Why everyone hates SMS (or do they?)

Okay, admittedly. The headline here is straight out of the clickbate handbook, but there's actually a meaning behind the madness.

Time and time again, we hear companies say that they don't dare to send SMS messages to their customers, employees or business partners because "everyone hates getting text messages these days".

We want to distance ourselves from that idea. Because no, not everyone hates texting, of course. However, everyone hates irrelevant text messages, and there is a big difference. Do you want to learn how to send relevant SMS messages that won't annoy the recipient? Then read on below.

Why we think everyone hates text messages

As instant messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram and more have made their way into our lives, it has naturally changed our communication habits. Not because we communicate less on our phones, on the contrary. Online messaging services have simply taken over a natural part of the messages we send from our mobiles.

That's why back in 2017, the number of text messages sent in Denmark took a huge dive, dropping by 10.4%.

With that in mind, one might be tempted to think that the SMS message is no longer relevant. However, this is far from the truth.

We don't hate the SMS - we hate irrelevant text messages

The truth is that SMS communication is still going strong.

Why we love the SMS

In a recent Salesforce study, State of the Connected Customer, a whopping 53% of consumers surveyed said they prefer to shop online rather than in a physical store. With customers no longer visiting physical stores, this means that brands need to get into the customer's shoes if they want to build a relationship with them. As a business, you can do this to a large extent by using SMS messaging.

In fact, another US report, 2021 SMS Marketing Consumer Trends, shows that the vast majority of US consumers would like to receive more SMS communications from brands they follow, while a whopping 91% would consider signing up to receive SMS if their favourite brands offered it.

The UK SMS Consumer Survey Report published by Yotpo also shows that 67% of consumers surveyed were likely to sign up to receive SMS messages from brands during the customer journey.

The studies were conducted in the UK and the US, but there's no doubt that the same trends are starting to be seen in the Danish market.

To summarise: Does everyone hate the SMS?

So our answer to whether everyone hates text messages is a resounding no. Consumers don't hate the SMS message just like they don't hate pop-ups, emails or social media adverts in general.

What consumers hate today is irrelevant communication.

Because we hate text messages, which are:

• Irrelevant (unimportant information for the recipient)
• Disruptive (sent at a bad time)
• unannounced (not authorised).

However, the fact is that SMS is a crazy good medium for example:

• online businesses that send time-limited offers to potential customers
• Organisations that need to send appointment reminders
• Sports clubs that need to send team rosters, packing lists etc. to their players
• and many more.

That's because SMS as a medium is great for communicating:

• Establish personal relationships with your recipients because SMS messaging is still a very personal medium compared to, for example, emails or pop-ups
• Ensure the recipient actually reads your message (95% of all SMS messages are opened within 5 minutes of receipt)
• Ensure the recipient receives your message - SMS is a universal communication platform that works on all mobile devices and without the need for an internet connection.

Good. I think we've established why SMS messaging is far from dying.

In the rest of the article, you'll find 5 tips from our SMS experts that you can use if you also want to send SMS messages that your recipients are happy to receive.

5 tips for sending text messages your recipient won't hate!

There are several things that determine whether your recipient finds value in receiving a text message from you or if they experience annoyance instead. That's why it's important to know your recipient and customise your message accordingly before you start sending.

#1 Keep your messages short and have a clear message

There are several reasons to keep your text messages short. Firstly, because longer messages are more expensive to send(read why in our article : How many characters can an SMS message contain).

Besides the increased cost of sending longer text messages, it's also important to think about the message of your messages. SMS is brilliant because the open rate is so high and usually happens within minutes. But that's exactly why it's also important that the message is clear. If the recipient is unsure who an SMS is from or what the message is, there is a good chance that the message will be closed and forgotten again.

#2 Segment your recipients (so they only receive relevant messages)

In Salesforce's latest State of the Connected Customer survey, 56% of respondents said they expect companies' offers to always be personalised - that is, tailored to the individual customer. That number has increased from 52% in 2021.

Sending relevant messages to your recipients will only become more important! This means, for example, that you shouldn't send a "lost basket" message to Lone if Lone has just bought the product that she left in the basket this morning (yes, unfortunately this happens more often than you might think).

Fortunately, you can use inMobile's "Promotions" feature to avoid errors like this. This feature allows you to segment your recipients based on their purchase data such as last order date, total number of orders and more. Our lost basket feature also ensures that a message is never sent if an order has already been placed.

#3 Be aware of the broadcast time (and any time difference)

SMS messaging is still a much more personalised medium than emails, for example. That's why it's also important not to send messages at inappropriate times. When a consumer receives an SMS at 10pm at night, they expect it to be something important.

If your company simply wants to draw attention to the fact that Mother's Day is next week, it's unlikely that the message will be received positively.

Meaning: Only send messages during the time period when consumers expect and accept to receive SMS messages. And when texting abroad, remember the time difference!

If you work with automation, it is also important that you work with dispatch windows. Fortunately, they are easy to set up in the inMobile platform. Just look at the example here, where abandoned basket messages are not sent if the basket is abandoned between 21:00 and 08:00.

#4 Pay attention to your broadcast frequency

Because SMS communication is one of the most personalised forms of communication, it's also important to pay attention to frequency. If you send two text messages a day, there's a good chance that your followers will unsubscribe after a short time. Unless of course the two text messages are hyper relevant, but that's hard to imagine.

Instead, find a frequency that keeps your SMS followers on their toes (they shouldn't forget why they signed up for your SMS communication either), but where the frequency is still low enough that all messages are relevant to the recipient.

#5 Only send SMS messages with the correct prior authorisation

This point is actually the most important of them all. Remember to get the correct authorisation before sending an SMS message! Otherwise, you risk breaking the law on SMS marketing, and no good can come of that.