Email and SMS Integration

A reliable one-two punch for digital marketing is multi-channel communications – specifically using email and SMS integration. Each has their separate advantages, and they also work well together to create a wonderfully integrated experience for both businesses and their clients. Nearly two-thirds of Americans are smartphone owners and the top 2 smartphone activities are texting and managing email. So what does this mean for digital marketers? How can these two mediums intertwine in a way that is practical for meeting marketing goals?

Everyone is Using Them

In the age of smartphones, email and texting are a massive part of our personal and professional lives. We use our phones for everything from simple appointment keeping to maintaining our personal connections.

Since mobile devices are now the number one screen we look at on a daily basis (KPCB), marketers are faced with the challenge of how to adapt – and it’s not always with a new app. Since both texting and email can be used on any phone with internet access, it makes sense to integrate both into a multi-channel marketing strategy. This way, marketers can kill two birds with one technologically-integrated stone. However, this doesn’t mean that clients are bombarded in both their email and SMS inboxes. Rather, it allows a freedom for clients to use either medium in a manner that best fits their personal situations. And this takes little extra effort on the part of the digital marketer.

Email and SMS Integration Caters to Client Preference

When it comes to using email and SMS in business, clients and customers tend to have a preference for one medium over the other. Factors such as age, income, industry, and purpose all affect preference. For example, many millennials prefer the more instantaneous text that links to a webpage with details, while baby boomers want long detailed emails with minimal clicks.

Adapting to the potential variances among their clientele, email and SMS integration may be implemented into a cohesive multi-channel marketing strategy. Thanks to numerous platforms, both media can be easily integrated and managed on one system without losing the core message.

Email and SMS are often pitted against each other. Businesses are led to believe that it is a choice of one or the other since each channel has its own particular strengths. However, as adoption of technology integration increases, it is best to see these technologies as friends and not rivals. Email and SMS integration gives clients and customers a choice in how they want to receive their communications from your business, without straining marketers’ time or resources.

Sources: PewResearch