SMS marketing and push notifications are two popular mobile marketing practices. Companies sometimes struggle to choose between them. Both SMS marketing and push notifications have their own advantages and limitations. That is why, to successfully choose between these two channels, it is important to consider them both.

Read on to discover the differences between SMS marketing and push notifications.

The differences between SMS marketing and push notifications

First and foremost, it is important to note that push notifications and SMS messages are both extremely effective marketing tools. They are by no means the same, and their execution must be strategic and well-thought-out.

SMS, or Short Message Service, is a text message with a maximum length of 160 characters. They are sent directly to your contacts' mobile phones, and receiving them does not require an internet connection. Generally, companies choose SMS marketing because it allows them to contact a database directly, making it ideal for launching direct marketing campaigns.

On the other hand, a push notification is a short alert triggered by a downloaded mobile app or a website. Receiving these notifications requires the user to have downloaded a third-party app and have an internet connection. In general, companies use push notifications to provide status updates, offer promotions or special deals, recover abandoned carts, and more.

Furthermore, push notifications are considered less intrusive because their primary goal is to keep users of an app or website informed about updates. SMS marketing, on the other hand, can easily be perceived as spam since it is primarily used to offer promotional deals.

SMS marketing vs. push notifications: which one should you choose?

At Octopush, we believe it is not a matter of making a definitive choice between push notifications and SMS marketing. Instead, you simply need to determine which channel is best suited for each goal in your marketing strategy. Since both channels have clear advantages and limitations, your choice should be based primarily on the specific use cases for your text messages.

SMS marketing for urgent communication

Due to its 95% deliverability rate, we recommend choosing SMS marketing for communicating urgent information. This could, for example, be exclusive promotional offers valid for one day only.

The idea is to promote an offer, service, or product for a limited time and ensure your audience is aware of it through SMS marketing. For this type of communication, using push notifications is not recommended because an internet connection is required to receive the alerts. Therefore, the delivery of the information is not guaranteed.

Push notifications for less urgent communication

On the other hand, push notifications are much more effective for transmitting less critical information. This could include alerts about new arrivals, updates, or any communication that does not need to be read immediately.

Caution! Even though they are inexpensive, we strongly advise against using push notifications to share confidential information. For better security, it is preferable to use SMS to communicate passwords or important transaction updates. In such cases, strong authentication via SMS is the preferred method.