7 Natural Uses of Text Messaging for Businesses

It is estimated that mobile subscribers have now exceeded Internet users by a shattering 63 million. Now that mobile devices have surpassed traditional computers as the primary channel of communication, businesses must continue to evolve their marketing to address this emerging medium.

To further illustrate the point, it is estimated that more consumers use text than regularly use email and mobile networks have seen texts surpass voice calls (texts beat calls by more than double!).

These facts cannot be ignored by marketers. And, while this is fairly new landscape, you should consider how text marketing can be implemented into your marketing.

Here are 7 quick and easy examples of how a business can use text messaging:

Coupons/Promotions – Augmenting your current marketing channels, sending coupons and promotions via text is a natural fit.

Last Minute Deals – Business slow? Want to create some buzz? No other medium offers the level of instant response like text messaging.

New Products/Menu Items – Get the word out about new products/menu items quickly. Remember to tie-in an offer and/or direct people to places to learn more.

Events – A great tool for not only telling people about the event itself, but reminding them about the event close to the event date and time. Additionally, we’ve seen event organizers use text messaging during an event to remind attendees of times and locations of upcoming sessions, etc.

Contests – Contests are a great way to engage people and with text messaging you make the engagement process ultra simple.

Polls – Another great way to create engagement with your target audience, running polls allows you to gain valuable feedback while letting each person express their opinion or ‘vote.’

Request Appointment/Reservation – The easier you can make your appointment/reservation process the better and text messaging is about as fast and simple as you can get. The key here is to have good systems in place to confirm and schedule the appointment/reservation.

In summary, text messaging gives you one more way to engage your target audience. Is this form of marketing here to say? Who knows. But the concept of being able to target and engage people ‘on the go’ is now and forever something you must consider.

The major benefit to text messaging: Easy, fast, and targeted messages that have the ability to engage and, potentially, spread.