4 Rules for When, When, and How to Text Your Customers

Dec 12
|
~
2
min Read
|
Business Texting

As any business in the B2C space knows, communicating directly with consumers can be equal parts frustrating and rewarding. It’s frustrating when you can’t reach consumers or they don’t understand what you’re trying to say, but if an engagement succeeds it can pay off in a big way. This being said, there can definitely be instances of over-communicating and under-communicating with consumers, especially in today’s age of new channels and ways of communication.

Here are some best practices for B2C businesses for when and why you should be communicating to consumers:

It’s okay to go a little overboard on service updates and alerts. If a majority of your business deals with customer service, orders, parts, or labor, customers need to be kept in the loop. This is especially important for big-ticket items like vehicles, boats, RVs, or construction equipment because customers often need time and help to pick up their orders. It’s okay to over-communicate updates, schedules, and the like if it’s going to help the consumer and keep them in the loop.

Asking for feedback is good but know your audience. Many modern B2C brands use direct-to-consumer communication to ask for feedback on a previous service or experience. While feedback is a necessary notch in the wheel and is critical to improving processes (and even attracting new consumers), it’s a good idea to know your audience before asking for feedback.

Don’t ever send a batch email out to all of your customers at once asking for a rating or review. Instead, personalize these messages and tailor the language directly to an individual experience. Ask about Joe’s experience buying a lawnmower, for example, rather than his feedback for your store in general.

Share promotions and sales – to an extent. Consumers love a good sale (hello, Black Friday!) and are usually ready to jump on a deal, but it’s okay to share these kinds of updates sparingly. After all, if your business has a sale on a weekly basis, the lower prices just don’t have the same kind of kick. Additionally, try to tailor promotional messaging back to previous consumer purchases. This way individual consumers receive promotional messaging about products related to ones they’ve already purchased.

The best part? All of these notifications can – and should – be made through text messaging. Unlike email or phone calls, texts are almost guaranteed to be received and read by consumers as soon as they are received. Text messaging is now one of the best ways to communicate directly with consumers because it works in favor of both parties.

Text messaging is an official, formal way to have serious conversations while remaining casual and fun enough to build personal relationships with customers. It targets customers where they want to be communicated with but doesn’t come off as too invasive. Plus, in many cases, text messaging cuts down on wasted time for both parties – making it a win/win for all involved.

You can learn more about texting directly with consumers here.

Get texting for your business