The Power of Texting for Business Marketing in 2024

SMS communication allows immediate interaction and can boost customer engagement. But how can you make your text marketing campaigns even better?

Texting for business marketing is becoming a key tool for companies looking to communicate directly with their customers. Text messaging offers high open rates and engagement compared to other marketing channels. 

In this guide, we will discuss the importance of texting for business marketing and recommend the best platform to get you started.

How Business Texting Works

Short Message Service (SMS) is a protocol used for sending text messages over mobile networks. In business marketing, SMS allows companies to send quick, concise messages directly to a customer’s mobile phone. This is particularly effective for promotions, alerts, and customer engagement.

Business texting is simple and efficient. Here’s how it works:

Using a Text Message Marketing Service

Businesses send messages using text message marketing services. These platforms are designed to handle varying volumes of text, making it easy to reach many people at once. 

They also offer features like automation, scheduling, personalization, and analytics to help businesses manage their SMS text marketing campaigns effectively.

Building a Contact List

Before sending marketing messages, businesses need a list of customers and their phone numbers who have opted in to receive text messages. 

It is imperative before engaging in a text marketing campaign that businesses follow the Telephone Consumer Protection Act guidelines or they could risk being fined and blocked by the carriers.. 

They can collect these numbers through various methods, such as sign-up forms, promotions, and in-store sign-ups which will indicate that they have opted in for marketing messages via text.This opt-in practice is not required for informational messages a business may need to send.

Crafting the Message

Once the contact list is ready, businesses can start crafting their messages. These text messages are usually short and to the point. 

They might include promotional offers, updates, reminders, or important information. The key is to make the message clear, relevant, and engaging. It is also a best practice to include images to create more impact, especially for marketing messages.

Sending the Message

With the message ready, businesses use their text message marketing platform to send it out. They can choose to send messages immediately or schedule them for a specific time. 

Automation features allow businesses to send messages at optimal times without manual effort.

Receiving Responses

Customers can respond to these messages, and businesses can track these responses through their texting platform. 

This two-way communication helps businesses engage with their customers directly and address any queries or concerns quickly.

Analyzing Performance

After sending the messages, businesses analyze their performance. The texting platform provides data on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. 

This data helps businesses understand how effective their messages are and make improvements for future campaigns.

Why Does Texting for Business Marketing Matter?

People are more likely to read and respond to a text message than an email. SMS marketing messages have an open rate of about 98%. This means you can reach your customers directly and quickly.

Texting also allows you to send personalized messages that make your customers feel special. You can tailor your texts to match their interests and needs, which helps build a stronger connection with your brand.

Another big advantage is that texting isn’t expensive. Automated systems can send out many messages at once without much effort, saving you time and money while ensuring your messages are delivered right away. 

How to Choose the Right SMS Marketing Service for Business Marketing

Choosing the right texting software for your business is a big decision. You want a tool that will help you reach your customers effectively and efficiently. 

This is a detailed, step-by-step guide to help you make the best choice:

Ease of Use

If the system is too complicated, sending messages will take more time and effort. Therefore, look for a platform with a clean, intuitive interface.

You should be able to quickly learn how to create and send messages without needing a lot of technical know-how. A good platform like Textellent will offer plenty of tutorials and customer support to help you get started.

Features

Consider the features offered by the SMS marketing software. Here are some key features to look for:

• Automation: The platform should allow you to set up automated messages based on specific triggers, such as customer sign-ups, purchases, or birthdays. 
• Scheduling: Look for a platform that lets you schedule texts for specific times and dates. 
• Personalization: The platform should provide segmentation capabilities that enable you to include the recipient’s name, purchase history, and other relevant details in your texts to increase relevance. 
• Analytics: Look for a platform that provides detailed reports on open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and more. 
• Automated reminders: Look for a platform that allows you to send automatic reminders for appointments, renewals, or special offers. 
• API integration: Ensure the platform can integrate with your existing systems through an API. 
• List growth tools: Look for tools that help you gather more phone numbers, such as sign-up forms, opt-in widgets, and keyword campaigns.
• Multi-Site Capabilities: Larger organizations will want the ability to send campaigns from headquarters while allowing the message to be sent from the participating location’s phone number for better engagement.

