Tag Archives: business messaging

by /
in
  / Leave a comment

How a Mobile Texting Service Can Boost Your Survey Response Rates?

Mobile texting for businesses has proven to be one of the most effective marketing channels. Many industries have turned to text messaging to communicate with their leads and existing customers because of its impressive response rates. Since SMS has such a fast turnaround, it would only make sense that it would be used to obtain feedback via mobile texting when you’re looking to analyze production needs, understand where you can improve customer service, and receive feedback from your target audience.

The point we’re trying to drive is that business texting is the most efficient tool to use to increase your survey response rates. Now, for the remainder of this article we’ll detail the most ideal practices for using the Text My Main Number business texting service to send surveys.

Let’s start with the facts.

So there you have it. Business texting is the most lucrative communication tool to implement into your marketing strategy. Now how do you guarantee you’ll get an actual response to your surveys? We’ll show you how!

Top Business Texting Survey Best Practices

Have them at hello.

Keep in mind that people get tons of messages each day so you’re competing with other marketers and their friends and family. Even if they did opt in to receive messages from your business, they may not recognize the message when they first get it.

That being said, you have to grab their attention as you remind them about your business. Start your message with mentioning your brand name so they trust who you are from the beginning.

Make it short and sweet.

The biggest mistake that content marketers make is including too much copy, quotes, and amusing quips. Depending on the type of phone the user has, the character limit may cause for them to receive your messages separately. Even worse, a long message runs a high risk of the reader losing interest.

Keep your request for them to fill out your survey short and sweet and use shortened links such as bit.ly to keep the character count low. Include wording that lets them know that your SMS survey won’t take more than 5 minutes.

Humanize your message

The key to beating all the SMS white noise your target audience receives is to personalize the messages you send. That’s how you’re going to build trust and help them connect to your brand.

The most crucial signal is showing your customer how much you value them, and you can start the gesture by addressing them by their first name.

You also want to avoid sending mass texts using your mobile texting service because the copy you use is a dead sales pitch giveaway. It’s just as obvious as cold calling. Send customized messages based on their history with your business and send them offers that would interest them based on their buying pattern. The more you humanize your messages, the more loyalty you’ll shape.

Strategize Your Message Delivery

All communication channels entail a lot of variables that can affect the open rate of your messages. Recipients are more likely to view their texts during specific days and times. You also have to keep time zones in mind so that you’re not sending messages during inconvenient times.

The best way to test the most effective survey delivery times is to send two separate groups the same message but at different times. You can also try switching up the copy and links you send to see which messages had the better response rates which will help you better understand your target’s preferences.

Augment Your Content Accordingly

Don’t design your messages as if you’re writing a page for a book. Your message is being delivered to a device that your audience holds in their hands. As stated above, keep it short and sweet and include links that are optimized for mobile devices. In other words, your surveys need to actually work on mobile devices.

Size your messages according to the type of device you’re delivering it to and run tests to make sure the survey buttons are working properly. You want to ensure that it’ll work on all major platforms to avoid people abandoning it midway because it’s not working right.

Make Your Call-to-Action Crystal Clear

A call-to-action is what you need to include at the end of your message to entice readers to perform an action. Use a sentence that is inviting and will encourage them to click on a link that leads them to the survey.

You must make your call-to-action simple and crystal clear. Think about what you want the reader to do and figure out the most simple way to get them to take action.

Incentives Go A Long Way

Let’s just cut to the chase. Not many people want to take surveys because they feel it’ll take up too much time or the questions are too intrusive. However, when you add an incentive like an exclusive discount or gift card, suddenly taking a survey doesn’t seem so bad. If your survey happens to be a long one, make sure your incentive is a generous one.

Final Thoughts

Using a mobile texting service to send surveys is an excellent way for brands to understand their consumers. Major retailers find that SMS surveys are quite successful. Having noticed that it’s true that the response rate is quite fast is the reason why they also use mobile texting to request feedback. It’s also the most efficient way to provide customer service because customers will get a quick reply to further assist them.

Business texting is an opportunity to enhance many areas of your daily operations and stay ahead of your competitors. We strongly suggest that you don’t miss out on using the best marketing tool to connect with your audience and you can start by launching a survey campaign.

