SMS vs email marketing: Which one is right for your business?

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Text messaging and email marketing offer unique benefits to enhance your overall marketing strategy. SMS marketing can grab your audience’s attention and allow you to get in touch with them instantly. On the other hand, email marketing is more cost-effective and customizable.

The first step when determining which one to use for your business is understanding their strengths and how to apply them. Let’s begin.

What are SMS and email marketing?

SMS marketing, also known as text messaging marketing or mobile marketing, is the act of sending short message campaigns to clients who opt-in to receive them. It’s a communication channel that enables businesses to advertise services and share updates with their customers through short messages.

SMS marketing enables businesses to send messages to clients without the internet. Typically, text messages are 160 characters long to keep the information concise and straight to the point.

Email marketing is a type of direct marketing in which clients, customers, and prospects are contacted via email. It is one of the most popular types of digital advertising and very effective. 87% of marketing leaders believe email is essential to their company’s success, and over half of all small firms in the US leverage it.

There are some clear parallels between the two marketing channels but also some notable distinctions. Let’s examine some of the main characteristics that set SMS and email marketing apart.

Pros and cons of SMS marketing

Given the variety of customer preferences and the array of tools at your disposal, selecting between texting and other marketing channels can seem challenging. To make the decision easier, weighing the pros and cons of text message marketing is crucial for identifying the most effective approach for your next campaign.

PROS

Let’s explore SMS marketing’s strengths and why it is a compelling choice for businesses aiming to connect with their audience effectively.

• High open rates: Text message open rates are nearly five times greater than email, with an average of 98%. So, comparing the SMS open rate vs email, you have a higher chance of your clients reading your texts.
• Instant delivery and reading: Since text messages have a 160-character limit, it makes their delivery much quicker. Not to mention, the customer can read the message within seconds to minutes to get the information.
• Direct and personal messaging: With SMS marketing, you can send messages directly to the user’s phone without any obstructions. For instance, Starbucks leverages text messaging to engage its customers using personal messaging.
• Effective for time-sensitive messages: Because of how quickly text messages deliver, they work best for time-sensitive information. Dominos uses texts to deliver time-sensitive discount offers to its users.
• Easy opt-in and opt-out: Customers’ opt-in and opt-out processes would be made simple by compliant SMS marketing campaigns. For instance, the majority of brands create opt-in through their websites, checkout processes, or QR codes, and give opt-out guidelines in the text message. This builds trust and enhances the user experience.
• Enhanced customer interaction: Text messages boast high open rates, and the requirement for explicit customer consent before sending promotional messages means your SMS contact list will only include those genuinely interested in your brand’s communications.
• Conversational messaging: Texting’s design supports fluid, two-way interactions, positioning SMS as the preferred channel for brands seeking an informal and engaging way to communicate.

CONS

Although the advantages of text message marketing are numerous to count, it also comes with a few challenges. And for you to compare SMS vs email marketing property, you must consider these issues. Here are some of the main disadvantages of SMS marketing:

• Limited character count: Because of the limited SMS word counts, you might be unable to elaborate on a service or product.
• Potential for high intrusion if overused: Overusing SMS marketing can lead to an accumulation of campaigns in the customer’s inbox, which could be intrusive to the client.
• Compliance regulations: Text message marketing involves compliance regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which you must follow to avoid lawsuits. These regulations can be quite hectic, added to mobile opt-in requirements.
• Constrained visual capabilities: The restriction to a single image attachment of up to 500KB may limit the creative breadth of your campaigns.
• Higher per-message cost: Despite the low cost of dispatching text messages, the expense per message exceeds that of email communication.
• Risk of customer irritation: Texting, a channel often reserved for personal interactions with friends and family, may annoy customers if used excessively for marketing communications.

Pros and cons of email marketing

Email is a staple in both personal and professional spheres, known for its wide reach and cost-efficiency. However, challenges like inbox clutter and spam filters exist. Here’s a brief look at the pros and cons of email marketing.

PROS

Email is one of the most powerful channels for marketing. Businesses adopt it because it gives a generally more professional yet appealing outlook. Let’s go over some of the advantages of email marketing:

• Ability to convey longer, detailed messages: Emails allow you to describe your services or products in more detail, ensuring the reader understands the full concept of the email.

For example, BBVA uses email to send clients detailed information about its products and offers.

• Potential for creative designs and multimedia use: Emails allow the use of Rich Multi-Media (RMM) with pictures, videos, and audio messaging. This makes emails more eye-catching once the client opens them.

Marketing Brew uses email marketing to send eye-catching educational and engaging newsletters.

• Segmentation and personalization capabilities: Email marketing provides better options for classifying clients and personalizing their messages accordingly. This means you can add their names to campaigns alongside their preferences.

Duolingo, for instance, uses personalized and engaging email campaigns to draw their customers’ attention.

• Established and familiar channel with a wide reach: With around 4 billion people using it worldwide, email is evidently a vast communication channel. As such, it provides businesses with a wide reach.
• Affordable efficiency: Email marketing is a cost-effective strategy compared to alternatives such as paid advertising or direct mail, offering the advantage of customer outreach at minimal expense.
• Strong personalization capabilities: Brands can infuse emails with distinct flair and character, easily tailoring designs to mirror their identity.

