If you’re like most B2C businesses, you’re probably using email to attract and engage consumers. Whether you’re sending mass marketing emails, promotional newsletters, or one-off emails to specific customers, these messages have a high likelihood of landing in an already crowded inbox with little hope of being read. Today’s business owners have quickly realized that, in order to engage modern consumers, they need to change up their communication channels just a bit. That is why many businesses have turned to text messaging as a way to get the word out to customers.
Let this sink in for a moment: the average marketing email open rates are well below 20%. Consumers are so used to receiving ‘spam’ emails from brands, as well as junk email from random sites, that they don’t even bother opening messages anymore. Emails are moved to Trash folders without even being opened. Compared to text messages, which have an average open rate of 98%, email marketing can feel incredibly dated and out of touch.
One reason that text messages are opened so often is that people are so well trained in opening texts in our personal lives. We get uncomfortable with unread text notifications, so we often open texts just to open them, which means we read everything that comes through. By taking advantage of this mentality, businesses can ensure their messages are opened, read, and even influence responses.
The second big difference between email and texting is the response rate. Think of how likely you are to respond to a marketing email. Not that likely, right? Consumers typically don’t even think about responding to an inbound email from a brand, even if it is personalized or one-off, because of the risk of being spammed in the future. Texting, on the other hand, is a much more secure channel that requires opt-in. This means that consumers are more likely to text brands back than they are to email them back.
Brands can take advantage of the two-way conversation structure of text messaging to:
- Ask customers to fill out an online survey
- Announce promotions or sales
- Share updates on an order or service
- Facilitate an online review
- Celebrate a holiday, anniversary, or birthday
And text message functionality doesn’t have to stop there. Once your consumers get used to your brand texting with critical updates and alerts, they will start to expect texts in place of phone calls or emails for all communication. Your team will be able to streamline internal efficiencies and cut back on time spent writing up emails or leaving voicemails. Plus, if you’re waiting on a customer response to make an internal decision, you can get things done faster when customers respond faster.
You can learn more about increasing open rates and driving new revenue opportunities in our newest eBook, 4 Secrets to Increasing Business Revenue in 2020.
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