Why SMS Marketing is Trending in Nigeria

As Nigerian businesses continue to struggle to grow, Nigeria’s Mega Companies spend N143.7 billion on marketing expenses in 2020. According to the report from PwC, Nigeria with a 12.1% CAGR (albeit strongly influenced by surging spending on mobile Internet access), will be the world’s fastest-growing E&M market over the coming five years.

Mobile Marketing is Growing

While marketing budget is increasing for businesses, there is also a huge diversification in allocation of funds on what type of marketing is being carried out and with COVID, majority of the budget are allocated for digital marketing as it is not only safer but also the cheapest options for brands. The growth of Internet advertising is being powered by mobile advertising, which grew by 58.7% in the past year, and will continue to expand at an 18.5% CAGR through 2021. But despite this growth, wired Internet advertising still accounted for 61.6% of total Internet advertising in 2016.

So Where Does SMS Marketing Fit-in?

According to recent surveys, 75% of the world’s population uses text message servicing. With so many people with cell phone in hand, and actively using SMS messaging, you can be certain that your marketing efforts will pay off. 97% of global SMS messages are read within 5 seconds. Average response rate for SMS is 26%, as against 5% for email. (Mobile Data Association).

Now, looking at mobile digital transformation in Nigeria from 85M in 108M in 2021. Businesses want to be where their potential customers are at an affordable and efficient way. SMS marketing comes with faster delivery to customers. Put simply, SMS marketing is more effective. The numbers don’t lie. The open rate of text promotions/offers is a whopping 98%! Compare that to the 22% open rate of emails. While an email might sit in a customer’s inbox all day, a text is read within minutes, making it a great channel for flash sales and same-day promotions.

Why SMS Marketing Works?

SMS practices are not just an efficient way to reach today’s consumer but also the most relevant way to engage with them, build brand trust, and even track the effectiveness of advertising. If you’re not already engaging with customers via SMS based campaigns, it’s time to go mobile.

With a variety of applications, from sending reminders, alerts and service notifications, to managing customer relationships and billing operations, there’s bound to be some work that SMS can take off your hands! SMS is a versatile, cost-effective and real-time marketing, communications and sales tool.

As a brand, you should start looking into SMS marketing to engage with your customers.