For most SMB/mid-market companies marketing directly to customers, there are a few traditional marketing avenues that you’re probably using right now. Retargeting, Google Ads, and review promotions are a great start, but there is more you could be doing to engage your customers and prospects.
Today’s consumers starts online, even if they end up coming into a brick and mortar business to actually make a purchase. It’s all about checking out reviews. In fact, 80% of consumers use reviews as the first step in choosing a dealership and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal communications. Building high reviews and boosting this online presence requires new and innovative ways of connecting and engaging with consumers and prospects. Unfortunately for many businesses, customers come in once or twice for large-dollar purchases. They don’t want to be hounded with phone calls and emails for months afterward asking them to leave a review. This is where text messaging comes in.
Why customers prefer texts over phone calls
According to Pew Research, more than 89% of consumers prefer to interact with businesses via text than a phone call. For businesses, simply using text messaging to engage with customers can increase productivity by 37%. Even if you’re communicating with prospects or new leads instead of past customers, there are multiple ways text messaging can help boost your engagement rates and the effectiveness of your outbound marketing campaigns:
Encourage customers to leave online reviews.
With a quick link included directly in a text message, customers can easily leave a 5-Star review on a variety of review websites.
Send appointment or service reminders.
If a customer needs to bring their RV in for repairs or they’ve already scheduled an appointment, you can send text reminders to keep the appointments top-of-mind.
Promote faster service.
If a customer is on hold with a service representative, you can include the option ‘For faster service, text us now,’ which can save both the customer and your team valuable hours.
Service updates.
Quickly text your customers if their order is ready for pickup, or respond to questions about hours, maps, or other contact information.
Gather customer feedback and surveys.
Instead of sending out a ‘How was our service?’ email once a customer leaves your business, shoot them a quick text with a link to a brief survey – they don’t even have to fill out their name.
Send promos, photos, and attachments. Share limited-time promos with prospects and leads and send photos or attachments to customers of new products.
While it’s clear that customers prefer text messaging over playing phone tag or email back-and-forth, text messages can save time and increase sales. Promoting text-enabled reviews to customers can help increase online reviews by nearly 300% – with reviews coming in even before customers leave the business! Plus, with an intuitive two-way text messaging platform in place, the average business can save up to a significant amount of time. When both sides are saving time, it’s no wonder customers prefer texting over phone calls.
Customer texting best practices
While text messaging may seem out of the norm compared to traditional marketing campaigns, it’s truly the new normal for innovative businesses. Plus, it’s easy to get started once you have a clear plan in place. Here are some best practices to take into account as you start to ramp up text messaging capabilities in your organization:
Ready to get started? Kenect is the best way for any business to get up and running with business texting fast! You can learn more and schedule a personal demo here.