What are e-services?
E-services encompass a diverse array of digital solutions that have revolutionised the way businesses interact with their customers and clients. Among the most prominent e-services are SMS marketing, app development, and email marketing.
SMS marketing involves reaching out to customers through text messages, delivering time-sensitive promotions, updates, and personalised offers directly to their mobile devices.
App development, on the other hand, focuses on creating user-friendly and innovative mobile applications that cater to specific business needs, enhancing customer engagement and convenience.
Email marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience, enabling targeted and personalised communication through newsletters, product updates, and promotional campaigns.
How SMS marketing can drive business growth
SMS marketing is essential for business growth as it utilises mobile devices to directly connect with customers. This direct approach helps to create personal engagement and brings several benefits, including targeted campaigns, cost-effectiveness, customer retention, and driving sales. Here are some benefits of SMS marketing:
Instant and direct communication:
SMS messages have high open rates, making them an effective way to instantly reach customers. Sending time-sensitive offers, promotions, and updates directly to their mobile phones boosts engagement and conversion rates. 34% of people read their messages within five minutes of receiving them (EZ Texting), and even more will read them later, showing how fast you are able to connect with audiences.
Boosting Traffic and Sales:
SMS marketing can drive customers to physical stores or online platforms by providing time-limited discounts and exclusive deals. This encourages immediate action and increases purchases. 96% of marketers using text messages said it helped them drive revenue (Attentive Mobile), proving that sms marketing helps boost traffic and sales.
Improved Customer Retention:
SMS marketing is useful not just for gaining new customers but also for keeping existing ones. Sending regular updates, personalised offers, and loyalty rewards via SMS keeps customers engaged and encourages them to make repeat purchases. 91% of consumers would opt-in for text messages from brands (Attentive Mobile Consumer Report), so you already have built that connection with the consumer before sending more targeted communications.
Increased Customer Engagement:
SMS marketing connects businesses with customers on a personal level. Customised messages based on preferences and purchase history make customers feel valued, building strong relationships, loyalty, and repeat business. 58% of consumers believe that SMS is the most effective way for brand communication. (Zipwhip State of Texting Report) Therefore, this type of marketing is proven to be one of the best ways to send personalised communications to customers.
How email marketing can boost your business growth
Email marketing is a popular communication tool to help grow your business and connect with customers through targeted messaging. There are many benefits to using email marketing, and many ways in which it can help grow your brand, such as:
Targeted Campaigns:
Email marketing platforms let you divide your email list based on factors like demographics and behaviour. Sending personalised content to specific groups makes your messages more relevant, boosting the chances of conversion. Segmented email campaigns show 50% higher CTR than non-targeted campaigns (HelpScout), which is why this type of communication is so important with its ability to send targeted messaging to segmented audiences.
Analytics and Insights:
Email marketing platforms offer detailed data on open rates, click-through rates, and other essential metrics. This data helps you improve your marketing strategies and optimise future campaigns. Insights from previous campaigns can help your future ones improve, such as email subject lines that include the recipient’s first name had a 26% greater open rate in the UK than non-personalized subject lines (Experian). This type of data shows that in future you can boost open rates by including this knowledge in your next campaign.
Drive Sales and Conversions:
Email marketing promotes products, offers discounts, and provides exclusive deals to subscribers. This approach increases sales and conversions, especially when timed strategically during peak buying periods. It is proving that this type of communication drives sales and engagement as 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (HubSpot).
Brand Awareness and Recall:
47% of marketers stated that email is their most effective marketing channel (GetResponse), and doing so can improve brand awareness. For example, regularly appearing in subscribers’ inboxes strengthens your brand’s presence, improving awareness and recall. Positive brand association makes customers more likely to choose your products or services over competitors.
How an app can help grow your business
Apps are able to significantly contribute to your business growth in many ways, and it is highly recommended to invest in app development if you want your business to thrive. Here are some ways in which apps benefit business growth:
Enhanced customer experience:
A well-designed app improves customer satisfaction and loyalty. Happy users are more likely to refer your brand to others, bringing in new customers through positive reviews and word-of-mouth. It is recorded that 85% of shoppers prefer apps over mobile websites for online shopping (AppMySite), providing a more positive user experience when interacting with your brand.
Customer Engagement and Loyalty:
Apps use loyalty programs, rewards, and push notifications to keep customers engaged and returning. These incentives build loyalty and turn one-time buyers into repeat customers. Engagement is often easier to build on an app, as 88% of mobile time is spent on apps (Buildfire), so it is an easy way to connect with your audience.
Direct Marketing Channel:
An app serves as a direct marketing channel and offers targeted communication, enabling you to send personalised offers, promotions, and updates directly to users’ devices. This targeted communication can result in higher conversion rates and repeat business. Targeted notifications reduce app abandonment to 16%, (AppMySite) which allows you to send these targeted communications to keep users using your app.
