How to Use Email & Text Marketing in Your Marketing Campaigns

Using Email & Text Marketing in Your Marketing Campaigns

Many people ask us, is email or text marketing more effective? The truth is, they’re both effective marketing strategies, but they can be even more effective when you take advantage of them simultaneously. To help you better understand how both can work together to produce desirable results, we’ll compare and contrast the two.

A Quick Look at Email Marketing

Let’s start with email marketing. This refers to the marketing tactic in which you can email marketing material to your customers once they opt-in and subscribe. Email marketing lets you engage with customers you already know are interested in your business because they’ve agreed to receive communications from you.

A lot of businesses see success with this type of marketing. In fact, a recent survey suggested that around 80% of professionals rely on email marketing for customer retention and acquisition. What’s more, a study found that email marketing has a return of investment (ROI) of $36 on every $1 spent, making it one of the most lucrative marketing strategies. But it doesn’t stop there. The study also revealed you can further boost your email ROI by using tactics like A/B testing and including dynamic content, animated GIFs, and live content.

And let’s not overlook just how widely used email is around the globe. In 2020 alone, there were an estimated 4 billion email users worldwide, which means you have a lot of real estate to work with. If you’re not using email to communicate with your customers, you’re missing out on a big piece of the pie.

How to Take Advantage of Email Marketing

When sending out marketing emails, it’s important to be intentional. First, it’s important to remember that your customers are receiving a ton of emails each day (over 100, on average!), so your message won’t always be front and center—but that’s ok! Many users save marketing emails to review later, which means you can still get eyes on your content hours or even days after it’s been sent out.

However, this also means that email is not the best avenue if you’re looking to get an urgent message out. Email is much better for non-time-sensitive communications that don’t require immediate action, such as newsletters, feedback surveys, confirmations, and announcements.

And finally, email marketing is an excellent tool for sending your customers longer messages or those with multiple media types, such as images, videos, or GIFs. Because you’re not limited to any length constraints, you can use email as a storytelling platform to further engage with your customers and pique their interests. For example, maybe you want to describe your latest product in detail or provide background on your brand’s mission.

A Quick Look at SMS Marketing

Now, the 2022 Global Messaging Engagement Report found that email is the most popular means of communication globally, but SMS follows close behind.

SMS messages refer to marketing messages that you can text your customers. Like email marketing, you first must receive permission from your customers before sending them marketing texts. Once your customers have opted in, your customers will receive your SMS messages right on their mobile devices in real-time, just like any other text.

The beauty of this marketing strategy is that customers almost always have their mobile devices on hand, meaning you have a better chance of your message getting in front of them. In fact, 70% of people open their texts within five minutes of receiving them, which results in 138% more opened texts than emails.

How to Take Advantage of SMS Marketing

Just because there’s a good chance your customers will open your SMS messages doesn’t mean you should fire off hundreds every day. It’s better to reserve these messages for when you want to relay something urgent or special. For example, maybe you’re hosting a flash sale or announcing that your shop is closing early this evening. SMS messages are also great for encouraging customers to take immediate action, such as RSVPing to an event, using a promo code, or taking advantage of a limited-time-only sale.

Also, keep in mind that these texts have a 160-character limit, meaning your message needs to be concise and to the point. Not to mention, your customers will probably quickly scan your text, so you want to keep it simple and direct. If you have a lot to say, it might be best to save that message for your email marketing strategy instead.

Pairing Email & Text Marketing

When email marketing and SMS marketing join forces, the end result is an effective and nearly unstoppable marketing machine that reaches every member of your audience.

Incorporating these two marketing tactics gives you a well-rounded strategy that covers all your bases. For example, when you have access to both text and email marketing, you can segment your customers and send them messages based on their preferred method of communication—some of your customers may want to receive marketing emails, while others prefer to get SMS texts. Your customers will be more likely to read and engage with your content if they can consume it their way.

You can also use one form of marketing, let’s say email, to encourage your customers to receive the other form, in this case SMS text marketing (and vice versa). For example, if your customers have already opted in to receive your SMS messages, you could send them a text requesting their email addresses.

You might say, “Want to hear more about our new product line? Text us your email to receive the inside scoop!” You can do the same with your emails, asking your customers to sign up for SMS communications. Similarly you might say in an email, “Sign up for texts and get early access to flash sales, promo codes, new products, and more!” Since text marketing is more about timeliness and immediacy, it makes sense to pair last minute or short-lived exclusive experiences via this real-time marketing channel.

Read more ideas on how to text your email subscribers here.

In addition to providing you with more access to your customers, and allowing you to personalize that experience, how else can email and text marketing work in tandem?

Let’s recall the main differences between the two. Namely, emails are best for non-urgent, longer messages, while texts are better suited for short, more timely communications. So, when it comes to developing a marketing campaign, you can use these attributes to your advantage.

For example, maybe you’re a small craft beer company launching a new line of eco-friendly brews. Not only are you introducing new flavors, but everything about this beer is eco-conscious, from its fair-trade, organic ingredients to its biodegradable packaging. Obviously, you’re excited to get these beers in front of your customers, but it’s also essential that you tell the backstory to help drum up interest across eco-conscious craft beer lovers - all potential customers.

In this case, you could use SMS texts to create urgency and excitement around your launch. You might send out teasers, such as, “We’re going green 🌱 and launching the world’s most eco-friendly craft beer this Friday.” You could also send out special text promos to encourage sales like, “Toast the weekend with our latest eco-friendly brews. Adults 21 can use our promo GREENESTBREW to get 20% off today!”

As for your email marketing strategy, emails provide you with a longer format, where you can include interviews, photos, and videos that give life to your products and context to your brand. Since the environmental aspect associated with your line is a driving force, you could use emails to spotlight your other eco-initiatives. You might share a series of blog posts that describe where you harvest your hops and what goes into your recyclable packaging. Or you could create an entire newsletter around the specific styles of beer included in the new line.

Integrating Email & Texting Software

Alright, you’re sold on deploying an email and SMS marketing solution, so how do you integrate them? The good news is that email and text marketing software is actually a cinch to combine.

For instance, if you’re already using EZ Texting for your text marketing, the platform lets you automate contact management with various tools, such as MailChimp and HubSpot. The MailChimp integration syncs up with your EZ Texting account, so all of your customer contact information and metrics are in one centralized place via Constant Contact. In fact, importing MailChimp contacts only takes a few simple steps and doesn’t require any tech-savvy skills.

Learn More about EZ Texting

EZ Texting is a mobile marketing platform that can revolutionize the way your small business connects with your customers. Watch our video tour for more information, and then sign up for our free trial to experience it for yourself.