In an article called “How startup companies are using text messages to acquire customers” by Kristina Monllos, the writer explains how startup companies have made texting a core part of their selling proposition. Text messages are used for ducation purposes, commerce, and to create brand awareness. Monllos dives deeper into text message marketing and the article discusses three different startups: Judy – a direct-to-consumer company that helps people get prepared for disaster or emergency situations, Dirty Lemon’s – a beverage company, and Cariuma – a sneaker company.
Here is how each of these startups use text message marketing. Judy uses text messages as a part of their general awareness marketing. They use texts to educate people on how to prepare for an emergency. The sneakers company Cariuma uses text messages to let their customers know when a product is back in stock, and also as a way to re-engage with customers. Finally, Dirty Lemon’s use texts to keep their consumers updated on their orders. They have also made it possible for their consumers to reach out to them through text to ask for refills. CEO Zak Normandin states “SMS is so core to our business that we’re working every day to maintain trust”. I think it is pretty unique to have the customers being able to text you with their requests. The text messages I get from companies are typically just a one-way kind of communication from the company to me. To give the customer an option to text the company themselves is both convenient for the customer and a way for the company to build trust.
Monllos further explains how texting has become an attractive channel for direct-to-consumer companies since Facebook, Instagram, and email marketing have become swamped with DTC marketing. As a result, marketing on those channels makes it harder for your company to stand out and it is also way more expensive. However, even though text messaging seems to be the new hot channel for marketing and especially for startups, there is a big risk of overcommunicating leading to the text messages getting overlooked. I found it interesting to read about how Cariuma had been testing different texting strategies. The article explains how test results has been positive with open rates for texts at 95-100% while the open rates for their email marketing were as low as 20-30%.
I believe texting is a personal channel, it is where you communicate with friends and family and not typically with your favorite sneaker company. I believe companies need to understand and respect that. However, I do think texting is an effective way of marketing, if it is done in the right way. My biggest concern is that when you are subscribed to a lot of companies and they all start using text messages to market to you, it will be a problem. Even if each individual company is not overwhelming in itself, it could be overwhelming as a whole (just like emails!). If you are interested in reading the article yourself, you can find it here: https://digiday.com/marketing/startup-brands-using-text-messages-acquire-customers/
moalovisa 