send sms from salesforce

Customer relationships are critical to an organization's growth and success. Salesforce is the leading CRM for building and nurturing these relationships by delivering a comprehensive 360-degree view of customers. As a result, sales and marketing reps can participate at various stages of the customer lifecycle, enhancing their experiences. Salesforce provides a variety of products, including marketing, sales, and service, to meet the distinct needs of various business sectors. So, when it comes to transforming and fostering student connections in education, the combination of SMS from Salesforce and Education Cloud is a potential game changer. What is Education Cloud? Most education institutions use multiple tools and systems to handle their operations, which puts a strain on their IT budgets. However, Education Cloud provides a more cost-effective way to manage operations without the need for multiple systems. Education Cloud is a comprehensive system that includes a student information system (SIS), an academic management system, ERP, CRM, and a learning management system (LMS). This enables educational institutions to quickly simplify the educational process, provide a tailored experience to students, and reduce transformation expenses. One of the standout features of Education Cloud is that users can view student data from anywhere and at any time from any device. SMS Salesforce with Education Cloud One of the most significant advantages of employing text messaging is the ability to reach large audiences instantly without relying on internet connectivity. In addition, text message transmission is not confined to any one smartphone type. Even the most basic mobile handsets allow you to send and receive messages. This enables educational institutions to expand their reach by engaging with students even in locations with limited or no internet services. This is one great opportunity to leverage SMS Salesforce in higher education. How GirikSMS text messaging works with Salesforce GirikSMS is a 100% native Salesforce SMS app and integrates easily with Salesforce's Education Data Architecture (EDA), allowing you to connect with school stakeholders and manage inter-departmental operations and data within Salesforce. EDA, like GirikSMS, takes into account the full student journey and all of the departments that impact it: Recruitment and admissions Marketing Enrolment Student Success Faculty and staff Alumni and donor relations EDA gives faculty and administrators a comprehensive view of students, including who they are, where they are from, their interests and preferences, and who they engage with. When texting students, parents, counselors, or staff members, you can view the entire history of text message interactions and quickly determine the link between the entity and its affiliations with the institution (academic program, clubs, sports, cultural teams, and more). When interdepartmental collaboration fails, administrators suffer. The process, performance, goals, and objectives become hazy. Your software systems should be flexible enough to handle a wide range of use case scenarios. You want a single app to manage the complete student lifecycle. Every department on campus can boost communication response rates by engaging students, alumni, parents, staff, and other stakeholders via SMS messaging. Text messaging is the ideal way for any administrative department to meet its objectives. GirikSMS's capabilities enable each department to communicate seamlessly through comprehensive views, data analytics and reporting, and inter-departmental automation. How can educational institutions leverage SMS messaging from Salesforce? Here's how various departments can leverage text messaging to communicate with their targeted stakeholder audiences. Recruitment Text messaging over SMS and WhatsApp gives recruiters global access to prospective students. Quickly collect inbound marketing data using the survey capability in Education Cloud. When a student consents to receive text messages from your institution by sending a keyword to your institution's text messaging number or short code, you immediately acquire their phone number (the primary point of contact). GirikSMS's in-built automation takes the contact information (which could include name and email) and creates or updates Salesforce records. Recruiters can choose to record additional information, such as their major during that first interaction. WhatsApp templates enable recruiters to do remote outbound marketing. With GirikSMS you can send outbound templates from its in-built template library to pique the recipient's interest and encourage them to opt in. This technique enables institutions