Is Email Marketing or SMS Marketing Better for Your Business?

Is Email Marketing or SMS Marketing Better for Your Business?

Sep 16, 2022 | SMS Marketing

For decades, email marketing has been the preferred method for sending and receiving mass messages and reaching audiences. Text (or SMS) marketing, on the other hand, is quick and cost-effective. So, which reigns supreme?

Email or SMS marketing?

In order to figure out which strategy is right for your business you need to consider factors like: cost, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, level of engagement, open rate, and ROI – just to name a few.

In this article, we will breakdown the differences between SMS marketing and email marketing. We'll explain each strategy and demonstrate how they work, their benefits and drawbacks, and when to use them. Also, whether you should hire the services of a digital agency for help

So What Exactly Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is mass-sending emails to people (leads or customers) on your e-mail list. The people on your list have chosen to be there. You send emails to inform current and prospective customers about new products, services, discounts, and special offers. Consider it a direct method of communicating with your customers in which you have their permission to send them promotional information. Your email list should be one of your most valuable business assets.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Email Marketing

Approximately 125 billion emails are sent every day. Emails are an important part of any business, and it works best for delivering more detailed information. It also has a much higher ROI than many other marketing channels and is quite versatile. In fact, email campaigns can be for product updates, subscriptions, and promotions.

Here's why you should use email marketing:

It is reasonably priced – With a $40 profit for for every $1, it’s still the best ROI in the game for over 2 decades.

Emails have the ability to be personal to the recipient –Any reputable email marketing expert will tell you that this feature helps you connect with your audience. This can increase the email marketing conversion rate.

The versatility of email is unlike any other marketing tool –You can use emails to provide detailed product information, make brief announcements, and send reminders. Also, you can welcome new customers, announce special offers, follow up with leads, or simply greet your target audience.

It plays on user habits and intent – 44% of consumers check their emails at least once per day. People open emails with specific intentions, such as looking for updates, product information, or customer service. This is why email marketing is so important.

Emails are an excellent way to increase traffic to your website – You can increase the number of website visitors looking for your products or services by using targeted email marketing services. Using targeted traffic increases the ROI of email marketing.

The Cons of Email Marketing

A crowded inbox makes it difficult to capture the attention of your consumer – Every day, we all receive approximately 121 emails. When consumers sort through those emails on a daily basis, it's easy to put everything in the spam folder. In many cases your emails will end up in the same folder as spam.

Emails may not enter the recipient’s inbox – Email servers now have sophisticated filters. If your email appears to be spammy, it may be blocked from reaching your recipient's inbox. A digital agency can assist you in crafting emails that are more likely to reach your target audience's inbox.

People can easily delete or unsubscribe from emails – People may delete your emails or unsubscribe from your list for any reason. Like if they see messed up graphics, poorly written headlines, unreadable text, or blocked images. Or, simply content that isn’t relatable to them.

What Exactly Is SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing is the use of text messages to communicate with customers. SMS, like email marketing, can inform your audience about promotions, campaigns, updates, news, and more.

Before sending any promotional information, both SMS and email marketing ask for your audience's permission. The CAN-SPAM Act and the Consumer Protection Act are the primary laws that protect consumers from unsolicited SMS (TCPA). These rules and guidelines are in use in all good SMS marketing examples.

SMS and email marketing are both owned channels. This means you can choose who receives your emails or text messages.  It also means you have control over the type of user experience your customers will have.

You can send the SMS marketing examples listed below:

1. Promotional SMS: These are SMS messages that are intended to raise brand awareness, promote products or services, and boost sales.

2. Transactional SMS: These are text messages that contain information that your customers require. They may include delivery updates, product specifications, and order information.

SMS Marketing's Benefits and Drawbacks

When comparing SMS marketing to email marketing, SMS has the advantage of capturing the recipient's attention right away. When you receive a text message, your phone alerts you, capturing your attention right then and there. This is why the open rate for SMS marketing is higher than the open rate for email marketing.

