SMS VS Email Marketing: Key Differences (With Examples)

 29 Mar, 2024

sms-vs-email-marketing

Introduction

It's important to keep up with the latest trends in marketing and think creatively about how to best promote your business. A digital marketing agency is the best destination for this!

A year-old successful strategy could not be as effective as the next based on digital marketing services. Your digital marketing company can regularly assess and adjust your marketing approach, to maintain a competitive edge.

For a long time, email marketing has been the most effective and efficient strategy for reaching a wide audience. Due to this, it has consistently been a go-to choice for online marketing services. 

For businesses like restaurants, the ability to have direct contact with their consumers via email means greater autonomy in terms of both strategy and execution. But times are changing, and you should be aware that text vs email marketing is quickly emerging as the primary promotional method for small enterprises.

Email marketing is effective in the hospitality sector. Utilize the best practices outlined in a hotel email marketing guide to boost customer involvement and revenue. As a digital marketing agency expert in the hospitality industry, you may be wondering, "What kind of return on investment can I anticipate from SMS marketing?" 

An acceptable return on investment (ROI) for a campaign of a moderate magnitude could range from 400% to 500%. 

Using both SMS and email marketing to reach out to clients is normal practice for many businesses nowadays. If done correctly, each strategy has the potential to attract a lot of attention and yield excellent outcomes. This drives you to the dilemma of SMS vs email.

However, comparing SMS and email marketing strategies will help you focus your efforts.

 With this knowledge, you may make the greatest choice for your company and finally achieve your goals.

As a digital marketing agency, we have described all the fundamental aspects that you must consider in SMS VS email marketing:

  • Understanding Email Marketing 
  • Understanding SMS Marketing
  • Striking Difference In SMS And Email Marketing
  • Examples Of SMS Marketing VS Email Marketing
  • SMS VS Email: Which Marketing Is Apt For Your Firm?

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Understanding Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective method of reaching both present and potential customers.

This marketing entails communicating with a group or individual's entire email list. Those who are included in your list voluntarily chose to do so. There are several pros and cons of email marketing.

You may use email to inform clients and potential customers about your latest offerings, sales, and deals. Consider it a direct line of contact with customers where you may send them promotional materials with their express consent. 

A competent digital marketing company can aid your plan by doing the following:

  • Email Layout 
  • Craft messages for email campaigns and put them through A/B testing
  • Keep an eye on the stats and more

Effective and efficient campaign performance can be ensured with the support of a professional digital marketing agency's comprehensive email marketing services. Over the past five years, varied clients have generated over $3 billion in sales because of our data-driven approach to digital marketing.

Understanding SMS Marketing

Text message advertising, or SMS marketing, is the practice of promoting a product or service via text message. Text message marketing (SMM) is similar to email marketing in that it informs your target audience about sales, campaigns, updates, and other noteworthy events.

Before conveying any promotional information, both SMS and email marketing ask for the recipients' permission. 

The Consumer Protection Act and CAN-SPAM Act are two of the main regulations that shield consumers against unwanted SMS (TCPA). Successful instances of SMS advertising all adhere to these principles.

Mobile text messaging and electronic mail advertising are also owned channels as per digital marketing services. What this implies is that you may decide exactly who receives your electronic communications. It also implies that you have complete authority over the service quality your consumers receive.Understanding SMS Marketing

A digital marketing agency has shared the following SMS marketing instances that you can send:

  • Messages sent to boost sales, brand recognition, or both are considered promotional SMSs.
  • Transactional SMS refers to texts sent to your clients that contain information they need, such as order status updates, product details, and delivery updates.
  • Text messages that are perfectly timed with your target clients are another type of SMS marketing. 
  • Again, you're not trying to promote anything; you're just maintaining contact with your audience.

Striking Difference In SMS And Email Marketing

1. Click Through Rates

Many digital marketing services refer to click-through rates as CTRs. They are an important indicator that may tell you whether or not your marketing content has been successful in persuading viewers to do the action you want them to. 

This metric indicates the number of recipients who clicked on a particular link, call to action (CTA), or image contained within a message.

