7 Reasons Why You Need to Use a Text Messaging Service for Business

Two-way, real-time communication with a business text messaging service gets your business closer than ever to customers — live at their fingertips and provide outstanding experiences that build brand loyalty.

Business text messaging is taking off. Industry leaders in healthcare, hospitality, property management, and beyond all realize they’re able to interact with customers where they spend most of their time: on a mobile device.

As your business grows, a business text messaging service scales communication with it. You’ll find it easy to connect with both prospects and existing customers, all with personalization at the core of every message.

7 Reasons Why You Need to Use a Business Text Messaging Service

It’s your turn to find out what a business text messaging service can do. While you may have relied entirely on emails and phone calls in the past, business text messaging introduces a whole new level of convenience and personalization for your brand to engage with customers.

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) will improve, and don’t worry: your business won’t be faced with a heavier workload — automations and artificial intelligence (AI) streamline communication. When you realize the efficiency and overall impact of a business text messaging service, you’ll wonder what kept you waiting to invest in a modern solution to elevate customer experience (CX).

Here’s why you need to use a business text messaging service.

1. Everyone Around the World Sends & Receives Text Messages

51% of the global population is using the mobile internet, according to the GSMA. It doesn’t cost very much money in many parts of the world to own a smartphone anymore, which explains why text messaging is so popular.

As this trend continues and more people get connected through the use of mobile devices, a business texting messaging service will become even more of a necessity.

Think about the behavior of sending and receiving text messages, too — you, your customers, and everyone else in your life do it each and every day. Whereas you might check an email inbox only a handful of times throughout the day, you’re constantly in a messaging app on a mobile device to communicate with friends, relatives, or colleagues. Business text messaging inserts your brand here organically.

And guess what? Customers actually prefer this form of direct communication with your brand. In a study conducted by SMS Comparison, research found that 48% of consumers want to interact with a brand via text messaging.

If you want to win over customers, it’s with a business text messaging service. Customers are waiting for you to text them, and just a single SMS or MMS message gets the conversation started.

2. Instantly Communicate with Your Customers

Communication channels are plentiful today, but only a business text messaging service enables your brand to engage in the moment.

Emails get lost in your customers’ inboxes way more often than they’re read, and no one really wants to be on the phone unless absolutely necessary. As for direct mail, don’t expect to receive a response anytime soon. What else do emails, phone calls, and direct mail lack? The flow of a one-on-one conversation.

Business text messaging is instant, and that means there aren’t any barriers between your brand and its customers to chat it up. Everything you say to each other is sent and received right away, not hours or days later.

Where does this come into play? If a customer is having an issue, a business text messaging service ensures that you’ll identify it for service recovery. Customers are never left waiting hours, days, or weeks to hear back and earn an effective resolution.

Brands that use a business text messaging service come across as committed to their customers, offering information in a few seconds or minutes while the customer is still engaged. It’s two-way, real-time communication that makes service interactions as simple as they are effective.

3. Text Messages Actually Get Opened & Responded To

Business text messaging is unrivaled in terms of open and response rates. 95% of text messages are opened and responded to within just three minutes of being delivered, according to SMS Comparison.

The inefficiency of other communication channels should be enough to make your decision clear. When your business sends an email to a customer, they’ll likely ignore it by choice or miss it unintentionally due to the sheer volume of emails they receive daily. If you call on the phone, you’re probably interrupting the customer during a personal or professional activity.

Communicating with your customers should feel organic, and business text messaging service undoubtedly feels that way while increasing the likelihood of a text message being opened and responded to.

4. Build Trust with a Conversational Tone

Brands that lack personality fall behind quickly — and by not keeping up in this era of digital transformation, companies risk being seen as antiquated. Compared to emails and phone calls, text messages feel much more conversational and less sales-y.

Text messages evoke an inviting, conversational level of comfort. Customers find it easier to communicate with a brand via text message, ultimately building trust.

5. Personalize Communication to Engage Effectively

Business text messages are fully customizable and utilize integrations with other platforms in your workflow to optimize engagement.

If you use a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, a business text messaging service can sync with its data to personalize communication. No two customers are the same, and they expect to be treated uniquely.

Dynamic segmentation with personalized communication does exactly that. Text messages should include a customer’s name and other unique attributes to tailor what’s said.

While it may seem like a minor touch, personalized communication declares to customers that you already know who they are and care deeply about their experience. It’ll lead to an enhanced experience for every customer.

6. Automate Text Messages to Work Smarter, Not Harder

Made your decision? If not, you’re likely wondering if two-way, real-time communication will add to the workload you and your staff take on. Don’t worry — it doesn’t, at all.

Business text messaging leverages AI-powered automations, so your business doesn’t get bogged down by a large influx of text messages during peak times or busy seasons.

Healthcare providers with a business text messaging service, for example, aren’t manually sending text messages for appointment reminders to every patient. It would take too much time. Instead, they’re automating the process. Data is pulled from their databases which a business text messaging service uses to roll out appointment reminders automatically.

Property managers do this, too, when they need to remind residents of due dates for rent or as lease agreements approach their expiration. It’s also useful to distribute pertinent information in urgent situations.

Even if your business is closed and a customer decides to reach out, a business text messaging service steps in to always be available. Affinity Chiropractic, a health and wellness center located in Oregon, modernizes the patient experience with text messages without needing to hire additional staff or extend its office hours just to schedule appointments.

With a business text messaging service, efficiency increases. What you could only do in the past with additional staff is now automatic with the help of AI. As a result, your business controls costs by allowing AI to handle tedious outreach and the continuous demand of inbound requests.

7. It’s Contactless Yet Connected

Quick, efficient communication is particularly helpful as the world continues to reopen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 global pandemic. It will remain a factor in all businesses’ operations, so prepare to connect with customers when you can’t necessarily be in front of them physically.

Because it brings your brand to customers’ fingertips, you’ll always be part of the customer journey from anywhere with a business text messaging service.

In the hospitality industry, hotels rely on business text messaging to allow guests to book premium services such as a massage. Business text messaging also enables a hotel to answer questions quickly and with sufficient information, such as sharing dining and drink specials when a guest asks for a dinner recommendation. Guests receive a seamless, positive experience without the hassle of dropping by the lobby or calling the front desk.

Contactless experiences are as effective as physical, face-to-face experiences. By reducing friction in the customer journey, contactless experiences delivered through two-way, real-time communication drive sales revenue and CSAT.

Get Started with a Business Text Messaging Service

Knowing why you need a business text messaging service, it’s time to actually get started with one that helps your business offer a brand-differentiated experience and get ahead of the competition.

Looking for a solution? Medallia Concierge is a business text messaging service that delivers real-time experiences in a mobile-first world — engage with your customers on the channels they prefer most.

Find out why over 2,000+ clients choose Medallia Concierge as their preferred business text messaging service.