Insight
Business Text Messaging: Leveraging the Power of SMS
SMS has revolutionized the way that we communicate, do business, and interact with brands. In today’s hyperconnected world, global companies in highly-regulated markets need business text messaging solutions that are not only safe and reliable, but also capable of driving meaningful engagement.
Learn how Syniverse, the world’s most connected company, is helping enterprises around the world leverage the power of SMS with Mobile Messaging.
What Is SMS, and How Can Businesses Use It?
SMS, more commonly known as text messaging, has been around for nearly 30 years. So why are so many businesses just now starting to focus their efforts on mobile?
For starters, we’ve come a long way from the bulky, antenna-sporting cell phones of the ‘90s and flip phones of the early 2000s. Over the last decade, text messaging has evolved to become the most prevalent form of communication in the world. And as the number of smartphone users continues to increase, the demand for enterprise text messaging solutions that can reach this highly-engaged global audience has never been greater.
It’s not just our messaging devices that have become more sophisticated—text messaging itself has come a long way since its emergence via one-way alerts. With a two-way business text messaging service, true customer conversations are now possible.
What can SMS do for your business? Discover how messaging can be leveraged in the different areas of an enterprise below.
Sales and Marketing
SMS marketing, also known as text messaging marketing, is becoming a more popular and effective way for businesses to improve engagement, increase leads, drive revenue, and strengthen customer loyalty.
Unlike other ways consumers are targeted by marketing tactics, SMS marketing is permission-based, which means that users must opt-in to receive texts from companies. Because these customers have consented to receive messages from a business, they are more likely to open and engage with these messages.
Customer Service
The emergence of two-way business text messaging has empowered enterprises to go from sending one-time alerts to now creating interactive, conversational experiences for their customers. Customers can ask questions, resolve issues, or request information about specific products and services, and receive a timely response from a real person. These interactions create a positive customer experience that enhances brand loyalty.
Leading the pack in this type of customer experience is Syniverse CPaaS Concierge, a cloud-based, omnichannel messaging platform connecting businesses to their customers in a more meaningful and simplified way than ever before. CPaaS, short for communication platform as a service, works by allowing businesses to build and deploy applications—without having to manage the underlying infrastructure.
Security and Fraud Prevention
With a new major data breach seemingly every week, more customers are seeking services that offer an extra layer of security. An enterprise text messaging solution can provide two-factor authentication (2FA) options to help reduce the risk of account breaches. Banks can also use SMS to send instant fraud alerts to customers who may have had their financial information compromised.
In the Workplace
Internally, enterprise SMS solutions can be used to efficiently contact employees about anything from shift changes to company alerts.
The Benefits of SMS for Businesses
- High engagement rates: The average email open rate is just 20%. The average open rate for text messages, on the other hand, is a whopping 98%. What’s more, the average time it takes for a person to respond to an email is 90 minutes, while most texts receive a reply within 90 seconds. This high rate of engagement paves the way for immediate, back-and-forth conversations.
- Unparalleled reach: Richer channels like social messaging and RCS may offer features that a text messaging service cannot, but neither platform can beat SMS’s unparalleled reach. Available universally on most mobile devices, you can be sure that your message will reach your customers no matter where they are in the world.
Better Value
- Better value: While it may cost a business more to send a text message than an email, SMS has proven to be much more effective in terms of return on investment. Automated SMS responses help to reduce labor expenses, and implementing 2-way SMS messaging can significantly reduce call center volumes—all while providing an improved customer experience.
- Increased revenues: SMS marketing can also be used to drive more revenue. The instant and highly visible nature of enterprise text messaging allows marketers to increase conversions with time-sensitive and carefully targeted offers.
What Industries Can Benefit Most From SMS Solutions?
Any enterprise can leverage the power of SMS to achieve better business outcomes. Syniverse’s customizable mobile messaging solutions are tailored to individual businesses across a variety of different industry verticals, such as:
Finance
Credit card fraud is increasing, and customers are looking to their banks to protect them from this growing threat. Syniverse’s two-way fraud alert system notifies customers of suspicious purchases the moment they're detected, stopping credit card fraud in its tracks.
Fraud alerts are only effective when the customer sees them, which is why text messaging software is the perfect avenue: the average person checks their phone 150 times a day. By providing fast SMS fraud alerts, financial institutions can not only improve security, but customer confidence and loyalty as well.
Airlines & Airports
You can’t always prevent flight delays, but airlines are in control over how they handle them. Fast and accurate messaging lets airlines notify passengers and flight crews of delays right away, provide flight status updates, and even offer passengers a free meal or drink on their flight to make up for the wait.
Hotels
Hotel chains can take advantage of SMS software solutions to provide guests with information about amenities, reward programs, and even access to room service—all on their mobile devices. Contactless concierge services before, during, and after guests' stays and mobile check-in reduce front desk wait times and provide better customer experiences.
Retail
In 2019, 79% of US consumers used their mobile devices to make online purchases. Retailers can take advantage of the growing role of mobile in e-commerce by using SMS to notify customers about mobile-only discounts and include a link to their online store.
Logistics
Delivery services can provide a better customer experience by sending SMS alerts when an item has shipped or been delivered. Being able to know where their packages are at any time and make delivery date and address changes gives customers a sense of reassurance and control, making them more likely to use your service again.
Healthcare
It can be hard to get a hold of patients over the phone to confirm appointments or remind them to pick up a prescription. Text messaging makes it easier to reach patients more effectively and is more respectful of patients’ time, and mobile check-in can lead to a reduction in appointment no-shows.
How SMS Is Shaping the Modern Customer Experience
Across every industry, SMS plays a major role in addressing the needs of consumers in a mobile-first world. Some businesses, like Uber and DoorDash, wouldn’t even be able to exist without it.
That’s because customers aren’t basing their loyalty solely on price or product quality alone anymore. Instead, they are highly influenced by the customer experience a brand consistently delivers. Businesses can leverage the power of SMS to create a positive experience with a brand (or mitigate a bad experience).
Think about the last time you received a text from a brand. Maybe your flight was delayed, and you received a text from the airline offering you a free drink to make up for the inconvenience. Or maybe you were standing at the checkout counter when you received a text from your bank alerting you of potential fraud.
These types of texts don’t ask customers to buy anything, but they do go a long way to build trust and provide a better customer experience. At a time when 32% of consumers say they’d leave a brand after just one bad experience, that trust is absolutely crucial.
Not All Business Text Messaging Solutions Are Created Equal
Not all SMS messaging solutions are created equal. That’s why companies that require the highest levels of security, quality, and reliability trust Syniverse’s Mobile Messaging solutions to help them seamlessly connect with customers around the world.
With over 30 years of experience in mobile communications, we’ve been fortunate to play a key role in the development and evolution of enterprise text messaging. Our direct connections with over 450 mobile carriers around the world put us in a position to help you do more than just send text messages—we help businesses start meaningful conversations.
Interested in learning more? Get in touch with one of our knowledgeable sales team members to see what Syniverse Mobile Messaging can do for your business.