For marketing purposes, email and SMS each have their own specific benefits. While similar, they’re decidedly different forms of communication and should be leveraged as such.

Let’s break down when you should use email or SMS, along with what makes each unique.

Email Marketing

Having been around for quite a while at this point, you’re probably most familiar with email marketing. Everyone does email marketing, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. Gmail literally has an entire tab dedicated to “Promotions” so that people can filter between what’s coming from businesses and what’s coming from people they know. (There’s also a “Social” tab too.)

In a sea of promotional emails, how are your business’s emails supposed to stand out? Unlike text messages, many emails never get read. Want people to open your emails? Nail the subject line. Frankly, it amazes me how even the largest companies with the biggest set of resources can’t cook up a compelling subject line. The subject line is what gets people to open up the email in the first place. It needs to be compelling. Think of the most interesting part of your email and integrate it into the subject line.

Once they’re in, you’ll want to make sure they don’t click away. Make your emails visually interesting. Use inviting colors and an appropriate use of white space. You don’t have to be a design whiz. Just try to make your emails look clean.

Additionally, make your CTA (call-to-action) clear. What action do you want email recipients to take? Get it front-and-center. Your email can certainly pack more information, especially if it’s a newsletter. But, like the subject line, you want to get the most important, most relevant information across first.

SMS Marketing

Text marketing differs from email marketing in a number of key ways. With a text message, you’re working with limited real estate. Effective texts are short, sweet, and to the point. You’re working with words (and maybe a hyperlink). No elaborately designed graphics. No subject lines. Just the message.

Texts are read quickly. As a result, you want to keep your messages short and concise. Get the point across as soon as possible. What feels like a short message on your end can wind up looking like a wall of text on a customer’s phone. If you need more detail to describe something, you can use a hyperlink to send customers to your website or a social media post. Alternatively, you may want to consider if the message may simply be better suited for email.

A key part of SMS marketing is timing. Texts are great when you’re promoting something that the customer can engage with soon. A sale that ends today. An exclusive promo code that you can use right now. Encouraging spontaneity can go a long way here.

Nail Email And SMS CoGoBuzz

Want to redefine both your email and SMS marketing? Do it With CoGoBuzz, our state-of-the-art digital marketing service.

Let’s start with email. CoGoBuzz sets the industry standard for empowering your existing CRM and Email Marketing accounts. Leveraging your in-business WiFi, our service collects profile information from guests via Facebook, Email Address, or Phone Number logins. We’ll develop full customer profiles, store them, and automatically send them to your Marketing List of choice, including HubSpot, MailChimp, and Constant Contact.

On the texting front, CoGoBuzz hooks you up with a fully digital, text-based loyalty program. Engage with your audience by implementing contests, polls, automated messages, and more! With our service, you can automate entire campaigns months in advance.

Want to learn more about CoGoBuzz’s diverse featureset? Check out the rest of our website!

What promotions does your business use for Email? How about SMS? Sound off in the comments!