Most entrepreneurs would do almost anything to get the word out about their businesses.
Running your own company is more than a job—it’s a passion. It’s a dream come true. But it’s also a lot of work.
The hype behind social media marketing and email marketing is real, despite the unfortunate truth that not everyone knows how to utilize those tools efficiently. Asking for help from an online marketing agency is one solution, but another really gets back to basics: text messaging.
Studies show that 63% of smartphone users keep their devices nearby 93% of the time they are awake.
What this fact means for your business can be summed up in one very promising word: opportunity. The best part about texting is that it’s flexible and effective for almost any organization.
1) How Texting Increases Sales
To most people, time is money. That is among the reasons why so many prefer texting over phone calls these days. Texts are quick, easy to open, and simple to answer.
Texting makes an excellent sales and marketing tool for almost any kind of business.Click To Tweet Restaurants and retail stores that offer SMS coupons will see customers use them 10 times more frequently than they use paper coupons. Texting helps get people in the door and keeps them there.Hard Rock Cafe in France saw a 30% increase in traffic and a 25% increase in annual sales as a result of their SMS marketing efforts.
And Shirasoni Japanese Steakhouse capitalized on the start of football season by promoting a Monday Night Football event through SMS. The restaurant grossed $2,000 in three and a half hours after sending a message to 3,700 SMS loyalty subscribers.
2) How Texting Keeps Business Flowing
No-shows are one of the most common hurdles encountered by business owners such as realtors, doctors and hair stylists. Whether the situation is due to someone’s sick child, injured dog, or mere forgetfulness, we’ve all missed an appointment at least a few times in our lives.
That’s why setting up SMS messages to remind clients of an appointment 24 hours beforehand is so helpful. The reminder won’t get buried in a sea of unopened emails. Instead, a short text confirming the date, time, location, and any other pertinent information can drastically improve no-show rates.
Another way texting can help medical practices, hairdressers, and other service businesses is by filling last minute cancellations.
An 86-physician multispecialty medical practice in Massachusetts adopted an automated system last year to help fill last-minute patient cancellations. The system has since helped fill an average of 60 cancellations per month.
For airlines, creating a last-minute flight segment in their SMS marketing programs is another efficient way to fill cancellations and no-shows. The airlines meet the needs of last-minute travelers and are simultaneously able to fill all the empty seats.
3) How Texting Keeps Employees, Customers Happy
When employees are in the loop on something, chances are they will be more likely to stay with a company. A happy worker is a productive worker, and communication goes a long way to helping people stay abreast of what’s going on.
Whether it be an emergency at the office, an effort to streamline a project, or even a way to share birthday wishes, using texts for staff communication can improve employee retention.
Text alerts and notifications keep customers satisfied as well. Offer added value to client and customer relationships by sending travel alerts with flight details. You can also send notifications of when something is ready to be picked up or has just been delivered.
4) How Texting Keeps Your Business Current
Recommending texting might sound backward, since texting has been around longer than most of the latest and greatest marketing trends. But that doesn’t make it any less effective.
Texting is a hidden gem that can pack a powerful punch with minimal cost and effort. It allows you to stay in contact with your clients and customers, enabling you to find out quickly and efficiently what your they think about your brand.
In addition to enabling customers to send short surveys, texting is an excellent tool for restaurants to use for ordering. Sometimes it’s easier to pick up the phone instead of filling out a lengthy online form. Why not simplify the ordering process even further by using the phone to send a quick text?
Domino’s Pizza, for example, allows customers to order their usual meal by simply sending a pizza emoji. It doesn’t get any easier than that for the customer or the business.
Spend more time putting your passion to work by using a simple, effective marketing strategy: text messaging.
The team from TextMagic has created the infographic below that showcases the most popular ways to use texting for business. Click the image or see the TextMagic infographic in high res.
