Since text message marketing is the new popular thing, most businesses are opting for this method of marketing because it is convenient, cheap and effective. If you want to incorporate text messaging into your campaigns the next step would be to see what texting features you need most. Example If you want to send a text message today to a large group of people all at once that is called a text blast. All you have to do is add subscriber’s phone numbers, write your text and press send and your work is done.
As a business when looking for this type of marketing service, also look at other factors and offers that come along with the main package. This is where the service provider has to include certain texting features that ensure the success of the business. There are various features that providers can add to the basic concept of text message marketing to make it more versatile and lucrative for customers.
What is texting features?
A service provider will provide certain features that improve the business’s performance as a whole. Marketing is a complicated job to do and any business that opts for different services has to choose those that provide extra features to their services to make them a success. Certain texting features give the business an extra advantage over its competitors and it makes sure that the business stands out. It’s important to make customers feel important by providing them with rewards for loyalty. Personalized and custom text messages to specific customers is an example of texting features that make customers feel special. This plays a major role in increasing sales since customers feeling special tend to be repeat buyers.
Are all features the same?
Text messages are an important method of communication for us since most people carry their phones with them and check for text messages every few minutes. As compared to emails that have an opening rate of only 14%, text messages have a high open-rate of 98%. This makes texting the most suitable option for marketing and reaching customers. Features vary from providers while some may offer a cheaper package with fewer features, others may offer more at a slightly higher price. Most providers allow businesses to choose from all features they have to offer. Of course, nothing comes without a price but it is the benefit that follows from adding those features. No provider offers the same kind of features. Bigger service providers such as Express Text tend to give a larger option of text messaging features for their clients. However, small service providers will provide basic features.
How do businesses benefit from these features?
The aim of any business is to increase sales hence increase profits. To reach such results it is necessary to opt for strong marketing strategies and to make sure that customers are attracted to the marketing techniques employed. Text message marketing has become common for various businesses but it is the use of these features that makes them all stand out from each other. With the help of such features, businesses can choose their own unique short codes or long codes that set them apart from others. By doing so the business benefits because the customer is then aware that the business is texting them from a specific number which cannot be shared with another business. Furthermore, opting for a long code feature can allow businesses to gain contact from customers who can make calls and also text for feedback and queries for the business. With competition in the business market, there is need for opting for different and new ways of reaching out to customers and that is exactly what these features help achieve.
Groups
A business can use the feature to categorize its customers in groups according to age, gender or their affiliation with the business. With this feature, they can send special text messages to only a certain few customers. If it is women’s day and clothing company decides to give a discount it will use this feature to send a discount message to only women in the categories. These unique features benefit the businesses by allowing them to focus on their target audience and making sure that their marketing message is sent to potential clients. Similarly, these features also make the concept of text message marketing fun and unique rather than sending boring messages to customers. A new way of approaching customers is the best way to grow and expand.
Express Text features
Like any other service provider, Express Text also has some features that it offers to its clients. The main idea behind Express Text is to make sure that its clients get the kind of service they want but at a cheaper price than normal. While giving the plain old text messaging service there are certain features that Express Text also offers to its clients. These features mainly include:
- Convenience features
- Organizing features
- Communication features
- Monitoring features
- Campaign features
Convenience features
Convenience features of Express Text tend to focus on providing convenient options to the clients. When handling a business, the service provider also looks at other marketing aspects such as handling websites and social media pages. The features under this category allow users to understand the business website and make scrolling easier for them. help videos can guide customers to use the webpage easily and explore accordingly. Uploading contacts and their important information comes under this category. All information can be added and then be accessible to the business at any time of the day. Using this information, businesses can create personal and customized messages for certain clients.
Organizing features
A business needs to keep itself organized and all its information properly stored. This is exactly what this feature of Express Text allows you to do. You can sort contacts into groups and then contact them accordingly through various modes of communication available. Moreover, you can save a template for later use so you don’t have to re write the same message every time you go to send a text. A calendar to schedule text messages in advance is another feature most services offer. A business can choose a date on the calendar for an event it is hosting and send a reminder on a future date. Contact management falls under this feature and it allows all contacts to be kept within a group so they can be accessed easily.
Communication features
A normal text allows up to 160 characters to be sent to the recipient. However, Express Text allows the message to contain 320 characters at the same time allowing companies and businesses to convey their message easily to customers. 2 way messaging is another feature that helps businesses to maintain strong contact with customers. This is possible with the use of long code which, the service provider can choose and register for the company. When you send a text message to customers, they can reply back and these replies are then stored in an inbox so the company can follow up and respond appropriately. The best part about any service is that it ensures instant delivery of messages and makes sure that it takes no time at all. After all, the age of snail mail is over. Fast services allow text messages to be sent quickly to customers.
Monitoring features
Most text marketing service have texting features that allow a business to monitor and analyze reports for all activities. This way the company is sure that text messages are being delivered. Monitoring allows the business to receive reports and graphs about the output. Moreover, they can follow trends to see what has improved their sales with the help of text message marketing. Some service providers make it difficult for businesses to opt-out of their service but Express Text allows its clients to choose for an easy opt-out process through which they can discontinue services any time they want.
Campaign features
Since text messaging isn’t the only marketing strategy used by businesses, it is possible to have a collaborative marketing campaign where text messaging can be used to boost other platforms of marketing. Businesses can use the text to join feature where customers can be sent a text message to subscribe or follow their webpage by simply replying back with a YES. This way, while using text message marketing, the business promotes its online business as well. Too busy to ensure that messages can be sent on the exact date and time? This is what scheduled messages are there for. Now a business can simply schedule a message to be sent to customers on a specific date and time and the system will then ensure that it is sent accordingly. Moreover, the feature of web widgets allows businesses to retrieve information from other sources. If a customer fills out an online survey including contact information, it can all be stored and transferred to the account through which new contacts can be added and sent text messages.
More texting features
Not all service providers are the same. There are some which cater to certain businesses and provide them with features accordingly. Similarly, the features mentioned above are not available with every service. There are some providers that focus on other aspects of text messaging. Some of them can look into enhancing a text to make it more loud and visible for customers so they provide the option of MMS marketing. This allows businesses to create multimedia text messages with more content and visuals for customers. Some providers allow businesses to shorten URL’s within a text to help improve character count. Looking at your budget it is your choice to make when it comes to deciding which features you want. More features don’t necessarily mean more customers so companies should opt for the texting features they need most after thinking and researching fully.
The best kind of text message marketing is the kind that gets customers buying your product or service! Depending on your business, you could offer special coupons or discounts, invite customers to sales or events, or make special announcements to targeted customers.
Yes! Every business should use SMS marketing. Text message advertising is one of the most overlooked forms of marketing, but also one of the best, since it’s a cost-effective way to reach customers directly on their mobile devices, and they can choose when and how to interact with it.
Studies have shows that over 98% of people open text messages received on their smartphone or mobile device within 3 minutes of receipt, and over 45% respond to the message, making it one of the cheapest and most efficient forms of direct marketing to customers.
SMS advertising costs as much or as little as you want to spend on it. With a company like Express Text, you can get started sending texts for free with a free trial account, then expand to higher pricing tiers as your marketing campaigns grow.