Tag Archives: text messaging

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3 Things to Consider When Choosing Between SMS Marketing and Social Media Marketing for Your Business

When you think about launching a SMS marketing campaign, what platform comes to mind?

Do you automatically think social media platforms when you’re creating a plan to increase your brand exposure?

What you should be thinking is which platform will deliver the highest return on investment.

When you’re marketing budget is limited, executing marketing campaigns can become a challenge. Especially when you know that high-end graphics, images, and videos is the way to go when trying to pull in the attention of your target audience online. Creating content can become expensive.

Texting for free fits any budget.

SMS Marketing vs. Social Media Marketing

Not only because we are the provider of a text messaging platform do we say this but…it really is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing.

Not only is SMS marketing inexpensive but sending free texts happens to be a communication channel that works well with all industries, including:

With social media marketing you’re going to incur costs that don’t exist as expense line items with SMS marketing. For example:

With social media marketing you will pay for:

With SMS marketing you will pay for:

Choosing the Right Text Messaging Platform for Your Business

Like anything else that is new to anyone, you’re going to want to test the waters to see which platform you want to use to send text messages to your customers and prospects. Unlike with social media marketing, SMS marketing is not time consuming nor will you need to hire someone to manage the platform for you. When looking for the right text messaging platform for your business, your only concern should not be the money you will invest. You’ll also want to consider the amount of time you’ll need to invest to execute your marketing campaigns. You’ll want to ask if:

Deciding Between Social Media Marketing and SMS Marketing

Cost is not the only reason why more and more businesses are switching to text messaging services to plan and execute their marketing campaigns. Besides delivering added value, you’re also using the most common form of communication to reach your audience. According to the 2019 Mobile Usage Report:

  • More than 90% of the people surveyed stated that they check their phones within half hour of waking up.
  • More than half of mobile device users check their phone 5 times per hour.
  • There are over 5 billion mobile phone users, and only half of them use social media.

If text message marketing seems like the right fit for your business, then it’s time to get started with the Text My Main Number text messaging platform. We are offering a free trial to anyone who would like to give text message marketing a run. It’s not only an easy set up process, but you’ll be able to get started in minutes!

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5 Text Messaging Methods That Will Improve Your Auto Repair Shop Marketing

There are millions upon millions of cars are on the road and at one point or another, they will need repair. Whether it’s standard maintenance or an unexpected fix, there will come a time where drivers will have to bring in their car for service. How do you make sure it’s YOUR auto repair shop they come to?

There are numerous ways to pump up your auto repair shop’s marketing plan, but Text My Main Number would like you to focus on the # 1 communication platform to reach your audience.

Enabling your business phone number to send and receive text messages will allow your auto repair shop to:

Personalize Your Relationship with Customers

Most car owners treat their vehicles like one of their children. In fact, a lot of people even name their cars because that’s their way of creating a connection to it. When someone cares about something on that level, they will always have questions and concerns on the best way to care for it.

Can you imagine what a connection an auto repair shop owner will build with customers whose questions they can answer quickly about their cars? That’s an entirely new level of elevating customer service.

You can even increase your customer base by positioning yourself as an expert in the industry and have potential customers coming to you for answers. If you’re able to answer their questions, chances are you’re the repair shop they’ll trust to bring their car to when it needs service.

Use your social media profiles to post tips and tricks to maintaining your car, before and after car repair photos, testimonials, and more to show your target audience everything you do and know. Perform a quick Google search on the best auto hashtags so that you can draw in people who are searching auto topics online and looking for answers. It’ll be your profile they come to, and you can add a “text us your questions” button to your social media page to make it easy for them to use text messaging to connect with you.

If you provide good social media service to your audience, they will trust your brand and recommend it to others.

Use Business Texting for Promotional Offers

Business texting has become quite a resourceful tool for both auto repair shop marketing and customer service. It’s the most engaging way to maintain a relationship and when you add a discount to the messages you send out; you have an increased chance of getting someone to reply or click on the links you send out.

Sometimes people get lazy with scheduling auto maintenance, tune-ups, and other repairs. But if you use business texting to send them friendly reminders to bring their car in for service with a coupon attached…they will come.

Build Loyalty through Business Texting

People trust their friends and family’s advice when it comes to who they trust to service their cars. Word of mouth referrals are the crux of the auto repair shop industry. If you continuously provide good service to customers, they will spread the news and that builds loyalty.

Offer your customer deals and promotional perks for referring your auto repair shop to their friends and family. This is what you would call a customer loyalty program and it can become extremely effective to your business profits.

SMS Appointment Reminders

Don’t miss out on revenue because a customer forgot about their appointment. You may not have been able to reach them by phone when attempting to confirm, but via text message, you will have a much greater chance of getting your customer’s attention.

Text messaging is the most common form of communication so letting your customers know that it’s time to visit your auto repair shop for service or reminding them about an upcoming appointment will significantly decrease your percentage of missed sales.

Request Reviews via Landline Texting

Next to word of mouth, online reviews are the next most trusted form of trusting an auto repair shop’s service. If they weren’t told by a friend or family member, they want to read about it from someone who has had an experience with the business.

When people do a Google search for “auto repair shop near me,” the top review sites like Facebook, Yelp, and Google will come up with the repair shop’s contact information and reviews. The higher you rank, the better.

