by Jonathan Marshall
There are many companies today that use mobile marketing campaigns, but very few of them use them correctly, at least in this country. Europeans are way ahead of Americans when it comes to SMS, for both consumer and business uses. But let’s move back to this country. Phone companies like Verizon have been doing it for years, giving customers the option to find out their balance, minutes used, and payment options. Many banks also use SMS to send people their account balances, transaction information and payment notices. These are two perfect examples of industries who understand the correct way to use the technology, customer needs and the format of the SMS conversation, which includes 140 characters. Just like anything else, the technology and format of SMS will only be as valuable and useful as people allow it to be. Do your customers think to use SMS for certain situations they are going to experience somewhere in your store or business? Maybe, maybe not. So what other ways are companies
using SMS to more efficiently interact with their customers? What are things that can be achieved through SMS and how does it work? Here are seven ways to use SMS efficiently across a few different industries:
- Order status. This is probably the most popular one, USPS does this with shipping items. I can’t vouch for how well their system works as I haven’t used it before, but have talked to people who have had good experiences with their system. USPS lets users add their cell phone number to their account. Customers can simply text the word “order” to a certain short code that we’ll call “USPS5.” Within seconds the system responds with tracking information, dates, times, and order summaries. They’re obviously interested in the most recent undelivered order on the account.
- Product availability and purchasing. Again, this system would need the user to have an account already setup with cell phone number stores. If the customer knows the product they want, texting its name or SKU to a company could return its availability and price. The system would also respond with a purchase option, such as “Respond with ‘buy’ to purchase this product.”
- Ratings and reviews. This would be great for restaurants, and would be easy to use for making reservations as well. If I want to read user reviews of a product, texting “ratings” would return the product’s average rating or the number of good/bad reviews, such as “Avg: 8 out of 10 stars” Texting “reviews good” or “reviews bad” would return the first positive or negative review, with the option to request more reviews.
- Similar items. Texting “cheaper” could return a less expensive alternative to the product, whereas “better” could return a better (and more expensive) product. “Alt” could return a list of alternative products. “Acc” might return accessories for the product.
- Multimedia messages. One could easily imagine wanting to receive a photo of a product. In this case, texting “photo” would return a product photo. If you hadn’t mentioned the product before in previous texts, you could specify a product name after “photo.” Many top web design companies San Diego use this feature, and it’s one of the website design tools San Diego that get results.
- Policies and store hours/locations. If I’m deciding what store I would rather go to late at night, obviously a huge factor would be whether or not it is open. Store hours and location matter to customers, because after all, we are lazy. If I type “hours” or “location” (probably followed by a Zip Code) , the system would return store information. Now, once I get into the store, one piece of information that might persuade me to shop at one store instead of the one I am in is their return policy. Text “return,” “shipping,” “warranty,” or “guarantee” should return the high-level important parts of these policies.
- In-store customer service. Some stores, such as restaurants and coffee shops, are experimenting with allowing users to text their orders in. I have also heard of ideas that are more focused on the in-store experience, which includes getting a salesperson to come and help you while you are in the store. For example, texting “help 3″ or “help sporting goods” would send an assistant to aisle three of the store or the sporting goods section. Typing “promo” might give a list of this week’s promotions or sales. “Coupon” might tell you whether the current product has any coupons available.
The ways SMS could be used in retail are seemingly endless. This blog should get you brainstorming some ways to use texting, as well as unique opportunities within your business in which texting might come in handy.
Tags: Mobile Marketing, SMS