SMS vs E-mail:
Which is the best marketing channel?

When it comes to marketing, it's vital that you use all means at your disposal to reach your goals.

And when it comes to direct response marketing, e-mail and SMS are high on the list of the best channels to use.

But how do they differ? Does it make sense to use both, or is one enough?

Continue reading, because today we will go through the differences and advantages of both SMS and e-mail so that you can see what suits you and your company best.

Benefits of SMS marketing

If you are looking for a marketing channel where 97% of all offers and campaigns are read, only SMS will live up to your expectations.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of all customers appreciate offers via SMS. And for those who do not, it's very easy to unsubscribe from future marketing texts. 

The conversion with SMS is also more than twice as high as e-mails, making it a very effective channel for sales, reactivation and nurturing better customer relations.

Internationally, the screen time on the phone averages 3-4 hours a day and is steadily increasing. So sending a marketing SMS means the recipient is almost guaranteed to read it. But it's up to you, your brand, and your offers to get your text messages to convert to clicks and paying customers.

SMS can only contain 160 characters, which makes it easy for the customer to understand what the offer is about. There is also no need for complicated design choices and additional elements, unlike e-mails.

SMS marketing works best with:

• Short-form content
• Time-limited campaigns
• Reactivation of unengaged customers
• Notifications and account updates
• Important information
• Offers and Product Launches
• Information for customers who do not visit websites or apps

How to use SMS marketing well?

Because the open rate is so high, your SMSs need to follow certain guidelines to not be perceived the wrong way.

First and foremost, you should segment your mailings so that the right person gets the right message.

With Jojka, you have the opportunity to make your SMS more relevant with our advanced segmentation. 

Segmenting allows you to, for example, offer women's clothing to women and vice versa, instead of sending one text to your whole consumer base. 

For those of you who sell internationally, you can also segment by language so that your messages can be read. Only your imagination sets the limits for how much you can / want to segment; the more relevant the message, the better results you will get.

In addition to getting a better response to your marketing texts, you will also be able to send more texts when the messages are segmented and more relevant.

Benefits of e-mail marketing

E-mail is one of the oldest channels for digital marketing. E-mails are highly customizable and allow you to build automations and segments to make every offer and newsletter more relevant.

Unlike SMS, e-mails have a much lower opening rate of between 20-30%, while the click-through rate (CTR) ends up at around 2.5%. SMS, in comparison, has a 97% open rate and between 10-30% CTR depending on the campaign, which makes it one of the best marketing channels available!

So why use e-mails if SMS gives such good results?

With e-mails, you have more freedom to describe what your offer and your brand are about. You have the ability to customize text, image and design exactly how you want in order to get recipients to convert into customers.

You can simply make more informative messages with e-mails and send more often than you can with SMS.

E-mail marketing works best with:

• Offers and product launches
• Detailed content for building customer relationships
• Capture feedback
• Content & information
• Retargeting
• Collect social proof
• How is SMS different from e-mail?

An SMS is almost impossible for the customer to miss while e-mails can easily slip between the cracks. On the other hand, with e-mail marketing you have a better opportunity for automation as the "allowed" number of sent e-mails are greater than SMS.

Apart from the pros and cons, SMS and E-mail work best when used together. They cover each other's weaknesses and improve their strengths. What doesn't convert via e-mail, you can easily capture with SMS and intelligent segmentation.

A report from Smartinsights showed that a follow-up SMS to those who have not opened your e-mail can increase the open rate by as much as 30%

E-mails can strengthen your brand with image, copy and design, while SMS can highlight time-limited and exclusive offers in a concise format.

Which one should you choose?

To reach your customer base with relevant messages, you should use both SMS and e-mails for the best results.

E-mails are currently the industry standard for direct response marketing, but SMS is a growing marketing channel with many benefits. With SMS, both the conversion and the customer's engagement are better, despite the fact that not as many companies market with SMS.

In order for your business to grow, you should use all the relevant marketing channels at your disposal. SMS is an established way to increase sales, and its popularity is growing rapidly in both international and Swedish companies.

Summary

SMS and e-mail benefit each other greatly, and it would do neither any justice to make a black & white comparison. The best way to communicate with your customer base is to use both SMS and e-mails in unison. Do it right, and you will see a noticeable increase in your customers' engagement and your sales.