How brand text marketing will get more sophisticated with iOS 18

Text marketing has been around for years, but in a media landscape of walled gardens and short attention spans, having that direct connection to consumers can be a lucrative channel for brands. With the recent release of Apple iOS 18, marketers will be able to send much more than texts and images, including product carousels or even simple ordering systems. After pressure from European lawmakers, the new iPhone software will now support rich communication services (RCS), a texting protocol that has been available on Android devices for years. This will allow brands to reach both iPhone and Android users with more creative text strategies. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today “Before, brands chose the lowest common denominator among all phones, which was text,” said Alex Campbell, chief information officer and co-founder of Vibes, a mobile marketing company. “Yes they can do device detection and send out more than a text campaign for certain phones, but that would mean part of the audience is missing out. It will take a few years, but the updates will open up the total audience who can see these fun functionalities.” Though texting is more expensive than sending emails, those at text marketing technology companies say the updates could lead to more revenue from texts than email marketing. “I think we will see a renaissance in text because of the email debacle,” said Mark Wagman, managing director of MediaLink and a partner at United Talent Agency. “Consumers have burner email accounts because they get so many from brands. Gmail even categorizes it in its own folder. Texting also helps you circumvent having to play nice with all the platforms if you have a one-on-one relationship with the consumer.” Key text marketing terms SMS Short Message Service, which is a technology for sending short text messages between mobile phones. It is the most common form of text messaging used today. MMS Multimedia Messaging Service, a variant of SMS that allows users to send images, videos or audio. RCS Rich Communication Services, often positioned as the next-generation replacement for SMS and MMS. Android has been using RCS for years, and the new iOS 18 software update will now allow this on iPhones. RCS will allow for product carousels or text ordering in messaging apps. RBM RCS for business messaging. RCS is technically peer-to-peer messaging, while RBM is business-to-consumer. iMessage A proprietary messaging protocol controlled exclusively by Apple for Apple devices. RBM use cases The act of sending RCS messages from brands to consumers gets its own acronym: RBM. RBM stands for “RCS business messaging” and will bring several new features to brands’ texting strategy. Currently, when brands send texts to consumers, they are labeled with a random five or six-digit number, rather than a traditional 10-digit phone number. With the new RBM messaging, marketers can label their texts with their brand names, rather than random numbers, which will more clearly identify the sender. Also read: Behind the rise in dumbphones RBM also allows for far more interaction with customers in their text app, rather than simply pushing them to a website or brand app. Campbell gave an example of a burrito chain that might send a potential customer a photo of a new burrito at 11:35 a.m. and then prompt them to place an order via text using pre-written options. Vibes illustrates the changes in a promotional video posted on its website: RCS could also support product carousels in a text, perhaps making it easier for a potential customer to swipe through items that might be part of a Black Friday sale, for example, said Ross Kramer, CEO and founder of Listrak, a platform that helps retailers deliver personalized messages across text and email. Vibes’ Campbell says he encourages clients to look at their texting database as a long-term asset, not an immediate money maker. And he cautions brands against sending too many texts. “RBM brings new value to that asset, like adding first class on an airplane,” he said. “Sending a text makes money, and that can be addicting to hit that button to meet sales targets, but if your opt-out rate is more than half a percent per month, that is too high and you are either sending too many messages or the content is wrong.” Phone numbers vs app downloads Brands often look to drive app downloads as a way to capture consumer first-party data. But text marketing can be a good back-up for brands if a customer does not want to download an app. Of course, for the approach to work at scale, brands must entice people to share their mobile numbers. “If 15% of your customer base downloads your app, what about that other 85%?” said Campbell. “Just because a customer is not willing to give you app space on their phone does not mean they don’t want to hear from you.” When it started its texting channel four years ago, book retailer Books-a-Million saw that over 60% of customers were visiting the brand’s website on their phone. It placed signs at checkout counters that showed a code and a number they could text to get 10% off their next purchase. Pete Zophy, senior VP of e-commerce at Books-a-Million, says that the chain’s goal is to grow the text marketing program so that it contributes to 10% of daily sales. He adds that around 50% of those signed up for texts are Gen Z. When texting customers, there s a fine line between being annoying and giving them value. Zophy says that the brand started out sending just one text a week, and now sends texts twice a week at the most. “When we first moved from once to twice a week, we saw a double-digit increase in unsubscribe rates,” he said. “It took us about a year before we could increase our cadence to two messages a week. We monitored unsubscribe rates over