The advent of smartphones and the internet has seen customers move from Mails to SMSs and finally to WhatsApp. Customers could only communicate with one another over the phone for one hundred and sixteen years. And they eventually moved to SMSs as their favorite communication channel, given the ease and cost involved. The adaptability of communication technology has seen a shift over a period of time which has become more agile and dynamic over the past few years.
Consumers today spend a lot of time on conversational channels, which has created new opportunities for businesses to get closer to their customers at every stage of the customer lifecycle, from marketing campaigns to pre-sales support to after-sales care. It's a win-win situation for both parties. Brands can save money on operations while improving customer engagement, and customers benefit from improved shopping experiences with less friction.
Marketers, and businesses, are embracing these conversational channels as a new way to connect with customers and prospects. However, every company's quest to modernise its marketing eventually leads to the same question. Which of the three marketing channels, WhatsApp, SMS, and email, is the most effective?
Let's understand what each channel brings to your table and how it can help scale up the business and is required for successful marketing campaigns.
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel that uses email to promote your company's products or services. It is a type of direct marketing as well as digital marketing. Incorporating it into your marketing automation efforts can help make your customers aware of your latest items or offers.
Through various types of marketing emails, it can also play a key role in your marketing strategy by generating leads, raising brand awareness, building relationships, and keeping customers engaged between purchases. People are as active as ever on email, despite countless headlines predicting its demise every year. However, audience cohorts have different preferences and behaviors. As a result, businesses must understand their customers' age demographics, as this has a direct impact on which channels they should prioritize.
What are the benefits of Email Marketing and what makes it a smart solution for communicating with your audience?
1. Personalized and targeted content
Email is the ideal channel for driving engagement, from crafting the perfect subject line to images that resonate with your customers and valuable content that helps your audience. You can segment your customers into different lists based on their preferences and send highly personalized content with email marketing. Ignore the temptation to make a hard sell too soon in the process. Create a bond with your customer that can grow over time by first cultivating a strong foundation of trust between your brand and the recipient.
2. Drive sales and revenue
Email marketing is ideal for capitalizing on impulse purchases. There aren't many other marketing platforms that allow customers to go from seeing an offer to buying something with just two clicks. Email newsletters can drive sales like no other channel, with a compelling call to action and a link straight to the checkout. You'll find a wealth of information on how to use psychology in email marketing to improve your results, including one of our most popular articles. The psychology behind successful email marketing.
3. Low cost
One of the most obvious benefits of email marketing is that it is less expensive than traditional marketing channels. There are no costs for printing or postage, and no fees are paid in exchange for exposure on a specific billboard, magazine, or television channel. To automate, track, and evaluate their emails, email marketers should consider investing in specialist software.
Although there may be a small cost associated with sending thousands of emails at once, these costs are significantly lower than those associated with other marketing channels.
4. Metrics to learn what works
When it comes to customers opening your emails, you only have a short window of opportunity. A high open rate indicates that your customers are familiar enough with your brand to want to hear from you at any time of day. Following that is your click-through rate (CTR), which gives you an idea of how many customers took the time to read your email and click on the links within. The goal after a customer has clicked through your email is to get them to convert. Your email conversion rates are an important metric to track because they indicate how well your email's call-to-action performed. Constantly trying and testing the content and call-to-action buttons can give you a better understanding of what works for higher conversions and what does not.
5. Email Broadcasting
Email broadcasts, unlike SMS broadcasts, can be configured so that recipients can know who else has received the same message. Email broadcasts make it simple to send targeted and personalized messages. You have a lot of design freedom because you can include images, gifs, and even videos. It generates a $36 ROI (Return on Investment). But before you will start email broadcasting, remember to improve your email deliverability and also verify disposable emails.
What is SMS Marketing?
Despite the advancements in mobile phones, SMS has been and continues to be at the forefront of mobile marketing. SMS marketing, also known as Short Message Service (SMS) marketing, uses text messages to send promotional offers to customers.
The majority of businesses still use SMS marketing to sell products and raise brand awareness. Bulk SMS blasting is still an effective way to promote new offers and discounts. Some businesses also use an SMS gateway to make the campaigns easier and more secure.Custom SMS marketing, on the other hand, is particularly effective for personalized users such as tracking orders, OTPs, and account verification. SMS has a huge global reach, which is one of its biggest advantages. When you add in the ability to send messages without using the internet, you have a channel that allows you to connect with customers in places where mobile data isn't always available or free.
What are the advantages of SMS marketing?
1. Reliability
SMS has a higher open rate as compared to Emails, 98% of SMS messages are read within 5 minutes of being sent. In most cases, customers will respond in as little as 90 seconds! Email, on the other hand, has a 90-minute average response time and a 22% average open rate. SMSs can reach out to people bypassing the email spam filter black hole. So instead of spending a ton of time and money carefully crafting emails just to end up in the spam folder, start using text messaging. You will enjoy a direct line of communication between you and your customers.