To get started with mobile texting for your business, start your free trial with Text My Main Number today!

by /
in
  / Leave a comment

Landline Texting etiquette: 7 things your business should know

Landline_texting_etiquette_7_things_your_business_should_know

Landline Texting is a wonderful resource for your business to stay in touch with customers, but there are some guidelines you should follow to show proper texting etiquette and professionalism.

Whether you’re just getting started with business texting, or you’ve been doing it for awhile, it’s easy to forget some of the important guidelines that every business should follow when it comes to text message communications with their clients and customers.

Luckily, services like Text My Main Number, make it easy and affordable to set up a professional business text messaging service that your customers will find fun and useful.

In this post, we’ll go through a few things that you should be sure to do if you use business texting.

1. Get consent to text

Before you sign your clients or customers up for your text message announcements, be sure they know about your text messages and agree to receive messages from you. If you don’t get consent beforehand, you could be sending them unwanted information, or spam. Businesses that send spam could be fined or violating federal communications regulations.

You can ask your customers when they purchase a good or service with your company if they would like to receive future text messages from your business. You can also give customers the opportunity to sign up to receive text messages on your website or branded social media platforms.

If a customer sends you a text, you do not need to get verbal or written permission to text with that person since you can reasonably imply that they want you to text them.

2. Give your customers a clear opt-out method

Sometimes people change their minds, move away, or no longer need to receive text messages from your business. In case that happens, be sure you give your customers a clear and effective way to opt out of receiving messages from you in the future. The easiest way to provide an opt out method this by allowing recipients to reply “Stop” to a text, which should prompt you to remove their phone number from your contact list.

With Text My Main Number, mobile users who reply “STOP” to a message are automatically placed on a do-not-contact list. If a business does send a group text to that user’s number, the message is automatically not sent to that user.

3. Don’t share overly personal information via text

Be sure that your text communications do not include overly personal information about your clients, such as their full address, credit card numbers, social security numbers, or health information. Although texting is a secure way to communicate, it is in everyone’s best interest to avoid sharing sensitive information unless it’s absolutely necessary.

4. Make sure your texts fulfill a specific mission

Before you hit send, think about why it’s a good idea for your business to be sending that mass text message out. Are you announcing an important special? Is there a big change happening with your company that you think every customer or client should know about? If you think that the message will be useful for the majority of its recipients, go ahead and send it. However, if the message is best suited for more of a specific audience, think about creating sub-lists of contacts so you can tailor messages to certain groups of customers and clients.

Landline_texting_etiquette_7_things_your_business_should_know

5. Respond to business texts in a timely manner

The phone works both ways when it comes to landline texting. Always be sure that you pay attention to the messages you receive, and respond to messages as soon as possible. Responding to text messages promptly lets people know that their text message went through and that their issue is being addressed.

Many business text messaging platforms, like Text My Main Number, offer a variety of options for you to create auto-reply messages for certain times of day or in response to messages that contain specific keywords. For example, someone can text, “What are your hours?” Instead of typing the response out yourself, you can have an automated message respond to give them your hours and perhaps a link to your website for more information. 

6. Keep your messages consistent

Remember that every text message you send from your business’s main number is a reflection of you and your company. You want to clearly present your business’s brand, provide functional links, timely information, and maintain a professional demeanor and tone. If you tell your customers that they can expect daily or weekly texts from you to give them a specific piece of information, be sure you follow through and send those texts when you say you will. With Text My Main Number, you can create text message templates and schedules to make it easier to follow a consistent schedule and preplan your messages ahead of time.

7. Keep text messages short

Your text messages should be short and easy to read. A general rule of thumb is to keep messages shorter than 160 characters. Keeping your text messages short also helps you keep the message focused on one important topic or announcement, so you’re communicating clearly with your customers. Keep in mind that your clients or customers might be busy or distracted when they receive a text, so it’s best to keep messages short enough to read in a few seconds. You can also include abbreviated URLs to direct your customers to a link with more complete information.

In conclusion

Sending unwanted or unprofessional text messages from your business’s main phone number can damage your reputation and result in steep fines.

Landline texting should be offered as an added convenience for your customers rather than an annoyance that they don’t want. Always use your best judgment when sending out text messages and be sure to proofread your texts before hitting send. Also, find a good way to manage an up-to-date contact list that makes it easy to add and remove phone numbers.

