Mobile marketing company 3C interactive just released an analysis that sees SMS in a period of resurgence. For small businesses that are looking for new ways to engage with their customers through the use of mobile tools such as apps, the combination of SMS joined with app push notifications is proving to be an effective strategy. When used alone, push notification popups on mobile devices are often perceived as annoying and even intrusive. But when personalized with SMS, they have an entirely different effect altogether.

According to a recent SAP global study that was conducted across 12 countries, 70 percent of consumers approve of companies using SMS to get their attention and 64 percent believe that businesses should use SMS-type engagements more frequently. Thus, it’s clear that customers do not perceive SMS engagement as irritating.

Experts have also found SMS to be a powerful promotional vehicle for introducing customers to a brand’s mobile application. SMS is delivered to customers on the mobile device itself, making it easy for the customer to click through, download the app, and begin to engage with the business application. Given how flooded app markets are these days, this can be critical in helping customers to find business brands on their mobile devices.

SMS use offers several other benefits. According to the analysis, SMS regularly enjoys a 90 percent read rate within minutes of receiving the text message. In addition, SMS offers opportunity for customer engagement via a loyalty program. According to Digital Marketing Magazine, around 57 percent of customers are willing to sign up for an SMS-driven loyalty program, and 90 percent of those consumers already in SMS loyalty programs report that they’ve been valuable.

Mobile engagement via business apps continues to be critical for marketing success. According to Harvard Business Review, mobile customers spend around 82 percent of their mobile minutes with apps and only 18 percent with web browsers. In addition, only 5 percent of consumer time is spent in shopping apps, so getting customers to engage on a business app is very important.

Reference:

Barton, J. “SMS Engagement Can Improve Mobile Results for Merchants, Says 3Cinteractive Exec.” Mobile Marketing Watch. 11/4/15.

Heikes, Brian. “SMS Engagement Can Amplify Mobile Results for Merchants.” Multichannel Merchant. 11/1/15.