Consider SMS marketing for a minute. The words “traditional” and perhaps even “outdated” might come to mind. But rest assured, that cannot be farther from the truth.
Contrary to common belief, good old SMS marketing has an enduring power when it comes to keeping your customers happy and connected. Up until now, its straightforward, real-time nature continues to appeal to U.S. retailers and restaurant owners, both of whom belong to industries benefiting the most from these qualities.
Better yet, you can tap into short message service or SMS to generate reviews across multiple channels for your brand or business.
Proactive, multi-channel review generation is critical to a sustainable online reputation management (ORM) strategy. And with nearly nine out of 10 consumers consulting fellow consumers’ feedback before buying a product or service, you can leverage the wide usage of text messages and mobile devices in your market to get started on or enhance current review gathering efforts.
While SMS campaigns for ORM may be an interesting proposition, you probably have questions about how they work. In this blog, we answer:
- Why use SMS as a review generation tool?
- What are the SMS marketing best practices I can start following today?
Keep reading to find the information you need to garner as many reviews as possible via SMS.
Why Use SMS as a Review Generation Tool?
While SMS outreach seems an outdated form of marketing, a closer look into its staying power may provide you with a different perspective. Its first and most obvious advantage over other channels is its accessibility.
These days, you can easily deploy SMS integration into the mobile marketing platform you’re using to generate online customer reviews. You can then reach your target market in real-time, whether online or offline – something most other digital marketing channels can’t do.
Here are more reasons you should reconsider the role of SMS marketing in your ORM strategy:
Wide Usage in the United States
SMS campaigns are here to stay. And here’s why:
More than 292 million people use text messaging services in North America. In the U.S. alone, Statista has noted the steadily increasing volume of SMS sent in recent years – a staggering 2.2 trillion for SMS or multimedia messaging service (MMS) in 2020 vs. 1.5 trillion in 2017.
The numbers aren’t surprising, given that text messaging remains a part of people’s everyday lives, with most consumers preferring its directness. They like how they can interact quickly with businesses through this channel, such as making reservations and getting alerts for discounts and promos on goods or services.
High Open Rate
SMS has a 98 percent open rate, which is higher than email marketing. This is promising news: The majority of the people you target will open and read your text messages. So use this chance to craft engaging, high-converting customer surveys as part of your review generation strategy. Ultimately, you want your audience to also respond to your SMS and click on the link included in your message.
Now, if you’re wondering why the percentage is so high, the answer lies mainly in two things. First, people bring their mobile phones with them all the time. Next, thanks to SMS being low (or slow)-technology, consumers can check their text messages whenever they like; no hassle, no stress.
Excellent Deliverability
We did say SMS is low-tech, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a good workaround when generating online customer reviews. These days, you can integrate your review generation efforts into a mobile marketing platform. This means you can automate the delivery of your ORM-oriented text messages to target consumers. Moreover, you can employ effective review monitoring from the get-go because you can keep track of any failed SMS delivery.
Cost-Effective
SMS as a reputation management tool showcases the power that comes with communication simplified. One of the benefits of leveraging this power is lower budgetary requirements. With SMS marketing, you don’t have to spend a lot to improve customer satisfaction and bolster your reputation. You just have to enlist the help of an SMS marketing software provider or an all-in-one ORM platform that includes SMS integration.
Fast Response
The response rate of SMS is also higher than that of other channels, like email marketing. Therefore, we see this trend as potentially rewarding for those who handle review monitoring.
Imagine people taking the time to respond to your SMS campaigns or customer surveys. It turns out you can also count on them to respond immediately. According to Smart Insights, 97 percent of users reply within 15 minutes of reading text messages. This makes sense if you consider how many people have quick access to their phones for most of the day.
SMS Marketing Best Practices You Can Start Following Today
So, you’ve learned about the benefits of tapping SMS marketing in gathering online customer reviews. Next up, we touch on some of the SMS marketing best practices you can apply to your campaigns ASAP.
- Let’s start with following the laws surrounding the use of SMS for business. Online reputation management consultants stress the importance of asking for permission from potential recipients before sending them text messages. Further, you should identify yourself and provide them with an opt-out option to avoid breaking spam laws.
- One important rule in review generation is to personalize your communication materials. SMS is not an exception. So make sure to include names in text messages to strike a connection, leading to a series of conversations with your consumers.
- Focus on the encouraging stats: the high open and response rates. You can leverage this level of engagement by deploying text messages containing direct links to customer surveys.
- To improve customer satisfaction, be wary about being intrusive. For example, don’t send a review request early in the morning or late in the evening. Schedule within business hours instead. And use SMS marketing software to set everything in order and avoid spamming customers even before they have drunk their coffee.
- Industry experts like online reputation management companies know how essential it is to understand that you have an effective review generation tool at your disposal. In that case, be direct yet mindful. Don’t beat around the bush, but tell your customers creatively that you’re requesting a review. Better yet, work with professionals to hit the ground running and skip making costly mistakes.
Broaden Your Review Generation Efforts With Effective SMS Integration
This blog has introduced to you the importance and benefits of using SMS in generating online customer reviews. We have also laid out industry standards to streamline your SMS marketing efforts. Moreover, we have discussed integrating SMS into an existing mobile marketing platform to make things easier for your business. This is something that we have proven effective at Rize Reviews.
Rize’s online reputation management tool features the functionality of SMS marketing software while covering all areas of ORM. It supports SMS integration to boost your review generation efforts. At the same time, it provides connected solutions designed to improve customer satisfaction, from review monitoring and generation to online reputation repair and social media follower growth service.
Further, our online reputation management consultants empower businesses of all sizes to enhance their digital footprint. If you’ve been switching online reputation management companies without getting satisfactory results, we can help close the loop. Speak with one of our representatives today to find out how to capitalize on all viable channels in bolstering your online reputation.
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