Nowadays, it’s crucial to have a direct line of communication with your customers. After all, your customers make your business. However, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to cut through the noise and find ways to successfully reach people. 

For most businesses, email is usually the preferred method of communication, but only 20% of emails to customers are ever opened. On the flip side, a whopping 90% of text messages are read. The solution is clear: it’s time to use business text messaging.

Business Text Messaging is Changing the Game 

Texting puts the customer in control. No more waiting around for a phone call from a customer service representative. Your customer can decide when and how they want to respond to a message, helping your business save money by reducing the number of call operators needed. 

Even more convincing, 95% of people open their text messages in three seconds. Yes, you read that right: three seconds! In a matter of moments, you could be relaying important information to your customers or providing them with a solution to their problem. There’s no other marketing platform that allows you to engage with your customers so quickly and at such an affordable cost. 

How Does a Business Texting Platform Work? 

To connect with customers on a deeper level, businesses can use platforms like Bubble by Broadvoice to automate customer communications and quickly send out mass texts with important information. Not only that, it creates a two-way channel for communication—something an email message lacks—further personalizing the customer experience. 

Some of the top benefits of business text messaging include: 

• Immediate delivery 
• Connect with customers in record time 
• More personalized 
• Simple two-way communication 
• Cost-effective 
• Automate mass communications 

Is Texting Appropriate in Business? 

As a small business owner, you might be wary of texting your customers. You don’t want to come across as overbearing or cross a personal line. These are important things to keep in mind when crafting your messaging, but remember to be able to text a customer, they have to opt-in to your messages. When they do that, they are agreeing to receive relevant information and messages from your business. “Relevant” is the keyword. If you try to spam your customers or guilt them into buying a product, they will likely become alienated by your outreach.  

Instead, when you reach out, make sure you have a good reason for sending the message, ensure the information is clear and concise, and that your call to action is specifically stated. It’s also important to provide your customers with an easy path to opt-out of text messages. And since you’re reaching out to customers on their personal phones, try to do so at normal hours. This will become especially important if you send mass texts across different time zones.  

How To Use Text Messaging in Business Communications 

Here are the top ways you can use texting to benefit your business and build brand rapport. 

Appointment reminders 

Allow customers to schedule appointments via text and automate reminders to help customers keep those appointments. Not only is this easier for your business and the customer, but it helps reduce cancellation rates. It also cuts back on the amount of time employees spend calling customers about appointments, which allows those employees to spend that same time being productive elsewhere.  

Order confirmations and delivery updates 

Nowadays, customers expect to receive information about their online orders. Facilitate this process by incorporating text messaging into your workflow to quickly update customers about their orders and when they can expect delivery. 

Payment and billing reminders 

Help customers make timely payments by sending a notice that their upcoming bill is due soon. This will benefit your business since you’ll get the money that’s owed to you, and it will also help your customer by not incurring late fees or extra charges.  

SMS surveys 

One of the best ways to get feedback on your business is by asking customers to complete a survey. If it’s quick and easy to fill out, customers will be more likely to respond to the survey in a text message as compared to an email. 

Birthday messages and coupons 

A great way to build a personal relationship with your customer is by texting them on their birthday with a special coupon or promotion. People usually like to receive messages on this occasion, so reaching out and recognizing their special day with a small gift will make them feel “seen” and help create further affinity for your brand.  

Customer reviews 

Positive reviews are incredibly important for a business, especially when trying to attract new customers. Usually, a very small number of customers leave reviews, but asking them to leave a review via text—as opposed to email—is much more efficient and leads to better results. 

Event reminders and promotion updates 

Your business can send out text messages to remind customers of an upcoming event or a big promotion or sale happening soon. These texts can be used to relay important updates about the event and also gather feedback from your customers after they have attended it.
 

How Business Text Messaging Can Enhance the Customer Experience 

Using text messaging can also be an effective way to handle customer issues or problems. For starters, it’s a huge time saver. If you use email for customer service, it could take your representatives days to sort through all the inquiries and craft responses. Furthermore, it takes customers even longer to respond to those emails, further delaying the resolution to the problem. 

When you use text messaging, a customer is able to have direct contact with an agent and have a conversation in real-time, helping solve their problem quicker. It’s also a great way to build rapport with your customers.  

Texting is already a more personal form of communication as opposed to email, so when a customer service agent takes the time to answer a question via text it feels more individualized and helps build trust with your brand. 

Business Texting is the Way of the Future 

More and more businesses are turning toward text messaging as an easy, cost-effective, and personalized way to reach their customers. The numbers don’t lie. By 2023, it’s predicted that 3.5 trillion business SMS messages will be sent. An increase of 1 trillion messages from 2019.  

If you’re also looking to create more meaningful connections with your customers, check out our business text messaging platform Bubble by Broadvoice to help you get started.