to reach out to international students who may be unable to attend college fairs or campus tours. One-on-one text conversations provide personalized touchpoints for candidates with high interest in the institution. For instance, if an athlete had a standout performance, let them know you noticed. When you express a strong interest in a prospect, you foster their relationship with the school. Use personalized bulk messaging by drawing on CRM data to inform students about events and resources depending on their location, year of graduation, and chosen field of study. Educational institutions are today hosting virtual exhibitions and open houses digitally. Even if institutions cannot meet the ideal prospective candidates in person, they can still ensure good attendance at virtual events. Admissions GirikSMS, being native to Salesforce, seamlessly enables automation with Process Builder or Flow ensuring a smooth transition from recruitment to admissions. Admissions staff can use text messaging over SMS and WhatsApp to guide potential students through the entire enrolment process. Remind students of upcoming activities and deadlines for applications and enrolment. Admissions counselors connect with students one-on-one to discuss enrolment and financial assistance. Automate application status updates to avoid excessive requests from students and parents. Student Success Once students confirm they will be attending your institution, your student success teams will have the opportunity to nurture relationships with them over several years. Students provide valuable input using short and simple text message surveys. While working with several leading higher education customers we have seen that clients frequently establish a post-term cadence to determine how staff might allocate funds and resources for the subsequent semester. As part of these text surveys, give students the freedom and flexibility to vote via text. What kind of events do they want your institution to host? Where could you place a discretionary budget to improve the quality of campus life? With GirikSMS and Salesforce, you can create simple text message surveys with question-and-answer journeys with zero code.  Send class enrolment reminders in bulk based on graduation date and credits completed. Send personalized, automated communications to students with a GPA below a specific standard, directing them to schedule a discussion with their assigned counselor. Deploy conditional logic in forms and surveys to schedule meetings with student success, advisors, and career counselors. Automate congratulatory text messages for students who excel academically. Encourage timely payment of outstanding dues through text reminders to parents with links to complete payment. Alumni and donor relations You kept your students engaged and happy until graduation. Now that they are your alumni, they can be your finest PR agents and donors. Maintain contact with them so that they can participate in and develop the school network, as well as support your activities and fundraising efforts. Students' emails may no longer work, but their mobile numbers remain the same. Students may move frequently in their post-graduate years, so make sure you send them unobtrusive texts to stay connected. Send a text message seeking their most recent postal or email address. Incoming texts from them will automatically update the relevant Salesforce records. Use segmented bulk SMS with personalized Salesforce merge fields to inform alumni about ways to stay connected with your institution. Remind alumni of forthcoming events based on their graduation date and area. Use text-to-donate to provide contributors with a quick and easy option to contribute, capitalizing on the immediacy of text messaging. Use automated survey features to update contact information and solicit feedback. Automate yearly surveys and forms to track how your alumni are doing professionally and where they are. GirikSMS: One app and one digital channel to keep all stakeholders engaged. To prevent students from falling through the cracks, your Salesforce SMS messaging solution must be available to all departments. GirikSMS's automation enables departments to effortlessly shift text conversations and workflows across teams and departments as and when there is a change in a student's life cycle stage. When several staff members communicate with the same message recipient, past text conversations appear in the Conversation View with color-coded context at a glance. GirikSMS SMS messaging for Salesforce transforms digital communications for educational institutions while being embraced by students, parents, and staff alike due to its extensive capabilities and ease of use.