Make a list of the most important features for your business and compare them across different platforms.

Compliance

You should choose a platform that helps you stay compliant by managing consents and opt-outs automatically and providing additional controls to make sure any locations in your organization are kept in check.

Moreover, you need to ensure that the platform follows SMS text message marketing regulations like the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in the U.S. 

These laws require you to get explicit consent from customers before sending them SMS text messages and provide an easy way to opt-out. 

Cost

Texting platforms can vary in price, so you’ll need to find one that fits your budget. Most platforms offer tiered pricing based on the number of messages you send per month. 

Be sure to compare the SMS marketing costs of different plans and what they include. Don’t just go for the cheapest option; make sure it has all the features you need.

Integration

Consider how well the texting platform integrates with your existing tools and systems. If you use a customer relationship management (CRM) system, email marketing software, or even appointment scheduling tools, you’ll want a texting platform that can easily integrate.

This will help simplify your workflows and ensure all your customer data is in one place.

Customer Support

Finally, look at the level of customer support offered by the platform. Good customer support can make a big difference, especially when you’re just getting started or if you run into any issues. 

You should check if the platform offers support through various channels, such as phone, email, or live chat. Also, see if they have a comprehensive knowledge base or community forums where you can find answers to common questions.

How to Set up Your Texting Campaign

Setting up a successful SMS marketing campaign involves several key steps. Each step ensures that your messages are effective, compliant, and engaging. 

Here’s a detailed guide to help you get started:

Think About Your Objectives and Goals

Clearly define what you want to achieve with your texting campaign.

Your goals could include:

• Increasing sales
• Boosting customer engagement
• Promoting a new product or service
• Sending appointment reminders
• Gathering customer feedback

Having clear objectives will help you design your campaign and measure its success.

Build Your Contact List

A successful texting campaign starts with a strong contact list. To build one, use opt-in forms on your website where visitors can sign up to receive text messages. Offer incentives like discounts or exclusive content to encourage sign-ups.

If you have a physical location, you can encourage customers to sign up for text alerts at the point of sale. 

Running promotions or contests where entry requires opting for your text marketing messages can also help grow your SMS subscriber list. Offering incentives like “text-only” specials is a great way to build up those marketing lists.

Create Effective Text Messages

Creating engaging and effective SMS messages is key to your campaign’s success. While SMS is not strictly limited to 160 characters, it’s essential to keep your texts concise and focused. This ensures your message is clear and impactful without overwhelming the reader.

Include a clear call to action, telling your customers exactly what you want them to do next, such as “Shop Now,” “Reply YES,” or “Click Here.”

Ensure your message offers something valuable to the recipient, whether it’s a discount, an important update, or a helpful reminder.

Schedule Your Messages

Timing is crucial in texting campaigns. You should schedule your messages to be sent at times when your audience is most likely to read and respond to them.

You should set a schedule for your business messages that coincide with special events or promotions. Most texting platforms offer scheduling features that allow you to plan your messages.

Why Textellent Is The Best Texting Solution for Business Marketing

Textellent takes business texting to a higher level. It allows you to set up automatic messages that react to how your customers interact with your texts. This ensures every message is personal, timely, and fits exactly what your customer needs. 

Additionally, Textellent focuses on the entire customer journey and helps businesses set up campaigns to address all the relevant touch points. A rules based engine t means you don’t need any special coding skills to get it working and can create new customer experiences easily. 

Using Textellent’s sophisticated segmentation capabilities allows businesses to send very targeted campaigns which can be triggered by events, customer actions, employee workflow, and more.

Textellent also comes with powerful and unique tools that work with your existing scheduling software. These tools make it easy to keep in touch with your customers before and after their appointments, helping create a smooth experience for them every step of the way.

The platform also provides a rich collection of text and image templates. 

