SMS is the Next Big Thing...Again?

I was fascinated to read in this article that ecommerce retailers are “re-examining” SMS as a vehicle for marketing. It’s most fascinating because it seems like the technology of 5 years ago is coming back, and I can’t think of another example of technology having a boomerang effect like that. The examples that the article provides, with Khiel’s using SMS to reach some of their best customers, and other retailers utilizing it for retargeting, make complete sense. When you’ve built an existing relationship with customers, sending them a reminder, or an easy way for them to place an order, can be very helpful.

What drew my attention was the comments in the article about how “there’s no spam in SMS” the way there is in email. Right now I’d agree with that statement, but I would also say that much of what I consider to be spam in my inbox, is emails that I opted into. Yes, it’s a matter of semantics, but the point is that as more and more marketers turned to email marketing back in the day, consumers’ inboxes became completely flooded with promotional emails. This turned into such a problem that we’ve resorted to having separate folders for promotional content, where these dozens (hundreds?) of emails per day are filtered off to the side. I can’t be the only one who searches my Trash when I need to find a specific coupon code or promotion.

So while SMS may be the “next big thing…again” I question whether it’s only a matter of time before it goes the way of email marketing and becomes a completely saturated market. The handful of texts we receive today from marketers may be manageable, and often helpful, but how long will it be before a constant stream of messages becomes intrusive? Not to worry, we’ll just put those messages in a separate folder.

https://adexchanger.com/mobile/whats-old-new-online-sellers-rediscover-sms-text/