Salesforce CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) connects your phone system to Salesforce, enabling seamless communication with customers. The integration lets businesses resolve challenges like inefficient workflows, delayed response times, and disconnected systems. On top of that, it provides real-time data on customer profiles, call status, opportunities, etc. Even you can display past interactions with customers, including previous calls, emails, or chats, to provide more personalized information. That’s not it, Salesforce CTI’s capabilities are beyond than just introduced here. Diving deep lets you learn more about the CTI for Salesforce. A Bit into Salesforce CTI Salesforce CTI integrates real-time calling directly within the Salesforce system, enabling seamless communication with customers from your computer. Users are not required to work on different platforms for different purposes, i.e., making calls, viewing past interactions, and sending texts. Salesforce CTI allows you to call conveniently and handle every task with ease. You don’t have to manually type a phone number, just making a tap and calling your customer can ease the procedure. Whether it’s about making hundreds and thousands of calls in a week, you can seamlessly do it while skipping the hassle of a traditional telephony system. That’s not it, you can even create a link between your Salesforce CRM and cloud phone system. This connection lets you automate mundane, time-consuming, and low-value tasks. Thus, letting you improve your customer experience and driving business growth. Why Should You Use Salesforce CTI Integration? Here are multiple reasons on why you should use Salesforce CTI integration for improved customer experience and enhanced operational efficiency. 1.Omnichannel Support Not just voice calls, but with SMS for Salesforce CTI, you can email and chat with your customers. The system seamlessly integrated with other communication channels, letting you learn about customer interactions across all touchpoints. With Salesforce omnichannel, you can even set a limit on the number of calls dialed by agents. Thus, facilitating fair distribution of work all over the organization. 2.Better Call Routing CTI for Salesforce routes the call based on agent’s skill set, customer data, or reps’ availability. This ensures calls are routed to the right person, easing the load on those already handling calls. Further, it leads to balanced distribution of work, improved efficiency and enhanced customer satisfaction. Reduced Training Time While getting training from Salesforce consultants, agents can easily understand the unified interface combining Salesforce and telephony. Moreover, they reduce the time required in moving files from one system to another. On the same platform, they can get up speed on both call handling procedures and CRM. 4.Enhanced First-call Resolution Making a call is not fruitful until or unless you resolve customer issues. Well, guess what? Salesforce CTI integration allows agents to quickly access customers’ past interaction, demographic and other relevant data during calls. With such information in hand, agents are more likely to resolve issues on the first call itself, eliminating the need for follow-up calls. 5.Scalability and Flexibility The most amazing and yet another benefit of using Salesforce CTI is scalability and flexibility. Yes, the platform scales as your business grows. While getting ongoing support and assistance from Salesforce consultants, you can add more agents, expand functionalities, and integrate new communication channels to your existing system. 6.Improved Reporting and Analytics Salesforce CTI, being a unified platform, integrate telephony data. That means, you can capture relevant insights into call duration, call metrics, response times, agent performance, etc. Collecting and analyzing this data helps you optimize your process in a way that improves your business overall efficiency and performance. 7.Automatic Call Logging and Case Creation Do you know what sets Salesforce CTI apart from others? Well, it’s automatic call logging. Calls are automatically logged in Salesforce with information like customer details, case creation, call duration, etc. Agents are no longer required to invest their crucial working hours in manually recording these entries. With automated recording, every interaction gets documented properly. 8.More Personalized Interaction As agents can access customer preferences, history, past interactions in real-time, they can offer more personalized services like never before. All thanks to the Salesforce CTI. The system triggers a “screen pop” that immediately shows the relevant customer information, letting agents address customers’ concerns without having to ask for information. 9.Streamlined Compliance To ensure call recordings are properly tagged and stored, Salesforce CTI can get easily integrated with compliance tools. That means, you can meet all your legal requirements without any manual intervention. Thus, focusing on what matters the most—enhancing customer experience and streamlining business operations. GirikCTI—Empower Your Agents with the Magic of Salesforce CTI GirikCTI, a CTI for Salesforce, developed by the technocrats of Girikon, lets you easily place a call to your end users. Being integrated with Salesforce, the platform ensures gathering relevant data/information and uses the same for enhancing the interaction. That’s not it, GirikCTI offers various capabilities like sentiment analysis to let you respond accurately upon identifying users’ sentiments. Its AI-powered conversation leaves no room for inefficiencies, automating customer interactions and enabling agents to deliver personalized and faster customer service. In combination with AI and Salesforce CTI, GirikCTI optimizes workflow and sets new standards in customer engagement. Want to learn more about how the platform helps you turn chats into leads? Get in touch with the experts and explore why you must not just call but send SMS from Salesforce for the desired results.

