How to grow your business with text messaging

More than 5 billion people regularly use text messages to communicate throughout the world. Of those, more than 277 million are Americans over the age of 12. 

It’s hard to imagine that 30 years ago text messaging was not a thing. Now, 97% of Apple IOS or Android smartphone users use text messaging regularly, with the average user sending and receiving 94 messages per day.

To break that down, 18,078,704 texts are sent every minute, just in the USA. That’s not because the number of cell phone users has increased dramatically in the last few years, it’s because we are all using text a lot more. In fact, since 2010, texting rates within the USA have grown by a whopping 216%. WhatsApp texting service reports that its users alone send 65 billion messages every day.

Most people won’t answer a phone call and emails are often filtered, making text messages the obvious choice for getting your message through to your customer base. Following up on initial contact with a text is the smart thing to do. It’s simple and it increases your open rates and customer conversion rate like no other follow up method.

What is business text messaging?

Short-code message service (SMS), or text messaging, is one of the most popular forms of communication today. Businesses use text messages for many reasons, from appointment reminders to text marketing to advertise flash sales to autoresponder follow-up responses.

Allowing your customers to “opt-in” with their phone number to receive SMS text messages, emails and other forms of communication is a great way to boost the personal contact client’s love. 

Typical conversion rates for SMS campaigns are around 45% but can be much higher. This means an SMS marketing campaign typically produces a 250% higher conversion to sale rate over email, making it one of the most effective tools for your growing business. 

People are more than 200% more likely to respond to a text message than a phone call, while the confirmation rates of text are nearly 300% higher than that of phone calls.

Why customers prefer texting a business

If you’ve ever spent an hour or more on the phone wading through an automated system to be routed to the right department, verified your identity and described your issue to more than one person, and come away with an unsatisfactory answer, you know why so many people prefer texting today. 

Texting lets you contact businesses directly – you send a message and if it needs to be answered by another department, it’s their problem, not yours. You can go on about your day while they sort it out…you don’t have to wait on hold, talk to multiple people, or spend your day listening to awful music and assurances that “Your business is very important to us.” If that were true, would you be on hold? 

You can send and receive texts from anywhere. You don’t need to be at a computer and won’t be explaining to a subway car full of people who you are, where you live, and what your issue is. Texting does not include all the strangers around you in the conversation. 

Unlike using a landline, you’re also able to take and send photos on phone. If a tech wants an insanely small 16-character serial number, instead of breaking out a flashlight and a magnifying glass so you can snap a photo and send it. The tech gets accurate information the first time, and you don’t strain your eyes.

On the business’ end, one customer service person answering text messages can take care of several customers at the same time, delivering accurate information fast. It’s less frustrating for the customer and more cost efficient for the local business, a win/win. 

Broadly’s all-in-one app provides unlimited messages and makes it easy to engage with customers the way they prefer.

4 Reasons why text messaging is important to business

1. Customers prefer texting

Text messaging is a simple and often preferred by customer’s way of being contacted, and 82% of all text messages are read within 5 minutes. Emails are comparatively lacking in their reach, with only a 25% open rate. Texting is now considered the normal way to communicate. It makes sense for businesses to adapt along with technology.

2. Texts are very effective

Text message campaigns are more effective than email campaigns – with a far superior return on investment. The response rates to text are 7.5 times higher than that of email. The response time to texts is much faster than the response time for emails, even when the content is the same.

3. They are opting in

Since people opt-in to receive text messages from your business, they don’t mind reading them. This personal touch makes the customer feel more valued.

4. Increase your reviews

Include a call to action (CTA) asking for a review in a follow-up text and let customers voice their satisfaction. Here’s what one of our customers had to say:

“Broadly has streamlined our business processes and increased our online reviews! The ability to follow up with my clients via text makes its easy for our clients to give us feedback. They also display all our reviews live on our website, which is awesome for our online presence! They take care of the work for us, which is great for my team. I would highly recommend Broadly!” – Steve Nichols, Nichols Electrical Contracting

Is directly texting customers a good fit for your business?

Text messaging is a cost-effective method for building customer relationships. The return on investment is extremely high, it’s easy to implement. 

Customers enjoy the personal encounter texting allows, and they prefer texting to any other method of engagement. The real-time response rates show that people will take a moment to respond to text much sooner and more often than they’ll even open an email. To decide if a text message campaign is right for your business is simply to ask the question “Do I want my business to thrive in today’s technological world?” If the answer is YES, Broadly can help you to get started.