2. Mobile-friendly
It's critical these days to present your company as mobile-friendly. People are increasingly using their mobile devices for tasks such as shopping and browsing. You don't want to miss out on such an opportunity. SMS marketing is an important part of making your company mobile-friendly, and it can be a valuable addition to your mobile marketing strategy. Moreover, SMS does need internet where modes of communication are dependent on the Internet or WiFi.
3. Easy opt-outs
Your customer can't do much to break free from this never-ending cycle, but they can unsubscribe from your marketing texts. Most SMS marketing tools, like email marketing, make it simple for users to opt out. This, believe it or not, is one of the most important advantages of text marketing. A customer who receives a barrage of texts from your company may become irritated and decide not to buy from you. Accept the opt-out in this case and, after some time has passed, try appealing to these customers through other channels.
4. Flexible and customizable
One of the most advantageous aspects of SMS marketing is its versatility. You can mix and combine SMS messages to market your brand in a variety of ways. You can use SMS to announce a sale, offer a limited-time discount, reward loyal customers, advertise a new product, share information, and more. It's an excellent tool for any business, large or small.
5. SMS Broadcasting
Any mobile device, including non-smartphones, may send and receive SMS broadcast messages. This helps you reach out to clients who don't have access to a smartphone. The recipients have no way of knowing if the communication was sent in bulk. SMS broadcast messages do not require data or WiFi and can be sent even if the internet is unavailable.
What is WhatsApp Marketing?
In comparison to SMS marketing, WhatsApp marketing is a relatively new kind of marketing. WhatsApp has revolutionized and offered users sophisticated communication possibilities since its inception. Although there are many popular messaging apps, WhatsApp is the most appealing and user-friendly. People use WhatsApp because it is the primary way of communication and texting for 78% of users, and it is also the primary means of conducting business. WhatsApp allows you to share files and documents in ways that SMS can't. WhatsApp creates a branded relationship with users and provides a slew of marketing opportunities. WhatsApp generates three times the amount of traffic that SMS does, making it far more suitable for marketing. You can quickly message your consumers and react to their questions using either of them. You can use your WhatsApp Business account to manually react to client questions. You can also send messages to your customers.
Learn how to create a WhatsApp Business Account.
What are the benefits of using WhatsApp Marketing?
1. Real-time customer service and support
It has never been more critical for businesses to make themselves available and accessible to customers so that they may contact them comfortably and familiarly. WhatsApp Business messaging fulfills all of the requirements. On a widely utilized platform, it provides ubiquitous messaging that is swift, efficient, and dependable. Real-time alerts and updates are possible with WhatsApp. Most importantly, any pressing questions can be handled quickly and directly, without the need for a middleman to slow down the process.
2. Supports automation and FAQ
Businesses can use WhatsApp Business to provide speedier customer service. Businesses can contact clients directly on their phones if they opt in. This is significant given that 56% of individuals prefer to communicate with customer support via messaging rather than calling.
WhatsApp Business's "quick answers" feature allows businesses to save and reuse relevant and often sent messages to speed up customer care processes. You can integrate with Engati WhatsApp solution to automate chats, support and engagements on WhatsApp.
3. Fast, secure, and cost-effective
Audiences expect businesses to respond quickly in today's fast-paced digital environment. WhatsApp Business gives you the ability to provide the same to your consumers. You can save and reuse messages that you are anticipated to send more frequently with its "Quick Replies" feature. You can take your customer engagement a step up by using Engati's WhatsApp chatbots where you can automate most of your replies.
All of your interactions are kept private and secure with WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption and authentication. A verified business profile assures your audience that they are communicating with a legitimate company, increasing client loyalty.
4. More Integrations
Another unique feature of WhatsApp marketing is its visual interaction with other popular apps like Instagram, YouTube, and Netflix.
When sharing Instagram posts over WhatsApp, for example, the complete post appears in the chat rather than just the link. In other words, recipients of this message can immediately read and enjoy it without having to exit WhatsApp and open Instagram or a website. In addition to Netflix and YouTube, WhatsApp has built-in players for these platforms, allowing users to watch films from these services directly within the app.
5. WhatsApp Broadcast messages
Over 2.2 billion people use WhatsApp every month to interact with their friends, family, and enterprises. 98% message open rate—out of every 100 WhatsApp messages sent, 98 are read within the first two hours, 5 times more than emails and SMS. 45-60% Conversion Rates- WhatsApp Broadcast messages have a 45-60% conversion rate, which is 12 times higher than emails and SMS.
Conclusion
After understanding each platform WhatsApp vs email vs SMS Broadcast and its capabilities in detail, the question of which platform to choose as a fighter for your marketing campaigns gets answered here. The answer is that it depends on your business goals and the audiences you want to attract. That means you'll need to spend time getting to know your clients to figure out which channels are appropriate for your business and its goals. Most firms use a combination of these channels to assure complete coverage of their target audience and to maximize the value of each channel.
For example, a corporation might send out newsletters via email, SMS for urgent notifications, and promotions via WhatsApp.
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