If you’re reading this article, it’s because you already know that having a communication strategy is critical for your business. You also understand that there are many mobile channels to reach your customers, and you probably want to know which one is best for your business. Discover why you should stop thinking about SMS vs Email and combine both channels to achieve better results.
Email marketing has gained its place as one of the most effective ways to communicate with customers and get prospects. However, it is undeniable that SMS as part of marketing strategies has become fundamental to engaging with audiences and improving customer experience.
Many companies ask themselves if they should continue using Email Marketing or replace it with Text Marketing. But why make a confrontation between SMS vs Email? Well implemented, both can work perfectly well together. (In fact, it’s what everyone should be doing!)
5 REASONS TO STOP COMPARING SMS VS EMAIL
The statistics speak for themselves
As many reasons as we can give you, there is one fundamental that every company will consider first: the results. When thinking about SMS vs Email, it is essential to know that both have excellent statistics, which is the main reason to use both communication channels.
SMS has undoubtedly gained its place in recent years. A recent study claims that 50% of consumers respond to text messages within five minutes. In addition, 58% of people say texting is the ideal way for businesses to reach them.
However, the effectiveness of emails is not lagging behind. According to Statista, the number of email users is growing steadily. In 2019, email reached 3.9 billion users, and by 2023 is expected to rise to 4.3 billion.
And that’s not all. A study by Content Marketing Institute (2019) claims that 87% of companies choose email to distribute their content.
While SMS open rates are very high (95%), email can reach 25% in some sectors, which is an astounding number.
THE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL OMNICHANNEL MARKETING STRATEGY
They are effective for different types of content
Another critical reason to use both communication channels is that they are beneficial for different types of content.
SMS is very useful for providing quick and immediate information. With such high open rates, organisations need to know that any information they send via SMS will be read almost instantly.
That’s why users need to know why you are sending this message at that exact moment. Otherwise, they might be aggravated.
In contrast, SMS is ideal for content that the consumer needs and are waiting for at that exact moment. For example, with Soprano’s SMS Messaging Platform, organisations can send appointment reminders and confirmation, Two Factor Authentication, Update notification, Payment approval messages.
On the contrary, emails are more flexible. Businesses can personalise them, use design templates and make them highly attractive. Moreover, they are not only a great marketing tool, but they are also effective for building relationships with customers and alerting them of important things.
DISCOVER ALL YOU CAN DO WITH OUR EMAIL MARKETING PLATFORM
With Soprano Connect, enterprises can send mass email campaigns with personalised or general information with offers, meaningful information about the company, and even payment reminders.
Being clear about what type of content is effective for each mobile channel will be fundamental to engage with users in the right way and achieve the expected results.
It’s a different way to communicate
Both SMS and email have different characteristics. This is why organisations should think about the best way to communicate with their audience in each one.
We have said that SMS is effective for quick messages that need to be read instantly. But another important point is that they must be concise because SMS has a limited amount of characters.
Therefore, it is crucial to think about what to say, how to say it, and what to expect from the recipient. For example, a question businesses can do to themself before sending a message is: “Do we want the audience to interact with us?” If the answer is yes, broadcasting two-way SMS messages allows interacting effectively with customers and employees.
On the other hand, emails are excellent for more extended and detailed content. With Soprano Connect, you can create engaging emails using the HTML email editor to design, edit and preview templates.
So, before thinking about SMS vs Email, it’s essential to ask yourself some questions that will help you decide which channel is suitable for the content you want to send.
- Do you want to interact with the consumers who will receive the message?
- Do you prefer to use rich media to make the content more engaging?
- Is it time-sensitive information that customers need to read immediately?
Using them together avoids SPAM
The biggest fear of email marketing is ending up in the SPAM folder. Consumers receive hundreds of emails per day, and many use SPAM filters to avoid inboxes cluttered with unread messages.
If you send too many emails that the consumer doesn’t read, your messages may end up in the forgotten SPAM folder that no one opens. It can also happen that the consumers get tired of excessive communications and unsubscribes from newsletters.
But it is a mistake to think that this cannot happen with SMS. Misused, SMS can annoy users. While it is true that there is no such thing as a SPAM box, SMS has regulations enforced by the Telephone Consumer Protection (TCPA). Consumers who allow receiving SMS from companies can withdraw their permission anytime they wish.
That is why a good communication strategy should combine both channels and find the perfect balance.
Your customers expect you on SMS and Email
All these reasons we are giving would be useless if your customers don’t want you to communicate with them by SMS or Email. On the contrary, statistics say they expect to connect with businesses in their frequently used channels.
85% of consumers want businesses to communicate with them on the mobile channels they use most. Integrating mobile communication channels keeps consumers engaged and satisfied with brands.
However, in recent years, consumers have been more demanding than ever. They not only want to be able to talk to companies simply and quickly, but they also want to choose where to talk to them.
An omnichannel communication strategy is essential to satisfy increasingly demanding users with more and more needs. Businesses must be as flexible as possible to communicate with consumers through multiple channels.
For this reason, most big enterprises and governments use a Communication Platform as a Service to interact with their customers via RCS, SMS, WhatsApp, Email, and much more.
A CPaaS Platform is the best option to send the right information to the right person in the right format at the right time for the right business outcome.
Stop thinking in SMS vs Email and integrate both easily
Undoubtedly, SMS is the mobile channel that every business should include in their communication strategy. Its open rates, effectiveness, and speed make it fundamental to engage with customers, employees, and citizens.
The use of email is really useful to communicate different types of information. Using correctly, it is also effective and engaging.
Having multichannel conversations with a quick SMS or a more detailed email help businesses to create great customer experiences.
With Soprano CPaaS is easy to start working on an omnichannel communication strategy. Our CPaaS Solution enables developers to integrate voice, video, chat, and messaging services into their business or consumer applications via messaging APIs.
Businesses can connect with their customers, employees, or service users via voice, SMS, messaging service, social media — whatever works best for the individual recipient.
Ready to engage with your audience? Our team would love to answer all your questions.
