Send Your Subscriber List Non-Marketing Texts

Many businesses send mass text messages as part of their marketing plan. And why not? It’s a low-cost, highly effective way to offer special deals directly to customers. But direct marketing is just one way to leverage the power of SMS messaging.

Increasingly, companies are finding more innovative uses for text messages. For some, it’s about customer relationship management. For others, it’s merely the most easily accessed form of communication for remote employees. A growing number of businesses are no longer just using text messages to offer something of value – they’re using it to take payments from clients.

Let’s take a look at some common, non-marketing uses of text messaging:

News Updates

SMS is ideal for issuing operational information such as store opening and closing times, locations etc. It’s a brilliant way to engage customers and keep them aware of your brand without trying to sell anything.

Urgent Notices

Circumstances sometimes conspire to prevent entrepreneurs getting on with their plans. Let’s say you’re running an event and your keynote speaker drops out. What if that speaker was the only reason some of your attendees were planning to go? Letting them know of the schedule change by SMS may disappoint them – but not nearly as much as showing up and finding out on the day. For instant contact with an extremely high chance of being viewed, SMS is unrivaled. 

Competition & Surveys

It’s true that your business will go nowhere if it doesn’t offer something people will pay money for. But that doesn’t mean your relationship with customers has to start and end with a financial transaction. Give them something fun to pass the time on the bus and they are already that bit closer to purchasing something. Offer a prize and they’re even more likely to play along. Create a quiz that’s relevant – even tangentially – to your company. Send it to opted in customers via text message and get the responses back in the same way. You can learn a lot about customer preferences this way!

Appointment Reminders

With hectic schedules and multiple distractions, missed appointments are a fact of business. SMS is a fantastic tool for issuing reminders to customers. Do it within 24 hours of the appointment to allow them to re-organize without risking them forgetting for a second time. Although not a marketing tip, this approach will ultimately help you grow your bottom line by minimizing losses incurred by no-shows.