SMS Marketing VS Email Marketing: Choosing the Best Option for Your Business

Whoever said, 'There is no win in comparison.' has said it right. The answer to the question, ‘SMS marketing vs. Email marketing: which is right for your business?’, I would say there is no comparison!

The success of any tool depends on how and when it is used. There are no two opinions in the fact that both SMS marketing and Email marketing play a vital role in the success of any business. Marketers should understand their business goals and the pros and cons of SMS and email marketing before choosing one for their marketing strategy.

In this article we will cover the following topics:

• What is SMS marketing?
• Benefits of SMS Marketing
• Drawbacks of SMS Marketing
• What is Email Marketing?
• Benefits of Email Marketing
• Drawbacks of Email Marketing
• Key differences between SMS marketing and Email Marketing

What is SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing is the use of text messages to communicate with the customers. It is also known as text marketing. Marketers use SMS marketing to send promotional offers, discounts, updates, reminders, etc. SMS marketing is a quick and effective way to connect with customers by sending text messages directly to their mobile phones. Before we go into the details and benefits of SMS marketing, let’s have a quick look at some interesting statistics that prove the importance of SMS marketing in today’s scenario.

Top SMS Marketing Statistics to Know

• According to the survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 97% of American population owns a cellphone.
• The number of smartphone users is expected to increase to 7.86 billion by 2028.
• The worth of the US SMS market will be $12.6 billion by 2025.
• 90% of customers prefer SMS over phone calls
• On an average, Americans check their phones 96 times a day.

With 7 billion people carrying a marketing platform in their pockets, why shouldn't businesses turn to SMS marketing? Here are a few benefits of SMS marketing that every business should know to level up their marketing strategy.

Benefits of SMS Marketing

• High Open Rates: Text messages have a high open rate of 98%. It means people are more likely to respond to text messages. It is found that 95% of text messages are read and responded to within 3 minutes of being received.
• Instant Reach: As text messages are instantly delivered, SMS marketing is perfect for delivering time-sensitive information like flash sales, event reminders, etc.
• Build Personal connection: Personalizing the bulk SMS campaigns can help marketers build a personal connection with the recipients. No recipient would ever like to hear from a bot. A text tailored to the needs of the customers will boost engagement. Here. are a few ways businesses can personalize bulk SMS campaigns
  • Placeholders: Using a placeholder in the SMS content like {First Name}, {Last name}, etc. can be used to create a personal touch.
  • SMS Templates: SMS templates are pre-written texts for specific marketing purposes, such as sending promotional offers, reminders, and birthday wishes. These templates help personalize your messages while saving time and ensuring consistency in your SMS marketing campaigns.
  • Emojis: Emojis have the power to transform the tone of your text message. Incorporating emojis in the text content makes it more personal and connects instantly with the recipients.
• Cost-Efficient: SMS marketing is the most cost-efficient when compared to other marketing channels. It is inexpensive and yields better results. According to reports, 73% of marketers said SMS drives incremental revenue for their business.

Drawbacks of SMS Marketing

• Limited Character Count: The standard SMS character limit is 160 characters. This limits the marketers from adding detailed information to the text message. Hence, SMS marketing is not suitable for sending newsletters, educational content, etc.
• Regulations: Businesses should follow guidelines and regulations put forward by the U.S. government when sending SMS messages to consumers. Businesses may incur fines in case of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) guidelines.
• Spam Risk: SMS campaigns can go wrong if not done correctly. There is a risk of messages being marked as spam if it gets too frequent. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the quality and frequency of text messages before creating an SMS campaign.
• Risk of Consumers Getting Annoyed: Frequent messaging can annoy consumers since SMS is also personal channel used by consumers to text their family and friends.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a marketing tool to send commercial content to their subscribers. A marketing manager sent the first commercial email announcing a new product to 400 people in 1978. Email marketing is used to send promotional and informational content to build brand awareness and generate leads while building a relationship with the audience.

Top Email Marketing Statistics to Know

• Statista reports that the number of global email users is expected to grow to 4.73 billion in 2026.
• The number of emails sent each day is around 361 billion.
• 47% of marketers consider email marketing as an effective tool for sales conversion.
• 99% of consumers check their emails once daily and prefer receiving updates via email.

Email marketing is one of the oldest and most preferred communication tools for businesses. Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of email marketing to plan a successful email marketing strategy.

Benefits of Email Marketing

1. Affordable and Easy to Use: Email marketing is a cost-effective technique to reach a large user base. It is easy to create email campaigns and track performance to improve the marketing strategy.
2. Increase Brand Awareness: Email marketing can increase brand awareness through consistent and personalized emails in the form of newsletters, welcome emails, survey emails, etc.
3. Customer Retention: According to reports, 80% of small and mid-sized businesses consider email marketing as an effective tool for customer retention. Marketers can retain customers by properly segmenting targeted audience, sending personalized mails, and collecting feedback.
4. Improve Sales: Proper use of email marketing can help boost sales. Be specific about the goal of every email. Be careful about not confusing the customers by adding multiple goals to the single email.

Drawbacks of Email Marketing

1. Spam Issues: If the email content lacks quality and relevance, your email might get dumped into the spam folder. In that case, you’ll lose the chance to interact with the consumers and lose credibility. Marketers must be mindful of the thin line between email marketing and spamming to make their email marketing campaign successful.
2. Chances of Unresponsiveness: Lack of personalization in email marketing results in unresponsiveness. It is, therefore, essential to send personalized emails to increase the likelihood of getting a positive response from the consumers.
3. Mailing List Management: Together with sending well-crafted and well-designed emails, marketers should focus on properly managing the mailing list to ensure that the emails get delivered to the correct recipients.
4. Website Blocking: Sending frequent unwanted emails can result in negative consequences, including recipients reporting your website as a source of spam and blocking emails.

Key Differences Between SMS Marketing and Email Marketing

Every marketing software has its pros and cons. Understanding the key differences will help marketers choose the tool that best fits their needs.

SMS Marketing Vs Email Marketing

Let’s examine some key differences between SMS Marketing and Email Marketing based on survey reports and statistics.

Here’s a quick summary of the key differences between SMS marketing and Email Marketing based on the advantages and disadvantages of SMS and Email marketing.

Conclusion

Both SMS marketing and email marketing have their advantages and disadvantages. But instead of comparing SMS marketing vs. Email marketing, the best way for businesses is to combine the benefits of both marketing tools to reap maximum benefits. Set your business goals and leverage the ease of using both marketing strategies on a single platform using Easify Marketing Why choose one when you can use both on a single platform? Get in touch with us to know more about SMS marketing, Email marketing, and other marketing strategies to keep you ahead of competitors. Remember, ‘Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition.’ Get Started with FacebooEasifyk!

Follow Easify on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter