Text messaging is an essential strategic tool for marketing your business. One must find the right text message app for business to reach consumers. Our in-depth guide promises to show you how to make the best choice.
The times have vastly changed concerning how people consume information today. Texting has quickly become a preferred way of communication, and many individuals, when reaching for their phones, are looking to text before making calls. In such scenarios, it has become imperative for businesses to take the text messaging route to better connect with their customers.
Here is all you need to know about text messaging apps for businesses and why you need one.
Considerations for Choosing a Texting App for Business
Any business wanting to stay relevant and engage with its clients should opt for a text messaging app for business to step up its game. According to a survey from Facebook-Nielson on users of messaging apps, over 50% of users are more likely to interact with a business if they can message it.
Text messages are an excellent way to connect with customers. They are informative and personal, and they reach right to your consumers. A good text message software can do wonders for your business, from building a personal connection to the brand to maintaining better customer relations.
Some of the key benefits of using a text message API (Application Programming Interface) are as follows:
- Engage with customers in real-time conversations
- Incorporate scheduled messaging in your operations by scheduling texts ahead of time
- Quickly respond to customer inquiries.
- Send out personalized messages in bulk
- Simplify tracking metrics such as response rate, open rate and click-through rate
- Automate order notifications, appointment reminders and promotional messages
Security and Privacy features
Integration with Existing Business Tools
An efficient SMS marketing platform seamlessly integrates with existing business tools for mass texting services. It easily integrates with a business’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, enabling easy transfer of your customer database, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, and allowing you to start with the SMS marketing service immediately. This also ensures that all customer communication, along with customer data, is centralized in one place.
User-friendly Interface
No business representative wants to navigate a complicated user interface to implement SMS marketing. When that crucial time can be used for other business operations, the interface of a text messaging app should be easy-to-use and allow smooth navigation through the various options and settings. Features such as scheduling text messages, customizable text templates, making and receiving voice calls, and more make business text messaging much more accessible.
As for the customers, fortunately, text-based messaging is already an established and elegant communication design with which we are all familiar. They are simple and easy to use, with no learning curve required. The consumer’s familiarity with SMS equips them with a clear understanding of how to operate the service.
Pricing and Cost
A business texting app should not break the bank. It should be cost-effective and affordable, complementing your marketing strategy rather than burdening it.
The pricing methodology for text message software is mainly based on the number of SMS segments purchased. This includes inbound MMS (multimedia message), group texting, bulk actions, analytics, voice, and more.
Test and Evaluate
Before committing to a business messaging platform, take your chosen system for a test drive. A hands-on demo will help you understand the platform’s various features and ease of use. You can also test how smoothly the software integrates with your other business systems with minimal IT support. You may also inquire about after-sales support and service.
Features of Text Message Software
The following are the key features to look for in a text message app for business:
Two-Way Messaging
The messaging service should be such that your customer can respond to you. There may be instances where they raise a query or demand more information in response to a transactional or promotional text message. Two-way messaging increases customer satisfaction by making your service more transparent to the customer.
Automated Messaging
The automated messaging feature is a good time-saver for your business. You can automate order notifications, reminders, and promotional offers using SMS templates, message scheduling, and a robust API.
Bulk Messaging
A primary use of a business messaging platform is the mass texting service, where businesses can send out their communication in bulk seamlessly without creating an outflow of messages that may slow or fail the service.
Mobile App Access
Availability of the messaging service on the mobile device to use it on the go with smartphone text messaging apps.
Scheduled Messaging
Scheduled messaging helps you plan and send messages on a future date.
Personalization
The messaging app should allow businesses to personalize the text messages to incorporate customer names or tailored information like valuable offers and news at the right time. SendHub makes it easy to send personalized messages with its business SMS messaging.
Understand Your Business Needs
To choose a text message app for business, the first important thing is to understand your business’s requirements and the problem statement that it is solving. The following are the business needs to understand while incorporating a messaging API into your operations:
The primary device of communication
You may want to use the mass texting service from a computer, tablet or smartphone to make its use flexible for your marketing representatives
Putting a team in place
Decide how many team members will need access to your business texting platform and what departments they are in. Then find the features and plan that meet your collaboration needs.
Ease of use of the platform
You may not want to invest a lot of time and cost in training your representatives on the use of a text messaging app for business. The messaging service should be user-friendly and intuitive for the average computer and smartphone user.
Type of communication with the consumer
In case you are handling customer queries, you would want features that manage multiple conversations; in the case of transactional text messages, you may need automated messaging services, while in the case of promotional text messages, a scheduled messaging feature would benefit you.
Easy integration with other business tools
The messaging app should easily integrate with your CRM system through APIs with minimal IT support to centralize all your customer data and communication.
Why using a text message app for business will be profitable.
Some of the long-term benefits of using a text messaging app for business are as follows:
Increase customer satisfaction and engagement
Customers like to engage in real-time and active communication with their service providers. Frequent conversations with your consumers create stronger bonds for them with the business and the brands.
Increased productivity and efficiency
An efficient business messaging software can streamline your communication and eliminate redundant tasks, allowing space for other important business tasks. Thus, by streamlining these processes, employees can refocus on other critical business issues and increase overall productivity.
Improved brand awareness
Tailor-made promotional campaigns and direct communication with customers boost awareness and create intimacy with the brand.
Enhanced team collaboration and communication
From internal messaging to order notifications and alerts, a text messaging app for business creates a pathway for teams to coordinate their efforts and collaborate on tasks in a secure environment.
Increased sales and revenue
Frequent and effective consumer communication can lead to sales conversions and increase business revenue.
Reduce operational cost
Effective communication with the consumer regarding promotions, order notifications, etc., saves immensely on alternative marketing channels like advertising, physical billing, and more.
Picking the best mass texting app for your business
An effective SMS marketing platform can enhance your business by providing seamless communication with your customers, easy integration with your business tools, team collaboration and improved customer satisfaction. If you are looking for efficient and effective texting for your business, then SendHub is the business texting app for you.
SendHub provides you with so much potential to grow your business. With features such as a dedicated online dashboard, two-way messaging, SMS templates, message scheduling and attachments, business text messaging has always been challenging. SendHub is the way to boost more conversations and create stronger bonds with your customers.
Learn more about SendHub and start your journey to powerful yet simple business SMS messaging today.
FAQs
- How do I set up SMS marketing for my business?
With SendHub, create a business account with the platform, select a plan and start sending after registering your new number for 10DLC. There is no hardware installation required and everything is included in your SendHub account.
2. What is the difference between a text message and an SMS message?
There is no difference between a text message and an SMS message. SMS, or Short Message Service, takes the form of a text message and is sent from one device to another. If a voice message on an MMS is being sent through SMS, the same is transcribed to text and sent across.
3. Should I use MMS or SMS?
If you require sending images, videos, or other multimedia content to your recipient, then an MMS plan would be a suitable option. Real Estate and auto dealerships are two industries that typically utilize MMS, as the images are embedded directly into the message for the recipient to view right away. For others, you can share multimedia content as a link via SMS.
4. How to use Business Text Messaging Services for Sales and Marketing?
A business text messaging service is an efficient and effective sales and marketing tool for your business. You can send promotional messages from time to time to your consumers to keep them informed about upcoming offers and schemes. These can be tailor-made as per the customer’s requirements for targeted marketing. In addition, order notifications, reminders, and purchase alerts can be shared with customers via automated messaging, establishing seamless communication.
5. Why is sending bulk SMS so expensive?
Mass texting app services can be cost-friendly if used efficiently. SMS costing is on a segment basis, and each segment comprises 160 characters. If your message exceeds 160 GSM characters or 70 Unicode characters, it will be segmented and could cost more than just one segment. This is why bulk messaging can sometimes be expensive. For more cost-friendly results, ensure that your text messaging is within the segment count. However, SMS marketing is still much cheaper than placing a full ad in front of a potential customer.