It's a widespread fallacy that click-through rates (CTRs) are primarily determined by the material, but the platform type also plays a vital role in the equation. For instance, the click-through rate (CTR) for SMS marketing is 10.63%, while the average CTR for email marketing is around 2.6%.

Email Marketing Click Rate

The recipients of an email might simply flag the communication as spam, which is one of the drawbacks of communicating over email. In addition, customers are receiving thousands of marketing emails each day as a result of the surge in popularity of cold outreach, which ultimately leads to them unsubscribing. 

There are always new deals to be found on websites that specialize in eCommerce; sometimes these deals are updated every hour. Therefore, your digital marketing firm marketers need to stay on the right side of the line separating spam from helpful communication.

2. Open Rates

Your digital marketing service will consider this phase to make people aware of your brand and to ensure that you are seen and heard. If no one can observe your company's marketing materials, even if they are of the highest possible quality they will be of little use. 

Digital marketing services consistently concentrate on what is communicated to your target audience as this is necessary for the success of the campaign. When compared to other types of marketing promotion, text message opening rates are among the highest. According to research conducted, the open rate for text messages is at an all-time high of 98%, which is about as strong as it can get if your engagement rates are concerned.

When compared, the average open rate for marketing emails is approximately 18%. However, this does not mean that any of your emails will be disregarded at any time. The number of people who use email has been steadily increasing and is expected to reach 4.6 billion by the year 2025. 

Your digital marketing agency will be certain that your brand will be visible, and that these open rates and performance indicators will improve as more people start using these platforms. 

3. ROI

In general, the return on investment (ROI) for marketing efforts is contingent upon the amount invested and the responses received. The task of calculating return on investment (ROI) is very dependent on the particular campaign being evaluated as per the digital marketing campaign.

We are unable to tell you whether or not SMS VS email marketing can provide a superior return on investment. However, there are various procedures that you may carry out to increase the amount of money you make.ROI

For example, if you send a follow-up SMS to a customer and remind them to open your email, you can boost the percentage of emails that are opened by up to thirty percent. Your digital marketing agency can maximize productivity by communicating effectively via the appropriate channels and conveying the appropriate information. An email marketing software can provide you with accurate strategies.

Different messages can be sent via various marketing channels. When compared to email, for instance, deals, coupons, and content that is condensed tend to perform better on SMS. On the other hand, emails can be utilized to help develop a feeling of community or to disseminate information that is both useful and educational. 

However, based on the brand and the content, text vs email are also capable of being quite a successful tool for generating engagement.

4. Content Length

When it comes to the size of the material itself, email gives you more leeway with the character limit that you can use. Emails that contain long-form information, such as newsletters, instructional pieces, infographics, and press announcements, perform better than others.

As per online marketing services, this content type is typically read on devices with bigger screens, such as desktop computers or tablets. 

The adult attention span is getting shorter as the globe becomes more mobile-centric, which implies that communications need to be brief, clear, and pertinent if they are to be effective.

Did you know that the average human being can only focus on something for eight seconds? 

When you combine this with the fact that the screens on our smartphones are quite small, modern digital marketing services and business owners must guarantee that the content of text messages will be succinct and to the point to adequately convey their companies' brand messages. 

This can take the shape of time-sensitive reminders, notifications, or messages that need two-way contact to achieve the best possible level of engagement.

5. Time-Specific Updates

Your audience is preferably glued to their smartphones round the clock, with the typical user devoting at least three hours per day to their online activities. This creates the possibility for digital marketing services to transmit time-sensitive communications through SMS. 

Sending shipment alerts or flash discounts is one of the ways that businesses may take advantage of the connection offered by SMS. These are a few mostly opened and responded to email and SMS messages for growth marketing. 

The wonderful thing about SMS is that it allows you to deliver texts directly into the hands of your clients, and it does it in real time. 

Emails, on the other hand, call for a connection that is active and functional. In addition, although 47% of users check their emails using a mobile application, 26.9% of users still prefer to do this on a desktop; this indicates that there are some negatives to both sides of the issue.

