The Difference Between Email and SMS Autoresponders: Part 1
One of the great things about email marketing is the ability to send pre-prepared emails to your list automatically. Everyone who uses email has seen them, even if they don’t realise it. Many common uses are for registration confirmations, order confirmations, and customer support responses (“We got your request and we’ll get back to you soon!”). There is also a whole world of email marketing built around autoresponders. But I’ll get to that later.
While you may be familiar with email autoresponders (especially if you’re in marketing) you may or may not know you can set up a similar function with SMS messaging. In concept, it works the same way. But there are some differences in how they are used which I’ll cover here.
What's the Same?
Both types of autoresponders are triggered by an action taken by the recipient. Usually for email, the person has provided their address to you for some reason. They signed up to get a special offer, your newsletter, or other information. In SMS, autoresponders are usually triggered by a keyword sent to you in a text message. It could be a reply to a message you sent, or it could be an initial text to you from a new person not yet on your list.
In both cases, you craft a message that gets sent automatically when the person contacts you. What the message is depends on what the person signed up for or contacted you about.
Here are some examples for both email and SMS autoresponders:
Confirmation messages – These can be for any request such as subscription sign ups, orders, or support requests.
Informational – Content such as tips, purchase related information, or e-courses (sequential content delivered in chunks designed to teach).
Engagement – Asking your subscribers to connect or comment via reply or on social media is another good use of an autoresponder.
If you are familiar with email marketing (as a marketer or as a recipient) you’re probably wondering how you can do some of these via SMS. Well, that gets us to some of the differences. Even though it’s possible to do all of these with SMS, how you do them is, or can be, different.
Come back for part 2 in the next blog to see how to put SMS autoresponders to work for you.
Related Articles
SMS Marketing for the Beauty Industry
In the 21st century, it’s easy to lose track of all the technology needed to make you the biggest profit and improve your reputation. With our simple SMS services, you can drag your business into the modern age with relative ease, reducing missed appointments and increasing your bottom line.
Planning Your SMS Marketing Campaign: Back to Basics
SMS messaging is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing available. Like any marketing, though, it is vital to plan your campaign effectively to ensure maximum success. So let's look at a few basic principles that will help you make the most of your online SMS marketing.
8 Tips for Creating an Engaged Audience for SMS Marketing
What’s the one thing that every marketing campaign needs? An audience! So, how do you create a database of subscribers? Natural curiosity and the British passion for “bargains” may be strong enough reasons for some to offer up their mobile numbers. However, to get substantial numbers of customers - or potential customers - to opt-in to your SMS campaigns you will need planning and care.
How SMEs can use SMS in their Business Marketing
As a small to medium-sized enterprise, you will always be looking for ways of expanding your marketing outreach and public relations efforts without too much additional cost to your company. Chances are your budget is tight and you are limited in the extent in which you can advertise too. That's where SMS comes in.
How Clubs Can Benefit from Using Text Messaging
Read how clubs can benefit from the use of text messaging services to reduce wasted time and increase customer satisfaction. They can confirm appointments in advance with an option to text back to cancel or re-schedule thus reducing no-shows. SMS is also great for sharing news and special offers with members.
How SMS Marketing Can Revolutionise Your Beauty Business
There are many benefits of using SMS marketing for businesses within the health and beauty industry. From instantly connecting with customers to booking appointments and increasing sales, the opportunities for the health and beauty sector are huge when it comes to business text messaging. Due to the fast-paced nature of appointment booking within the industry, and the increasing competition, SMS marketing could be the key to separate you from your competition.
Do Cinemas Need to Use SMS Messaging?
Every cinema experiences ups and downs in admissions. But do they have to wait for the next blockbuster to come along before seeing more ticket sales? Not if they use SMS messaging to connect with customers. Find out how in this blog.
5 Ways to Personalise Your Next SMS Marketing Campaign
There are always ways in which SMS marketing can be optimised further. One such way is through personalisation. This may seem like an insurmountable challenge when you are trying to communicate with so many people at the same time. The last thing you want to do is have to send out one message at a time to thousands of numbers. Yet this isn't necessary - in fact, it is more than possible to add several layers of personalisation to your SMS marketing.
SMS Messaging in the Entertainment Industry
Used across numerous sectors, SMS messaging can be particularly rewarding in the entertainment and hospitality industries. With a combined revenue of over £140 billion, the entertainment and hospitality industries are thriving and their worth is expected to increase substantially in the near future. However, with many Britons having less disposable income to play with, businesses will be vying for custom more than ever. In order to attract new consumers and retain existing customers, companies will need to develop, enhance and refine their marketing techniques. SMS is one such proven technique.
How To Craft The Best Content For Your SMS Messaging
You need concise, memorable and high-impact content with a clear call to action in your SMS messaging. That, in a nutshell, is what's needed to achieve with any marketing or engagement communications in any form. But this is never truer than with an SMS campaign when your business text messaging has to rely on a small window of recipient attention.