The Power of Business Texting#1 Tool to Engage and Communicate with Customers!

Why Use Business Texting as Part of Your Marketing

Be optimized for the Business Environment•Convenient and Easy – drives client experience•Open rates speak volumes- gone are the days of reaching customers/clients just by phonecall

• 98% open rate

Centralize your Communication•Employees no longer using personal devices – BIG ISSUE!•History and search functionality – complements CRM efforts

Compliance – Critical Piece of the Puzzle•Captures and stores customer consent•TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) plaintiff’sattorneys are VERY active. Almost all cases settle.

•So you don’t get in trouble and lose revenue!

Did You Know...97%

of Americans TEXTAT LEAST ONCE PER DAY

93%OPT IN for marketing

campaigns

70%of Americans prefer to receive SMS COUPONS

of text messages are read,90% in the first 3 minutes

98%

US consumers make direct purchases after receiving an SMS branded text, a discount coupon, or a QR code.

50%

9 out of 10consumers who enroll in an SMS loyalty program benefit from their participation.

People will choose to receive business SMS messages in 2020.

48 Million

Utilizing Texting for Business

Marketing MessageCampaigns

Text to 95000

Two-way Sales Conversion Reservation Reminders

Enhanced Communication Loyalty Programs

Have instant response to customer request and questions

1-way push out offers. It is a powerful way to engage your clientele.

Pre-program service reminders to let members know about upcoming reservations, tee times and trainer appointments

Provide superior customer service as 90% of text messages sent are read in 90 seconds with a 98% open rate.

Keyword Text Program - Solution to grow new food/beverage sales

Customer specials and discount offers to drive incremental revenue with valued shoppers.

Preferred Customer Service Channel

Demographic Data - AgeWhen you look across different age groups, the picture shifts in the preferred customer service channel. Millennials, in particular, don’t want to call

your 1-800 number and wade through a lengthy menu of choices. They don’t check their email every hour or even every day. They are used to getting message notifications. Millennials and Gen X are increasingly choosing messaging over other channels of customer service.

44% 43%

38%

33%

30%

24% 24%

32%

16%18%

25% 24%27% 26% 26%

6% 5%

8%

2%4% 4% 4% 5% 5% 4% 4% 4% 5%

2% 2% 1% 2% 1% 2% 1%

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

18-24YRS 25-34YRS 35-44YRS 45-54YRS 55+YRS

Preferred Customer Service Channel

MESSAGING EMAIL TELEPHONE FACE TOFACE OTHER WEB LIVE CHAT MAIL

It is Always Within Reach

of adults keep their mobile phones within reach all the time. 91%

According to research by Morgan Stanley,

In fact, Americans check always their phones every 12 minutes while they’re awake. That means the average American engages making use of their cellphone about 80 times a day.

Since phones are always at your fingertips and texts are typically around 160 characters long, marketing messages on SMS can be consumed. That is possibly the reason why it enjoys open rates of over 98%. In contrast, email open rates average 14% across all industries. Additionally, about 90% of texts are read within the first three minutes of receipt.

It is Easy to Consume

Because text messages are an easy task to consume, recipients are also prone to respond. In fact, the typical response rate for SMS is 45% while email response is only 6%.

SMS is also the preferred means of receiving coupons meant for both online and in-store redemption because of its convenience. In fact, redemption rates for SMS-based coupons are ten times greater than printed versions.

SMS Messaging Encourages Quick Responses

Email has been the long-established medium for digital marketing. It isn’t going anywhere, no matter how prevalent SMS marketing becomes. But texts differ vastly from emails not only in format but additionally in how they are consumed. For that reason, SMS undoubtedly has its own role to play in a really omnichannel advertising campaign.

While email excels because of its capability to communicate extensive and dynamic content, it can’t beat the timeliness of SMS. That makes text messaging the right complement to email. Time-sensitive offers, for example, perform most readily useful on SMS. Text messaging is also an effective way to operate a vehicle your audiences to your email content.

SMS and email make up the critical platforms of an omnichannel campaign. But it doesn’t really end there. Depending on the nature of your business and the needs of your audience, using both platforms along with others like push notifications, social media, search advertising enables you to be undoubtedly omnipresent without having to be invasive.

By combining available platforms and allowing each one to play their roles, you’re able to provide seamless customer experiences that enhance both sales and brand affinity.

