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Even though we secretly think the answer is “Because, that’s why,” it isn’t necessarily the most persuasive reason why your company should invest in text message software. The same reasoning similarly goes for “you need to do this,” or “seriously, dude.”
Text message software should be something that just about every business should be considering. It can allow you and your staff to communicate easier and faster with your customers, and reach them directly in a place where they’re spending more and more of their time -- on their mobile devices. And it will also provide them with the convenience to contact you in the same manner, rather than requiring them to take extra steps of having to make a phone call or write an email.
But adding this service and any training can be an investment of time and money, which is why some decision-makers/budget-setters may still be mulling over adding these services in 2016 or beyond. If you’re considering preparing a case to make this happen at your place of work, try the strategy of showing what the company is doing now that can be improved.
- Poor email communications. You may have been talking to customers/clients through email for more than a decade, which is good. You may have even sent out bulk emails to hundreds or thousands of people in your active account list, which is also a smart move. However, commercial email only seems to have about a 20-30 percent open rate these days, which means many messages are more likely going to be overlooked or ignored rather than opened, enjoyed, or acted upon. According to DirectMarketingNews, there are some methods to boost this slightly, such as personalizing emails and writing creative subject lines, but even these steps rarely will come close to the average open rate of texts which is in the 90 percent range. Plus, texts are often opened within minutes, rather than hours or days for emails.
- Too much staff time spent texting. If you’ve already taken steps to contact your customers by text, that’s an excellent start. But your staff may find themselves sending similar messages one at a time to individual customers, which can become repetitive, boring, and face the risk of unprofessional typos. Part of the appeal of modern texting software is that you can write and send the same message to your entire database, something that can dramatically improve efficiency. Or you can even write text messages in advance and set actions for when they’ll be automatically sent, such as a coupon/special offer sent prior to a customer’s birthday.
- Customers keep asking for it. This can be gauged by actual comments, or by feedback on “best way for us to contact you” forms when new people register for your site, take surveys or fill out info at a point of purchase. If “texting” keeps rising higher in popularity every year, it’s a clear sign that your customers are ready to be texted to, even if you may not be there yet. According to Forbes columnist Neil Howe, not only are more people texting, but this percentage is growing inversely – the younger people are, the more they prefer to text. This trend was spotted as early as 2014, and hasn’t slowed down especially among the Millennials, a growing younger demographic who also like to spend.
- Increasing concerns about safety. Smart companies should be prepared for anything that could affect their customers, clients or staff, and texting is proving to be a good tool to reach a lot of people in a hurry in any kind of a natural disaster or emergency situation. The FCC even says that texts are more likely to connect in a larger disaster, more than phone calls or emails. It’s sometimes unpleasant or fearful to think about these possibilities, but businesses also want to be responsive and alert as many people as possible if things change.
- Focusing on one channel only. Your company may still get a thumbs-up for bulk emails and email newsletters (See Point 1), but if that’s the primary form of outreach, you can do better. Today’s best practices for direct marketing calls for cross-channel/multi-channel marketing, which communicates to your customers in many different areas, and increasing the odds that people will see it, since not everyone uses every channel. Texting software can help you configure your outreach and construct your databases to make sure that customers are reached through text, email or social media, even if they’re only on their phones.
Today’s businesses face new challenges reaching customers, since some of the established marketing methods aren’t as effective as they used to be, such as TV or newspaper ads by themselves. Texting, especially when combined with text message software, can be a smart strategy. For more details, visit www.trumpia.com.
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