Connecting via SMS

Sending texts provides businesses with a great opportunity to connect with both customers and other key stakeholders. You're able to send a personal message that goes directly into your recipient's inbox. When it comes to getting your message seen as quickly as possible, there isn't a more effective channel. Research shows that consumers are more likely to open a text message before any other form of mobile communications. There's no fighting algorithms or spam filters. That's powerful. Yet, it is often overlooked. Here are ten of the best ways that you can incorporate SMS into your marketing strategy:

1 - Promotions

One way to use bulk texting is by sending promotional offers to your customers. The benefit of using SMS to send out offers is that it is a direct channel with open rates that cannot be matched. And, 75% of people are happy to receive SMS offers from a brand, providing that they've opted it.

When you are creating your campaigns, be sure to include an exciting offer that will entice your customers. Your message needs a clear call-to-action that is easy to understand. For example, campaigns that include deals such as buy-one-get-one-free, 20% off, or free delivery are typically very successful. If you aren't sure what to include then a great option is to A/B test by sending different offers to random groups in your contact list.

2 - Announcements

Texting is an effective channel for when you have announcements to make. This ensures that your customers will always remain up to date with your latest products, services, or features. You'll be able to keep your customers updated on new products and services as well as store opening hours. While each text has a character limit of 160 characters, you can still take advantage of short links and document attaching.

3 - Event & Appointment Reminders

Hosting an event takes lots of planning. Whether you are running a webinar, networking meetup, tradeshow, or an in-store activity, you'll want as many people showing up as possible. Unfortunately, with lots of distractions, it can be easy for consumers to forget about upcoming activities. Therefore, sending a bulk text reminder can significantly boost attendance figures.

Similarly, text reminders can help if you have one-to-one appointments. By sending a reminder a couple of days before an upcoming appointment you can significantly reduce no shows. This, of course, can save you both time and money. Research suggests that less than 5% of appointments are cancelled when a text reminder is sent to customers in advance.

4 - Order Confirmations

Sending texts provides businesses with a great platform to provide after-sales support. One of the easiest ways to do that is by sending order confirmations via SMS when an order is placed. After all, we all know how frustrating it can be when you have made a purchase but cannot locate the confirmation email that you were anticipating. Should they need it in the future, your customers will be able to locate their order confirmation much easier if it is sent via text.

5 - Delivery Notifications

Another way that businesses can provide after-sales support is by sending delivery notifications to customers via SMS. This may not always be applicable if you are using a carrier service but provides businesses that can with a great opportunity. After all, there is nothing worse than returning home to find out that you need to visit a sorting office to collect your new item. Sending a text notification therefore allows your customers to plan so that a family member is at home during their delivery timeslot.

6 - Collecting Feedback

The third way that businesses can provide after-sales support via SMS is by collecting feedback. This allows you to better understand both customer expectations and satisfaction. You'll then be able to make changes and improvements while also acting on individual cases should a customer be unhappy. An easy way to collect customer feedback is by using landing page.

7 - Competitions

A popular way to include bulk texting in your marketing strategy is by running competitions. Since it requires minimal effort to reply to a text message, you're likely to see high engagement levels. The easiest way to run a competition via SMS is to ask your customers to either answer a question or with a specific word to be included in the prize draw. Or, you might want to text your customers with your competition instructions which require them to tag you in a social media post to gain entry.

8 - OTP

Online security is a big concern for lots of consumers. One way that SMS can help you improve site security is by implementing an OTP login system (one-time password). Every time someone new signs up to your website, you can trigger a dynamic password that is sent to their mobile phone. This adds another level of security to your signup process and can make customers feel more comfortable when it comes to adding their payment details or sharing personal information.

9 - Payment Reminders

Lots of companies now provide payment terms that include a rolling subscription (monthly, annual) or multiple payments that span across several months (retail, music festivals). While this is a wonderful perk for customers, it's important to keep them updated with their payments. There's nothing worse that checking your bank account and seeing an unexpected payment at the end of the month. Therefore, sending an SMS reminder can help your customers prepare for upcoming payments and reduce scares when they check their bank account.

10 - Internal Communication

Sending text updates doesn't always have to be external. It can also be used by businesses to keep employees in the loop. You can send updates to your staff for things like working hours, shift patterns, policy changes, and general company news. This can help your employees to feel valued while providing you with a clear way to relate messages. Research suggests that around 70% of employees believe that their employer should use SMS to communicate with staff.