You can learn all about how landline texting can work for your business at the Text My Main Number blog.

by /
in
  / Leave a comment

How Landline Texting Improves Curbside Pickup for Spring Home Improvement?

How Landline Texting improves Curbside Pickup for spring home improvement?

Spring is traditionally the time of year when homeowners get to work on all of the maintenance and DIY home improvements they want to get done around the house. However, the coronavirus pandemic is still making it difficult for some people to go to stores to get their shopping done. Landline texting can help home improvement stores keep up with the increased consumer demand brought on by springtime projects by streamlining their curbside pickups. 

Here is how landline texting can benefit your home improvement business:

1. Curbside Pickup speeds up home improvement projects

More and more consumers are turning to curbside pickup as a way to quickly complete their errands and avoid crowded stores during COVID-19. Home improvement projects often require hours of trips to massive hardware stores to purchase supplies, but many consumers are already accustomed to using curbside pickups to do their shopping.

A curbside pickup service allows your customers to text their order into their local hardware store, so the items are ready for them to pick up when they arrive. The service saves them time they would have spent wandering around the store and browsing for what they wanted.

2. Landline Texting helps you get orders ready ahead of time 

No one knows your store better than your employees. Once someone texts in their order to your business’s main phone number, an employee can locate the items and have them ready for the customer to pick up.

That means you will not have to get a new or additional phone line to offer business texting, you can simply use a platform like Text My Main Number to enhance your business’s existing phone number to send and receive text messages. 

Landline texting also helps your employees spend less time answering and returning phone calls and more time fulfilling orders. Click here to learn more about how business texting can benefit your company.

3. Curbside Pickup helps keep your employees safe

Spring is usually the busiest time of year for home improvement stores. Plus, the coronavirus pandemic has made home improvement projects even more popular as people stay at home.

According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, home improvement retailers saw a huge jump in consumer demand during the pandemic, with sales expected to continue climbing through the pandemic.

Landline texting versus calling or emailing is a smart strategy considering 85% of consumers say they prefer text messaging over other forms of communication. Plus, studies show that people read 95% of text messages within just three minutes of receiving them. 

4. Landline Texting gives mom and pop hardware stores a competitive advantage

Small businesses have taken a big economic hit during the coronavirus pandemic, partially because they do not have the same conveniences that big box retailers offer such as online shopping and mobile phone applications. Business texting is a more affordable and manageable investment that allows your customers to get a similar service and avoid crowded stores during the springtime home improvement season.

More ways home improvement stores can use Landline Texting

Here are a few other creative ways to use business texting to connect with your customers. 

Announce spring specials

Spring is a popular time to offer discounts and specials on gardening products and equipment for household maintenance projects. You can use business texting to announce your big specials to frequent customers, so they remember to come to you for their next spring improvement project.

Send order confirmation and reminders

For customers who use curbside pickups, you can text to coordinate pickup times, confirm their orders, and send reminders to come get their items. This saves you and your employees valuable time from calling to follow up with orders.

Spread the word about a special event

If you host or sponsor spring store events, texting is a great way to spread the word. Although events may look a little different during the coronavirus pandemic, they are still a great way to connect with customers and promote your business.

In conclusion

The coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges for homeowners and businesses, but the home improvement industry is expected to continue thriving as the pandemic forces consumers to stay at home, according to the latest industry reports. Curbside pickup is one of the many shopping services we have adapted to during the challenging times, and consumers will likely expect companies to continue offering it once the pandemic ends.

Plus, it’s expected to remain a popular option for shopping in the future.

Now has never been a better time to invest in landline texting so your business can offer the best possible customer service and stay open during the pandemic while keeping employees and customers safe. 

Landline texting helps your home improvement business save time and money, accommodate new shopping routines, and ensure your store is not crowded with people. Landline texting does not require any special equipment or a new phone number – instead, it is through a business texting service like Text My Main Number.

by /
in
  / Leave a comment

How to Use Landline Texting for Curbside Pickups during COVID-19?

How to use Landline Texting for Curbside Pickups during COVID-19?

The coronavirus pandemic quickly changed how many companies are doing business, especially stores and restaurants that have begun using landline texting to offer curbside pickup to accommodate their customers during the pandemic. 

