August 2024

Effective communication is key to success in the dynamic world of business. An organization's ability to interact with its customers can make or break its business, whether it's through customized service, order updates, or knowledge of the newest offerings. Customers are constantly looking for an omnichannel experience that is both personalized and seamless. Flyers and emails, which were once the mainstays of communication, are no longer sufficient. Consumers require two-way, real-time interactions, which is where a Salesforce SMS app comes into play. For this reason, the SMS apps, that seamlessly integrate with your existing CRM, have become a potent instrument in business communication, revolutionizing the way companies interact with their customers. 5 Reasons You Need SMS for Salesforce SMS for Salesforce can greatly improve your company's operations and offers several advantages. This integration's primary driver is its unmatched customer-facing efficiency and efficacy. Here are 5 benefits of integrating SMS with Salesforce. Real-Time Communication Businesses can offer real-time customer support by utilizing SMS for Salesforce. For example, logistics providers can use SMS to quickly notify customers about delivery locations. Additionally, they can update customers in real-time via SMS about their appointments, keeping them informed throughout their engagement journey. SMS has an extremely high open rate (over 95% within the first 3 minutes of delivery). With a much higher open rate than emails, SMS is a more effective medium for increasing marketing engagement when using Salesforce. Higher Efficiency with Automation By automating processes like order updates and appointment reminders, workflow automation can be streamlined when SMS and Salesforce are integrated. As a result, less manual labor is required, increasing productivity. This allows businesses to shift their attention from regular tasks to strategic ones. Moreover, it enables you to schedule texts in response to customer behaviour or sales phases, optimizing processes and increasing productivity. Increased Open Rates and Response Rates SMS messages have a response rate of roughly 45%, which is significantly higher than other methods of communication. They are excellent for eliciting replies since they are precise and reach out to people immediately. Sales and marketing teams can interact with their audience more successfully as a result. Retail establishments, for instance, can send out discount codes by SMS to get a quick response from customers. Additionally, they can employ SMS for important notifications to drive efficient and quick customer service. Personalized Messages to Customers Businesses can personalize their communications by integrating SMS with Salesforce. They can craft messages that speak to the specific needs and pain points of the audience, which is crucial for building a strong rapport and increasing conversions. For example, a travel company can provide personalized vacation suggestions based on past reservations. Similarly, financial advisors can provide detailed client-specific investment updates and advice over text. Tracking and Analytics Salesforce also needs SMS because of its ability to monitor and evaluate customer interaction and campaign efficacy. Marketing teams can fine-tune their messaging strategies by analyzing open rates, click-through rates, and conversions from SMS campaigns thanks to SMS integration with Salesforce. In order to increase customer satisfaction and service efficiency, customer support teams can also assess response times and resolution rates via SMS exchanges. How Do You Send SMS from Salesforce? You will need more than just the regular Sales Cloud or Service Cloud license in order to send and receive texts using Salesforce. You can extend your functionality further with third-party SMS tools and apps. These are your options. Use Salesforce’s in-built SMS messaging products Salesforce has two add-on products for SMS: Mobile Studio and Digital Engagement. The primary difference between the two is that while Mobile Studio offers SMS marketing features designed to work with other marketing channels in your strategy, Digital Engagement focuses more on customer support interactions. Here are some further significant differences between the two Salesforce products: Digital Engagement: Digital Engagement is available for $75 per user each month and offers web chats, one-on-one interactions, and automated SMS. There is a cap on the number of conversations you can start each month, however, users can send an unlimited number of messages within a single chat (within 24 hours). Mobile Studio: The whole Marketing Cloud Engagement solution must be purchased in order to access Mobile Studio. This will enable you to use the messaging features of Mobile Studio. SMS can be included as a touchpoint in multichannel customer journeys with Journey Builder. Both Salesforce products entail additional costs and have a limited feature set. Additionally, setup can be challenging because you have to go through an authorization or new number request process, which can sometimes take weeks to be approved. Build a custom solution You can use Salesforce API or another API provider to build a completely unique texting solution for your Salesforce organization if you'd like greater freedom. Your business or organization can develop any features you require and avoid paying for an extra Salesforce SMS solution by creating a custom integration. This solution, however, comes with a significant implementation and development cost and can be complicated and time-consuming. Use a 100% Salesforce native app Using a solution designed specifically for SMS and Salesforce is your best bet. You can find a range of apps designed especially for texting from Salesforce on the Salesforce AppExchange, which caters to the needs of companies just like yours. In contrast to third-party integrations and add-on products, these native Salesforce SMS applications offer several key benefits: Lower development expenses More functionality Easier to set up and use Save time on implementation In addition to these benefits, the app team's experienced customer support team will be at your disposal. All things considered, your team will save money and time by implementing a Salesforce native application. Best Practices for SMS from Salesforce Should modern-day businesses text their customers? Of course. SMS boasts of an open rate of 98%. Not only that, it also has an impressive response rate of 45%. Furthermore, nine out of ten text messages are read in a matter of seconds and are answered in a span of three to four minutes. Do these engagement rates imply that companies should have unrestricted texting policies? Not even in the slightest! You don't want your closest friends and relatives to text you at all hours of the day or night, right? Think about your relationships with them. So, the key question is, how should a business interact