5 Booming Industries and How They Can Use SMS Marketing

When it comes to business in general, times are more turbulent than ever due to worldwide political, social and economic change. In the UK, this general uncertainty is currently even more pronounced as a result of the unresolved questions surrounding the issue of Brexit and its eventual impact on Britain’s relationship with mainland Europe and indeed beyond. However, there remains a lot to be optimistic about when it comes to British business according to the Business Matters Magazine. So which sectors are worth watching at the moment and how can they benefit from SMS Marketing? We take a closer look.

1. Advertising

Even with consumers tightening their belts, the advertising sector is showing no signs of decline – instead, it is set to see notable growth this year, which if correct would continue a trend that has already lasted eight years. Digital media has played a huge part in this continued boom, however, traditional channels still remain incredibly valuable. It has been reported that a growth of close to 5% could be expected over the course of 2018, bringing the annual revenue of the advertising sector to a cool £20 billion.

Whilst it represents a relatively small slice of the pie, SMS Marketing nonetheless has an important role to play in this equation. As a highly personal opt-in form of marketing, it boasts higher than average open and click-through rates, and according to research is extremely well received by customers, even when they have shown a negative response to other forms of marketing.

According to the Digital Marketing Association, 27% of these opt-in customers have purchased a good or service as a direct result of receiving a text either prompting the user to go in-store, use an alternative device to complete the purchase, or via their mobile device. Longer term, 50% of opt-in users also said that their loyalty to that business increased having received a helpful or informative text regarding their recent purchase.

Despite this, a surprisingly low number of companies are utilising the massive potential of this channel, which really should be playing a much more significant role in their marketing mix.

The options for advertising agencies to support the brands they work with using SMS Marketing are vast, from straightforward direct marketing campaigns for products and services to large-scale integrated campaigns using an SMS Shortcode/keyword combination, as well as more innovative approaches such as text-to-win contests – which can even form part of a live marketing event, something which is becoming increasingly popular.

2. Construction

Another industry that, despite the dramatic collapse of some of its biggest players in recent months, continues to show incredible resilience and growth is the UK’s construction industry. Whilst SMS Marketing may have limited relevance to the industry from a marketing perspective, it can certainly play a valuable supporting role – one area, in particular, being construction recruitment and people management. With a skilled and experienced workforce being the industry’s single greatest asset, finding, recruiting and keeping good talent has never been more important.

Recruiters for the construction industry can use SMS Marketing as a simple, efficient and cost-effective tool in more ways than one. Although SMS messaging can be used as a marketing tool, for example, billboard advertisements with a shortcode and keyword combination, its real value for this particular industry lies in its suitability for managing relationships with candidates at every stage of the process.

SMS Marketing can be used, for example, to arrange the initial interview or meeting as well as send reminders to the candidate, share job matches, request documentation and send updates on the progress of applications.

As well as being perfect for all things related to administration, it is also a great tool for collecting feedback from both clients and candidates once they have been successfully placed, helping to continually drive improvements in customer service.

For agencies, SMS Marketing can also be used to confirm shifts, locations and other details relating to the deployment of temporary staff, ensuring that your people are in the right places at the right time.

3. Gambling

Interestingly, another area that has seen incredible growth in recent years and is currently continuing on an upward trajectory is the gambling industry, spurred on by a surge in online gambling. So where does SMS Marketing fit into this?

Firstly, it can be deployed as a great tool for advertising, especially when using shortcode/keyword combinations for marketing campaigns such as magazine adverts, television commercials and billboards.

In addition, it can also be used to provide progress updates for the registration/verification process where applicable, as well as to send customers information such as account balance notifications or recent activity notifications. As well as this, it can be used to keep customers informed of special offers, new games, personalised recommendations and more.

4. Tech

It is no surprise to find that tech is high on the list of industries expected to see a continued surge throughout 2018 and beyond – after all it is now driving almost every area of life. Like it or not, tech is set to slowly take over an ever greater proportion of jobs as automation begins to become mainstream – with automation set to replace between a quarter and a third of UK jobs by 2030 if a recent report by thinktank Centres for Cities is to be believed. It is no surprise then that the sector is currently seeing growth levels that are 30% higher than the UK’s economy as a whole.

So where does SMS Marketing fit into the tech industry? As in construction, its most important role will likely be in recruitment, where there will likely be two distinct areas that matter – at one end of the spectrum we will see more and more demand for jobs as those involved in the manual end of production and manufacturing see an increasing number of positions liquidated. At the other end of the spectrum will be a growing need to recruit highly skilled engineers, technicians and programmers to service the technology that will replace workers. All of this could be effectively managed with the support of SMS Marketing.

5. Accounting & finance

Last but not least on this list is the accounting and finance sector. With businesses needing to negotiate ever more turbulent waters, they are turning to the industry for guidance, meaning that revenues for the sector are at an all-time high.

So how can the accounting and finance industry use SMS Marketing? With professionals spending more time away from the desktop, it can be a useful way to keep contacts updated on ongoing projects or issues, arrange and confirm meetings, confirm document requests/submissions and many more administrative tasks.

As well as this, it can be a great way to share industry news bulletins, blog posts and more to help keep clients fully up to date with the information that matters most to them, helping accounting and finance brands to give their customers added value as well as maintaining their status as thought leaders and influencers in their fields.

Whatever your sector, the team at Fastsms can help you to grow with our award-winning, low-cost bulk business SMS Messaging solutions. To learn more from one of our experts, call now on 0800 954 5305.