By leveraging automated SMS from Salesforce, businesses can streamline sales, marketing, and customer support activities. And by doing so, businesses can boost revenue, enhance customer service, and drive customer engagement over multiple channels.  Businesses can leverage the many benefits that automated Salesforce SMS messaging offers by integrating a 100% native Salesforce SMS app directly with their Salesforce CRM workflow. The Effectiveness of Text Messaging in Customer Communication Text messages are an effective way of capturing your customer's attention quickly. Text message open rates range from 95 to 99% on average. Not only that, 90% of messages received are read within three minutes. Other avenues of communication find it difficult to match the personal touch that this text messaging offers. SMS messages establish a direct and personal communication channel with your contact, cutting through the clutter. Automated SMS messaging from Salesforce The ideal way to integrate automated SMS messaging into Salesforce is to use a native Salesforce messaging app like GirikSMS. With GirikSMS, companies can send bulk SMS message campaigns to their contacts, have two-way text interactions, send SMS appointment reminders, send event updates, send booking confirmations, and much more, all directly from Salesforce. You can also automate routine sales tasks, automate responses to commonly asked customer support questions, and solicit feedback from customers. Why Should Businesses Use Salesforce SMS Messaging? SMS messaging from Salesforce transforms customer engagement. By connecting Salesforce with an enterprise SMS messaging app, you can leverage your all your organizational data. By utilizing your CRM data, you can launch automated SMS campaigns that are triggered on specific events. For e.g. when a contact performs a certain action like a sign up on your website. There are virtually innumerable use cases where your business can use Salesforce SMS messaging to enhance engagement with customers. Text Messages Are Very Visible Text messages are always in your face, unlike emails that can get lost in a cluttered inbox. Your messages have a higher chance of being read as a result. Text messages are difficult to ignore. People have a propensity to texts as soon as it is received, unlike emails that are easily ignored. Text messaging is perfect for urgent updates or information that must be communicated at scale. Furthermore, messages are perfect for people who are always on the go because they are concise and to the point. The convenience, flexibility, and reach of text messaging make it a powerful tool for reaching people. Text Messaging is Personal and Happens in Real Time  It can be challenging to get people to listen to your message in today's "always on the move" world. Text messages, on the other hand, are an excellent approach to reaching out to your contact base because they are personalized and are delivered instantly. This implies that there is a greater chance that your recipients will reply to your communication. Text messages can also be coupled with other channels like social media and popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp to form a comprehensive communication strategy. SMS allows you to ensure that your communication stands out. Track and Measure Performance With an enterprise Salesforce messaging solution like GirikSMS, you get access to comprehensive analytics and reporting to enable you to optimize your text messaging campaigns and boost your text messaging RoI. Overall, there are numerous reasons to consider adopting automated Salesforce text messaging for your business. SMS, with its high visibility and customization ability, can add real value to your sales, marketing, and customer support operations. How To Use Automated Salesforce Text Messaging Effectively Keep your texts concise and to the point. Because SMS messages can only be 160 characters long, they must be brief and to the point. Communicate your message without any ambiguity. Embed compelling calls-to-action (CTA). You want recipients to take some action after reading your message. Isn’t that the purpose of sending it in the first place? So, make sure your CTA is a powerful one. Use compelling language, and state clearly what you want them to do, and what they get in return. For instance, use a CTA such as "Click on the link below to receive 10% off your booking" to nudge them to complete a booking. Segment Your Contacts The ability to segment your contacts so that you deliver tailored messages to the right people at the right time is one of the wonderful aspects of automated text messaging.  