6. Competition

Even though SMS marketing has been around for a while, it is still regarded as a promising new marketing channel due to the high rate of consumer acceptance. 

This indicates that it can be beneficial for companies to tap into it early on to grab the attention of customers. 

Competition

A digital marketing agency knows email inboxes in today's world are overflowing and fiercely competitive. The typical office worker can receive up to 121 emails in a single day, although you probably don't get that many promotional messages on your mobile device. 

7. Design

The digital marketing company will prioritize the visual design of something as an essential component in capturing and keeping the interest of the spectator. In addition, design can be utilized to capture essential components of a brand's visual identity. 

In this regard, in contrast to SMS, which is primarily text-based, email provides a venue for a greater variety of multimedia and design-based expressions.

According to several studies, the human brain can digest visual information 60,000 times quicker than text. 

Keeping this in mind, using call-to-actions (CTAs) that are visually appealing as well as image or video placeholders within the email marketing messages you send out can further encourage your audience to engage with the message. 

However, your digital marketing agency will never overlook the fact that approximately 65 percent of customers who receive a marketing text message from an online retailer go on to buy something from that retailer within 24 hours of receiving the message.

8. Campaign Options

It is essential that the consumers you serve be happy to receive promotional messages from you, regardless of the medium you select. Your digital marketing company will have an easier time communicating the necessary actionable steps if the listeners of your messages are willing to take them.

Campaign Options

According to recent figures, 75% of customers express an interest in receiving text messages from brands. And, approximately 49 million consumers signed in to receive SMS marketing messages from companies in 2017. On the other hand, the average opt-in rate for email signups is 1.95% across all different types of businesses. 

It should come as no surprise that this suggests that SMS is the more desirable medium. In truth, however, your web organization needs to be utilizing both of these.

9. Track Response Rates

It is not sufficient for customers to simply read the messages you send them as per online marketing services. Response rate or amount of time is an important engagement indicator that may be used to measure the performance of SMS or email marketing. 

In this method, your digital marketing agency will have confirmation that they are acting promptly and decisively. When compared to email, text messages offer a significantly faster response time.

The typical amount of time it takes for a customer to reply to a text message is one minute and ten seconds. The turnaround time for emails is significantly longer, and it currently stands at approximately 90 minutes. 

Let's not forget that text messages have a response rate that is eight times more than emails do, though; this is an important point. When compared to such amazing numbers, it is difficult to ignore the benefits that each of these marketing platforms may provide when employed in conjunction with one another.

10. Automation

The fact that SMS and email marketing may be customized is one of the platforms' most attractive selling points. Sending out communications that are tailored to the particular requirements of each consumer. This might provide more fruitful outcomes and strengthen customer loyalty. 

Marketing Automation

Selecting the appropriate digital marketing agency for your company's marketing requirements, can assist your company in increasing customer engagement and generating repeat business.

11. Sales Conversion Rate

The conversion rate increases with the amount of effort put in and the quality of the blueprint. Your digital marketing firm may guarantee a smooth transition for the customer through the sales pipeline if you give careful consideration to the planning of your marketing efforts via SMS or email. 

Aside from using messaging to send promotional messages, businesses may also use it to provide customer support, shipping and tracking information, order updates, updates on the acceptance of returned deliveries, and other similar information and updates.

Emails have been utilized to great effect to increase conversion rates by transmitting the appropriate message at the appropriate time. 

For example, in the previous year, welcome emails had a solid overall conversion rate of 51.9%, making them the messages that converted the best overall. The next step was to send emails to customers whose shopping carts had been abandoned. 

These emails had a conversion rate of 33.9%. When the whole picture is considered, the conversion rate for SMS is stated to be 29%, whereas the conversion rate for email is a relatively pitiful 3.26%.

Examples Of SMS Marketing VS Email Marketing

SMS Marketing Examples

1. Tanger Outlets

So how does one go about convincing customers to join up for a company's texting services? Offering shoppers a perk for signing up for a company's mobile services is one proven strategy, as demonstrated by Tanger Outlets. Subscribers receive special offers, discounts, news, and more from this outlet mall.

