9 Surprising Ways You Can Use Texting
No matter the type of business you own or manage, texting can be an incredibly useful tool. When most business owners think about texting, they imagine bulk messages for promotions, automatic updates on deliveries, or maybe automated birthday messages. Mass messages are useful, but you will get even better results if you start incorporating personalized messages into your strategy.
Texting gives you an opportunity for one-on-one communication with your customers. As a bonus, you get to take advantage of text messaging’s 98% open rate.
In this article, we’ll go over nine different ways to use texting to boost your business.
Gather Feedback
You know that gathering feedback is crucial for improving your business, but bulk messages just don’t cut it. Bulk messages make it seem as if no one will even read feedback, making people less likely to respond.
A better solution is to use texting to solicit feedback throughout the customer journey. With texting, you can make it clear that the feedback request comes from an actual person, increasing the response rate. Simply put, customers are much more likely to tell you what they love, what they don’t, and what you should change. It will all be part of a natural text conversation. As a bonus, text makes it easy to respond to feedback immediately, which your customers will appreciate.
Close the Deal (And Collect Payment)
Even without extra effort on your end, there’s a 78% chance that someone who finds you via a local online search will buy something offline, frequently within hours. You can increase that conversion rate even more with the power of texting.
Use texting to follow up on questions. Send potential customers direct links to your products via text. You can even offer the ability to pay over text. You also get to take advantage of the fact that 50% of consumers will complete a purchase following a branded text.
Ask for Reviews
You know that reviews are one of the biggest drivers of your business. They act as the online version of personal recommendations. Around 88% of consumers will read reviews to decide if they want to buy from a business or take advantage of their services. And 72% of consumers say they trust local businesses more if they have positive reviews.
As with survey requests, you will get a much better review rate if you send the request via text as a personalized request, not a bulk message. To get the most out of this use case for texting, make the messages direct, clear, and personal, and include a direct link to the review. Keep in mind that 45% of consumers complete the desired action following a text, something you can take advantage of.
Pitch Personalized Product Offers
Every business can benefit from making personalized product offers and recommendations to their clients. Unsurprisingly, adding the personal touch that comes with texting will give you the best results.
Yes, sending a mass text to your subscribers that you have a new product or section on your website will convert a few people. But you’ll get much better results if you personalize it. For example, assume your company offers a service and, while providing it, you notice that the client could benefit from another service you offer. Send a text saying that you noticed this to see if they are interested.
Send Personalized Appointment Setting
You likely already offer a contact form or other way of scheduling an appointment via your website, but you can personalize it with texting to improve the customer experience. This offers the same benefits of scheduling appointments over the phone but with the convenience of texting. If you aren’t convinced of the convenience of texting, consider that consumers spend between five and six hours a day on their phones. This is more than the time spent on TVs.
You can use texting to make scheduling an appointment a breeze. Offer multiple options and confirm slots in real-time. With immediate confirmation, you make the most of your time as well as your clients’ time. Neither of you has to wait around for a response.
Continue Web Conversations On-the-Go
Customers love to take advantage of Webchat to get their questions answered. But people can’t always stay at their computers indefinitely. If they have to go somewhere, let them move the conversation to mobile. Or they can just move the conversation to text if they prefer it over Webchat. This transition is seamless with the right tech, letting you easily connect with prospects on the go.
Ask for Referrals
Think of asking for referrals as an extension of asking for reviews or feedback. It is another thing that you should always ask for over texting to get the best results. Asking via one-to-one communication personalizes the conversation. When a real person asks for a referral, customers are more likely to give it.
Even better, don’t just ask for a referral. Offer your customers something in return, such as a sale or discount. Yes, you could ask for a referral as a follow-up via email, but emails only have an open rate of 20%. As we’ve already mentioned, the open rate for text messages is much higher. That alone will increase your ability to get referrals.
Confirm Delivery Dates and Times
It’s likely you have already thought about using texts for automated delivery updates, but it can do much more than this. Instead of those automated messages, use text to let your clients interact with the actual person who will deliver their product. As with most other use cases on this list, human interaction will improve the customer experience.
Receiving texts from delivery drivers does more than just add a personal touch. Customers are also more likely to trust it, as it came from the person in charge of the delivery, not an automated system. This use case is especially important if you have to give the customer an update, such as telling them the delivery will be ten minutes late. As long as they are informed about the delay, you likely won’t notice a drop in satisfaction.
Offer Personalized Promotions
Sending mass promotions over mass text is one thing, but sending personalized promotions over text gives you much better results. Personalize the promotion based on previous products or services that your customer bought.
For example, an auto shop could text a customer to let them know they are due for an oil change and offer a discount on it. The combination of personalization and incentive will help you retain customers.
More Ways to Use Texting for Your Business
The above use cases are far from the only ways you can use texting for your business. With a bit of creativity, you will find endless ways to use texting. Here are a few more to think about:
- Sending follow-up information or instructions. For example, you can send links to instructions or product guides for new purchases.
- Sending order confirmations. Let clients know you received the order and are preparing it. And let them know to contact you if they have any questions. This also opens up communication in case you need to send them updates—or they need to send you more details.
- Invite subscribers to events. Personalized invitations will have a much higher RSVP and attendance rate.
Final Thoughts
Don’t just use texting for general customer service inquiries or mass messages. Incorporate texting into all your client interactions to improve personalization and the customer journey. You’ll notice a boost in customer experience, loyalty, and conversions.