You can segment your CRM contacts by multiple parameters such as age, gender, geography, interests, past purchases, etc. SMS Messaging for Events and Appointments Reminding participants of forthcoming Salesforce Calendar events is one of the most useful use cases for sending texts from Salesforce. Although text reminders can also be useful for keeping internal employees updated about meetings, this usually entails alerting current or potential customers about scheduled appointments with you. Text messaging from Salesforce has been shown to significantly reduce appointment no-shows. Similarly, customers feel assured when they know that they will be reminded on time for upcoming appointments. This translates to convenience and higher satisfaction. GirikSMS leverages CRM data and can include key elements of that data within the text message itself to personalize every text. By unitizing dynamic fields and placeholders in pre-built text message templates, businesses can remind, reschedule, confirm, or follow up with contacts regarding their upcoming appointment. Businesses can send reminder texts at scale using the built-in library of templates and sequences in GirikSMS by leveraging dynamic fields, which automatically pull the relevant data from the CRM and embed them into the text message. Bulk Text Message Campaigns Sending bulk SMS to your contacts is a very effective use of SMS messaging to reach out to a large database of subscribers. Bulk texting campaigns have been shown to increase reservations, drive sales with deals and discounts, re-activate old leads or churned customers, and improve overall customer satisfaction. Similar to personalized messaging for event reminders, bulk text message campaigns can deliver relevant messaging to your subscriber base and increase the chances that they will respond and take action. Using text messaging to assist in converting leads in your Salesforce org into prospects or even customers is a fantastic example. For instance, a week after a lead has signed up on your website but has not yet taken any further action, you can nudge them to make a reservation with you and offer a link with a discount in your automated text message. Business Text Messaging in Two Ways Text messaging from Salesforce is a great tool for businesses to engage in 2-way conversational messaging with contacts. This enables businesses to establish an interactive, real-time line of communication with their contacts. Recipients can instantly reply to appointment reminder texts, re-schedule appointments, ask questions, or offer suggestions by leveraging 2-way text messaging with a business. With automated text messaging from Salesforce, customers are kept engaged and feel valued because they see that the company is responding quickly to their questions or concerns. This fosters stronger customer relationships founded on convenience and trust. Reminders for Payments Reminding people to make payments for appointments can also be done effectively with text messaging. To make it easier for customers to pay, these messages can include important information like the payment amount, pay-by date, and a link to complete the transaction. This simplifies the booking journey of customers and companies alike. Also, it eliminates the need for annoying collection calls at odd hours by sending courteous reminders, which helps to deliver pleasant experiences. How Can I Activate Salesforce Text messaging? Depending on the text messaging platform you use, there are many ways to integrate text messaging with Salesforce. Determine the text messaging requirements and budget of your company, to begin with, then identify a reliable 100% native Salesforce text messaging platform such as GirikSMS. Integrating both your CRM and your messaging solution is the next logical step. Next, you'll configure your templates, scheduling, and text message rules. Now you’re good to go. GirikSMS: Your Salesforce Text Messaging Platform GirikSMS automates customer communication with its no-code drag-and-drop interface.  GirikSMS allows you to: Configure your Salesforce Calendar to automatically send out text reminders for appointments. Leverage your CRM data to personalize every outbound text that resonates with your brand. Increase engagement by personalizing every follow-up and appointment reminder message. Monitor the performance of your text messaging by tracking the delivery and response to every text and refine your texting strategy. Allow contacts the convenience and flexibility to schedule and re-schedule appointments online by directly integrating with your Salesforce calendar. Send text messages to thousands instantly, collect payments, answer questions, and gather feedback. All automated over 2-way text messaging.  GirikSMS is a 100% Salesforce text messaging solution. This means you can embed automated text messaging with virtually zero code right into your workflows. This frees up time for your employees so that they can spend their time and energy on what matters most – building stronger customer relationships. Try GirikSMS free for 30 days to see how easy and efficient it is.

