Text Message Reminder Helps You Reach and Remind Your Customers

text message reminder

In the time you took to read this sentence, 1 million text messages were sent out.

That means trillions of texts are sent out each day (I’d quote the exact number, but I’m not really a fan of math).

So what does this mean for your business? You need to incorporate text message reminders in your marketing strategy so that you can effectively communicate with your customers.

This article is a complete guide on the number of ways you can use a text message reminder to maximize profits:

#1. Appointments

If you run a business that relies solely on appointments, you’ll understand how important it is to send out reminders to ensure that customers show up.

And what better way to do that than through text? The platform boasts a 98% open rate, out of which 90% of the messages are read within the first 3 minutes.

By sending out text message reminders, you’ll ensure that a maximum number of customers show up for their appointments:

This can make a world of difference, especially if the appointment is scheduled weeks in advance because, by the time it comes, most clients will have forgotten about it.

Plus, you can take advantage of the immediacy of text message reminders.

Since most people read texts instantly, sending out a reminder a day before the appointment is optimal.

This allows your client to make the necessary arrangements to visit your office.

If you have a law firm, designer brand, medical clinic, car dealership or any other business that relies on appointments rather than walk-ins, text message reminders are crucial for you.

This goes for every business in the service sector where customer and employee interactions are crucial in making sales.

A reminder will ensure maximum turnout which will, in turn, lead to higher profits.

Plus, customers don’t always pick up calls or check their email more than once a day.

On the other hand, with text messages, they can reply at their own convenience no matter where they may be, which makes it the perfect medium to choose for appointment reminders.

#2. Deadlines

So I recently invested in this bond through my bank, and they send me an SMS reminder to make my periodic interest payments before the deadline.

How does this help me?

I remember to send in the principal amount before the deadline which means I don’t have to pay the overdue penalty (which is a lot, by the way).

This makes me a happy customer, which is why I’ve shared this with a lot of my friends, consequently using word of mouth to promote my bank.

In business terms, this means that more consumers are inclined to open an account with the bank in question over other banks that don’t send out a text message reminder.

Here’s how the University of Montana used text reminders:

This example just goes to show that no matter what category your business falls into, you can use a text message reminder to improve efficiency.

Your customers will appreciate the concern and more importantly, the fact that they can save money by getting things done on time; thus, improving loyalty to your brand.

Your loyal customers generate 3-7 times more revenue per visit, and since reminders are a great way to instill loyalty, make sure you focus on that rather than attracting new customers only.

#3. Events

I myself use text to send out event invites, but a lot of companies prefer the traditional way of sending out invites i.e. by post, especially for more formal events because it portrays more effort on the brand’s part.

However, this means you’ll have to send out invites a month before the event and a great way to ensure maximum turnout is sending out a text message reminder a day before the event.

Plus, it’s also a great way to get customers to RSVP online and save them the hassle of contacting you otherwise.

If you require details about your attendees, simply add a hyperlink in your text message that connects your customers to the webpage where they can fill out a form and make a payment if required:

The other option is that you can ask customers to reply with a letter or word to confirm their presence at your event.

A good SMS platform will automatically list the number of customers that are attending your event and provide the results graphically.

Check out how this couple sent out their wedding invites via text:

By using SMS, they saved themselves a lot of time and resources and created an efficient process to keep track of the number of guests.

Small businesses that are working on a budget can take advantage of SMS by sending out event invites and reminders digitally which also reduces their reliance on employees. 

#4. Sales

My guilty pleasure? Sales!

I’ll be waiting for Black Friday 3 months in advance to buy a new pair of black jeans, and that means I’m constantly on the lookout for sales texts from my favourite brands (in my defense, I’m a smart buyer).

Since most consumers shop online (76% according to FitSmallBusiness) you need to direct your efforts towards digital platforms.

That means if you’re hosting a sale online, the perfect time to text your customers about it is within 2 hours before it goes live.

