You’ve probably seen or heard of text messaging. Maybe you even use it yourself. Text messaging is the act of sending short, often one-way or multi-way messages to your mobile device. These messages are usually accompanied by an SMS text, and in the near future, by a GIF or a video.
Mobile messaging hasn’t been around as long as we’ve been doing business online, but it’s quickly become one of the most important tools in our digital toolbox. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 66% of adults between the ages of 18-29 use text messaging, compared to 48% of adults between the ages of 30-49 and 42% among 50-64 year olds.
When used effectively, mobile messaging can help businesses of all sizes and across all industries. Here are seven ways text messaging can help your business.
1. Direct Marketing
For any business, reaching potential customers is key. But since most businesses operate remotely, getting the word out there is often difficult. With mobile messaging, you can target specific groups of people and send out regular updates on new products and special offers.
What’s more, you can integrate your SMS marketing campaign with other marketing efforts, such as Facebook ads or Google Ads, to get even more traffic and leads.
2. Brand Awareness
While you might not always want to admit it, your customers are the most important aspect of your business. After all, your customers are the ones that will use your products and services, and thus sustain your business. With mobile messaging, you can keep your customers informed about what’s new and exciting at your company, and can even engage with them on a more personal level.
Having a brand ambassador, or someone who promotes your company on social media, isn’t often sufficient. It can, however, be an effective tool in the right situation. Sending out regular updates on new products and special offers via mobile messaging helps build brand awareness and trust with your customers. Seeing as you’ll be consistently providing value and engaging with your audience on a human level, you’ll gain their trust and loyalty pretty quickly. This, in turn, will make them more inclined to do business with you, should the need arise.
3. Lead Generation
If you’re looking for ways to generate more leads, you have a variety of avenues to explore. But since we already established the importance of customer engagement and loyalty, let’s discuss a more traditional method of lead generation.
Getting leads is often a numbers game, and you never know if a certain technique will prove effective until you try it. That’s why you should always experiment with lead generation techniques and measure the results of your efforts. When you do send out text messages regarding new product announcements or special offers, you’ll often see an increase in leads immediately following the campaign.
The great thing about mobile messaging for lead generation is its adaptability. Since it’s so easy to program and implement, you don’t need to rely on any one method to produce results. If you want to try out a new strategy or test a theory, you can do so with little to no risk. This, in turn, can help you find the winning strategy for lead generation in your business.
4. Internal Communications
Now, we come to one of the most intriguing features of mobile messaging. Namely, the ability to have internal communications. Why? Because sometimes, you might want to speak with your employees without having to seek out a phone number or email address. This can be especially beneficial for smaller businesses, who might not always have someone available to take your call right then and there.
If you run a store and you want to contact a customer to see how they’re doing or if they have any additional questions, you’ll often find that contact information isn’t convenient enough. That’s why having someone on the inside, who can reach out to those hard-to-contact customers, is so important. Using text messaging to communicate with employees is quick and easy, and it ensures that the right person, or team of people, gets the message. No one likes leftovers, especially when it comes to important matters such as customer service or business operations.
5. Customer Retention
Last but not least, let’s discuss the importance of retaining existing customers and encouraging them to engage with your brand again. Customer retention is directly related to your customer satisfaction, which, in turn, can affect your business’ overall success. Since we already established the adaptability of mobile messaging, you can see how you could use it to retain existing customers and encourage them to engage with your brand again. For instance, if you noticed that a certain segment of your customer base is starting to drift away, you can experiment with various tactics to bring them back.
Giving existing customers something special is often the key to keeping them satisfied. Perhaps you can offer them a discount on their next order or introduce them to a new product. Whatever it is, you can find a way to give something back to your best customers. Doing so can increase your customer retention and help your business grow.
The Bottom Line
As a business owner, sales rep, or marketing professional, your goal should be to find the most effective ways to communicate with your customers. Since it’s estimated that 40% of households have smartphones, you can reach out to a huge audience, all with the touch of a button. With mobile messaging, you have the means to stay in touch with your customers, provide them with value, and gain their loyalty. This, in turn, can help boost your business’ overall success.