Key SMS Stats Every Marketer Needs to Know
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SMS campaigns are hardly a new thing. They’ve been around for the best part of a decade. But, with better technology and changes in consumer behavior, they’re having a resurgence.
That’s a good thing. It gives marketers another channel to tap into to reach customers. And, SMS works really well in conjunction with email marketing, too — one reason why we love it.
Used in tandem, email and SMS give you an edge if you’re trying to give your customers a personalized omnichannel experience. So should you start adding SMS marketing into the mix?
Check out these stats to find our answer.
People love their phones
If you had to guess, how many times a day do you reach for your phone? Twenty times? Fifty times? How attached are you to it, and more importantly, how big of an opportunity is that for SMS campaigns?
The data is pretty encouraging (for marketers at least):
- The average American checks their phone over 350 times daily — nearly 3 hours on their phones every day.
- 71% check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up.
- 70% of Americans check their phones within 5 minutes of getting a text.
- 99% of people read their text messages.
Shopping on phones is increasingly popular
Mobile commerce is on the rise, so if you don’t have a way to connect with your customers and make shopping easy on their phones, you may miss out.
SMS helps you reach customers immediately, personalizing this messaging for them and making it easy to click and buy.
Three-quarters of Millennials and Gen Z use their smartphones to shop online. For many, it’s their default method of shopping. And nearly half of all adults say their mobile devices are essential for their shopping experience. That’s up from just under 30% only five years ago.
Consumers use their phones to browse even if they aren’t purposely shopping. Over 60% of consumers worldwide turn to mobile devices for virtual window shopping. Why? Because they enjoy seeing the variety and exploring new products.
But, consumers are still more likely to make spur-of-the-moment purchases when shopping in person. That presents an opportunity for marketers to focus on personalization in consumer messaging — especially when using images and gifs. Research shows just over half of consumers say they’re more likely to buy when they get a text with a gif, image, or video.
For example, product recommendations and other personalized suggestions via SMS and email can help you stand out and encourage more purchases.
Right now, about 55% of consumers have already signed up to receive SMS messages from businesses. Another 25% said they would for the right brand, and 9% said they haven’t yet but are considering it.
But omnichannel marketing still matters
However, shopping online or via their phones is not their only buying method. Consumers still want to shop in retail stores, and SMS can help augment your email to help them do it. Research shows that campaigns involving SMS as part of their omnichannel strategy were 429% more likely to convert than single-channel campaigns.
Nearly half of Gen Z still prefer to shop in-store. So that’s where it becomes increasingly important to tie SMS into your other marketing channels. For example, you can use email marketing to drive in-store traffic and extend your message visibility through SMS.
Consumers see personalized SMS as a high-value communication and a way to open up discussions between them and brands. As a result, texts feel more conversational, less about being talked at, and more about the start of a conversation.
That is very important for brands trying to build a long-term relationship with customers.
Embrace the opportunities of SMS marketing
If you want to learn how you can start incorporating more SMS campaigns into your overall marketing strategy, we’d love to help.
Check out our recent webinar: What’s Next in SMS – 3 Tips for Innovative Marketers. In it, you’ll learn new and exciting ways to level up your text message marketing and connect with your customers.
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