As a business, you constantly seek the most effective and efficient ways to reach your customers and establish long-term connections with them. This task is made easier when you engage leads and customers through the channels in which they are most engaged, and SMS comes up trumps as the stand-out leader.  With a 98% open rate, SMS messaging is a great option to engage customers on a communication channel that they are already familiar with and use on a regular basis. Your Salesforce CRM stores all your customer data that your business has acquired and harmonized over time, which you can utilize to build dynamic and tailored text messaging engagements with your customers. To accomplish this, however, your organization first needs to set up a Salesforce SMS integration. Salesforce CRM is already widely embraced by users around the world to transform the way they work and propel their company to new heights. Salesforce is a global leader in innovation and for many years has demonstrated to be a game changer for businesses across all verticals, whether it's sales, marketing, customer service, commerce, or any other function. When it comes to customer engagement, businesses around the world have already transformed the way they interact with customers by leveraging the power of Salesforce messaging. Salesforce SMS has made it a lot easier to personalize interactions with leads and customers, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and stronger customer relationships. Having said that, businesses new to Salesforce may struggle to get started with texting from Salesforce effectively. We're here to assist you with the fundamentals of sending SMS from Salesforce and suggest the best Salesforce SMS messaging platform. In this blog post, we shall talk about the following topics. How can businesses send SMS from Salesforce? GirikSMS: A 100% Salesforce texting platform How Can You Automate sending SMS from Salesforce? While setting up Salesforce messaging, business users can leverage out-of-the-box SMS capabilities that can transform customer engagement, replacing traditional texting methods. This allows businesses to be creative in their communication strategy. How can businesses send SMS from Salesforce? SMS from Salesforce can be used to support multiple business functions – sales, marketing, customer support, sales, operations, and more. While you cannot send texts from Salesforce in its barebone state, there are several other ways to go about it. Before we get started, let's look at some of the most commonly used applications of Salesforce SMS messaging used by businesses across industries. Here’s how Salesforce SMS messaging can be used by businesses: One-on-one SMS Messaging: Create personalized connections by sending targeted messages directly to specific contacts directly from Salesforce. Bulk SMS Messaging: Send messages to specific contact groups or your entire contact list to notify them of important updates, announcements, new offerings, and much more. Automated SMS Messaging: Leverage native Salesforce automation tools like journeys, triggers, and flows, to automatically guide customers via bespoke message sequences. These messaging techniques have the power to transform your sales, marketing, and customer support functions. Furthermore, you can make your regular communications more appealing by including visual components such as images and videos. This allows you to interact with your audience more quickly and efficiently by adopting the most relevant texting strategy for your use cases. As was previously discussed, there are several ways to use SMS messaging from Salesforce. These fall into 3 major categories. Salesforce Solutions Salesforce offers two additional text-enabled solutions. Mobile Studio in Marketing Cloud  Salesforce Digital Engagement in Service Cloud. Mobile Studio is designed specifically for Salesforce SMS marketing, which you can simply integrate with your current marketing channels, while Digital Engagement places a higher priority on customer support interactions. Salesforce Digital Engagement: For just $75 per user each month, businesses can harness the value of CRM-powered digital engagement. This feature-rich tool facilitates seamless chat conversations, personalized one-on-one interactions, and automated SMS. There is a monthly limit on the number of chat conversations that you can initiate, but you can enjoy limitless messaging within each discussion (as long as it is within 24 hours). Mobile Studio: With Mobile Studio, you can access features like SMS, MMS, chat, and push notifications. Using customized templates, you can quickly draft messages, and using Salesforce Journey Builder, you can easily integrate SMS into your multichannel customer journeys. A Marketing Cloud license is a prerequisite to use this tool in Salesforce. These solutions do come with additional expenses, and it is fair to say, their feature sets are not very extensive. Furthermore, setting everything up can be a little challenging. Either you have to go through the entire authorization process or ask for a new number, which may take several weeks to be approved. Custom Solution Building   You can also go for a custom-built solution to send SMS from Salesforce. This, however, comes at a price and involves an investment of time and money. You will have to start from scratch using a Salesforce or third-party API which involves development, integration, and implementation expenses. Any kind of capability can be built with custom development and the downside is that the more complicated your business needs, the more time and costs will be incurred to implement it. Salesforce Native App This is the smartest