Although Curbside Pickup helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, it can pose extra logistical challenges to busy managers who need to stay on top of pickup orders, strict health protocols, and their usual duties.

Smart business owners know that to keep their customers coming back, they’ll need to offer a seamless experience. One answer has been landline texting – an option that allows you to send and receive text messages with your current landline phone number. 

Instead of investing in an expensive mobile app, or asking customers to submit orders through a website, businesses can offer the option to text their main number to place orders and coordinate pickups. 

Amazing, right? 

Here’s more info on the reasons why businesses are turning to text messaging during COVID-19 and offer seamless curbside pickup services in 2021: 

1. Landline Texting is an affordable business investment

It’s 2021 and text messaging has never been more accessible. You don’t need a smartphone or even a new phone number to send and receive text messages on your business phone number. You simply need to subscribe to a reliable business texting service to get started.

2. Business Text Messaging is easy to set up and use

Setting up a texting option for your business is a breeze. You will not have to get a new phone number or any special equipment, simply tell your staff and customers that they can now send and receive text messages using your main business landline phone number.

Landline texting will work across your business’s other digital devices such as computers and tablets using remote access technology. You can also send and receive text messages with an email address.

3. Texting saves your business valuable time while keeping lines of communication open 

Imagine you are the owner of a small but popular downtown restaurant. The lunch rush is heating up, and the phone is ringing off the hook as orders pour in. All this business would be great on an average day, but two employees already called in sick today, and lunch is barely getting started. 

You need to keep your remaining staff available to prepare orders and greet customers, but you also don’t want to miss out on potential business by ignoring the phone calls.  

This is just the situation in which landline texting could make the difference between your restaurant making $500 during the lunch rush, or $2,000. 

Instead of keeping your employees tied up answering the phones and taking down orders by hand, they could view landline text message orders as they come in and communicate with customers without needing to stop what they are doing to make a phone call. 

4. Your landline calls will not be interrupted by text messages 

Like a cell phone, your landline calling service will not be affected by incoming text messages to your business phone. Landline texting allows you to consistently communicate with customers who prefer to call as well as customers who are comfortable with texting. 

That means a local bookshop owner can be on the phone with a customer or vendor as they receive a text from another phone number about a curbside pickup order. The telephone call will not be interrupted, and the business owner or clerk can return the text message during the call or when they get done talking.

5. Businesses can connect with their loyal customers from afar 

It has been difficult, to say the least, for businesses to keep in contact with their customers during social distancing and other virus precautions. 

Landline texting is a simple way to stay in contact with customers and let them know about what is going on with your business. 

Business texting allows you to communicate with customers and send out mass, short messages. Landline texting can be ideal for: 

  • Receiving curbside pickup orders or appointments
  • Confirming appointment details
  • Announcing your weekly specials or special promotions
  • Confirming billing or monthly payments
  • Sending birthday or anniversary messages 
  • Spread the word about a special event  

Landline texting versus calling or emailing is a smart strategy considering 85% of consumers say they prefer text messaging over other forms of communication. Plus, studies show that people read 95% of text messages within just three minutes of receiving them. 

6. Landline Texting gives small businesses a better opportunity to compete with large chains

Big box stores like Walmart, Target, and many large grocers have seen huge jumps in sales since the start of the pandemic thanks to their curbside delivery options, according to an article in USA Today. The added convenience of curbside pickup helps customers feel safe and still get out of the house to head to the store. 

Small businesses can offer the same type of service by adopting a business text messaging program to allow customers to place orders from their phones without physically entering a store or restaurant. 

In conclusion

The coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges that business owners have needed to overcome. Curbside pickup has been an effective solution if businesses can effectively implement it. Curbside pickup at retail stores jumped 208% in the early days of the pandemic, and online orders remain high a year later, according to an article by CNBC. 

Now has never been a better time to invest in landline texting so your business can continue operating during the pandemic while keeping employees and customers safe. 

