A new year started, and every business seems to be looking to achieve the same: to create a great customer experience. But in 2022, to reach that long-awaited goal, organizations must go one step further and focus on what will really deliver results, sending SMS to customers.
It’s no news that customer experience has become a priority for most businesses. According to Harvard, 77% of companies are investing in improving their customer insights, and 80% are investing in better engagement.
To deliver a great customer experience, organizations must focus on their customers’ needs and preferences; understand their motivations, attitudes, and behaviors.
The problem is that all that tends to change quickly. What is the one thing that most of the audiences have in common? They all use mobile messaging and prefer texting to communicate with brands.
By the end of 2020, there were 5.2 billion unique SMS users. And according to Nielsen, 56% of people interviewed in their study prefer to message a business than call customer service.
While the data may seem surprising, it continues to grow. By 2025 are expected to be 6 billion unique SMS users (Mobilesquared’s Global A2P SMS Databook report).
Do we need to convince you more? SMS open rate is within three minutes of being received. And according to recent research, 58% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company after a good customer service experience.
HOW SMS BENEFITS YOUR GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
For organizations looking for a great customer experience, the best they can do is reach their audiences in the mobile channels they prefer, like SMS.
SMS is fully adopted, accessible, and highly engaging. People of all ages use it, and it’s not necessary to have a super expensive smartphone to receive and send one.
Businesses that realize this and start communicating with their customers, patients, or citizens on their mobile phones can create meaningful relationships with them.
It’s not something new. A wide variety of industries are already implementing SMS marketing campaigns to improve their customer experience. They send SMS with appointments reminders and confirmations, update notifications, payment approval messages, and two-factor authentication.
Here are three main reasons why sending relevant and personalized content through text messages helps organizations to engage and satisfy their consumers.
- SMS makes their life simple:
According to research, 9 of 10 consumers would like to communicate with businesses through text messaging. They don’t want to call and wait long minutes on hold; that’s the past.
Nowadays, everyone has their mobile phone in their hands all the time. Maybe you can forget your keys, but never your phone, right? That’s why organizations that use SMS to deliver helpful information to their customers, citizens, and patients are doing a favor to them.
With thousands of things to do per day, who didn’t forget a doctor or bank appointment? With a simple SMS, you can keep your customers happy by sending them a reminder at the right time (and you reduce your no-shows’ rate, it’s a win-win).
There are many opportunities to use text messages, such as scheduling system communications, booking and billing confirmations, contact center communication, and much more.
They will really appreciate it!
- SMS is fast and easy to use:
Customer expectations are more challenging and sophisticated than ever. They know that there are many similar options in the market with the same product o service, so they expect more of your business.
Consumers expect you to know who they are, what they are looking for, and what they will need next. They want it all right now.
And that’s not the only thing. In this digital world, fast and easy are the two new words to gain customer loyalty. According to Hubspot, 74% of buyers think about changing the brand if the purchasing process is too complicated. They want to interact with your business, but in an easy no-effort way.
That’s why text messages are a crucial differentiator for a great customer experience. SMS provides to customers relevant information and enables them to talk with your business with the flexibility to answer in their own time.
- SMS looks personal:
People receive SMS all the time from their family and friends: it’s the way they communicate with whom they care about.
Businesses that send SMS to their audiences are reaching them directly, and that’s why customers see it as more personal than an email or inbox lost in thousands of others.
At this point, organizations need to take into count the importance of sending only valuable information by SMS, not to become spam or badger to the customer.
Using text messages precisely can give the impression to consumers that the brand is taking care of them, which is crucial for a good customer experience.
HOW TO MAKE A GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WITH SOPRANO CONNECT
Now it’s time to take action. Integrating an SMS messaging platform into your customer experience strategy is more straightforward than you think.
With Soprano CPaaS, you can provide an omnichannel experience by interacting with your audience through SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, Voice, and more. How do we do that? Via programmable APIs that allow organizations to integrate multiple capabilities and functionalities directly into their IT systems quickly and easily.
Organizations of different industries worldwide use our SMS solutions to send individual text messages or bulk SMS to their audiences, such as appointment reminders, urgent notifications, sales communications, updates and confirmations, and internal communication.
Start engaging with your audience in the mobile channels that they want and take your customer experience to the next level!