Social media is an excellent tool for connecting with others and growing brand awareness—in theory. Social media marketing can definitely work (who among us hasn’t impulse-bought something on IG?), but businesses are expected to sink hours (and $$$) each day building audiences they don’t even own. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg could pull the plug at any moment, leaving your team playing catch-up. Businesses and agencies need a solution for first-party data ownership—enter text message marketing.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others are all about impressions and engagements. In 2020, the engagement rate on Facebook landed at 0.27%, Instagram at 1.16%, and Twitter at 0.07%. Compare this to texting’s 99% open rate and average click-through rate of 36% (we’ve seen that get as high as 76%!), and it’s clear that text marketing fills the gap that social media leaves.

So, open rates aren’t what they used to be, but we can’t deny that social platforms are full of potential customers. The issue is—even if a brand amasses over 100,000 followers—the brand has no ownership over that following. It’s owned by the platform. With first-party data ownership playing a huge role in 2022, building a first-party database will be crucial for meeting goals and seeing growth.

Text message marketing is built around giving brands direct access to and direct ownership of their database. And building your text database uses all the same tactics that building email databases or social followings use, but with higher open rates, higher click-through rates, and more robust analytics and reporting. Meanwhile, text marketing directly connects brands with consumers, without having a mysterious algorithm dictating who sees what. That means increased ROI, better customer relationships, and more control over your data.

Social media marketing is like your first apartment—it gets the job done, but your landlord sucks and you spend every night on Zillow dreaming about somewhere new. Text marketing is the lakefront penthouse—and we think your brand is due for an upgrade.