and arguably the most effective way to get started with SMS from Salesforce. Go to AppExchange and find a Salesforce texting app that best fits your use cases and explore a variety of native Salesforce apps. An advanced native Salesforce SMS app should provide the following: Pre-integrated with multiple channels Ready-to-use features Simple, fast, and codeless setup No development, integration, and maintenance costs What's even more intriguing is that you can count on round-the-clock support to help you whenever you need it so you can get the most out of the solution. GirikSMS: 100% Salesforce native SMS Solution GirikSMS is a powerful solution to start engaging with your contacts via SMS directly from Salesforce. GirikSMS comes pre-integrated with WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging platform, allowing businesses to start interacting with their contacts on their most preferred messaging channel. Moreover, it comes with a plethora of features to help businesses transform their communication strategy by fostering creativity via text interactions. GirikSMS has all the features businesses need to start building stronger relationships with their customers. Here's a sneak peek at some of the innovative features of GirikSMS. Zero Code Chatbots and Surveys No knowledge of coding? Nothing to worry. With GirikSMS, you can easily build surveys and chatbots using its intuitive drag-and-drop interface. This feature makes things easier and lets you interact more personally and interactively with your contacts. You can easily build and deploy rule-based chatbots and surveys with its zero code UI, whether you want to deliver fast customer service or gather feedback. Compliance GirikSMS was developed with compliance as the highest priority, making sure that each communication complies with industry best practices and guidelines. With flexible opt-ins and opt-outs, recipients can easily manage their preferred methods of establishing contact. To maintain your messaging strategy compliant with legal requirements, GirikSMS also allows you to create custom fields to accommodate evolving texting guidelines and regulations. AI-Powered One-On-One Text Conversations With the AI-powered chat capability of GirikSMS, manual responses are now a thing of the past. By monitoring ongoing interactions, the platform creates auto-suggested responses in real time, resulting in faster and more efficient communication. By giving fast and relevant responses, this intelligent automation improves customer service by raising overall customer satisfaction and engagement levels. No-Code Text Automation With GirikSMS's no-code text automation features and standard Salesforce automation integration, you can streamline your workflows. This capability automates follow-ups, schedules communications, and triggers responses based on predetermined criteria, among other repetitive activities, saving you time and effort. With the power of automation at your disposal, you can maximize productivity by concentrating on providing outstanding customer experiences. How Can You Automate Outbound SMS with GirikSMS? It depends on your texting tool's capabilities whether you are automating Salesforce messages using a sophisticated process or a straightforward one. Depending on your use cases, GirikSMS offers both Salesforce standard automation as well as no code support. For basic use cases, you can automate SMS messages from Salesforce using an intuitive click-and-drag interface without any coding knowledge. You can rely on regular automation features in Salesforce such as flows, for complex automation use cases. You can also specify the conditions under which you wish to trigger an automated text message. In addition, you may set up a zero-code multi-channel drip campaign by automating a sequence of text messages. GirikSMS's text automation capabilities allow you to save a significant amount of time and effort. Harness the true power of text messaging with a 100% Salesforce native messaging solution. Texting is already an effective way to communicate with prospects and customers and with the right tools, you can maximize the efficacy of your messaging. With GirikSMS, you can transform the way you interact with customers. Whether it is sales, marketing, or customer service, you can gain a competitive advantage in your industry by adopting a reliable and trusted 100% native Salesforce messaging solution.  GirikSMS offers a comprehensive array of texting features that can be easily tailored to specific use cases. We are always here to assist you in reaching your goals.

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.

All businesses without exception, strive to achieve high levels of customer loyalty. And it’s not a surprising fact. Industry data reveals that the cost of retaining existing customers is a mere 20% of acquiring new ones. Businesses recognize that even a 5% improvement in customer retention rates has a significant impact on the top line. With so many options available to customers, going the extra mile to earn their loyalty is a no-brainer in today's fiercely competitive business ecosystem. SMS marketing is perhaps the most underrated yet key driver of customer loyalty. Many businesses today are leveraging SMS marketing to retain customers. The popularity of SMS marketing is increasing at breakneck speed. It provides that elusive silver lining to improve customer engagement and build trust and loyalty. What is Customer Loyalty? The word loyalty is typically associated with an allegiance or bond between two entities. In the business context, customer loyalty characterizes a consistent emotional bond between the business and the customer. Customer