How Can Your Businesses Use a Mass Texting Service Effectively?

Need a more detailed explanation of how your business or industry can use text to effectively connect with your customers, patrons or members? Just click each of the headings below for more details.

[toggle title=”Retail Businesses”]

SMS/Text marketing is a windfall for retailers. There is no more cost effective way to reach qualified prospects and existing customers, and deliver a massive ROI (Return on Investment) while doing it. Retail businesses can use the Local Text Marketers mass texting service to…

• Build a list of qualified new prospects by using an incentive (i.e., text “FITSHOP” to 41932 to receive 30% off your first jug of whey protein!) to encourage people to sign up to your text marketing list.
• Integrate it into current, traditional campaigns to boost their effectiveness and increase ROI (return on investment). Adding a text based call to action (i.e., text “FITSHOP” to 41932 to receive 30% off your first jug of whey protein!) to a print ad, for instance, provides an opportunity for your prospective customer to take instant action, thus improving the ad’s performance.
• Notify existing customers of sales, campaigns, new product lines, special offers, and so on.
• Interact directly with staff members regarding shifts, events, campaigns, meetings, and so on.
• Immediately drive visitors though the doors in down times.
• Reduce overall marketing costs and improve advertising efficiency.

Prefer to watch the video? You can find it here![/toggle]

[toggle title=”Restaurants, Clubs, Theaters, and Bars”]

Want to get new customers into your establishment? Want existing customers to visit more often and spend more money? Then you’ll be thrilled to learn the right SMS marketing service can do all this for you… and more! Use mass texting to…

• Build a list of customers by using an incentive (i.e., text “PETESPUB” to 6137078978 to receive a free appetizer on your next visit!) to encourage people to sign up to your text marketing list.
• Use regular coupons or discounts to encourage regular, repeat visits.
• Integrate it into current, traditional campaigns to boost their effectiveness and increase ROI (return on investment). Adding a text based call to action (i.e., text “PETESPUB” to 6137078978 to receive a free appetizer on your next visit!) to a print ad, for instance, provides an opportunity for your prospective customer to take instant action, thus improving the ad’s performance.
• Notify existing customers of special offers, featured shows and events, menu items, and so on.
• Interact directly with staff members regarding shifts, events, campaigns, meetings, and so on.
• Immediately drive visitors through the doors in down times.
• Reduce overall marketing costs and improve advertising efficiency.

Related article: 4 Reasons Why Your Restaurant Should Use SMS Mobile Marketing[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Gyms, Spas and Health Clubs”]

Gyms, spas, and health clubs can use text message marketing to…

• Notify members of upcoming classes, membership fees and special events.
• Notify members of cancellations, re-scheduling and so on.
• Build a list of qualified new prospects by using an incentive (i.e., text “THEGYM” to 41932 to get 1 month free on a 3-month membership!) to get people to sign up to your text marketing list.
• Lower attrition rates by offering incentives and discounts to individuals who have let their membership lapse.
• Send regular healthy eating and workout tips.
• Interact directly with staff members regarding shifts, events, meetings, classes and so on.

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[toggle title=”Service businesses: Medical & Dental offices, Garages, Salons, Spas and More!”]

For any service based business – whether it is a chiropractor, medical center, hair salon, massage therapist or a dentist’s office, garage or spa (and anything and everything in between), text is the perfect medium for sending appointment reminders.

Service business owners often pay staff to phone clients directly and remind them of upcoming appointments, as well as send postcards with updates of appointments, checkups, flu shots, etc. The reason why is simple; cancelled appointments and “no shows” are very costly for all businesses but especially so in medical practices, where costly equipment and specialists may need to be secured in advance.

Contacting people about their appointments via text offers businesses the opportunity to save a TON of money.

Click here to learn more about our Appointment Manager service; it allows you to send text message reminders of upcoming appointments.

And of course, those are not the only things service businesses can accomplish. They can also…

• Integrate text message based calls to action into current, traditional campaigns to boost their effectiveness and increase ROI (return on investment). Adding a text based call to action to a print ad, for instance, provides an opportunity for your prospective customer to take instant action, thus improving the ad’s performance.
• Notify existing customers of appointment, sales, promotions, new product lines, special offers, and so on.
• Interact directly with staff members regarding shifts, events, campaigns, meetings, and so on.
• Immediately drive visitors though the doors in down times.
• Reduce overall marketing costs and improve advertising efficiency.

