SMS2email
This is a service that combines both SMS and email. You can send an SMS from your email, to a mobile phone, or group of mobile phones. You can receive your SMS into your email inbox for duplication, saving, or reading whilst at your desk. This is common at work, where some companies do not allow personal messages or devices on the desk.
5 types of business that make the most of SMS Marketing:
- Ecommerce Websites
The demand for Ecommerce is increasing especially now that lockdowns are imposed due to the pandemic. Ecommerce businesses can benefit from the use of SMS to communicate with customers. Since the nature of text messages supports urgency and direct messaging that are necessary for giving customers with real time information about purchases at the exact instant they occur. At the exact time that the customer requests it too.
Notifications can be for:
- Order receipts
- Shipping confirmations
- Delivery confirmations and for tracking the progress through the sales cycle
Having these notifications can be helpful for customers. Being up-to-date about their transactions with businesses gives reassurances to the customer and shows the company to be more professional and transparent.
- Travel Industry
Time is always essential for any business especially for those operating in the tourism and hospitality industry. Clients in this sector make plans months in advance, and once the itinerary is confirmed, they rarely check in to see if anything has changed. But what happens when events happen that make bookings change? Lockdowns, travel bans, flights changing, hotels flooding, room changes, or other such emergency situations can all cause unwanted changes. In the travel industry, they need to have an effective way to reach customers in the fastest way possible.
If you aim for a no delay communication platform, SMS is the best tool to send urgent and time-sensitive information to your clients. The travel industry especially have issues that can come from delays or cancellations of flights, gate changes, booking reservations, upgrade opportunities, or even security alerts; Using SMS to reach customers is much more reliable to ensure that the information is on time and allows customers to take the necessary next process ahead of time instead of reading an email later.
- Businesses Operating in Developing Countries
It is a fact that not all countries have access to fast and reliable internet connections and for businesses in rapidly developing countries this poses a pretty heavy challenge. How to successfully market their products using digital channels, in a fast and reliable way? Having said that, even if internet access is limited in many countries, we can all agree that mobile phones have a strong presence around the world. SMS is really the only means of direct communication with a large number of users in these countries.
If you want to reach consumers in this area, SMS can be an excellent resource because it is easier to use as an information source and means of communication for many individuals.
- Events Management
Like those operating in the tourism and hospitality industry, the same thing applies for those who work in the events management industry. Knowing in advance is everything when it comes to event management. We must avoid cramming and have ample time to adjust when plans go awry.
Handling large scale events needs more attention to communication so you ensure that information reaches all of the registered attendees when problems come up like last minute logistical changes, updates about the event when it comes to parking spaces, sound systems and food catering. We can agree that it is easier to read a text message about an event update than it is to check email.
- Service Businesses that Require Appointments
The pandemic demands businesses book appointments before visiting establishments to avoid having too many people in the place at one time. Likewise, appointments have been essential for many businesses even before COVID-19. Service businesses can range anywhere from beauty salons to dentists offices, yet regardless of their differences they all share the same problem – clients who fail to show up to their scheduled appointment.
Sending a text message to your customers is an effective way to remind them of their appointment to minimise the number of no-shows. Moreover, the SMS sent to their phone can be kept, and is accessible to view even without the internet.
What business can not be done via SMS
Communication is vital in any aspect of our life and it can be expressed through many ways. SMS is one way to help us get our messages across faster. Actually, there is no established business that does not use text messages since it doesn’t only focus on reaching customers but other business stakeholders as well.
Sending bulk SMS to customers and having them reply to an email address
You don’t just send an SMS to one client but aim to have many people receive your message, and Bulk SMS marketing is a way of communicating that is commonly used to reach a wide range of customers using mobile technology. With a bulk SMS marketing service, you will be able to contact not just your loyal consumers but thousands of potential customers as well. SMS advertising has been proven and a tested method of communicating with customers.
But did you know that you can have your customers reply via email to an SMS you’ve sent? The advantage of replying from an email is that it allows you to communicate through text messaging right from your computer, while at the same time, archiving the messages for future reference and allows you to search through your SMS inbox. TXTImpact, offers this kind of service which is a US based leading provider of Business Text Message Marketing Services and SMS Marketing Platform.
Spelling mistakes in SMS
No matter how many people receive your message if there is a spelling mistake or grammar error, it could lead to serious problems that should not be overlooked. Customers would find you less favorable if they notice errors on business websites, social media, email blasts, or advertisements. Research from a London-based digital agency figured that in 1,003 social media users, 42.5% reported they would more likely not purchase goods or services due to spelling mistakes.
We now know the implications that spelling or grammatical errors have on our target market and the importance of being accurate. Although we can argue that we cannot guarantee perfection but in the world of business, owners should make an effort to ensure quality is served. Here are some pointers to guide you so you avoid committing any errors in your future SMS campaigns.
