With new and improved smartphones coming to the market this year, it’s hard to overlook the huge focus on mobile applications that has developed. Applications, or apps, are great for providing information, education and entertainment. However when it comes to mobile marketing, SMS remains the most powerful force. Whether or not you have an app, text message marketing needs to be the main part of your mobile marketing strategy for a variety of reasons.
Apps have network and device limitations.
First and foremost, apps have many limitations. They are not only confined to the network a customer is on, such as 3G or 4G, they are limited to the specific phone. This means your company would need to develop both an iPhone app and a separate Android app to reach, at the very most, less than 20% of mobile phone users. Then pricing comes into play. Development for multiple apps specific to each phone cuts into your marketing budget before the app is even released. And to be released, the app must first be approved. After it has been released your company must put a price on the app. Is it practical to make your app free to download after you have paid to have it created? That’s another budgeting question specific to your marketing strategy.
App store competition is tough.
Your app is then further limited because it is competing against over 225,000 other apps that may be highly rated and easier to find. Marketing your app can be a timely and costly aspect in and of itself. According to Nelson, gaming apps are the most common iPhone apps to download after Facebook. Additionally, only 1.4% of apps are used 90 days after being downloaded. Without being used, your app does no good just sitting on a customer’s mobile home screen. Strategy Analytics reported that only 4-6 mobile apps are actually used on a consistent basis. Finally, you lose stability over the path your app takes once it is available for download. Your app will always be open for others to rate, which is out of your control. Bad reviews for any reason could lead to a marketing app failure.
SMS is a common, familiar mobile feature.
On the other hand, SMS is like the app that everyone already has. Today 95% of cell phone contracts have text messaging built into the plan, making SMS much more widely accepted. In fact, smartphone users, the ones that would potentially be using a marketing app, only represent less than a third of all mobile phone users in the U.S. Unlike apps, text messages are easy to understand. They provide a quick way to receive information. In the fast pace world we live in, the quicker and easier information is to interpret, the better. Just like with Twitter, the word limit for text messages is actually an advantage because it dictates that messages be simplified so customers can absorb the information quickly.
SMS is direct and personal.
Another advantage is that text messaging is an always-on medium. Apps have to be opened to provide information requiring a customer’s time and energy. With text messages you don’t make the customer click on an app, instead you come to where the user already is – at their cell phone home screen. And because it is a personal message sent directly to a customer, there is no cluttering of your message with distracting advertisements. Text messages themselves are regulated strictly to avoid spamming activity. The more personal your marketing is, the better it will be received and acted upon. Finally text messages have technical reliability. They won’t crash the way many apps can which makes your company and marketing message appear much more reliable.
When it comes to mobile marketing, texting is here to stay. Apps may have features that are desirable to those looking for something specific such as a recipe or mobile game, but these individuals aren’t necessarily going to download a mobile app to support your marketing campaign. Make sure your marking strategy covers all the basics and includes mobile marketing with text messaging. Learn more about the benefits of text message marketing and how influential SMS can be for your company by contacting Text Ripple for your mobile marketing needs.