SMS technologies are modernizing how businesses interact with customers . As a consequence, enterprises are seeing an uplift in customer response, improve the customer experience and an increase in sales.
There is little wonder that SMS marketing is becoming more popular with marketers. Last year, Jook SMS published a report showing how CPaaS (communications platform as a service) is forecast to grow from $2bn in 2017 to $10.9bn in 2022.
The report indicates that SMS adoption is mostly coming from businesses that do not use native cloud applications. However, household brands such as Coca-Cola are also ploughing a huge portion of their marketing spend into SMS.
So how are enterprises using SMS to connect with consumers and improve the customer experience?
Instant Delivery
Not only are SMS messages sent within and received within seconds, over 90% of recipients open text messages within the first 15-minutes. This gives businesses several advantages.
Retailers that want a quick response to promotions can capture audiences by including a time limit on SMS promotions. This prompts customers to take immediate action and clear your shelves quicker.
Businesses that make deliveries or use courier services to ship goods to customers are using SMS to keep people informed. This improves the customer experience and customer satisfaction.
SMS gives you real-time delivery confirmation and tells you whether a message has been opened. This can also be used if a customer complains they never heard from you.
Alleviate Pressure on Call Centers
Retailers also discovered that providing customers with tracking information via SMS also reduced the number of calls coming through to their call centers.
Customers want to be kept informed of their order. Emails can often be filed in the spam folder, shoppers don’t want to read FAQ’s and shoppers find customer service chatbots frustrating .
SMS has proven to be the best solution. What’s more, customers prefer to receive a text message over other forms of communication.
Nurture Leads
Today’s consumers rely on their smartphones to search for products. The majority of online traffic comes from mobile devices. Pew Research Center report that 51% of Americans have even made a purchase on their cell phone.
Marketing campaigns that rely on capturing customer data should include a phone number. This provides you with an avenue to follow up leads with precise information.
Because 98% of SMS messages are opened, you can be assured the majority of your messages find their target. Compare this with email open rates - between 18-22%. There is no competition.
Furthermore, people are not distracted by other ads or messages like they are with other forms of digital communication. This gives marketers an unadulterated opportunity to capture the full attention of the recipient.
SMS Delivers Special Offers to Special People
Personalization is a key aspect of modern marketing. Customers in the US not only expect a personal service these days, they demand it. With intelligent use of data analytics, marketers can improve customer service.
SMS is a personal form of communication on several levels. Before a company can contact a customer via a text messaging service, the individual must have provided you with their phone number.
Furthermore, customers that subscribe to your SMS contact list are part of your special club. They are VIP members of your brand and should be treated as such.
Brands can use this to your advantage to nurture customers loyalty and increase sales. When people think they are being offered an exclusive price on a product, they feel special and are more likely to bond with your brand.
Communicating with Employees
Large firms, and companies that have field agents out on the road have found SMS is the most effective tool for communicating with employees. It enables you to reach employees company-wide wherever they are.
Companies that need to send an important message to co-ordinate teams or deliver updates and other important information that is time-sensitive recognise the benefits of text messaging. It can help in emergencies, cut down on lost productivity and keep everyone informed in real-time.
More Than An Advertising Tool
SMS offers businesses far much more than an additional advertising channel. Whilst texting does enhance your marketing efforts, the channel has much more mileage than it is often given credit for.
As more brands discover the power of SMS marketing, it becomes even more critical for businesses to adopt it as part of your wider mobile marketing strategy - otherwise, you present your competitors with the opportunity to reach customers before you do!