loyalty indicates the willingness of customers to engage with the business for its products or services. Achieving customer loyalty can be complex and relies on the synergy of several factors: Emotional connection Quality and consistency of brand engagement Exceptional customer service Customer satisfaction levels Product or service customization Personalized interaction Customer loyalty is a direct result of consistent efforts undertaken by a brand and is usually measured across multiple market metrics such as customer lifetime value, repeat purchases, customer satisfaction score, upsell rates, engagement levels, and more. Loyal customers hold the key to a business's longevity and growth. Industry data indicates that loyal customers are willing to spend 65% more on a brand’s products and services compared to new customers. As the saying goes – 20% of your customers contribute to 80% of your sales. So, the message to marketers is loud and clear: drive customer loyalty to increase profitability. The Role of SMS in Improving Customer Loyalty and Enhancing Retention SMS marketing is a discreet way of engaging customers and establishes an invisible yet strong connect between them and your brand. Industry reports indicate that bulk SMS messaging has a read rate of 98%, as compared to email marketing which hovers around 20% at best. In fact, what’s even more interesting is that SMS messages have a read rate of 97% within the first 15 minutes of receipt, and that's primarily because people check their phones at least a hundred times a day. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that there is solid ground to consider bulk SMS messaging as a powerful driver of customer loyalty. How To Build Customer Loyalty with Bulk SMS Messaging The question still remains how bulk SMS messaging drives customer loyalty? With the right bulk SMS marketing strategy with personalized and relevant messaging content, you can facilitate faster response times.  We recommend these 5 simple steps to improve customer loyalty via bulk SMS messaging. Understand your target audience. Segment your subscribers based on age, gender, demographics, interests, and preferences to set up the foundation to send consistent, relevant, and concise content. Align goals. Establish a clear vision of your SMS marketing goals such as conversion rates, app, website, or social media page traffic, feedback scores, and more. Create strategy-based content. SMS messages have a limitation of 160 characters.  So, every word is worth its weight in gold. Keep your messaging concise and precise. Avoid spamming. Don’t overwhelm your customers with unnecessary or repeat messages. And depending on the time zone you operate in for your SMS messaging, ensure your messages are delivered at a time when customers are most likely to see it. Analyze and improve. Marketing is all about indicators, so make sure you are always on top of key metrics like open rate, click-throughs, conversions, sign-ups, unsubscribes, and ROI. Innovate: Last but not least, bulk SMS marketing allows you to experiment and improve your SMS marketing strategy and adjust it as you go. So be sure to collect feedback from your customers at regular intervals. This not only helps you to improve but also tells your customers you value how they feel about you. Strategies to Increase Customer Retention with SMS While we have talked about some key aspects of improving customer loyalty via bulk SMS messaging, it is equally important to understand some tried and tested implementation strategies that drive customer loyalty: New Customer and Post-Purchase Offers. Offering deals and discounts to new customers is an effective strategy for acquiring them. And once they are on board, new deals and offers based on their initial purchase can be a powerful incentive for them to return to your brand. When offering deals, make sure they are time-bound and send them reminder texts with clickable links to your e-store to nudge them to make a purchase. New Product Announcement. Concise, attention-grabbing SMS texts have proven to be very effective. And if your products or services are hyper-personalized for a particular customer segment, SMS marketing could be very effective in igniting interest. GirikSMS comes with seamless integration with Salesforce, which means you can leverage your CRM data for deep insights into customer behavior and target your SMS marketing perfectly with precise and relevant messaging. Trigger Messaging. This is a very effective way to capture your audience’s attention. Automated SMS messages can be triggered for a range of scenarios such as abandoned cart reminders, the latest personalized discounts, and offers, new product launches or back-in-stock items. Conclusion There is no doubt that SMS texting is a powerful tool for driving customer loyalty and retention. With a market-leading automated SMS platform in place and a sound use-case-based marketing strategy, brands can unlock the power of SMS marketing to improve customer loyalty enhance retention, and pave the way for the long-term success of their business. Try GirikSMS for Improved Customer Loyalty and Retention With GirikSMS, you can implement automated, intelligent marketing strategies at scale with personalized engagement across every interaction. With GirikSMS’s automation capabilities and its intelligent Chatbots, you can be up and running in no time. With GirikSMS you can: Send tailored product alerts Cross-sell and upsell Send reminders Send order updates Resolve customer issues Engage in 2-way conversational messaging Collect customer feedback Start your Free 3 Month Trial today. Still have questions? Connect with one of our SMS experts.