SMS, also known as Short Message Service, is a service that allows you to send text-only messages that are 160 characters or less.
Following the disruption that 2020 caused, the last few years have seen an increase in the number of businesses incorporating SMS into their customer engagement strategy.
As remote working became essential, businesses were forced to adapt their way of working and using SMS as a critical messaging channel for customer service and promotional purposes helped them to do so.
In fact, according to our research at Mobilesquared, over this time ‘WhatsApp experienced an 80% increase in demand, followed by A2P SMS by 77%’, emphasising how important business messaging channels became and were relied on.
While the latest Mobilesquared data suggests that ‘55% of all SMSes are read, [while] 100% of SMSes are viewed’, it’s evident that SMS remains important, with its performance reigning superior to virtually every other messaging channel.
How SMS Is Used In Business
When you consider that ‘over 91% of customers want to get SMS messages from businesses’, you can see why businesses are increasingly choosing to implement SMS.
A variety of businesses use SMS in many different ways to suit their individual processes and meet their customers’ needs.
While the latest Mobilesquared data suggests that ‘55% of all SMSes are read, [while] 100% of SMSes are viewed’, it’s evident that SMS still remains important, with its performance reigning superior to virtually every other messaging channel.
- Customer service
- Internal communications
- Reminders for appointments
- Order confirmations and delivery updates
- Marketing and promotion of services or products
1. Customer Service
One of the main ways businesses use SMS messaging is for customer service.
For instance, two-way SMS communication enables businesses and customers the potential to open a line of communication, allowing businesses to prioritise the customer experience from start to finish.
Considering that ‘89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience’, it’s evident how important customer service is to keep customers happy and coming back.
As such, SMS represents a gateway for customers to communicate with a business should they experience a problem, whilst also offering a way for businesses to manage issues seamlessly and efficiently to continuously prioritise their customers’ needs.
2. Internal Communications
Another important way businesses use SMS is for internal communications.
Many businesses use a variety of messaging channels alongside SMS. However, issues can arise when other business messaging channels, such as email, go ignored and a message isn’t registered by the recipients.
Opting for SMS for things like security alerts and meeting reminders is not only more convenient but also means that employees are more likely to see the message come through.
As such, SMS can significantly help to support internal communications across teams whilst promoting efficiency.
Considering that ‘89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience’, it’s evident how important customer service is to keep customers happy and coming back.
3. Reminders For Appointments
Another way in which businesses use SMS is reminders for appointments.
Many sectors, such as the personal services sector, rely on people showing up to in-person appointments and can experience a significant loss of revenue if no-shows occur.
For instance, if someone doesn’t show up for a hair appointment they’ve booked months in advance because they’ve not remembered, this is where SMS for appointment reminders can have a big impact on business.
When you consider that ‘75% of millennials think that text is a helpful way to receive appointment reminders’, it’s evident why many businesses utilise SMS in this way.
As such, businesses using SMS for appointment reminders help to improve appointment turn-out, helping you to save money in the process.
4. Order Confirmations & Delivery Updates
Additionally, businesses often use SMS messaging to send order confirmations and delivery updates.
Order confirmations are great for garnering trust in your business, as they provide your customer with a paper trail for their purchase.
Additionally, SMS allows you to send delivery updates to your customers. This is important especially if their purchase has been delayed somehow, but is generally always recommended to promote excellent customer service and satisfaction.
After all, if a new customer can easily track where their order is and know when it will be delivered, they’re more likely to use your business again.
SMS allows you to send delivery updates to your customers. This is important especially if their purchase has been delayed somehow, but is generally always recommended to promote excellent customer service and satisfaction.
5. Marketing & Promotion Of Services Or Products
More and more businesses are turning to the power of messaging to promote their products or services.
Given that 55% of all SMSes are read, [while] 100% of SMSes are viewed, it’s the #1 channel for ensuring your messages are actually viewed and read by your target audience.
Mobilesquared is the leading global authority on the messaging market and our data and intelligence products can help pinpoint the key markets and channels you should be using if you want to engage more customers, more effectively, using messaging as a marketing channel.
Hopefully this article has given you a wider understanding of the increasing use of SMS, as well as how SMS is used in business.
We are Mobilesquared: mobile engagement specialists delivering the very best independent mobile market intelligence to our clients. We are the established #1 global authority on business messaging and CPaaS, with our data shaping business plans, strategy, and customer engagement modelling, for some of the world’s leading brands, mobile operators, and messaging providers.
Be sure to get in touch via telephone (01182149777) or email (info@mobilesquared.co.uk) to learn more about what we do and discover how we can help your business.
Written by Jemima, for Mobilesquared.