with its customers via text messaging? Acquire explicit consent from your audience Acts protecting consumer data privacy are very important. The regulations clearly outline the penalties for breaking the GDPR, which can amount to up to 20 million euros or 4% of the offending company's global annual revenue, whichever is larger. The CCPA also lays down the consequences of violations. Once the initial opt-in time limit has passed, make sure you automate the re-opt-in procedure and obtain consent once more. Consider your recipient’s time zones Avoid being that organization that texts customers at two in the morning when they are most likely asleep. Make sure the timing of your texts is aligned with your recipient's time zone. When sending texts, stick to the regular business hours of the recipient's time zone. Maintain cadence in your texting Make sure to stay in touch with your audience on a regular basis; you don't want them to forget who you are. A word of caution here to avoid undesirable effects. Make sure the texts you send are insightful or offer something of value. People may become disinterested in hearing from you if you communicate too much, which could lead to a spike in unsubscribe rates. A person's day might easily become unnecessarily stressful from receiving too many texts. Be consistent. Maintain the same number when texting your recipient. This will enable them to recognize the message as coming from you, and even if they haven't read it yet, they will recognize its significance. When you consistently provide messages on topics that matter to your customers, from the same number, they will come to trust you and your business. Stay engaged in the conversation. Effective communication is always reciprocal in nature. When customers reply to your messages, make sure you answer promptly and politely. Make sure you respond to inquiries precisely and completely. To make your points clearer, include citations and links to your sources. All of that gives your customers a growth-oriented learning experience. Delight your customers. Reward your customers when you see them doing something outstanding with a wonderful text message. If you can, follow up with a surprise package or something meaningful. For instance, call out your customer and make a donation to their favorite charity in their honor if they recently wrote a blog about taking part in an activity that improved the lives of others. Impress upon your customers that they might miss out on something big. The fear of missing out is the best engagement tool available. Your customers will be all in for the next big thing if you can make them believe they are going to miss something important or that they have already missed something important. Announcements, events, and participation opportunities are all excellent places to start when trying to create the fear of missing out. Don’t overdo your messaging. Who would actually want to talk to someone who is constantly attempting to upsell them something? Even while increasing sales may be the goal of your text marketing, keep in mind that the person receiving the message is a real person. Be conversational and avoid coming across as pushy.  Focus on the call to action. In the end, you want to start a dialogue with the customer that will lead to the next phases of an engagement. Make sure the customer is encouraged to continue their experience with your business in the text message. Notifications such as “Free trial on registration”, “Enter code DEAL15 at checkout!”, or “Fill out this survey to be eligible for a free gift voucher!” are quite helpful. Give people the option to opt-out with every message. The consequences of texting those who haven't opted in have already been discussed. Likewise, failing to provide recipients with an unsubscribe option is illegal, so make sure that every message you send says something along the lines of "Text STOP if you wish to opt out of future messaging." What are you waiting for? Set up a call with the GirikSMS team right now and get a free 30-day trial of a 100% native Salesforce texting app.

Engaging with customers on the channel of their preference is key to establishing a connection with them. An intriguing statistic is that 35% of customers prefer receiving marketing communications via mobile platforms. If anything, it serves as a gentle reminder to businesses to think about utilizing SMS for business-related communications. Many businesses currently engage in this, particularly on high-volume shopping occasions like Black Friday. However, there are plenty of additional ways to use SMS to interact with your customers all year long besides the typical peak seasons. Let's look at a few strategies for using SMS to improve business communication throughout the year. What is SMS in business communication? The term 'SMS for business communication' refers to how businesses utilize text messaging to communicate with customers, convey critical information, promote products and services, and improve their overall communication. SMS-based business communication utilizes a software program rather than a specific person to communicate with people via text. This method, referred to as application-to-person (A2P) SMS, method opens up a world of possibilities. Consider a hotel as an example. To boost guest satisfaction, hotels could quickly text them to confirm their reservation. Alternatively, a doctor could notify a patient via SMS with pertinent information following a visit. Even though these communications are only being received by one individual, they are not from multiple people. Bulk SMS messages are also relevant. A retailer might send out a bulk SMS message to subscribers promoting a new product or providing a time-limited coupon. It's also important to remember that companies can communicate with customers via more than just text messages. They may also send audio files, graphics, photos, videos, and other types of multimedia via Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messaging. Benefits of SMS for business communication As we've already indicated, a significant portion of your target market will prefer SMS correspondence. Here are four more advantages of employing SMS business messaging in addition to simply keeping your customers happy: Messages are read almost instantly SMS has an impressively high open rate and, even better, messages get read by most people fairly quickly. You can send business SMS with confidence knowing that a significant portion of your subscribers will not only see your message but will see it within a few minutes of receiving it. Because SMS can reach your target demographic much faster than social media or email, it works incredibly well for time-sensitive campaigns such as flash sales. SMS has a wide reach To put it simply, text messaging is available to everyone who owns a mobile phone. Consider this: SMS messaging can be used to communicate with over 7.2 billion people worldwide. SMS has an unparalleled reach! SMS