CONS

Comparing email with text messaging would be incomplete without weighing the issues between both parties. With that said, here are some of the main challenges of email marketing:

• Inbox overload: The average individual receives over 100 emails daily, predominantly promotional, leading to email fatigue and diminished engagement. This saturation forces companies to compete fiercely for customer attention.
• Risk of emails ending up in spam folders: Not all emails get to the client’s inbox. Essentially, spam filters separate unwanted emails from those they opt into. But sometimes, the spam filter could make mistakes and add yours to spam.
• Design responsiveness across devices: After drafting your emails, its whole structure can become disoriented across various devices. This makes the email look unstructured and difficult to read.
• Requires crafting compelling subject lines to capture attention: Since emails are so long, the weight of capturing the user’s attention lies on the subject line. As such, you must make it compelling to the reader. And this can be a hassle.
• Reduced engagement: Even with personalized and targeted efforts, the average email open rate stands at 21%, underscoring the difficulty of securing recipients’ attention.

SMS marketing vs. email marketing

SMS and email marketing emerge as two powerful channels, each with unique strengths and challenges. However, to choose the one that fits your business goals, you must compare them against your own needs.

Both marketing channels have numerous possibilities, but choosing between them can be a hassle. The table below provides an in-depth comparison of SMS vs email to help you make the right call for your company.

Factors to consider when choosing between email and SMS

Before you make the choice between SMS marketing and email marketing, you must consider a few factors:

1. Your target audience’s preferences

Since you’d send these campaigns to your audience, it’s always best to consider their preferences when choosing a communication channel. For example, if your audience prefers short messages to longer ones, you should use SMS marketing. Otherwise, emails are the way to go.

2. Your marketing objectives

Prior to sending an email or SMS, it’s important to pinpoint your marketing objectives. Consider whether your aim is to:

• Elevate brand visibility
• Inform customers or potential leads
• Enhance event participation
• Landing better leads
• Drive up conversions and sales
• Boost website visits
• Increase the value customers bring over their lifetime

Understanding your objectives will guide you in selecting the most effective channel to connect with your target audience.

3. Nature and urgency of the message

Time-sensitive messages demand that you send them to clients using the channels with higher open rates. So, if the message has a time limit or is urgent, you should opt for SMS.

Additionally, assess the nature and category of your message – is it educational, promotional, or transactional?

The specific type and content of your message play an important role in choosing the appropriate channel. Reflect on the following aspects concerning the message type:

• Does the message carry urgency?
• Are you aiming for interactive, two-way communication?
• Does your message require detailed, high-quality visuals?
• Is your target audience businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C)?
• What is the anticipated length of your message?

4. Cost considerations

In text message marketing, providers typically charge on a per-message basis, which can lead to significant costs depending on your client base. In contrast, emails can often be sent at no cost, rendering them a more budget-friendly option.

5. Integration with other marketing strategies and platforms

Of course, when comparing SMS vs email, you must consider how each of them fits your marketing strategy. You should also check if they can integrate with other platforms you use.

Assessing whether these communication channels can seamlessly connect with your CRM, analytics tools, and other marketing software will ensure a cohesive and efficient workflow, enhancing your ability to deliver personalized and timely messages to your audience.

The hybrid approach: Combining SMS with email marketing

If you’re still struggling to decide between texting and email for your marketing efforts, the solution might be simpler than you think: why not use both? Integrating SMS messaging with email marketing can significantly amplify your brand visibility.

By taking advantage of both text messages and email, you create a comprehensive marketing approach that capitalizes on the strengths of each channel. SMS’s immediacy and high open rates complement email’s capacity for detailed content and personalization. This dual-channel strategy ensures your message reaches customers effectively, whether it’s for timely updates or in-depth communication.

Combining SMS and email allows for a seamless customer experience, providing multiple touchpoints that cater to different preferences. For instance, you can send a quick SMS to alert customers about a sale and follow up with an email that offers more details and visual appeal.

This approach not only amplifies your marketing impact but also fosters a stronger connection with your audience, enhancing both engagement and ROI. Starting is straightforward, and implementing your first integrated campaign could be quicker and easier than you expect, often taking just a short time to launch.

The truth is both text messaging and email have a part to play in your mobile marketing strategy. However, one of the two might fit into one scenario and not fit into the other. In such cases, it’s always advisable to consider your customers and what works for them.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a channel for quick message delivery and high open rates, SMS is perfect for you. But then again, if you’re seeking an avenue for more detailed campaigns and creative designs, email would suffice.

Although Textmagic doesn’t directly manage email campaigns, its API can integrate with other platforms and services. This means you could potentially connect Textmagic with your email marketing software, allowing for coordinated communication campaigns across both channels.

Whichever the case, both SMS and email marketing are excellent communication channels for your marketing strategy. All you have to do is evaluate your business needs and audience behavior to make the right choice.