SMS Marketing Trends to Look Out for this 2022
Text messages are becoming an increasingly popular and effective digital marketing tool. 9 out of 10 consumers prefer texting as a way of communicating with businesses. And surprisingly, SMS open rates are as high as 98%, compared to only 20% for all emails.
The COVID-19 pandemic's stay-at-home orders had a significant impact on mobile marketing. According to a 2021 global survey, 50 to 70% of internet users were using their mobile phones more due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Because of this data, more businesses are turning to text marketing to reach users who are more likely to engage with mobile outreach. These text marketing trends are expected to continue in 2022. You will need to keep your strategy fresh by leveraging the most recent advances in SMS marketing.
Consider the following mobile marketing trends for 2022 and beyond to boost the effectiveness of SMS and MMS in your digital marketing strategy:
Sending transactional SMS updates for cross-selling
Our number 1 rebuttal here is “I don’t want to annoy my customers” Well, we are pleased to say that 77% of consumers have a favorable opinion of companies that keep them updated via SMS.
With email inboxes becoming increasingly clogged, more consumers opt to receive order updates via SMS. Text messages enable businesses to provide immediate value by giving transaction updates such as shipping/delivery notifications and order confirmation.
Sending status-update text messages also enables businesses to cross-sell or offer discounts on future orders while keeping their customers engaged.
Using SMS as a customer service channel will continue to grow.
Consumers expect prompt and accurate responses to their inquiries, and they are not afraid to voice their dissatisfaction on social media platforms. Studies have shown that more than half of consumers choose texting customer service representatives to phone calls, which is becoming more prevalent.
SMS can be used to perform a variety of customer service functions, including the following:
Sending order confirmations and receipts for payments
Providing tracking information for deliveries
Giving appointment reminders and rescheduling
Requesting feedback on products and services
Texting with customer service enables anyone with a mobile device to quickly resolve issues — without waiting on hold or being transferred. Through SMS, reduced resolution times can also help build consumer trust.
Please keep in mind if you are going to add SMS to your customer service tool box it is extremely important you actually have the resources to cover this channel. The last thing you want to do is direct people to a channel that they expect to get a quick response from and have an auto message set up in place with no intention of them connecting to a real customer service rep at the time they reach out.
10-Digit Long Codes (10DLC) will dominate.
The 10-digit long code, or 10DLC, is a ten-digit local phone number that organizations and businesses use to send large volumes of text messages for marketing campaigns and other communications.
The introduction of 10DLC signals a departure from the practice of SMS marketing via shared shortcodes. Carriers will be able to identify businesses more easily, which will result in improved spam filtering and opt-in compliance. AT&T announced in October 2018 that it would cease activating shared shortcodes, and the majority of other mobile carriers quickly followed suit.
Additionally, converting to 10DLC SMS technology resolves several shared short code marketing issues. 10DLC is faster and more cost-effective than shared shortcodes, and it protects against spam, improves deliverability, and increases consumer trust.
Whether you are using a long-form number, short code, toll-free number or any other option - the important thing to note is what the limitations are for each option so you don’t run into roadblocks when executing on your SMS or MMS marketing strategy.
More people will be incorporating SMS in their email workflows.
In 2020, SMS obtained a 102% YoY increase in conversion rates. It is rapidly growing in popularity, so adding them on your email workflows would be very helpful. We recommend using SMS, aside from your email campaigns, in sharing time sensitive information or promotions to your VIP list, such as anniversary specials or holiday deals.
Because text marketing generates a significantly higher response rate than email, phone calls, or Facebook, using SMS will be effective for your business.
AI-Enhanced Chatbots will be widely used.
SMS chatbots are a massive trend in text marketing that will continue to grow in popularity in 2022. Chatbots will help you save time and effort by automating portions of the customer experience and providing instant responses to frequently asked questions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) advancements have increased the technology's prevalence in mainstream software products. These advancements will inevitably filter down to SMS software.
You will see an increase in the usage of AI-powered chatbots to answer customer questions, complete tasks, and process orders without any human intervention.
Additionally, AI enables increased personalization, enabling businesses to customize messaging and create meaningful customer interactions at scale.
Personalized SMS Marketing will be on demand.
Consumers now engage exclusively with personalized marketing messages tailored to their specific interests. If your customers do not feel as though you understand their needs, they will seek out another company that does. And why would you not?
If your "vanilla" SMS messages fall short of the mark, creating personalized text messages reassures your customers that they are being seen and valued. By infusing automated messages with a personal touch, you increase your audience's likelihood of connecting with your brand and taking action.
Keep in mind when wanting to personalize your text strategy with images or gifts - you are no longer talking about SMS but rather MMS. MMS is a multimedia message, meaning it allows you to send images and gifs. With MMS your character limit is also much higher. It is important to consider the differences when choosing the right platform for your test marketing because the pricing may vary depending on your needs.
Conclusion
Over the years, text marketing has shown a lot of potential and growth, which is why more and more businesses have been integrating this strategy into their overall marketing campaign. But if you want your text marketing campaigns to be more effective, knowing the latest trends and using them will help you and your business catapult to greater heights even more.
Interested in launching SMS for your business? Book a free strategy call here.
