Today we wanted to go over how various industries could use a text messaging platform in practical ways in order to grow their audiences. Let’s get started!

Text Messaging for Retail

MeganDesigns: Hi! We’re having a summer sale on all sundresses! Come by!

Customer: Great! What time do you guys open on Tuesdays?

MeganDesigns: We’re open at 9AM on the dot!

Customer: I'll see you there!

Megan’s clothing store was having a slow month. Eager to turn it around, she asked her friend Helen why her store always seemed to be buzzing. “It’s easy” said Helen, “Retail marketing is great! Just text your customers!” Intrigued, Megan decided to give it a shot.

With a new retail text messaging system, she decided she wanted to grow her customer base in order to make sure people knew about her great deals. By displaying her mobile keyword in store and on her social media, she invited customers to text in to sign up for these messages. Within a few weeks, she had hundreds of new subscribers.

By having customers opt-in to her marketing campaigns, she could then easily send them messages when she was having a flash sale. By the end of the month, she had her best sales numbers in years!

So what can we learn from Megan’s story?

Whether it’s a mobile coupon or a full on mobile loyalty program, speaking to your customers wallets can be a great way to get them to actually spend their money with you!

In order to streamline your sales process, you should use automated text messages to direct customers to your sales, both online and in-store. From getting new customers to sending them important reminders, a text messaging software like Trumpia can help you get more customers buying throughout the summer.

For example, if a customer joins your messaging campaign for the first time, our software can send them a welcome message as well as a coupon for 15% off their next purchase. With deals like these, customers are far more likely to make the trek in-store or visit your shop online to take advantage of these deals.

Text Messaging for Higher Education

Counselor: This is a friendly reminder that if you want to register for a summer class, do so by July 30th.

Student: Which class should I take this summer, English 201 or Calculus 101?

Counselor: In order to stay on track, take English 201 this summer.

Student: Thanks!

Jamie is a student counselor at a large state college. The biggest pain he experiences day to day is that it’s really hard to keep in touch with his busy college students. At an educational conference, he heard a presenter talk about the amazing engagement they saw when they implemented text messaging into their student communication strategy.

With that information in hand, Jamie got approval to pilot a texting program to better engage with his students...and the results were phenomenal. Since text messaging has almost 5 times the read rate of email, counselors like Jamie were able to reach their students while they were on the go.

So why was texting so effective?

College life is more hectic than ever, so today’s students are often struggling to meet their many deadlines. Text messaging is the best way to send students important reminders like enrollment deadlines. If you post a text keyword on advertisements throughout your entire campus and registration materials, you can easily get the contact information of interested students that text that keyword in.

Related: Your Students Text. Why Your College Should Too (Infographic)

With automated text campaigns, you can set a schedule of reminders to be sent when they are needed, and they can be sent at predetermined times. For example, if a student texts into the “Chemistry” keyword, they can be automatically sent the link to the schedule for the upcoming semester’s chemistry classes. Counselors can then send monthly text alerts to remind students to register for their chemistry classes on time so they can make sure they get their desired schedule.

Text messaging is also perfect for communicating with new students. They can be easily overwhelmed when arriving for their first semester, so they are often unfamiliar with things like campus events or registering for the right classes.

In order to make sure students successfully adapt to college life, you can send them a SMS message welcoming them to the campus and send things like links to the academic calendar and make sure they know of things like counseling services.

Text Messaging for Recruiting

Recruit: Hi! I saw your listing on Indeed and would like some more info about the Senior Developer position.

ABCorp: Hi! We are looking for a senior developer with 5 years experience with Ruby on Rails.

Recruit: Perfect! I’ve used Ruby on Rails for a decade. Where can I apply?

ABCorp: Please shoot us an email with your resume and we will get back to you.

Carol is a HR headhunter for a large tech company in the Bay Area. In such a competitive area, any way to stand out to recruits is a major boon for their company. Frustrated with just waiting on an interested recruit to contact her, she was looking to be more proactive and get more qualified candidates.

After consulting with other colleagues in the industry, she found that a lot of the most successful recruiters had turned to text messaging in order to get more candidates. And after further research, she found that 60% of jobseekers say they would prefer to text over call, because nobody wants to risk playing phone tag, getting stuck on a long call, or have emails get buried in their inbox. She decided to pilot an account so that she could both send and receive text messages with recruits.

She decided to promote her mobile keywords in all of her existing advertising to get sign-ups and record opt-ins. They are then added to a distribution list automatically, so she could send messages about jobs that are relevant to their interests and qualifications.

If you choose a texting provider like Trumpia, our intelligent solution can even automatically ask qualifying questions so you can send more targeted job openings.

With our Smart Targeting, you can send targeted text announcements about job openings to candidates based on their location, qualifications, and availability. This way, your applicants will stay opted-in because they are getting only job openings that are relevant to them.

Are you looking to implement text messaging into your organization? Click here or call 1-888-707-3030 to talk to one of our experts today!

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