases from them, too. In the UK, for example, 75% of consumers reported they’d made a purchase from a text message within the last month. 

Text messaging has quickly become a powerful communication tool for brands. The immediacy and high engagement rates make it an attractive performance marketing channel. And with a growing consumer appetite for text messages, it’s become a differentiator for the brands who use it to connect with consumers—and a missed opportunity for those who don’t.

Explore Texts We Love to learn more ways brands are using text messaging to reach their customers. And request a demo to speak with a specialist about how text messaging can drive more revenue for your brand.

Bookmark these SMS planning templates to get started.