This sense of urgency created by the alert is both a benefit and a disadvantage for SMS marketing. On the one hand, it may compel your customers to act immediately in response to your promotion. However, if sent at the wrong time, these texts can turn off users, who will either ignore or delete them.

Let's go over the specific benefits and drawbacks of SMS marketing.

Benefits of SMS marketing:

Your customers do not require internet – It's worth noting that 15% of Americans (52 million people) today have little or no internet access. This is a massive market that is beyond the scope of any email campaign.

It has a better response rate -On average, text messages are read in three minutes. That's a response rate of up to 209 percent when compared to social media, email, or even phone calls.

It has a high level of engagement – SMS, like email marketing, is a marketing channel with higher levels of engagement than other lead generation strategies. Higher engagement levels suggests a higher SMS open rate.

Drawbacks of SMS marketing:

It has a limited amount of content space – You have only 160 characters to work with. Sending messages that short while still packing a punch requires a pretty big vocabulary.

It's more expensive -The cost of running an SMS campaign is higher than the cost of running an email campaign.

It may erode customer trust – Customers can easily lose trust with businesses that send them unwanted text messages or SMS that are poorly structured. Customers may become irritated if you send text messages at inconvenient times. This may also cause them to opt out.

What Is the Difference Between SMS and Email Marketing?

Which is better: SMS marketing or email marketing? Think about the following:

Insert the table here from the bottom of the article Chris.

One of the first things marketers notice is that the ROI of email marketing is higher than that of SMS marketing. This suggests that the conversion rate for email marketing is also higher.

These are the figures that email marketing companies will provide you with. The lower email marketing open rate, on the other hand, proves the case for SMS marketing. Text messages also have a significantly higher CTR and response rate.

The Answer: Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing is the use of multiple marketing channels to increase your bottom line. Your business has unique needs, so balancing SMS and email marketing is recommended for better results. You have a better chance of capturing your audience's attention if you develop a marketing strategy that uses both in tandem.

When should SMS marketing be used?  To respond to customer questions, solicit feedback, promote one of your products, and collect signups for your programs. Keeping track of its usage allows you to stay within your marketing budget.

Email marketing, on the other hand, is better suited for promoting multiple products due to its lower cost. It can be used for company updates, newsletters, and a variety of marketing.

Working With a Seasoned Digital Marketing Agency

Finding the right balance between SMS and email marketing can be difficult, especially if you haven't had much success with either.  If you are looking to improve your SMS and email marketing results, connect with us today. We can help you create a customized omnichannel plan based on your budget and goals. Connect with us to learn more!

We want to help you with all of your marketing needs. Looking to step into the world of video marketing after perfecting your email and SMS strategy? Click here to meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast. Get your name out there!

How Website Performance Can Improve By Optimizing Page Speed

How Website Performance Can Improve By Optimizing Page Speed

Sep 14, 2022 | SEO

When it comes to the performance of your website, page speed is vital.

Your web pages must load quickly and seamlessly in order to lower your bounce rate and boost visitor engagement.

In this article, we'll explain why it's important, and show you how to measure it.

According to Google research, every second counts when it comes to page loading speed. Increasing loading times from one to three seconds increases the likelihood of a bounce (the visitor leaving immediately) by 32%.

A shocking 90% of visitors will leave a site if it takes longer than five seconds to load.

The speed of a website has a significant impact on user experience, SEO, and conversion rates. Improving website performance is critical for attracting visitors and keeping them engaged. Here are some steps that you can take with your developer to make your website load faster:

Run a Website Performance Test

Website speed tests determine how well a website performs. Testing a website can help developers identify some or all of the areas that are slowing down website performance. And, identify areas for improvement.

There are numerous high-quality site speed tests for measuring performance, many of which are free, such as Pingdom.com.

Google also provides “PageSpeed" Insights for more in-depth performance testing. Google Chrome "DevTools" can also assist developers in evaluating the performance of their website.

Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

CDNs increase website speed by caching content in multiple locations around the world. CDN caching servers are usually closer to end users than the host, or origin server. Content requests are routed to a CDN server rather than the hosting server. This may be thousands of miles away and spread across multiple networks from the user. Using a CDN can significantly reduce page load times.

Website Image Optimization

Images account for a large portion of Internet traffic, and they frequently take the longest to load on a website. This is because mage files are larger in size than HTML and CSS files. Image optimization and can reduce image load time. Image optimization typically entails lowering the resolution, compressing the files, and shrinking their dimensions. Many image optimizers and image compressors are freely available online.

Lower the number of HTTP requests

Most webpages will need multiple HTTP requests from browsers for various assets on the page. These include things such as images, scripts, and CSS files. Indeed, many webpages will necessitate dozens of these requests. Each request necessitates a round trip to and from the server hosting the resource, which can increase the overall load time of a webpage. Furthermore, because the resources are loaded from multiple providers, a problem with one of the hosts may impact the webpage's ability to load quickly, or at all.

Because of these potential issues, the total number of assets that must be loaded by each page should be kept to a minimum. A speed test should also help identify which HTTP requests are taking the longest. For example, if images are slowing down a page's load time, developers can look for a faster image hosting solution (such as a CDN).

Cache Your Website Pages

Caching is one of the most effective methods for speeding up your website. Caching saves copies of your website's files, reducing the amount of work required by the server to generate and serve a web page to a visitor's browser.

By requiring the server to use fewer resources to load a page, caching your web pages can help reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB).

There are several methods for caching your web pages. This can be done at the server level, which means your host will handle it for you.

Another option is to use a caching plugin, such as W3 Total Cache, a free WordPress plugin that makes caching web pages simple. After you've installed and activated it, go to General Settings > Page Cache and check the Enable box.

Reduce The Use Of External Scripts

Any scripted webpage elements loaded from elsewhere, such as external commenting systems, CTA buttons, or lead-generation popups, must be loaded each time a page is loaded. Depending on the size of the script, this can cause a webpage to slow down or not load all at once (this is known as 'content jumping' or 'layout shifting,' and it can be especially aggravating for mobile users).

Avoid Using Redirects When Possible

A redirect occurs when visitors to one website are forwarded to another. Redirects increase page load time by a few fractions of a second, or even whole seconds in some cases. Every second counts when developing a website that is optimized for performance. Redirects are sometimes unavoidable, but they should be avoided if possible.

Remember that every second your website takes to load increases the likelihood that your visitors will leave. If your website is running slow, how long can you keep running your business while losing leads?  Is it time to speed things up?

We want to help you! Are you looking for a way to get your name out there and create video content for your website? Click here to meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast!

Video marketing is a great way to get your website more clicks. You can even include testimonials and give your website that extra boost of professionalism. Click here to learn more about it!

Small Business Strategies to Survive the Recession

Small Business Strategies to Survive the Recession

Sep 8, 2022 | Video Marketing

If you’ve watched any TV news broadcast lately, you will know that the economic future is clouded by uncertainties. The COVID-19 epidemic is still around globally, and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine impacts soaring interest rates. This could all be a disaster for your small business.

Economists predict that the United States will enter a recession by late 2023 or early 2024. With a recession on the horizon, businesses and industry leaders are in uncharted territory.

Is digital marketing a good approach during an economic downturn?

To put it simply, yes!

People will continue to look for products and services online even if overall demand has reduced. Therefore, your digital marketing efforts should not be shut down during a recession.

In fact, this is likely the most useful marketing decision you can make during an economic slump. Digital marketing allows you to reach people who are actively looking for what you have to offer. Also, whoever most closely match your target audience.

Experts agree that strong internet marketing is the smartest long-term investment for your company during a downturn in the economy. Recession-proof business marketing methods are more important today than ever.

Prepare Your Small Business for a Recession

There is one thing that separates recession-proof businesses from the competition. The fact that they take action sooner, and start business planning for a recession before their competitors do.