2. Lunds & Byerlys

An audience invitation to join a texting club might be as easy as this Minneapolis grocery store. Customers can easily join up for these messaging services thanks to the opt-in number included on every receipt. You can use this tactic for your SMS marketing whether you run a traditional storefront or an online business.

3. Reset Games

Your online marketing services can also put your SMS opt-in number on the store's front display if you rely more on foot traffic than online orders. This SMS strategy is used by local gaming store Reset Games to advertise their texting services to each customer who goes through the door.

Email Marketing Examples

1. Chewy

Chewy is an online supplier of pet supplies. Why do their emails perform so well?

Their uniqueness!

Because it makes the recipient feel special, the word "you" is likely to stand out to everyone reading their email. To increase sales, your digital marketing firm must break down the barriers that exist between you and your target market.

2. 1Password

Password management software 1Password demonstrates the importance of a kind and welcoming email, especially for new customers. 

Take your shoes off and stay a while" is an expression of the brand's personality, written in an approachable tone that reassures and comforts potential new customers.

3. Stitcher

Stitcher, an internet radio provider, stands out from the crowd thanks to its engaging and customized email newsletters. 

By emailing members a list of recommendations complete with eye-catching graphics, this company promotes its many podcasts, clips, and audio. 

In addition, Stitcher's CTAs work because they feature big, easily-clicked buttons that take listeners to a page with the information they can use.

SMS VS Email: Which Marketing Is Apt For Your Firm?

When promoting a business, it is best to use both short SMS and email. You can maximize the usefulness of each path's advantages by employing them in tandem.

The ability to send both short and long messages is a key feature of the hybrid strategy, which helps your digital marketing agency to keep your customers regularly and efficiently informed.

Your digital marketing service can utilize email, for instance, to send consumers more in-depth, multimedia-rich articles. It's a fantastic method of keeping your clientele abreast of the latest developments at your company.Which Marketing Is Apt For Your Firm?

However, SMS texts work great for communicating time-sensitive information, such as delivery tracking updates or news of a sudden offer. You may be wondering what role SMS marketing can play in increasing your bottom line. 

Your digital marketing agency will use prominent CTAs to conduct polls and surveys and find out consumers' top priorities.

FAQ

Which One Is Better SMS Marketing Or Email Marketing?

Open and click-through rates for SMS are significantly greater than those for email. It's estimated that spam accounts for between 50% and 85% of all email traffic. When compared to SMS, where the rate of spam and spam-like messages is significantly lower, this is a major difference.

However, your digital marketing agency expert can recommend the best in SMS vs email marketing based on your business goal.

Are SMS And Email Marketing Effective?

Mobile text messages are more effective than emails. Their door opens at a 98% rate, but email only gets a 20% read rate. Because clients are alerted immediately and text messages have a higher probability of being read, SMS marketing serves as a more efficient method of reaching them.

Regardless, a professional who offers web marketing services can recommend a method that will work for your target demographic and achieve your objectives.

Is Email More Cost-Effective Than SMS?

Although email marketing is less expensive than text message marketing, the latter is much more efficient. SMS marketing strategies continue to be widely used because of their low cost and high effectiveness. The price is attractive no matter how many texts you plan to send.

Wrapping Up

If you haven't had much luck with either SMS or email marketing, finding the right mix might be challenging. So, it's in your company's best interest to hire a professional that is well-versed in both SMS and email marketing.

JanBask Digital Design is a seasoned digital marketing firm that specializes in text message and electronic mail campaigns. To help businesses of all sizes and in all sectors, our team of professionals offers email marketing services tailored to each company's individual needs as well as SMS marketing tailored to each industry.

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T

Tanner Patterson

These marketing strategies are very helpful.

M

Malcolm Hughes

You have a considering team.

R

Raymond Flores

Your team has innovative marketing ideas.

O

Odin Washington

Kudos to your great work.

C

Cesar Butler

I am contemplating SMS vs email marketing for my small business.

L

Lennox Simmons

How to share quality messages for SMS and email marketing?