It's no secret that integrating mobile marketing services into an SMB's overall strategy is a necessary ingredient for long-term success. But while SMS marketing may be typically relegated as just another supplementary medium by which companies can deliver their message, like email or social media, a new survey conducted by Salesforce highlights that mobile text marketing may be making the jump this year from being just another channel to being the channel.
"Marketers' changing attitudes about mobile seem to be at least partially attributable to a view of mobile as a strategic versus tactical marketing tool," writes Ken Gaebler, for the entrepreneur resource Gaebler.com. "And marketers are reallocating budget spend to accommodate the mobile channel's strategic dimensions."
This changing mindset about the role that mobile can play as a make-or-break component for a successful marketing campaign seems to be catching on in a big way. According to Salesforce Marketing Cloud's 2015 State of Marketing analysis, 86 percent of 5,000 marketers across 10 countries have prioritized the "cohesive customer journey" as their primary goal — with mobile apps identified as the most effective means of facilitating that journey.
To that end, more marketers are shifting resources from traditional advertising to digital channels. Mobile integration, in particular, is being held up as the linchpin that can determine the effectiveness and success of other marketing channels. In other words, instead of being thought of as another planet in the digital marketing solar system, SMS service is now being looked at as the sun.
The Salesforce report identified a number of other key trends that reflect the growing prominence of SMS marketing:
- About 27 percent of mobile marketers have developed their own app and another 34 percent are looking to create their own by the end of 2015.
- Approximately 68 percent of marketers that already use mobile text marketing are looking to "integrate it into their broader marketing strategies."
- Fifty-eight percent of marketers surveyed have created a dedicated team for mobile marketing.
- Mobile site and mobile app traffic has surpassed conversions and lead generation as the number one metric for tracking and determining successful campaigns.
- Over the past 12 months, SMS marketing use — including apps, push notifications and GPS-based services — grew from 23 percent of marketers to 46 percent.
- Seventy-one percent have named mobile marketing as "core to their business."
While it remains to be seen by just how much marketers continue to pursue and adopt SMS services into their digital marketing strategies, and how much of an ROI each one manages to reap, the trend is clear: To stay relevant and become successful in today's marketing landscape, SMS is key.