Invite customers to write a review about your auto repair shop business using landline texting by sending them a link via text message that they can click on and quickly leave feedback about their experience. The more reviews you get, the better you’ll rank on search engines.

Seamless Auto Repair Shop Marketing

Text messaging has changed the way people communicate and businesses have had to adapt. Auto repair shops have been used to traditional marketing for decades and to transition to digital marketing has been a challenge for most repair shop owners. Not because the process is difficult, but simply because the concept seems overwhelming to those who fear technology.

Text My Main Number gets you. We are so sure that text-enabling your business phone number is the answer to improving your marketing and increasing your sales, that we will offer you a free 14-day trial to get you started! Our team is readywhen you are to answer any questions and get you set up. Our free training will also help you use our text messaging platform to its fullest extent to ensure your success.

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How Each Generation is Using Landline Texting to Communicate

Knowing your audience well is a good rule of thumb when implementing a business texting solution for both big and small businesses. Whether it’s products you sell, or a service you offer, it is crucial to know your consumers likes and dislikes along with what they need or don’t need. To know more about your target audience, you must know their preferred method of communication and understand their behaviors. Why? Because that’s how you’ll be interacting in order to convey your brand’s message.   It’s now a known fact that customers prefer communicating with businesses via text messages, however, what about fully understanding what their texting behaviors are by age range? Would you text a baby boomer the same way you would text Generation X? Would Generation Z cross their eyes when reading an appointment reminder they received by text? When is it OK to use emojis? These are all questions you should know the answers to when you’re contemplating execution of a business texting solution for your brand.   The Text My Main Number team needed answers to these questions because we knew our clients would want to know how to best communicate with their audience. So, we went deep on the research in order to comprehend the texting habits and texting preferences that each generation favors.  

Texting Habits by Generation

According to the Pew Research Center:
  • Baby Boomers range from 53-63 Years Old
  • Generation X ranges from 42-52 Years Old
  • Generation Y ranges from 24-41 Years Old
  • Generation Z ranges from 18-23 Years Old
This isn’t a science, but you can look at each bracket as a tool that is used to analyze behaviors when using a business texting solution to interact with your consumers. Now that you know the assortment for each generation, let’s review their preferred texting habits by age. Baby Boomers: 61 % check their phones for notifications approximately 1-3 times in an hour. Generation X: 70% check their phones for notifications approximately 1-3 times in an hour. Generation Y: 68% check their phones for notifications approximately 1-3 times in an hour. Generation Z: 79% check their phones for notifications approximately 1-3 times in an hour. So what is each generation doing when checking their phones several times in an hour? More times than not, they’re texting. Companies should know when using a business texting solution, that customers do in fact prefer speaking to a business by text than by phone.   To save you from hours of clicking around to read statistics all over the web on texting behaviors by age range, we did our due diligence to pay it forward unto our clients. Here it is for you:
  • 64 % of Baby Boomers prefer to use text messaging to communicate with a business.
  • 76 % of Generation X prefer to use text messaging to communicate with a business.
  • 82% of Generation Y prefer to use text messaging to communicate with a business.
  • 83% of Generation Z prefer to use text messaging to communicate with a business.
We love it when research proves us right! More specifically, we’re saying that no matter what industry you’re in, it’s a fact that your audience will prefer that you text them no matter what generation they fall under. Guess who can now apply a business texting solution to their communication channels because their texting pool just got bigger? That’s right, YOU CAN!

Implementing a Business Texting Solution

If you’re just starting out with a business texting solution for your company or you need a few ideas to boost your current business or marketing plan, you should know which industries are already incorporating a business texting solution to their daily operations. To capture their audience’s attention, more and more businesses have applied a business texting solution as a modern form of engagement. Our research has demonstrated that the majority of each generation prefers receiving text messages from businesses which also means that this form of communication is your best option. This is an excellent way to ramp up your message strategies and streamline how you provide customer service. If you’ve delayed adding a business texting solution for your brand, you’re falling behind.  

How Companies are Using Texting Messaging

The Text My Main Number customers are taking advantage of our business texting solution in a variety of ways. They’ve found that it cuts down on the time spent each day on meticulous tasks such as:
  • Following up with leads by phone or email
  • Scheduling, confirming, or sending appointment reminders
  • Informing customers about recent promotional offers
  • Booking reservations
  • Customer service correspondence
  • Placing, confirming, and following up on orders
…and that’s just to name a few of the many tasks text messaging will help save you time (and money) on.

Using Emojis and Acronyms by Generation

People may think that using acronyms and emojis demonstrate a lack of professionalism or sophistication when using them to text customers.  What they may fail to realize is that it’s actually humanizing their interaction, and in turn, people are more receptive to the messages they’re receiving. People became accustomed to using text messages with friends and family first so they’re actually more used to the personal aspect of text messaging. It would make sense when employing a business texting solution for your company, that you would implement it in a similar manner to what your consumers are already comfortable with. As stated by an informational report created by Intercom, “messages started by a business that contained an emoji were four times more likely to elicit a response from a consumer than those that didn’t.” So what does that tell you? Don’t be afraid to use emojis and acronyms to interact with your audience! Every generation finds it to be more appealing. The bottom line is your customers want to text you and receive texts from you because it’s more personalized and convenient. Text My Main Number believes in applying a business texting solution as a convenient and modern way to communicate. So much so, that we offer you a free trial to try out our services because we know that in that time you will understand why everyone is choosing to go the text messaging route as part of their business growth plan.