Landline texting helps your business save time and money, work more efficiently, and keep in contact with customers during a challenging time. Landline texting does not require any special equipment or a new phone number – instead, it is through a business texting service. 

by /
in
  / Leave a comment

5 Text to Landline Benefits for Restaurants

Landline texting for business services allow business owners and management to send and receive text messages to clients and prospects over a landline, VOIP, or the toll-free number of the business. A variety of businesses are advancing their communication practice with the Text My Main Number text to landline solution. The restaurant industry is one of the verticals that is reaping benefits by using the text to landline solution for restaurants. The Text My Main Number landline texting for business service is one of the most prominent forms of communicating with patrons for restaurants. It offers an advanced text to landline solution at a reasonable monthly rate. Restaurant owners are now able to text-enable their landline, VOIP, or toll-free number within 24 hours and start using the landline texting for business service. In this article, we will cover some of the key benefits of landline texting for business, so you can understand the impact it has on restaurants. Ninety-one percent of Americans own a cell phone & 72 percent of those devices are smartphones. People use their phones to send or receive text messages more than any other cell phone function. Texting is so dominant that they have an open rate of 98% and are usually read within 5 seconds of being received. Therefore, it is safe to say that landline texting for business has a high ROI. It’s clear that this is the most cost-effective way to deliver messages to a dedicated patron base, and an excellent way to expand your audience. However, landline texting for business can also provide other resourceful every day tools to boost engagement. Here are some of the benefits restaurant owners are taking advantage of with text messaging.

Top Text to Landline Benefits for Restaurants

Special Offers

A recent survey uncovered that 96% of customers stated that they would much rather search for mobile coupons to find the best deals possible over any other form of hunting for discounts. So, why not give the people what they want? Not only is sending special offers via text messages cheaper to produce, but the redemption rate is 10 times greater than coupons you would have to cut out of a newspaper or magazine.

Quick Reservations

You know what’s better than using landline texting for business to text your customers? Allowing them to message you back quickly! Let your customers send you a fast and convenient text message to book a reservation. So long as your restaurant has space available, a confirmation text can be sent back swiftly. If you don’t have availability, you can reply with options that will allow them to enjoy your restaurant on a different night. You can even add suggestions like, “while we don’t have an open table this evening, we have plenty of space for our Sunday brunch menu!”

Your Table is Ready

One of the biggest problems with dining out is having to wait on a table. With landline texting for business, you can safeguard your customers from having to use those big, bulky (and ugly) pagers that forces them to stay in the area while they wait on their table to be ready. This can easily turn a fun night out into an annoyance. Not to mention, that if your customer unintentionally breaks one of those bulky pagers, it’s quite expensive to replace. Since your customers stopped using bulky mobile devices over a decade ago, what makes you think they have any interest in using one for even an hour of their day? A quick text message can notify your customer that their table is ready. Now you can let them walk around the nearby shops while they wait on their table to be ready, especially if they have a long wait ahead of them. Plus, texting will allow you to build your mobile marketing list by sending your customer a “thank you” text message. Of course, they could always opt out by texting “txt stop2stop” (for example), and if they prefer not to be texted at all, they can always use the bulky pagers instead.

Convenient Payment Solution

Customers despise having to wait around forever to get their bill, and on a busy night, this can be quite the hassle. Let your customers pay their bill by using landline texting for business to send a text message and help speed things up. Your customers will have the ability to send a quick text message to a dedicated phone number to submit payment and tip their waiter/waitress. They may even go a step further and buy a round of drinks after their meal or even a dessert without having to flag down their waiter/waitress. The payment information stored in the system is secured so your customer doesn’t have to worry about texting sensitive information.

Customer Feedback

With landline texting for business you can find out if your customer enjoyed their meal and ask whether or not the service was the best it could be. Thank your customers for choosing your restaurant and offer them to fill out a survey via text message. The Text My Main Number text surveys can even send out alerts when an unfavorable response is registered. This instant feedback lets you quickly identify problem areas and allow you to rectify them faster. You can also use this as a good opportunity to offer a special discount in exchange for completing your survey. Quick and convenient communication produces increased customer loyalty, which is a valuable commodity for any business. By using Text My Main Number landline texting for business, your company will develop an innovative method to increase your customer base. The Text My Main Number landline texting for business service has become a preferred method of communication for restaurants because it is feature rich and cost effective. Whether you own a big or small restaurant, you can sign up for a free 2-week trial of landline texting for business service and start leveraging the many benefits it has to offer. The results are favorable, and you will wish you began using this resourceful form of communication a long time ago!