No matter the industry, SMS (Short Message Service) and email marketing are powerful tools in modern marketing that offer several significant benefits for brands and businesses.
Both SMS and email marketing are notorious for establishing direct communication with a targeted audience. When used effectively, they can be extremely helpful in promoting products, and services, while building relationships with customers.
In a previous blog, we explored the different ways you can get started with email marketing for your small business. Today, we’re sharing some helpful tips about the importance of both SMS and email marketing.
Benefits of Email & SMS Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful, yet underutilized channel of marketing for every industry. Particularly as an e-commerce website or business, your email marketing strategy could help skyrocket your sales.
Many of our Champ clients have seen an increase in conversion rates and sales while establishing greater customer retention. With email, you can:
- Create personalized and automated content regularly.
- Collect feedback and surveys from your customers.
- Promote products and increase sales.
- Generate traffic to your site and increase leads.
- Be highly personalized while creating brand awareness.
- Allow you to reach people right where they are (on their phones).
- Automate a large part of your marketing plan.
Additionally, SMS campaigns have become a great resource for building a strong foundation for customer loyalty and driving sales.
- 90% of users who enroll in a text loyalty program feel they gained value from it.
- Text coupons are 10 times more likely to be redeemed than print or emailed coupons.
- 70% of people say they prefer to receive offers on their mobile phones.
Types of Automated Email Marketing Campaigns
Once an email has been collected, it’s crucial to have an automatic follow-up email sent. Consider this the secondary first impression, or introduction, between your business and a new customer.
Forming scheduled and routine email campaigns will help to build off this relationship with the customer at every touch point in your business.
Maybe it’s by directing them to the latest blog filled with company information and news or offering exclusive discounts and rewards for loyal customers.
No matter the reason, the campaign should aim to guide your audience through the buyer’s journey. Here are two types of email marketing campaigns:
Nurture Campaign
As a series of behavior-based emails, the goal of nurture campaigns is to deliver useful information and represent the brand’s message to subscribers in an engaging way.
This strategy includes gathering data from the user’s online shopping behavior and patterns to deliver targeted messages to the audience.
For instance, a new visitor enters their name and email address on a website pop-up that prompts them to sign up for an educational resource, such as an e-book. The nurture campaign then follows up with the customer in a series of emails – asking how they enjoyed the product or service, requesting insight or feedback, or even directing them to further consult with your company for more information.
Overall, this type of email marketing campaign walks the buyer through the process of learning and engaging with your company and getting them equipped with the right information to make a purchase.
Drip Campaign
This type of email marketing is created by a series of time-based emails that are meant to promote specific actions to the customer – such as purchasing a certain product or registering for an upcoming event. Drip campaigns are strategically thought to push your target audience toward your company’s desired call to action.
The key here is to create this email campaign strategy in a consistent manner that doesn’t sound too forced or sales-like. For these drip campaigns, the goal is to present your value proposition in an educating and welcoming way.
For instance, your company is releasing a new product in its catalog. A drip campaign email may include an announcement of the new product’s arrival, plus a promotional code for customers to have purchase access before anyone else. This not only engages your audience about a new product’s arrival but excitedly pushes them towards purchase.
How a Cost-Effective and High ROI Email & SMS Marketing Strategy Can Help Your Company
Depending on the services or products offered, SMS and email marketing strategies can look different across the board. However, no matter the strategic approach, implementing a strong email or SMS marketing campaign for your brand will help grow a more well-rounded rapport with your customers.
Enhanced Brand Awareness & Customer Loyalty
SMS and email marketing can help to improve communication and engagement with their audience through optimal customer relationship management (CMS).
This means establishing a direct channel, such as an email newsletter campaign, to directly speak to your audience. Through these campaigns and marketing channels, you can provide valuable information and updates that will intrigue customers down the sales funnel and help to increase customer retention and loyal, long-lasting relationships.
Online Shopping Convenience & Direct Communication
Considering the influence this marketing strategy has on communication, these campaigns directly deliver messages to your customer’s inbox or cell phone with a specific update or promotion from your brand.
On top of that, a variety of SMS and email marketing strategies help to direct customers to a purchase – it prompts them to easily and efficiently follow the specific call to action by the campaign.
This allows for quick and convenient access to communication with your company while enabling you as a business to reach out to customers in a timely, effective manner.
For instance, any time-sensitive information from your company shared in an email or SMS campaign updates the customer on the happenings of your business. This could be an update about the “sale that ends at midnight,” “limited time offers,” or other promotions and updates that will intrigue the customer to shop your site.
Expanding Consumer Reach & Targeted Audience
Any business owner understands the importance of constantly updating marketing strategies to better improve their business and targeted audience. With the help of email and SMS marketing platforms, there are various analytic tools available to help you widen your company’s target audience.
Plus, considering the power of technology today, SMS and email marketing is the most effective way to spread your message across a wide range of demographics and locations. This tactic can help you deliver relevant and engaging content to specific groups of customers, with higher conversion rates as a result.
Create a Strong SMS and Email Marketing Strategy with Champ
In today’s world, SMS and email marketing have a significant influence on a buyer’s journey and customer relationship. With the number of tools and resources available for SMS and email marketing, you can personalize an engaging interaction straight into a customer’s inbox.
Champ’s digital marketing agency is ready to help you strategize and navigate the endless possibilities of email and SMS campaigns. Whether you have a well-established brand or a fresh idea you’re ready to bring to fruition, contact us to start strategizing a successful email or SMS marketing campaign for your business.