Why? Because most of them will read it within minutes and if you send out promotional texts earlier, they’re most likely to forget about them:

Notice how Hideout texted its customers when the sale went live and not before because customers will simply click on the link and access the website within seconds.

The only downside to doing this is that if your customers are busy, they may miss out on the good items which run out before they can purchase them.

To avoid this, what you can do is send out texts after 9 PM i.e. outside work hours when your customers are likely to be home and free.

On the other hand, if the sale is in-store, you can send out a reminder to your loyal customers a day before so that they show up as soon as the store opens the next day.

The timing and how you phrase your text message are crucial in determining the effectiveness of your SMS Campaign so make sure you follow these tips to ensure maximum profitability.

#5. Reservations

Appointments and reservations are pretty similar, except that reservations mostly apply to restaurants.

The concept of booking via phone calls is slowly dying out as SMS and other online booking platforms are taking over.

A lot of prominent businesses in the food industry like Yelp have already made this switch to ensure a smooth flow of communication between customers and the business.

The company came up with Yelp Reservations, a website that allows customers to make, modify and cancel reservations by communicating with the restaurant’s employees digitally:

Notice how both parties can respond at their convenience without the customer having to wait hours on end due to busy phone lines or for a customer representative on online chatbots.

SMS is more direct and personalized than any other channel, which is exactly why you can use it for so many diverse purposes.

Hire a team of representatives to communicate with customers and respond to queries immediately.

Even if you have a small business, SMS platforms like ExpressText have mobile applications that allow you to access your account through personal devices.

This is great because your customer representatives won’t be restricted to desktops at work and can easily work from home and during their commute; thus, improving morale and productivity.

#6. Confirmation

A lot of the times when you make bookings online, you’ll receive a text confirming the purchase.

This text message is extremely crucial because it puts the customer’s mind at ease since they are assured that their payment went through.

A lot of companies do that, but Airbnb took advantage of the immediacy of SMS in a different way.

Whenever customers contact potential hosts via email and they don’t respond, Airbnb sends out a reminder text to the host with details about the required stay, dates, and pricing:

This way, even if the host is not able to check their email due to the unavailability of the internet or any other reason, they can simply respond via text and maintain their response rate on the website; thus getting more guests.

#7. Password reset

I absolutely hate it when I have to reset my password and I don’t receive the email with the reset code on time.

And it’s not just me, I’m sure it has happened to you too.

Normally, you’ll get emails within a few minutes but it can take as long as 5 whole days for emails to send!

Unfortunately, since passwords fall in the sensitive information category, reset codes have an expiry code of a few minutes and that is exactly why companies have switched from email to SMS:

A lot of software has picked up on this as well.

iOS in the iPhone will automatically offer you the option of using the code received via SMS by showing it in predictive text.

This way, you don’t have to memorize the numbers and you don’t run the risk of entering an incorrect digit which would result in repeating the entire process.

With such integrated technology, SMS remains the best option to use for password resets and other uses.

Choosing the right platform

I’ve told you exactly how to take advantage of SMS, but that can only happen if you sign up with the right SMS provider.

ExpressText is a platform that offers an all in one package; with affordable packages compared to other SMS platforms, you’ll have access to a number of advanced features:

Plus, ExpressText offers you a graphical representation of results which is extremely crucial in helping to determine how your SMS Campaign can be improved. 

Suppose you notice your campaign has a high read rate but a very low response rate.

This means that it’s highly ineffective, but most of the time, there’s a simple solution to it.

Review your texts to see where you’re going wrong. Maybe the text is too long or doesn’t promote a call to action.

Text messaging is a great way to get ahead of the competition, but only if it’s used right.

Conclusion To Text Message Reminder

A Text message reminder are a great way to boost profits when they’re doing.

The first step in determining the problem is always to assess your strategy and then pinpoint the problems so that you can come up with a solution accordingly.

Plus, SMS is great as a marketing channel as well. Small businesses have seen drastic changes in revenue in just under 6 months by using SMS.

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