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[toggle title=”Schools, Daycares & Sports Teams”]

It’s important to recognize that you don’t necessarily need to be selling anything in order to capitalize on the potential of text messaging. Schools, educational institutions, daycares, sports teams and so on can all connect with an SMS Gateway Provider to…

• Contact parents about upcoming events, cancellations, parent/teacher meetings and so on.
• Announce and promote fundraising events.
• Build community and enhance school spirit.
• Communicate effectively with students
• Announce practice schedules, game dates and cancellations.

A mass texting service provides the fastest and most efficient way to connect a large number of people quickly – something that is of vital importance when it pertains to cancellations and the like. These often come up at the last minute, making it impossible to be able to call a large volume of people in time. For that reason alone, this service is worth its weight in gold.[/toggle]

[toggle title=”Real Estate Agents / Realtors”]

Text marketing options allow prospective home buyers the ability to instantly access more information on any listing, whenever it is convenient to them. You’ve likely already seen real estate listings with a text based called to action; “text A1REALTOR to 6137078978 for more details on this listing!”

From the agent’s perspective, it compiles a list of targeted, prospective buyers and reduce costly advertising buys.

There is, however, a right way and a wrong way for real estate agents to use text marketing.

Some agents make several critical mistakes when they use text marketing…

1. Instead of using text marketing to send people direct to the listing in question, they send them to their own or their company’s web site, and expect them to find it. This assumes that the person texting in knows the address of the listing, and this is often not the case. If a person is driving down the road, and s/he sees a listing of interest, is s/he likely to know the street name and number? Not always. Additionally, it adds an extra barrier of unnecessary complication between your prospect and the listing in question. In a world of instant gratification, you are going to lose a lot of leads this way. Take home lesson? Always associate your text based call to action to specific listing.
2. If you intend to follow up on the leads you compile via a text based call action with a phone call, you need to ensure your prospects know this before they sign up. Nothing will anger people more than contacting them without first obtaining their express permission to do so. Remember, as a real estate agent, YOU are your brand. The last thing you need is any negative publicity. So in this case you’d want to change your call to action; “Want to talk to a realtor about this listing? Text A1REALTOR to 54897 and we’ll call you!”
3. They don’t capitalize fully on the potential of text marketing. We sent a text to a local realtor and got a link to the company web site (a mistake) and a request for the listing in question’s address (which we didn’t know). But we haven’t received a single message since. We should be getting notices of any open houses for that listing, as well as links to similarly priced listings in the same area (these are the sorts of things you should be doing if you have not obtained the express permission to contact your prospect by phone). None of this is happening. Talk about a wasted opportunity.

In short, text marketing is an incredibly powerful tool for real estate agents, if it is used properly and to its full potential. Related article: How To Get More Real Estate Leads with Mobile Marketing! [/toggle]

[toggle title=”Non-profits, Churches, Clubs, Community Groups”]

The ability to interact directly and effectively with people via their cell phones means mass text messaging is a viable option for any organization that needs an effective, non-intrusive way to contact their members, parishioners and so on. When you factor its low cost into the equation, you have the recipe for a “sure” winner. Use the Local Text Marketers service to…

• Notify members / parishioners of meetings, special events and so on.
• Send daily/weekly inspiration scripture passages.
• Interact effectively with a youth-based audience.
• Spearhead fundraising opportunities.
• Send notices for membership fees.
• Eliminate the need for postage, “paper” communications and / or staff to handle these.

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[toggle title=”Political Organizations”]

A mass texting service offers political parties and organizations some very significant benefits.

First off, it delivers another channel on which you can deliver your message in a very cost effective manner.

Second, it’s an extremely fast and efficient way to contact people (you can send 1,000’s of people a message with a single click) which means you need less people manning the phones and making calls the old fashioned way.

Third, because the majority of people are never far from their cell phones, and because they read almost every message they receive within 4 minutes, it offers near instantaneous communication.

The venue for today’s rally/town hall meeting/meet and greet got changed because of some unforeseen event?

Bam! Send out a text message and everyone knows immediately! Need to rally your supporters for a last minute event? Same deal.

In short, political parties and organizations can use SMS/Text messaging to…

• Connect with volunteers and party members.
• Offer constituents another channel from which they can become involved.
• Rally supporters quickly and efficiently.
• Notify supporters of rallies, debates, parades, meetings, policy discussions, etc.
• Solicit donations and membership dues.
• Reduce the need for volunteers to “man the phones”. Instead, get these people canvassing for you!
• Lower the costs of running a campaign by increasing your overall efficiency.

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