Drive customer acquisition and retention with contextual SMS campaigns

Drive customer acquisition and retention with contextual SMS campaigns

This is a guest post by ClickSend SMS.

Email is a good means of communication for businesses, but SMS may be more effective in reaching your audience and getting an immediate response. Here's why smart salespeople and marketers leverage SMS in their marketing mix and why you should too:

  • High open rate: SMS open rate is as high as 98%, compared to 20% for email.

  • Great read rate: More than 90% of mobile users read text messages within 3 minutes of receiving them.

  • Quick response: With a response rate as high as 45%, SMS messages are more effective in getting an immediate response from your audience. The average response rate is a mere 6% for email.

  • Massive reach: Approximately 60% of the people in the world own a mobile phone, and most of them keep their device within arm's reach 24 hours of the day. However, only 40% have access to the internet, meaning the sole means of reaching 20% of the population is via SMS.

Millions of text messages are sent every day from businesses across the globe for appointment reminders, confirmations, delivery notifications, marketing promotions and more. You may wonder how businesses send SMS. Is it via mobile phones or some interface? Well, nearly all texts are sent through something called an SMS Gateway.

What is an SMS Gateway?

An SMS gateway is a website that enables users to send SMS messages from a web browser to mobile devices over the global telecommunications network and mitigate the effects of mobile carrier incompatibility. It translates text messages so they are delivered to their intended recipients. In short, an SMS gateway facilitates communication between SMS applications and mobile networks and is crucial for bulk SMS delivery.

Messages you can send using an SMS gateway

The two distinct types of text messages sent using this method are Marketing and Transactional SMS.

So, what’s the difference?

Marketing SMS: This is the spread of permission-based (opt-in) promotional messages by text. Examples of marketing SMS include:

  • A restaurant promoting 50% off main meals on a specific night

  • A fashion store inviting you to a VIP night

  • A gym letting you know a new class is available

Most SMS marketing campaigns are done through an online dashboard.

Transactional SMS: These messages are generally automated and contain functional or informational content, not promotional. Most transactional SMS messages are sent automatically through an integration with a company’s data capture forms, CRM, or online booking software. They are a great retention tool as they feel very personal. Examples of transactional SMS are:

  • A booking confirmation

  • A delivery notification

  • A thank you message

Tap into the power of SMS with the Zoho CRM and ClickSend integration

ClickSend is an SMS gateway that seamlessly integrates with Zoho CRM. This integration offers you a successful communication tool and a treasure trove of customer and lead information. It also increases operational efficiency as you have access to client records and can easily go through old text, email, and call history in Zoho CRM without having to jump between screens.

Start your context-driven SMS marketing campaign with the ClickSend-Zoho CRM integration.

Work smarter by adding new capabilities to Zoho CRM with business solutions from Zoho Marketplace. Explore Zoho Marketplace >

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