messaging doesn’t require an internet connection SMS is compatible with any mobile device that has a mobile network connection. That's because SMS messaging doesn't require an internet data plan, it works on mobile network technology. While the proliferation of smartphones shows no signs of stopping, SMS allows users to receive messages on any kind of mobile phone, so you can reach a far wider audience with it than you could with internet-based approaches. Messages can be automated When it comes to managing repetitive tasks, automation is invaluable, and customers can also see its value. Consider this: regular SMS communications, such as delivery notifications, order confirmations, and password verifications, can be automated. Employees can rest easy knowing they don't have to perform these mundane customer service tasks manually once solutions like these are up and running. As an added bonus, you can use SMS templates to further streamline your communications. Ways to use SMS for business communications Here are seven ways to get started if you're ready to start reaching out to more prospects and customers via text messaging, which is how people like to be contacted by your business. Marketing campaigns SMS has an inherent limitation of 160 characters. There are two primary ways to use SMS for marketing. Individual texts with a clear call to action. A series of SMS messages that, typically over a few days or weeks, provide targeted offers or information to a particular segment of subscribers. Whatever method you choose, the most important thing is to make it easy and convenient to respond. Usually, this means providing a web link. That page can be a special campaign page that lets you monitor the response rate with ease. It might also be an already-existing page, such as a category or product page. Effective SMS marketing strategies cover the following: Promote flash sales Launch new products Revive older products that have been improved upon or updated. Run time-limited promotions Offer loyalty members exclusive deals; target certain subscriber categories with offers Encourage the sharing of relevant content by including links to resources on related subjects. Verification The process of verifying a user's identity or actions by text message delivery of a one-time password (OTP) or code to their mobile device is known as SMS verification. After that, the recipient logs into a website or application or authorizes a transaction using that code. This technique, which is often referred to as two-factor authentication (TFA), helps companies in preventing account manipulation by scammers and cybercriminals. Customer engagement Improved customer connections through personalized business messaging results in greater engagement and improved response rates. Your interactions can be more personalized when you have more information on your audience. Sending personalized texts on their birthday or offering them exclusive deals based on their previous purchases is possible with SMS. For instance, perhaps you would like to provide a unique discount to residents of a specific city. This demonstrates that you are aware of their needs and value their business. The messages can be made much more personalized when you integrate your CRM with your messaging app like what you can do with the GirikSMS Salesforce sms app, which can take personalization up a few notches.  This personalization strategy also works very well for marketing. You may grab customers' attention and keep them interested in your offerings by sending out highly effective messages, such as birthday offers that expire soon. Opt-in campaigns Through opt-in campaigns, businesses regardless of size can use SMS for lead nurturing or generation. By allowing potential customers to interact with your business on their terms and requesting their consent to receive SMS notifications, you can be sure that they are interested in what you have to offer. After that, you can nurture them with a consistent flow of new, valuable, informational, and helpful content, which will produce higher-quality leads. 2-way messaging Research indicates that 9 out of 10 consumers want to be able to ask questions in response to texts received from businesses. Having said that, many businesses rarely use two-way interaction capabilities. You can now instantly and individually serve each of your customers thanks to two-way messaging. This enables customers to get their questions answered quickly. And you're communicating with this person directly instead of having to call them personally. Transactional notifications One of the best applications of business SMS messaging is transactional notifications; they are quick and easy to use. Notifications via transactional SMS may include the following: Notifications of delivery and shipping updates Confirmations of purchases Confirmations of opt-in Verification of passwords Reminders for appointments Notifications for receipt of payments Notifications of modifications to account information or transaction data, such as an upgrade on a hotel room Get started with SMS for business communication As you can see, there are tons of methods for using SMS for business communication that will connect and engage more of your customers in ways that suit your specific needs as well as theirs. It's a genuine benefit that can make your business stand out from the competition. Selecting a text message service provider is the first step to launching SMS business messaging. With so many options available, it's critical to consider eight essential factors to ensure you're making the best choice: Ease of integration. To facilitate seamless integration with your other apps and systems, you should have access to a wide range of APIs. Security and compliance. In addition to having cyberattack defense and response strategies and backup systems, your provider should also be accountable for keeping you secure and in compliance with local regulations. Delivery performance. It's critical to locate an SMS provider with a track record of excellence and an engine that is tuned for minimal latency and high delivery rates.    Power to scale. Look for a supplier who can adapt and grow with you. Two-way messaging. When you want it, your messaging platform should deliver it for you. Sender ID availability. You want to be able to use this feature since it helps the recipient identify you and increases your credibility as a sender and brand. Reporting and analytics. For consistent and effective SMS marketing, real-time, comprehensive, and easily accessible KPIs are a must. Global expertise and customer support. Look for a provider with worldwide connectivity. Although SMS business messaging works well, you'll be most successful if you combine it with a more holistic omnichannel strategy for customer engagement. Have questions about conversational messaging for business? Contact us today for a free 30-day trial of GirikSMS, the 100% native Salesforce Texting App for business.