Have you started making plans for a recession in your business? Follow these digital marketing tips to better prepare your business for a recession and safeguard your brand:

Improve Your Online Presence

Building and maintaining a strong online presence in any economy is one of the foundations of recession-proof companies. Maintaining a strong digital presence enables you to capture a larger portion of the market when a recession occurs.

You must stay top of mind with your target audience, invest in market research, and create a mobile-friendly website. Hire a expert to help you with your search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing.

There are many things to consider with a recession on the horizon. This includes establishing a stronger digital presence and staying on potential clients' radars.

Do Not Reduce Your Small Business Marketing Budget

During a recession, business owners must decide where to make sacrifices. Reduce their marketing budget, suspend marketing efforts, or double down on their digital marketing campaigns.

It may seem sensible to some to suspend marketing during a recession. Spending a lot of money on digital marketing may feel unimportant when sales are down. Consider what took place in 2020. Spending on digital marketing campaigns fell about the same time that 255 million full-time jobs were lost globally. Due to lower ad earnings during the COVID-19 epidemic, even Google had to cut its marketing budget by half.

So, why should you keep working on your digital marketing strategy and investing in digital marketing services?

Businesses that continue to market throughout a recession are more likely to survive, according to studies. During an economic downturn, many businesses reduce their advertising budget. This is a opportunity to show that your business is stable even when things are hard. So continue your digital marketing campaign efforts! Or, at most dial them back slightly, but never fully suspend them.

To keep business flowing, have a digital marketing strategy in place. Discontinuing your marketing efforts will make it much easier for your competitors.

It's Time to Optimize Your Website… Now!

Check out your website. Is it generating leads for your company 24 hours a day, or is there room for improvement? Not sure which parts of your website should be improved or updated? Consult with a reputable digital agency – it's what they do!

Agencies normally will employ conversion rate optimization (CRO) specialists. They perform in-depth website audits to evaluate your website's interactions. A specialist will also discover areas you need to optimize to meet your goals.

Conversion rate optimization helps you make the most of your traffic. This is done by examining the data from your website to improve the consumer experience.

You will learn what pages are visited the most and which pages receive the least engagement. You also can examine cart abandonment and overall customer behavior.

Gather this info to create a data-driven strategy. That way, you'll know that any changes you make to your website are more likely to affect your bottom line.

Maintain Your Social Media Efforts

During an economic downturn, many people prefer to stay at home in order to spend less and save more. This also shows that potential customers spend more time on their mobile devices. This is an ideal time to use social media marketing to attract new consumers. And, nurture leads via your sales funnel.

Continuing your social media marketing also ensures that your audience is aware that your business is still active online. A little can still go a long way to attracting new/existing customers.

Create Compelling Video Content For Your Small Business

Certain web marketing approaches pay off due to their cost-effective, creative approach to audience involvement. Video marketing is one example of this .

Video marketing is still one of the most engaging ways to connect with your target audience and deliver information. It fosters trust and confidence in ways that text alone simply cannot.

Consider creating video content that is evergreen and will continue to be useful content for years to come. This ensures that your dollar goes further than if you spend more on campaign-specific content.

Share videos on your social media platforms. Ask that customers create video reviews for you to use on your website. Allow followers to communicate with your brand and ask questions in real time by live-streaming on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.

During a difficult time, Americans are likely to spend time online keeping up with friends and news. Video marketing is a great way to engage with your target audience. Learn where they spend the majority of their time, and grow your customer base!

Optimize Your Marketing Budget and Choose Your Priorities Wisely

Digital marketing is not like a light switch.  You can't just turn it on or off, it is an ongoing process.

Even if the economy is struggling, you owe it to your team and customers to figure out how to source, sell, and optimize your business to get through difficult times.

It is crucial that you begin improving your digital presence and investing in new digital marketing methods. These methods will make positive long-term benefits for your business.

Looking for a good way to create video content for your small business? We can help! Sign up to meet with Jay Vics on the Meet the Experts podcast. Create great content and get your name out there!