time and as they came down, we began testing sending multiple messages per week.” Books-a-Million also has a loyalty program called the Millionaire’s Club, but those who sign up for texts are not automatically a part of the club. A-List & Creativity Awards Enter for a chance to be recognized as the best in advertising Submit your entry here Bypassing platforms One advantage of a texting database is the ability to reach consumers directly, without worrying if an email went to spam, or a TikTok didn’t show up on their feed. “We talk a lot about the changing landscape and the volatility of the social platforms,” said an agency account executive for a major food brand who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Those are also just general barriers in the fight for Gen Z's attention. Text feels like a sure-fire way to connect with fans.” Kendra Scott has been intentional with diversifying its marketing mix among social and paid media so as not to be too reliant (or impacted) by just one, according to Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Peterson. She noted that using social in tandem with texting has been successful, especially with Gen Z: 20% to 25% of people on Kendra Scott’s texting list are Gen Z, according to Peterson. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kendra Scott (@kendrascott) “When we post about an upcoming collection, like our Game Day collection that focuses on college teams, we add personalized text messages around those teams,” she said. Peterson sees text marketing as middle-of-the-funnel, not necessarily reserved for high-spending repeat customers. “We have around one million consumers on our SMS list and we found that it’s not just those who are purchasing five or more pieces a year,” she said. “We see a lot of sign-ups for our birthday discount. And maybe that is a consumer who has not found another reason to fit another piece into her life yet, but that is where exclusives and discounts help.” Rules and regulations Text marketing can be a smaller but mighty channel for brands, though they need to be well aware of the compliance around messaging customers, even if they have opted-in. Texts from businesses are regulated by the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which was passed in 1991 to restrict telephone solicitations. Many states also have their own TCPA laws. These laws require brands to get consumers’ permission to contact them (such as that “text me about future offers” button you might get asked at checkout) and determine the hours and days in which consumers can be contacted. Bulk text marketing has been around since the early 2000s, allowing brands to send opted-in consumers text-only messages. In 2009, AT&T—then-exclusive carrier for the iPhone—released a carrier update that made multimedia messaging (MMS) available to U.S. iPhone users, allowing photos, videos, or website links to be sent via text. Other major carriers followed in later years. “Text marketing requires brands to be aware of compliance,” said Listrak’s Kramer. “There are serious penalties for not following state and federal laws. And carriers don’t want to lose customers because they feel like they get too many unsolicited text messages.” Text marketing experts say that compliance around RCS is still being hammered out, including what rates carriers will charge and how or if consumers who consent to text marketing also consent to RCS from brands. There are companies that help brands set up and scale their texting technology. Their prices typically range from $26 to $40 per month per thousand messages sent and get more expensive when brands sign up for additional features, such as list segmentation (breaking out consumers based on their loyalty status, last purchase, location or other descriptor), auto-responses (such as thanking a consumer for signing up, or sharing updates that their order was delivered) and accepting text replies from customers. Cell phone carriers also charge small fees per text sent on top of these programs: AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all charge $0.003. “You do have to be frugal with your messages,” said Kramer, “SMS is $2.75 per thousand, while email is just $0.25 per thousand.” MMS is even more expensive at around $7 to $9 per thousand. But images can also be more impactful than just text. McDonald’s has leaned heavily into SMS and MMS marketing lately. It started in June of last year with the launch of the Grimace Birthday meal (which led to a viral TikTok trend). The fast feeder encouraged users to sign up for texts from Grimace, which imitated the purple blob’s speech with bad grammar. Texting has been part of campaigns since then, with McDonald’s texting consumers about news that will drop or sending images of new packaging for collaborations. For example, McDonald’s recently partnered with the video game Genshin Impact to allow players to earn in-game rewards by ordering McDonald’s. The campaign included special packaging for McDonald’s apple pie, which was shared via text with customers. McDonald’s declined to comment for this story. Holiday push Until RCS hits more phones, brands will likely use more traditional text marketing approaches, including during the holiday season. Books-A-Million’s Zophy says it will increase its messages to keep the chain competitive. Last year, Kendra Scott piloted a texting gift finder, which asks recipients questions in order to suggest purchases. It plans to use it again this year. “We peak around the holidays because we are a great gift option, but finding jewelry can be intimidating,” she said. “We asked users who they were shopping for, their style and price point, and it had a 50% click-thru rate.”

How brand text marketing will get more sophisticated with iOS 18

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