3 Mobile Text Marketing Benefits Financial Services Can Bank On
Upselling, increased ROI, brand loyalty, customer satisfaction – it’s all there for the taking with financial services mobile marketing.
Getting a message out to lots of customers simultaneously has been standard practice for the financial services industry since the emergence of mass email blasts. Knowing they’ve actually engaged with the message? That’s the hard part. EZ Texting has complied 3 benefits a mobile text marketing campaign can bring the financial services industry:
1. Mass Communication
For banks, insurers, and other finance services, the answer is SMS marketing. Done right, mobile marketing will translate directly and transparently into profits. Because contact is consumer-initiated, text recipients are far likelier to ‘get the memo’. And once they’ve done that, they’re more inclined to stay actively engaged with a brand, making them ideal candidates for upsell or cross-sale opportunities. So why is adopting a financial services mobile marketing strategy such a smart move?
The figures on cell phone ownership and usage speak for themselves. Nearly 90% of all American adults own mobile phones, and 75% of those send and receive text messages. Text messages which, by the way, are compatible with every mobile device – unlike apps that require smartphones. Plus, most people open and read every text they receive – 95% of all incoming SMS messages are read, compared to around 10% of emails. Safe to say, texting is probably the most universal form of mass communication there is.
It’s also the most future-proof. For the financial industry, one of the toughest nuts to crack is the youth market. With 95% of 18-29 year olds using text messaging, there is no better way to reach younger consumers.
2. Customer Loyalty
For banks mobile marketing is a gift. Nothing creates a disgruntled customer like a late-arriving low-balance alert. Simply sending a text notification to warn them of their situation will pay dividends in terms of loyalty.
That loyalty expresses itself in all sorts of profitable ways. Send an SMS notification about a suspicious transaction that ultimately saves a customer from massive fraud, and they will return the favor by being more amenable to receiving targeted promotions. It’s all about fostering consumer trust in the medium of text. Once people realize how convenient SMS messaging is for them, they’ll jump on board.
With something as time-critical as a fraud alert or low-balance notification, the immediacy of texting beats email hands-down. On average, the send-to-open time of a text is around 14 minutes, compared with 6.4 hours for an email. That’s staggering enough – but what if a message requires a response? By email, a dialogue between customer and company might take nearly 13 hours to even get started. That’s one and a half business days! With texting, the average conversation will be up and running inside 30 minutes.
3. ROI
Any company still on the fence regarding financial services mobile marketing will be swayed by three little letters: ROI. Texting means profit. Not only is the technology cheap and easy to implement, but the average SMS user makes more transactions, has a bigger basket size, and tends to revolve balances, generating more income for card issuers. The cost of sending out a promotion or special offer by text is also significantly lower than other marketing channels.
With near-immediate contact virtually guaranteed, consumers and mobile financial services are a match made in heaven. For banks, mobile marketing is cost effective and forward-looking. The only question you should be asking yourself if you haven’t implemented a financial services mobile marketing strategy is: why not?
