Ways to use Short Message Service (SMS)

It’s no secret that consumers and marketers today love email. But with an open rate of 98 percent, according to Mobile Marketing Watch, Short message Service can give email some serious competition.

SMS, or Short Message Service, utilizes the text messaging functionality of a mobile device and can reach anyone with a phone that has texting capabilities. SMS messages consist of 160 characters with standard messaging rates.

Here are eight times when a text would make a great addition to your marketing mix:

1. Welcome

Did someone just make their first purchase from your company or sign up to get your email newsletter? While an email may be your go-to for saluting them, try alert text communication instead of or in addition to your typical welcome email. Start off your customer relationships with a text that can provide a unique engagement point and pave the way for future SMS communications from your business.

2. Promotions and sales

Special offers and SMS messages go hand in hand, the immediacy of a text message lends itself well to short-lived promotions in particular and can add the needed necessity to move a recipient to purchase. For sales or promotions that are a bit longer-term, you could use SMS in permutation with email or other networks to ensure you reach clients everywhere.

3. Reminders

 Life is hectic, whether you’re reminding a customer of a service appointment at their home or reminding a volunteer of their chance at the yearly fundraising festival tomorrow, SMS messages are perfect for helping people remember their obligations and keep promises.

4. Follow up

thank customers for their business and offer a means for them to share their skills. That could be through a reply to your SMS, an email address, or a connection to a survey.

5. Customer feedback

you don’t have to wait until after someone engages with your business to solicit customer feedback. Use SMS messages to periodically send surveys or other requests for feedback.

6. Tips

Tap into your company’s expertise with this type of SMS message. Whether your team’s knowledge centers on software or sustainability, you could offer your clients beneficial tips via SMS. These tips can simply be pulled from current content like blog posts, electronic Books, or videos, and can be a valuable and quick touchpoint with the public.

7. Improving an event

SMS messaging can play an important role in events from a basketball game to a user conference, text messages can be used to successfully enhance an attendee’s event encounter. You could, for instance, use Short message service to guide attendees to countless points of interest on a tradeshow floor or deliver a traffic alert after a big sporting event.

8. Reconnecting

try using an SMS message to reawaken the relationship, the content of the message will vary according to your business and the specific customers that you hope to connect with, but you could try sending them a link to an interesting section of content or a promotional code for a limited time.