I want you to think of the SMSes you have received and read through, especially if they are from brands that you care about and had asked you to opt into the SMS campaign.

Forbes writes that out of all the correspondences in the digital era, SMS gets the highest open and response rate. 

While email gets a 20% open rate, SMS gets a whopping 90% open rate. Choosing between email and SMS marketing should therefore be a no-brainer.

With the assurance that your message gets read by your target audience, businesses in Kenya need to really tap into this SMS gold mine.

7 Surefire Benefits of Bulk SMS Marketing

Let’s look at the benefits that your business is going to reap once you embrace bulk SMS marketing.

#1. SMS increases visibility, conversations and conversions with your customers

The SMS can convey emotions, promotional offers, communication about a business moving houses or an appointment reminder. And the beauty of this all is that it is an immediate, direct channel.

If done in a non-spammy way, bulk SMS marketing is not only going to create visibility of your brand but also encourage engagement and conversions with the target audience.

#2. SMS is accessible to almost anyone

Unlike Whatsapp or email that require internet connectivity and a smartphone, SMS is able to reach the last mile of your audience as long as they have a cellphone handset.

According to an article on the UN, Africa already had 650 million people with cellphones in 2013, surpassing the numbers in the US and UK.

9 years later, the number has increased and so you can be assured that your SMS is going to reach a huge number of your customers be they millennials or older people.

The SMS delivery does not depend on the telco carrier of the SIM card your customer is using.

#3. Ability to personalize  messages to lots of people through bulk SMS platforms

It gets even better when the SMS marketing platform that you are using allows you to send a bulk SMS campaign with tagging such that the SMS is personalized to each of the people getting it. 

They will therefore feel appreciated and know that you are on the journey with them to achieve that which they are looking for.

#4. SMS are short and sweet

People love SMS because they are short and sweet. 

Let’s face it, life is tough enough and daily, you have a long queue of tasks to achieve. Going through a long-form email might not always do the trick. Not unless you have lots of time in your hands. 

But with a short, sweet SMS about a business giving offers in the evening as you leave work is always welcome, right?

#5. Seamless Integration with your business application

Your SMS system for business should also have a duplicate checker so that one SMS is not sent twice to the same person as this could appear spammy and one might report you to their telco provider.

The system also needs to have an API that you can easily integrate with your business application so that you can seamlessly send SMS to your audience without so much hustle.

#6. An SMS creates memorable connections with your audience

An SMS marketing platform also allows you to schedule messages so that they can coincide with major calendar events.

Your audience will for example expect that you wish them a happy birthday, happy Diwali, Easter or Christmas holiday. 

Related: How to Send Bulk SMS using the AXIS platform

This way, they will see that you care about them and are not just interested in the money that they spend coming to your business or using your services.

#7. SMS marketing is great for surveys

Introducing a new product or service into the market and do not know how it will be received? Worry not.

With bulk SMS marketing, you can send out surveys to your target audience requiring them to reply with shortcodes that inform your poll.

Once the replies are in, you can then sit down and analyze your reports so as to be informed of the feelings of your customers towards the product or service.