How to Get Started with Textellent

Getting started with Textellent is simple and doesn’t take much time, so you can quickly begin boosting your business with effective text messaging. 

These are the steps to get set up:

Step 1: Sign Up

First, sign up for Textellent by filling in your business information and choosing a plan that matches your needs. 

Textellent has different plans to suit a variety of businesses. If you’re an accountant or tax professional, you can use a special calculator on their website to calculate your costs with just a few clicks.

Step 2: Get Connected

Textellent lets you connect it to the tools you already use, like your website or customer management system. 

You can follow the instructions on their website to set up and arrange for training with their support team to get everything hooked up.

Step 3: Send Messages

Once you’re all set up, you can start sending messages right from Textellent’s dashboard. It’s designed to be easy to use. 

You can quickly write messages, personalize them for your audience, and even schedule them in advance if you’re planning a big sale or event.

Step 4: Keep Track

After your messages are out, you can check their performance using Textellent’s tools. These tools show you details like how many people received and engaged with your messages.

Seeing these results will help you understand what’s working and what might need changing next time.

Best Practices for Business Text Message Marketing

After setting up your SMS campaigns, you should optimize them to ensure your messages are well-received and lead to the desired outcomes. 

Here are a few best practices you need to follow:

Use Two-Way Communication

You can encourage two-way communication by allowing customers to respond to your messages. This can be useful for gathering feedback, answering questions, or providing customer support. 

Respond promptly to any customer replies to show that you value their input and are attentive to their needs.

Integrate with Other Marketing Channels

Texting should be part of a broader marketing strategy. You can integrate your texting campaigns with other marketing channels, such as email marketing and social media.

For example, you can use texts to remind customers about an email promotion or to encourage them to follow your social media accounts for more updates.

Test and Optimize

Regularly test different elements of your texting campaigns to see what works best. This can include trying out different message lengths, CTAs, and send times.

You can use the analytics provided by your texting platform to monitor the performance of your messages. Pay attention to the SMS key metrics like open rates, opt-out rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. 

Then, strategically use this data to optimize your future campaigns for better results.

Personalize Messages

Personalization makes your messages more engaging and relevant to the recipient. It’s ideal to use the customer’s name and tailor the content based on their preferences and past interactions with your business.

For example, instead of a generic message like “Check out our sale,” you might say, “Hi [Name], enjoy 20% off your favorite items this weekend! James – Your local store manager”

Provide Value and Clear Calls to Action

Every text message should offer something of value to the recipient. Whether it’s a discount, important update, or useful information, make sure your message is worth their time.

Additionally, include a clear call to action. Tell your customers exactly what you want them to do next, such as “Shop Now,” “Claim Your Discount,” or “RSVP Today.” This makes it easy for them to take the desired action.

Drive Results with Efficient SMS Marketing

Ready to boost engagement and keep your customers connected? Textellent offers powerful SMS marketing tools designed with competitive pricing and top-notch support.

Step up your SMS marketing campaigns and build better relationships with your customers. Check out Textellent’s easy-to-use features to make your marketing simpler and more effective.

Sign up for a free trial or book a demo today!

FAQs About Texting for Business Marketing

Can SMS marketing be automated?

Yes, SMS marketing can be highly automated. Many platforms allow you to set up automated responses based on customer actions or triggers such as sign-ups, birthdays, and other significant events. This helps maintain engagement without requiring constant manual input and ensures timely communication.

How often should I update my SMS contact list?

It’s best to update your SMS contact list regularly, ideally after every campaign, to remove inactive numbers and those who have opted out. Regular updates help maintain the accuracy and effectiveness of your marketing efforts, ensuring that you are reaching genuinely interested recipients.

How does SMS marketing differ from traditional marketing channels?

SMS marketing services offer a more direct and personal way to communicate with customers compared to traditional marketing channels. The immediacy and high open rates of SMS messages make them highly effective for time-sensitive offers and important notices.

Additionally, SMS marketing services provide measurable results that allow businesses to quickly assess the impact of their campaigns.