The development of the mobile phone industry also conditioned the development of mobile marketing. In other words, the rapid development of information and communication technology has opened new opportunities for marketing in all areas of human activity.
Nowadays, mobile marketing is a significant segment of digital marketing. People do not visit various websites via mobile phones just for fun but also to ask for information about certain products or services. Marketing experts have recognized that the Internet significantly influences consumer behavior, so they are increasingly focusing on mobile marketing. This means that experts have recognized mobile devices as a fast-growing marketing channel that enables the presentation of information and messages intended for potential consumers through geolocation services, mobile applications, social networks, SMS, etc. Advances in mobile communication have resulted in the need to implement mobile marketing in the promotional mix of integrated marketing communication.
In this article, we’ll discuss SMS marketing, and how a business can take full advantage of it, by creating a customer base, containing their valid phone numbers. After all, in order for this type of marketing to succeed, this is the first step that needs to be taken. But, let’s start with some information about this type of advertising.
What is SMS marketing?
In the context of a web store, for instance, SMS marketing is communication with potential and existing customers via SMS – that is, a short text message that is sent to the recipient’s mobile (smart) device. Messages can be sent to inform customers about the status of their order, and they can also be sent as promotional messages, which contain brief information about the current discount. An effective aspect of SMS marketing in the context of a web store is also sending discount coupon codes via SMS to potential or existing customers, who can enter these codes in your web store and get a certain discount on your product range.
So, how do you make sure the phone numbers of the customers in your database are valid?
Using SMS marketing as one of the types of promotion, a business forgets that building a lead base is just the beginning. In order for mass mailings to bring the desired result constantly, it is necessary to update information about your subscribers and customers. HLR and MNP lookup are excellent ways to update data, namely the numbers in your databases.
HLR (Home Location Register) lookup is a method of checking the activity of a number and obtaining complete information about it by sending a request to it. The SMS provider sempico.solutions whose services you use sends a request to the number and receives information about which operator it belongs to, whether it is roaming, and whether it is used by the owner.
Such requests help clear the database of inactive numbers and minimize unnecessary costs for SMS mailings.
MNP (Mobile Number Portability) lookup is a check for the presence of a phone number in the MNP database. After all, MNP numbers are those whose initial mobile operator has been changed to another without actually changing the digits in the number. Such verification is necessary in order to minimize the cost of SMS mailing. MNP lookup services must be used because the system recognizes the network operator of the number by the initial digits responsible for this (MCC and MNC). Without checking the availability of the number in the MNP database, the system will never know whether the network operator has changed or not, and there is a possibility that the SMS will reach the operator that no longer serves this phone number.
Therefore, anyone who plans to send SMS mailings should use SMS gateway lookup to minimize unnecessary costs and reach their customers.
Why is SMS marketing such an important advertisement tool?
SMS messages are an incredibly powerful and potent tool, mostly due to their intimate nature, and certain neglect compared to other media. They are short in nature, concise and in a way poor with everything we are used to in other marketing media – we primarily mean multimedia, which is a faithful companion to more or less every advertisement message in today’s marketing industry.
Because of all this, SMS has been neglected and often ignored by many companies as a potential channel for reaching new customers. Perhaps this is the reason for the efficiency of SMS – its relatively low exploitation.
Incredible SMS efficiency
In support of this are the average statistics of opening SMS, which says that SMS messages are opened in 98% of cases on average! Compare this to email and its average of around 18% (which is rightly considered to be the most effective marketing channel) and you will understand why there is huge potential in SMS for your business.
More importantly – the incredibly intimate character of the SMS leads to fascinating statistics – most SMS recipients open within three (3) minutes of receipt! This means that if you have a message that you want your customers to see right away, the most effective way is to send an SMS.
Complete demographic non-discrimination
SMS is almost ubiquitous in people’s lives – regardless of age, gender, education, class, location, or any other factors that otherwise affect the delivery of a marketing message, SMS is universal – it has been present in our lives for a long time, more or less longer than all others technological inventions used by the marketing industry of the new age. It is used by everyone, regardless of demographics, which is why you can reach really anyone with an SMS.
Conclusion
As you could read in our article this type of promotion can be a powerful support and generator of new customers for your business in general. Due to its neglect, it is not sufficiently used in the regular business of many companies, which is why now is the ideal time to include it in your marketing tactics. It is effective, affordable, and instant. Your customers can’t ignore it, and the results are almost guaranteed.