Data in SMS marketing

First-party data and channels such as SMS are essential to reach and retain your customers for the future where third-party "cookies" are not a matter of course.

With Apple's IOS 15 update last year and Google coming out with a roadmap to remove third-party cookies by 2023, we can quickly state that marketing is changing fast. Therefore, first-party data will be necessary for future marketing.

Use of First-Party Data

First-party data is information the company collects about purchase history, digital interactions and customer behaviour.

The companies can then use this data to create relevant content, targeted ads and a good customer experience based on the customer's interests.

Retain & reactivate customers with SMS

It is not easy to get the word out about your product or service or to build a good customer relationship with repeat customers. However, SMS marketing can be of great help with this.

SMS gives you a direct line to reach your customers exactly where they are. We should also not ignore that almost everyone spends many hours on their mobile phone daily, which increases your visibility enormously.

Are phone numbers the new email address?

SMS has a significantly higher open rate than emails for several reasons.

For example, many have a "junk" email address used to register for discount codes, access or other offers. Creating a "junk" email address is simple, but phone numbers are a different story. Most people only have one phone number, which they also tend to use for a very long time. So you will be able to reach these customers via SMS for the foreseeable future.

Advantages of SMS marketing

Marketing to your customers via SMS is one of the cheapest ways to market when calculating your ROI per message.

By using various marketing platforms such as Klaviyo, you can send text messages to your customer list for just under 1 SEK per message. This is good news for smaller businesses with lower margins.

SMS Marketing Strategies

When you invest in SMS marketing, it is crucial to have a mobile-friendly website because your SMS marketing efforts will only bring traffic from mobile phone users.

Often when marketing via SMS, you use UTM tags. These are different variants of URL parameters that are used to track the effectiveness of the marketing campaign and to track where the website's visitors come from.

In this way, you can more easily see that visitors who come in via the UTM tags make X number of purchases on your page. Then it will be much easier to measure the effectiveness of your SMS marketing.

Build a valuable list

We mainly use phone numbers for personal contact with our loved ones or friends, unlike email, which most people use for more professional communication.

As previously mentioned, many people have an email address for daily use, professional contact and essential services such as banking or bills. But there is a risk that the email address they use to register on your site is not the one they use for these purposes but instead is a "junk" email address.

A phone number, therefore, has a much higher value. Customers trust your brand if they give you their number, enabling you to segment these groups as your best customers.

So what role does data play in SMS marketing?

The data you collect plays a significant role in your SMS marketing and all other channels.

You wouldn't go blindfolded sniping in the dark; the same goes for marketing without relevant data.

First-party data is data that a company collects and then uses the data to create relevant content, targeted ads and a good customer relationship based on the customer's interests.

So keep this in mind when marketing with SMS:

• SMS marketing helps you create a good customer relationship with repeat customers. It gives you a direct line to reach the customer exactly where they are.
• SMS has a higher open rate than emails; this is because many people have several emails, but you usually only have one phone number and typically use the same phone number for a long time
• Marketing via SMS is the cheapest way to market, which is excellent news for smaller businesses looking to reach out to their customers. You can use marketing platforms like Klaviyo to send out SMS to your list for barely 1 SEK per SMS.
• It is crucial to have a mobile-friendly website because you will receive traffic from mobiles. When using SMS marketing, UTM tags are often used to track where your visitors come from.
• We often use telephone numbers for personal contact and email for professional communication. That's why phone numbers are valuable to your list. If customers give you their phone number, it often means they trust your brand.