How to Use SMS Marketing to Sell to your Customers in Real Time

SMS marketing in real-time

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: SMS is not dead. Having been around since 1992, it’s groundbreaking that text has remained a trailblazer since before the words ‘mobile marketing’ even left people’s lips.

But… somewhere along the line using SMS to market businesses got a bad rap. And even with all the instant messaging tools available to businesses and consumers today, we’re here to remind you that SMS marketing is still the best way to reach your customers, both locally and globally.

You’ll want to keep reading to find out why and how you can use SMS marketing to reach your customers in real time, and the importance of this timely approach.

The power of immediacy

We live in a world of now: when a customer shops around for a product, they can call the business to inquire, email them, send a message via the website chatbot, etc... the options seem endless.

But, more importantly - they’re immediate.

Gone are the days of waiting ages for a response on whether a shop stocks the product you’re looking for, or waiting for a call back to book an appointment with your doctor when you should be able to book online - customers know what they want and they want it now.

That’s why using SMS marketing as part of your mobile strategy is a sound approach and has many benefits for your business. It’s not even a generational aspect - the world over has mobile phones, and at the very least that which allows for receiving and sending text messages.

And with a 90% open rate, you can’t go wrong with this simple and effective way to communicate with your customers with no delay.

Thank them (then get their feedback)

Think about when a customer purchases something via your website and then waits months before interacting with your site again. This presents an opportunity to keep customers in the sales pipeline when you otherwise would have lost them to the world of e-commerce, a challenge which is perfect for bulk SMS marketing.

With a quick SMS, you can reach customers immediately. Imagine a customer receiving the following text sent straight to their inbox:

“Hey Heidi, thanks for shopping with us! We appreciate your support, and, to say thanks, here’s a coupon for 30% off your next purchase!”

This shows that you care about customer loyalty, and with the free coupon, the customer will remember they have a reason to return to your business.

Use it to further your marketing efforts

Another way to use good ol’ text to boost your marketing tactics is by using it to inform customers about new products, specials, events, and more. For example:

“It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you! We thought we’d share our best-sellers... happy shopping! ‘Til next time :)”

Customers love to feel like an effort has been made, and what better way to do so than by sharing your business’ top deals straight to their inbox?

Other tactics like email marketing and paid adverts have their place, but when it comes to needing to send an immediate automated message to customers and have them immediately respond or act, SMS marketing saves the day.

The benefits of SMS marketing for your business are endless - from getting customers to rate your service and share their feedback in real-time, to sending them to your website or your physical business - the world of SMS marketing is your oyster.

A tool that does it all

You’re probably wondering where to begin with using SMS marketing to benefit your business, and the answer lies with Clickatell’s SMS API integration platform. This powerful platform can be used to effectively reach your customers all around the world, especially when they’re thinking about or are in the process of making a purchase. Our reliable, scalable SMS platform can SMS-enable any application, website or systems, and requires zero coding!