The Benefits of Combining SMS with Other Channels

Though SMS has undoubtedly proven its worth as a marketing channel, changes and improvements that may inevitably come will make it an even more effective channel. Some of them might include:

SMS Marketing is Bound to Become More Valuable

Improvements in PersonalizationAs it integrates more seamlessly with other channels and becomes ingrained in more business processes, SMS marketing will love abroader scope of data. Add to that the inevitable advancements in artificial intelligence and marketers will clamor over SMS for the extent to that they can personalize messages.

More data and targeting options also mean better automation capabilities. Marketers can set more specific triggers, and machine learning capabilities can lead to much more personalized campaigns. With SMS’ current performance as a marketing medium, these advancements in personalization and automation will undoubtedly cause even more improved engagement rates and, eventually, better sales.

Developments as a Primary Support ChannelThrough AI-driven enhancements, SMS could become the primary means where customers can access support. Today, chatbots can already accurately answer frequently asked questions. As they be informed and much more intuitive, they are often integratedinto more business processes that will inevitably enhance customer experiences.

Imagine entering a busy boutique and finding a top you like however, not in the size you wear. Instead of looking forward to your turn to ask the sales associate to check on for your size, you could simply send a text message and receive a response in an instant. As SMS bots become much more integrated into business processes, they can even instruct sales associates to take out the itemyou asked for, track you down within the store, and help you through the remainder of the buying process.

Usefulness in Various IndustriesSMS marketing is currently most appropriate to e-commerce businesses. But innovative marketers are quickly finding new applications because of it and start possibilities to harness its power in non-traditional ways.

Pretty soon, its benefits as a medium will encourage more and more industries to adopt it. That, subsequently, will further contribute to its wide acceptance and performance as a marketing platform.

Integration with More ChannelsThe most common method to use SMS is to fit email campaigns. With thoughtful planning and preparation, some of the heightened marketers also successfully utilize it alongside other channels like push notifications, instant messaging, social media, and search.

However, through data-driven insights and advancements in computer software, SMS should soon integrate more seamlessly with a wider variety of channels so that you can provide an undoubtedly personal and cohesive experience that’s consistent across allplatforms.

Today, some of probably the most powerful marketing software happen to be making some of these situations possible. Nevertheless, apps will continue improving and further increase SMS’ value.

Businesses have adopted SMS for an amazing array of applications. Here are some of the best approaches to use texting effectively:

Best Use of SMS Marketing

• Post-Purchase Notifications: The period after a shopper completes a purchase is crucial to customer retention. Apart from a comprehensive confirmation email, send them SMS alerts as you process their order, ship their item, and concur that they have received their package. Doing so will make an additional purchase greatly predisposed.

• Time-Sensitive Alerts: The short format of text messages and the proximity of cellphones to its users ensure it is the perfect medium for time-sensitive information you want your audiences to act on right away. These include product launches, sales promotions, along with other limited-time offers or events.

• Gift Distribution: Impressive redemption rates make SMS a great platform for distributing digital coupons and virtual gift ideas. With marketing automation platforms, you can even send gifts automatically through relevant triggers like birthday and get milestones.

• Customer Support: The quick and direct nature of SMS makes it a fantastic option for providing fantastic customer service. SMS bots can receive and answer basic questions after which escalate more technical or painful and sensitive concerns to a highly trained support team. That allows support teams to focus only on critical issues while giving all clients access to timely assistance.

• Accessing Information: Apart from providing assistance, you should use SMS to supply quick and easy usage of information. Practical applications include confirming availability, providing store locations, and offering product recommendations.

• Drive to Site: Through SMS, you can drive your customers to your internet site to boost traffic, promote new content, or get them to re-engage. This is especially helpful for users that haven’t visited in quite a while and have stopped opening emails.

• Order Placements: If you have limited SKUs, SMS could be a great way to accept orders. When fully automated, this may provide an effortless ordering experience to your visitors, which could cause better retention and more sales.

• Appointment Setting & Reminders: Businesses enables their clients to book appointments via SMS. You can use the same platform to automatically send appointment reminders.

• Identity Verification Processes: Two-factor authorization via SMS is not a new concept. But, as data privacy and security becomes more vital to the success of companies, more industries will surely adopt text messaging for identity verification.

• Feedback Gathering: Remarkable SMS response rates also ensure it is an excellent platform for feedback gathering. Through text messages, it is possible to ask your visitors to answer simple surveys. You may even use SMS bots to ask questions as a human market researcher would.

The current success of SMS marketing demonstrates it is here to remain. As brands’ innovative use of the channel drives its growth and wide acceptance, it will become much more valuable. Ultimately, it will take its rightful place alongside email as an indispensable medium for marketing communications.

Conclusion