Messaging and chat are exploding, and that’s good news for brands and consumers who want quicker, more simplified, personal, and effective communication.
Friends and family are increasingly using chat as a preferred means of communication, and consumers are chatting more with businesses, too. Half of U.S. consumers already use chat apps—such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger—to talk to businesses, and almost 7 in 10 Millennials do the same, research shows. Meanwhile, almost 9 in 10 consumers regularly use chat apps on their mobile devices.
That’s a level of chat-focused engagement that brands need to take advantage of, and there’s no better time than now to evolve 1-way SMS campaigns to 2-way SMS chat.
SMS is a rapidly growing form of text that is already used by more than five billion people worldwide. It enables the transmission of messages of up to 160 characters among users on a mobile network. The great news for brands is that SMS is natively supported on all phones, and the user’s phone number acts as their identity. That means SMS can grow as fast as or faster than the penetration of mobile phones, which are expected to reach more than 8 billion people in 2023.
Currently, SMS is most popular for outbound uses, such as appointment reminders, shipping notifications, flight confirmations, fraud alerts, or marketing campaigns. The results are astounding. More than 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes of receipt. This means companies get an opportunity to engage with customers quickly. What’s more, text messages have a whopping 98% open rate, meaning the information gets delivered. In comparison, emails have a 20% to 30% open rate. A higher open rate increases the chance of a successful engagement.
With consumers increasingly anxious to do business via chat, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, companies that launch 2-way SMS chat will gain a competitive edge.
Chat is fast, easy, and direct. With 2-way SMS chat, companies will answer more consumer questions faster. They’ll be able to follow up in real-time, simplify the customer experience, create happier customers, and drive engagement and sales to new levels. Fast responses from companies to consumers can drive fast sales and issue resolution. Also, chat provides a continuous thread between customer and brand, increasing opportunities to cross-sell, up-sell and create personalised messages that build trust and affinity.
The ROI of chat and commerce is well documented by Aberdeen Research. Its recent study shows that at least two-thirds of firms use chat, such as WhatsApp and WeChat, in commerce, and those that do experience significant results:
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Revenue growth is 75% higher year over year.
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89% greater annual growth in cross-sell and up-sell revenue.
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Customer retention rates increased by 48% year on year.
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Almost 21% greater Y-o-Y increases in marketing ROI
Let’s look closer at the key benefits of 2-way SMS, which are highly
Conversational Commerce is all about relationships, and relationships start with conversations. With 2-way SMS, companies don’t just talk to consumers, they talk with them. That builds engagement and connection. With a conversational thread flowing between brand and customer, companies can quickly innovate and customise by changing tone and content to match the customer’s interests. With 2-way SMS, consumers easily share feedback, content, and opinions—which also makes them feel more valued. If conversations are automated with chatbots, brands do well if live chat takes over when questions become too complex.
Consumers today have multiple options to interact with companies, and they increasingly want to do it via chat—and on their timeframe. With 2-way SMS, consumers read the message and can respond when it works best for them. That might be right away or later. They’re engaged with the company without having to wait on hold for a call centre agent. Because the full history of the conversation resides in the 2-way SMS chat, both the company and the consumer know what transpired before. No more having to repeat the same information to yet another call centre chatbot or live agent. This creates a more convenient and satisfying exchange.
Customer engagement is the emotional connection between customers and a company. Gallup research shows that customers who are fully engaged represent a 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth over the average customer. With 2-way SMS chat, companies reach out, deliver their short message, and then consumers can engage further when they want to. Companies aren’t interrupting consumers with unwanted phone calls at unwanted times, demanding attention. Because SMS messages are short, it only takes a few seconds for consumers to take in the information. Once they do, and if the information is on target, they are more likely to fully engage. This doesn’t happen with a phone call that is not listened to or an email that isn’t opened.
Even as companies evolve from 1-way SMS to 2-way SMS, they must continue to add value to the customer journey. Content needs to be pertinent and appealing. Responses to customer responses need to drive the solution the customer seeks. Messages also need to be effective in 160 characters. Also, companies should test approaches several times and use analytics to gather feedback so messages can be more tailored. The end result of a successful 2-way SMS campaign is improved customer relations and sales.
Consumer expectations are driving modern commerce activities. As consumers move more and more to chat, companies need to meet them there—or risk losing them to competitors who do.
In this landscape, the opportunities for 2-way SMS are huge. According to Jupiter Research, global mobile business messaging traffic will reach 2.7 trillion in 2020, a 10% increase from 2019. The pandemic undoubtedly accelerated adoption of SMS marketing as consumers embraced more digital commerce.
Clickatell powers SMS campaigns with a single, simple-to-configure API, requiring no developers or coding. Whether your business needs a quick and exceedingly efficient SMS tool or the ability to create rich 2-way chat conversations with customers,
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