Social Media Marketing Costs vs. Text Message Marketing Costs: Which Drives the Highest ROI?

We get it – costs can be an inhibiting factor when it comes to activating high-value marketing campaigns. As it pertains to costs, social media marketing vs. text message marketing has become a large topic of conversation. What platform should your business or organization prioritize, and more importantly, which channel yields a higher return on investment?

As an industry-leading text message marketing provider, we might be a little biased when we say that text messaging is one of the most cost-effective marketing solutions available to enterprises, businesses, organizations, and nonprofits. Moreover, text messaging works well for almost any industry, including fitness, real estate, restaurant, hospitality, and many others. It's one of the reasons why we're trusted by more than 210,000 businesses from around the world.

If you're having trouble deciding between social media marketing vs. text message marketing, we'll share some of the costs associated with each.

Social Media Marketing Costs vs. Text Message Marketing Costs

Despite attempts to increase pay, improve working conditions, and hire non-traditional candidates, trucking and logistics companies are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain quality candidates. One such company, Fidelis Freight, needed to look beyond social media platforms and offline initiatives for recruitment. By turning to text marketing, the company found an automated and affordable solution that brought in a ton of qualified candidates almost immediately.

Read More: Fidelis Freight Ramps Up Recruiting With Text Communications

But don't take our word for it. Here are some of the costs associated with social media marketing vs. text message marketing:

Social Media Marketing Costs

Here are the most common social media marketing costs:

1. Finding the Right Social Media Marketing Platforms: There's always going to be some trial and error when it comes to finding the social media marketing platforms that resonate most with your target audience. Not all of your customers are on Twitter, and not all of your customers are on Facebook. Find the perfect channel requires a serious investment in time, resources, and capital. And with so many different social media marketing channels out there, it can be difficult to know which channel will work the best right out of the gate.

2. Investing in Paid Advertising to Reach Larger Audiences: The best way to reach audiences beyond your immediate network is to allocate funds toward paid social media advertising. With more and more businesses and organizations opting into paid advertising, the space has become incredibly crowded. In this scenario, the business or organization that spends the most money wins.

3. Hiring Someone to Manage Social Media Accounts: To run social media campaigns effectively, you'll need to hire someone to make it all happen. From building quarterly social media strategies to scheduling posts, this person is tasked with a ton of responsibility. Depending on the size of your business or organization, it might take an entire team to orchestrate high-value social activities.

4. Building Quality Graphics and Campaigns to Promote via Social: More than just managing social media accounts, you'll also need to hire someone in charge of building high-quality graphics. The businesses and organizations that most successful at social media marketing allocate a ton of resources towards graphic design. 

Text Message Marketing Costs

Here are the most common text message marketing costs:

1. Finding the Right Text Message Marketing Platform: One of the most significant costs when it comes to text message marketing is finding the right texting platform. Not all text message marketing platforms are created equal. To find the very best text message marketing platform, we recommend getting answers to these key questions:

• How difficult is it to get started?
• Does the provider understand your unique needs?
• Does the provider offer powerful features?
• Is the customer service team helpful?
• Will the provider help you make money?

Read More: How to Choose a Texting Service for Business

2. Building Quality Graphics and Campaigns to Promote via Text: The only other major expense associated with text message marketing is building high-quality graphics and campaigns. Most text message marketing providers make it simple and easy to send MMS messages. This gives users the ability to add images, audio, and even video to marketing text messages. In terms of graphics, imagery, and video, there's a ton that can be done here to attract prospects and customers. For that reason, you may need to allocate some capital towards graphic design or videography.

Which Marketing Channel Should Your Business Choose?

There's a reason why more businesses and organizations choose text messaging over any other digital communications channel. These businesses and organizations know that text marketing delivers more value at a fraction of the cost. Moreover, according to recent reports, 90% of recipients respond to text messages within 30 minutes of waking up, over 50% of recipients check their phones 5x per hour, and out of all the available texting apps, recipients are most likely to use the native texting app.

You would be hard-pressed to find this kind of engagement in other channels.

Is text message marketing right for you and your business or organization? To get started with our text marketing platform, we recommend signing up for our free trial. In minutes, you'll have everything you need to start texting your contacts!

Photo: Adobe Stock/Meghan Schiereck