Is your SMS marketing strategy still relevant in the digital world of voice?

Is SMS marketing still relevant?

Text messaging versus voice messaging. They’re in opposite corners and they’re ready to duke it out. In recent years, voice search, marketing, and messaging have become bigger than any of us could ever have imagined. But the title of Messaging King is still held by text messaging. Does voice messaging have what it takes to win the next round? We’re skeptical. Here are just some of the reasons your SMS marketing strategy is still relevant, and possibly even more so, in the digital world of voice.

People understand SMS

With SMS messages, everyone knows how they work. They know how to read them, where to find their inbox, and how to reply to messages. The same can’t be said for voice messaging. There are many people who won't understand this new technology for quite some time still. And that means that if you choose to make use of voice messaging, you’ll have many messages left unheard. That’s a waste of your marketing budget. Yes, it’s likely that you send and receive voice messages on a daily basis. But the same can’t be said for everyone. It’s very likely that those a couple of years older than you would be flummoxed by the sight of a voice message.

Their devices can receive SMS messages

Just about every mobile phone in the world – even the most basic of feature phones - is able to receive SMS messages. The same can’t be said for voice messages. According to Statista, during the course of 2019, the number of mobile phone users is set to reach 4.68 billion. That’s a whole lot of eyes waiting to read text messages from your business. But it’s unclear just how many of those phones have the ability to receive voice messages, let alone how many users will understand how to actually play those messages, which is key to crafting your marketing strategy.

People are opening their SMS messages

With a near perfect open rate of 98 percent, there’s little doubt that those who you send your business’s SMS marketing campaigns to, will see them. No other form of marketing can say the same or even come anywhere remotely close. SMS messages also create a sense of urgency. The vast majority of messages are read within minutes of being sent and that’s a key benefit to implementing a successful SMS marketing strategy.

Text messages are more private

Consider for a minute the implications of personal messages being read out aloud via voice messaging. Should a business message be medical, financial, or legal, for example, the consequences of this possible lack of privacy are massive. There are some messages which should never be consumed by the public in this way. The content of an SMS, on the other hand, will never be consumed by anyone other than the person it was intended for. Aside from a nosy neighbor on a crowded bus or train, of course.

SMS doesn’t require you to use an additional app

For everyone struggling with limited storage space on their phone, the thought of downloading yet another app is just beyond frustrating. For so many mobile phone users, that’s what they’ll be required to do in order to send and receive voice messages. Of course, you can have the best of both worlds by making use of Google Voice SMS. It allows you to sign up for a free phone number which you can use to text, call, and check voicemail. But, that requires the downloading of an app, so perhaps Google Voice SMS isn’t the best solution for your SMS marketing strategy.

Yes, it does seem that after going toe-to-toe with text messaging for many rounds, voice messaging was hit with the knockout punch. Text messaging has just become so deeply ingrained in our lives that it cannot be usurped. If you’d like to find out how you can use an SMS marketing strategy for your business, read our recent article on the topic. It highlights why SMS marketing campaigns are the way to generate new revenue.