Tip1. Proofread
Many errors sneak past writers forgetting to check their work and this can result in poor quality writing and targeting. Do not rush. Take enough time to manually spell check and proofread your work. It may sound like additional work but it certainly pays off in the end.
Tip2. Leave then return
Finding the right words to say and communicating it as a strong and clear message can be tiring (especially if you don’t have the capability to hire people to do the job professionally) so it is advisable to return to your work with fresh eyes and a clear mind in a couple hours or the next day as this will give you a new perspective on your work.
Tip3. Use online tools
Take advantage of technology as you would in using bulk SMS. There are many online applications designed for editing and proofreading documents. An example would be Grammarly, this tool is very popular because it offers an AI-powered writing assistant that spots any mistakes and helps with word choice, sentence structure and grammar.
How businesses utilise SMS?
To keep your business updated with the new trends and demands, it is a no brainer that being innovative and resourceful is an edge to your business. SMS helps you stay competitive and top of the game. Integrating SMS marketing and its benefits to the fullest is powerful in branding. We do not need to categorise your business’ profit to say that you are efficiently using text messages because it can only be measured on how much effort and time you dedicate to ensure that your SMS marketing is effective.
How to maximise SMS marketing?
The first step is to identify your consumers, analyse the market demographics so you can figure out a suitable investment plan that you will need for your SMS campaign. Here are some of the industries that took a greater leap in utilising SMS.
- Healthcare- doctors or physicians need to stay in touch with their clients and patients because they deal with serious matters. Things like appointment reminders are important since patients need to have their health status checked at the right time. Implementing SMS marketing makes your clients note their appointment reminders.
- Banking and Finance- we know the value of money and having updates from banks helps their clients stay up-to-date with their bank accounts, credit cards and loans. SMS notifications and promotions about banks and finance companies have made transacting with them hassle free. The finance sector is using the benefits of SMS marketing to keep in contact with both prospective and existing clients that can help build transparency between the different parties.
- Small and Medium Enterprises – even small and medium businesses rely on the benefits SMS brings when it comes to maintaining relationships with their customers. This is especially evident in collecting customer feedback that helps them know if their consumer base is satisfied with their services. SMS is also beneficial in creating a buzz if a business wants to conduct polls or contests or generate publicity if they are introducing a new product. SMS also keeps people engaged by staying updated about promos or sales or events an establishment is having.
SMS is not an outdated platform of communication even if social media applications seem to have taken over. There were over 162 billion SMS’s sent in 2012. This fell to 65 billion in 2019 due to the surge of WhatsApp, Viber and Facebook Messenger.
SMS or Email? Which is better?
We might feel discouraged about the statistics mentioned above however we cannot conclude that SMS are not still current. Before you make your final judgment, here is a comparison of SMS and Email systems.
Benefits of SMS
- It’s fast and high-priority
- It’s mobile and available without internet connection unlike Email that requires both ends to have access to WiFi.
- It gets read directly in the phone inbox or can be sent sms to email.
- It’s concise since shorter sentences are required for easy reading
- It’s timeless; yes, because one way or another, SMS are used for delivering messages without much requirement.
- It’s conversational because it doesn’t seem too formal and intimidating, plus you can also include emojis in your message to make it more appealing.
Cons of SMS
- It’s not meant for long-form communication because SMS are short yet concise.
Benefits of Email
- It’s long-form so you can include all the information you want to type in.
- You can add attachments if you have files that you want your receiver to view.
- You can reach many people at once
Cons of Email
- It’s associated with spam that receivers won’t likely view since messages would go directly to SPAM messages or junk.
- It’s more formal which may seem intimidating.
- It often requires extra resources like the internet that comes with separate monthly expenses for the business.
If you are battling between SMS and Email, the ideal way to figure it would be the effectiveness if messages are read and understood. For that, 95% of text messages are read within five minutes of receipt which is better than plainly sending a message without the consumer reading it.
Made up your decision?
We recommend ConXhub as your communication service provider where you can receive SMS to your Email because ConXhub pioneered the SMS2email service to overcome SMS limitations. Their SMS2email plan allows you to receive a real SMS right into your email inbox. No need for a mobile phone giving you the option of multiple people receiving the message at the same time. With this, you can receive all SMS into an email inbox that doesn’t require a mobile phone plus, you can extend your customer communications using SMS.
What’s even better is that ConXhub SMS2email service has changed all that by allowing SMS to be received on multiple mobile phones & email inboxes at the same time that can be used in your SMS marketing or customer service system and they also allow groups to manage the SMS inbox which is totally hassle free for your team. In addition to that, you can also send SMS from Virtual Mobile Numbers that are verified with SMS phone numbers that are affordable so you can keep them for as long as you need.
ConXhub’s patented technology will even allow businesses to create calls from any of their numbers while keeping their personal mobile number private of course, with inexpensive cost service that is still unique in its features.
