SMS marketing is a business promotion strategy that for some time now has started gaining fruition among Nigerian businesses. But as more entrepreneurs are considering adopting this proven strategy, they’re being discouraged by certain misconceptions.
Here, we’ll be looking at 5 common myths about SMS marketing, and we’ll be debunking them with real truths. It is very important that you know these, lest you hesitate to apply a magical strategy due to your fear of problems that never existed.
1. Adults do not read text messages
Many people erroneously believe that most adults do not read text messages. They claim that most Nigerians from age 40 and above – who are of course the target of many businesses – usually ignore text messages. This is not true.
Granted, adults are busy and they tend to ignore blatantly promotional text messages. But if your message is compelling enough and relevant to your recipients, they will read your message and do business with you.
2. People delete SMS instantly
Of course, Nigerians are reasonable. If you send a message that offers no value to them, they will not only delete the message instantly, but also blacklist your company name. And when you send a second message, they won’t even bother to read before deleting.
So, what matters most is the first impression. If you target the wrong recipients or you send the wrong message, you’ll be blacklisted.
But if you play the SMS marketing game by the rules, you’ll get positive results from your efforts.
3. Only big businesses use bulk SMS
Another common myth about SMS marketing is that it only works for established and trusted businesses and brands. But the truth is, the strategy can work for every business, regardless of the size and age.
The main reason why people read SMS from the “big” businesses is that such businesses are trusted. (Of course, no one would like to do business with an unknown business.) If you start by building trust and establishing your brand, you’ll also get great results from SMS marketing.
4. SMS is cold and impersonal
Once again, this is not true. It however depends on your message as well as how you present it. If you send a message that does not appeal to the needs of your recipients, expect no responses or results. Likewise, if you send a message that sounds too fake to be true, expect no result as well. But if you avoid these mistakes, your audience will engage with your messages and you’ll get a business boost in return.
5. Internet marketing is better than SMS marketing
This may be true to some extent – but only in advanced countries where almost everyone surfs the internet daily.
But here in Nigeria, a greater fraction of the population does not know how to surf the net. And those who surf the web don’t do so on a frequent basis.
No doubt, the best avenue through which you can reach Nigerian prospects is by SMS. People take their phones everywhere, and they read all text messages. So, SMS marketing will spread word of your business faster and farther than the highly demanding internet marketing.
Now, I’m sure you’re now more informed about SMS marketing. Try using it for your business and see it soar.
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