In a recent article released by American business magazine Forbes, SMS marketing, despite its rapid rise in usage and popularity, remains a mystery to many marketers. Yet, with around 23% of smartphone owners now making mobile purchases at least once a month, online stores have began to turn to the marketing tool to generate further sales.

An increase in mobile shopping is not the only change that online stores need to be aware of. Smartphones have turned mobiles into very personal devices with calendars, contact lists, social media and more. With more and more customers purchasing through mobile over desktop, the online shopping experience is becoming very personal.

·      Where does SMS txt marketing become relevant?

As mobile shopping grows, brands are now rethinking the way in which they communicate with customers and how they can get personal. An increasing number of online stores have started using SMS with the aim of driving customer engagement.

Internet enabled smartphones have unleashed a whole new world of possibilities with SMS – including simple elements like URL links make the possibilities endless. Just as email systems have developed to deliver more personal customer experiences, so has SMS. In this sense, SMS has become more attractive to marketers.

·      Is SMS marketing replacing email?

According to Forbes, corporate order notifications are disappearing and SMS is being increasingly used as an informal channel with messages becoming chatty to make online shopping a very personal experience.

It can be argued that email is becoming dry with repetitive content that often gets ignored. Many online stores have also experienced problems with designing effective responsive emails compatible with both desktop and mobile browsers. Despite these difficulties, we believe that you should not pick one over the other – we think that email and SMS work great together, allowing your customers to choose how you communicate with them.

With there being a vast array of marketing tools available in marketing nowadays, it makes sense for marketers to embrace multiple marketing tools to better the chances of profit and product sales.