Explore the Advantages of Using SMS Reminders Over Sending Emails
SMS messages are used for communications (external and internal), authentication, marketing purposes, and customer service.
Using an SMS gateway to send short SMS text messages is a terrific way to communicate reminders, such as an upcoming appointment or a sale. When desired, emails may provide more information and share documents.
Combining SMS messages and emails is the best practice for most businesses to ensure that customers and employees get the latest information and that critical things are not missed.
Advantages of SMS Reminders Over Emails
The main advantage of SMS messages over emails is that they are immediate. SMS messages can be sent and received almost instantly, while emails require time to send and arrive. This makes SMS messages the preferred choice for urgent communications, such as reminders or alerts.
Since SMS messages are shorter than emails, they’re often easier and faster to compose and read. Typically, SMS campaigns are much more effective than email campaigns in terms of the open rate.
For example, a potential customer can enter a mobile phone number into a form on a website to get an SMS text message sent to their phone with a discount code to use when placing an order. This is an excellent way to capture mobile phone numbers, which are highly valued for marketing.
Another advantage of SMS messages is that they are more secure than emails. Email servers can be vulnerable to hacking, making emails unreliable for sensitive information. In contrast, SMS messages are sent through secure, encrypted networks, making them safer.
SMS messages also have the advantage of being more personal than emails. SMS messages are sent directly to the recipient’s phone number, making them more intimate. SMS messages can include emoticons and other visual elements, which makes them more engaging and fun to read.
SMS messages rarely get lost in a recipient’s inbox. Emails get mixed in and lost amid hundreds of other emails, but SMS messages are sent directly to the recipient’s phone and are unlikely to get lost.
Overall, SMS messages offer several advantages over emails. They are immediate, secure, personal, and less likely to get lost. SMS messages are often preferred for urgent communications, private messages, and sensitive information.
Limitations of Emails Compared to SMS Messages
One of the main limitations of emails is that spam filters may block them. This doesn’t happen in the same way with SMS messages. Phones offer an option of blocking SMS messages from a specific source. However, with spam filtration of emails, this blocking is done automatically without the email recipient needing to act.
Spam filtration has a problem with identifying an email as spam when it’s not spam. An important message may skip the inbox and end up in the spam folder, where it may go unnoticed.
Marketing messages sent as bulk emails may be identified as spam and filtered out, even for those who wish to receive them.
Suppose you send an email about an appointment reminder wrongly identified as spam. That reminder gets lost.
Tips for Using SMS Messages Effectively
Here are 10 tips for using SMS messages effectively:
- Keep it simple: Use short, relevant messages.
- Personalize: Address the recipient by name.
- Target your message: Send specific messages to targeted groups.
- Frequency: Schedule reminders at a certain frequency.
- Call to action: Ask recipients to take the desired action.
- Automate: Automate delivery.
- Test: Test and measure results.
- Track replies: Monitor replies and respond to questions promptly.
- Be considerate: Don’t overdo it and send too many messages.
- Privacy: Respect privacy and ensure compliance with regulations.