SMS vs Push Notifications: When to Send Them to Your Customers

An average of 352 times per day – that’s how often Americans are checking their phones, according to recent research on tech device usage. Since our mobile devices are practically glued to our hands these days, businesses are increasingly finding that one of the best ways to keep their customers engaged and informed is through SMS text messaging and push notifications.

Mobile phones are the communication device of choice for most of us, but which type of notification should you send to your customers, and when? It’s important to understand the differences between SMS vs push notifications so you can make an informed decision about when to send them to your customers. Each notification has its advantages and knowing these is essential for successful business and marketing communications.

Push notifications are messages sent to your customers’ mobile devices that appear on their home screens or in their notification centers. Notifications are sent via mobile apps, and are designed to support customer engagement with your business.

They can be used to inform customers about new offers, sales, and announcements, as well as to encourage customers to interact with the app and take specific actions. Push notifications are sent to subscribers based on their personal notification settings regardless of whether the app is open or not, and can be customized to appear on both Android and iOS devices.

SMS stands for short messaging service; these are text-only messages sent via cellular networks and limited to 160 characters in length. SMS notifications are delivered directly to the customer’s phone and can contain anything from promotional offers to appointment reminders.

Text message marketing is a great way to keep customers up-to-date on the latest products, deals, services, events, or company news. SMS updates and messages may be a one-way alert, or part of a two-way interaction between you and the customer.

While push notifications and SMS messaging are similar, there are some differences you’ll want to be familiar with to ensure you are optimizing the use of these tools.

The most important difference between push notifications and SMS messages is the delivery method. Push notifications are delivered through an app that the recipient has downloaded, while SMS messages are sent directly to a customer’s phone via their text messaging service. SMS messaging relies on cellular service whereas push notifications rely on internet service.

Push notifications can be personalized with rich media such as graphics and videos, and the character length varies depending on the app being used. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters in length.

SMS messaging is great for grabbing people’s attention. When you send a customer an SMS, they will see it as a new text message, and may see a text message notification on their home or lock screen. SMS messaging has a much higher open rate than push notifications, making it more likely that your customers are going to engage. This may be partly due to the fact that, depending on the amount of push notifications a customer has received, a push notification may get lost in the noise and may be easier to ignore or miss than an SMS message. A push notification can be delivered whether or not the app is open, and may be hidden altogether in the app’s settings.

With SMS messaging, your customers must provide their consent to receive text messages or text message notifications. This is often done by texting a specific phrase to a specific number. With push notifications, your customer will need to download an app and allow notifications on their device to receive push notifications. A customer has control over their push notifications and may block or limit notifications by changing their preferences in the app.

SMS messaging allows your customers to communicate directly with your business via text message, or to navigate to any location on the web for further engagement. Push notifications encourage your customers to navigate to experiences and interactions within the app itself, such as in-app shopping.

Text notifications are great for getting your customers’ attention. Marketing strategies for push notifications vary depending on what a particular app has to offer, but push notifications are best for a marketing tactic aimed at boosting app engagement.

Notifications can be used for a variety of reasons depending on the type of business and the needs of the customers. Reasons for sending notifications to your customers include the following:

Notifications can be used for a variety of reasons depending on the type of business and the needs of the customers. Reasons for sending notifications to your customers include the following:

Since they have much higher open rates, SMS notifications are best for reaching a large audience with an important message, and for messages that absolutely must be delivered, such as:

SMS alerts are fantastic for grabbing attention with marketing messages such as promotions, special offers, discounts, and product updates, all impactful ways to drive sales, engagement, and customer retention. However, SMS is often considered a more intrusive marketing tactic than push notifications, so it is important to ensure you take into account proper business text messaging etiquette for sending individual or mass texts, either to colleagues or your customers.

Since SMS notifications are text only, if you want to send rich media or graphics, you will have to send an MMS or iMessage instead of SMS. Learn more about the difference between the text message methods in our article on the differences between SMS vs MMS vs iMessage.

If you’re trying to engage customers with your brand or direct them to specific areas of your app, push notifications may be the better option. Push notifications can be highly effective at motivating customers to interact, and especially to shop, via an app. They are great for marketing notifications such as:

Push notifications are also the best choice if you want to include rich media such as an image, GIF, video, or logo.

Push notifications and SMS messages both have their pros and cons, so it’s important to understand the differences between the two before deciding which type of notification to send to your customers. With a LinkedPhone virtual phone system and mobile app, you can start texting and communicating more effectively with customers, colleagues, and co-workers right away. Sign up for a 7-day free trial of LinkedPhone today and let freedom ring!