It’s no secret that customers expect to interact with brands in an increasingly personalized way. According to Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to buy a product or service from a brand that provides personalized experiences. Also, modern day consumers expect these interactions, from advertisements to email newsletters, to be tailored to their needs. In 2019, 72% of consumers engaged only with marketing messages that were customized to their specific interests (SmarterHQ).
In order to reap the benefits of business texting, it’s crucial that businesses capture each personalized customer interaction. This information allows companies to iterate quickly and craft a relevant and compelling communication strategy. By saving and analyzing customer interactions, companies gain insight into consumer behavior and make data-informed decisions as they optimize communication, marketing and sales strategies.
What to Look for in a Texting Solution
#1: Integrations
Before implementing a customer-facing texting strategy, it’s wise to evaluate your company’s current tech stack. Perhaps you are using Mailchimp for email marketing and HubSpot or Salesforce to organize sales efforts. Regardless of your given CRM and communication tooling, it’s important to connect your texting solution with these applications. These integrations capture each customer interaction, and the data that will inform greater marketing and sales efforts. In order to truly personalize engagement with each customer, companies need to track conversations and analyze them over time.
#2: Drip Campaigns
Drip campaigns allow brands to send automated messages to customers at specific points in the sales cycle. Companies can organize customers by group and segment messaging accordingly. This allows for personalization on a broader scale without sacrificing time and energy. Examples of customized drip campaigns include segmenting customers by subscription (individual customers vs enterprise users) or product line. Always remember to respect time zones to avoid sending unwanted messages in the wee hours of the morning!
#3: Automated Workflows
If you want to segment communication at every step of the customer journey, automated workflows represent a great solution. Workflows are a way to set up automation based on an assortment of different events. For example, you can set up a workflow so that every time a new lead is qualified, it will trigger a welcome or informative message to be sent out to the recipient. There are many kinds of workflows, from the simple to complex. Examples include:
- Creating a service ticket when a customer reaches out with a support question
- Sending a text message after a failed phone call attempt
- Routing a customer to the correct team during an SMS conversation
#4: Solid Partnership
Lastly, when evaluating a texting solution, we recommend looking for a partner rather than a provider. Providers will offer services and won’t stick around long to assist with onboarding, support questions, and continued education. A partner, rather, aims to share best practices in order to help other businesses grow and become even more successful.
Read our blog on best practices for business texting to learn more or contact us for a demo.
