Remember when text or SMS was new? It was eons ago - or 2003
to be exact - and over the next few years, just about every business
tried to get text into its communications mix. It was, to say
the least, a success. How much? As of 2016, more than 96% of
companies worldwide report using smartphones for business - including
connecting with clients and customers.*
But, in the past 14 years, though (okay, maybe not quite an eon ...),
the way clients and customers use text changed. Business texts,
on the other hand, didn’t. They still kind of look and feel the same.
Here’s why that’s a problem:
- No human has a 5-digit phone number. Period.
543-21
Sock world BOGO sale. 2-days only. Wear red for even bigger
discount. Text STOP and we’ll go away.
In the text world, these 5-digit wonders are called “short-code”
Truths about Text Marketing 5 Ways business get text all wrong
and were designed to make it easy for customers to do things like
make a donation using their phone, which is wonderful. But when
you receive a text from a 5-digit number, it’s incredibly easy to
ignore.
You know what really gets customers going? A personal text from
a real human with a real phone number. Bonus if it’s local. Even
bigger bonus if it’s from someone they trust, like you. - Business uses text to talk at customers, not with
them.
You’ve received texts like this:
“Big clearance sale! Rock bottom prices on select socks. Hurry
in.”
But you’ve got things to do. You don’t want to hurry in … unless
that one item you’ve been looking at has hit “rock-bottom” too. So
you skip it.
To do text right, clients need to make their communications 2-way
(FYI, 90% of customer say they reeallllly want this). Face it, customers
have questions they want answered and they hate fumbling
for a phone number or waiting on hold. Of course if Amazon
has that product ... - Business uses text to focus on its goals, not the
customer’s.
Yes, businesses need to unload post-holiday inventory, so they
give customers a screaming deal on it ASAP.
Hot buy! BOGO electric socks plus extra 15% off if you’re
wearing red!
But is that what every customer wants … or what any customer
wants? Texts would work best when they’re linked to a client’s
specific interests or needs.
“Jill, I have 3 pair of electric socks left in your size and we
just marked all of them down, including the ones you were
looking at. Still interested? ”
OR
“Tell your electric socks ‘happy anniversary,’ Jill! You’ve
been together for 1 year as of today. BTW, great new styles
this year, too, just marked them all down. Want me to hold a
pair for you?”
Whether it’s time for a client to reorder a favorite product or score
a deal he or she won’t want to miss, a quick, personal text reminder
can cement the sale. It’s estimated that responses come from
most recipients in less than 3 minutes*, so you’ll know if the client
is interested ASAP. - Business doesn’t use text to get personal ... unless
the rep or owner writes each text one-by-one.
Ever get a personal, one-off text message from a business?
“You’re my favorite client. I’m hosting a golf tournament next
week. Join me and my 22 other favorite clients at Main Street
Golf Club. Wear red and they’ll hook you up with a great deal
on electric socks, too.”
It probably wasn’t all that personal. Because anyone in business
knows that sending one-off, personal texts means forfeiting time
for just about everything else (i.e., sleeping, eating, thumb surgery).
Without a personal connection, texts don’t get the attention they
deserve. That’s because it’s easy for customers to ignore a massblast
message (have you seen their email inboxes?). You need to
find a way to make a message feel personal for the customer but
still be easy for you to send, too. No one can ignore that.
- Business doesn’t texts enough or at the right
time.
Have you ever thought “it’s time to send my quarterly text message
to my best friend”?
“Hi Jim. It’s the end of June. Just checking in. I’ll text again September
30.”
We didn’t think so. Because when you have a relationship with
someone, you text whenever you need to. You read this great article
that they’d would love - you text. You want to know if they’re
free for lunch - you text. An anniversary or a birthday or other
special occasion coming up - you text.
If you’re in a business relationship, you’re acting as a trusted confidant,
advisor and guide. Customers don’t want to hear from
you ONLY when you have a special offer or want to close a sale.
The relationship you build has to have their best interest at heart,
which means your texts need to be timely, too. Not “buy-one-getone”
timely, but
“Hey Jim, I saw this article and immediately thought of you.
Looks like electric socks are going to be huge this fall.”
Traditional text marketing works great for sending a coupon, but
it falls short when it comes to relationship building. That’s why we
created Skipio. It’s a text messaging platform you use as an alternative
to impersonal text marketing.
Skipio helps you enter into real conversations with your customers
- the kind you would have if you were face to face. Messages come
from a real, local phone number with all 10 digits still intact so customers
know the text is from a person, not a marketing team, and
so customers can text back. Plus message are easily personalized - even beyond a “Hey Jim” - even when you’ve automated a text
campaign to 1,000 people.
Ultimately we turned Skipio into a text and messaging platform
that helps business connect like humans and builds relationships
that should make a your thumb rebel from overuse (but it
doesn’t). We also made Skipio affordable and gave it other bells
and whistles like, campaigns, and a nifty app for your phone, but
now we’re bragging.
You can see Skipio in action here
Get It Now⬇️⚠️🏁
https://goo.gl/5LusUp