How Text Messaging Platforms for Business Help CPG Companies

If you’re in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) space, you may have found marketing a challenging reality. While online shopping has made it possible to reach more consumers with your product, it has done the same for competitors.

Consumer goods is an extremely competitive arena, and customers consistently demand lower prices and more convenience. To meet these demands and broaden your reach, marketing must be both attractive and cost-effective.

Your Best Ally: Text Messaging Platforms for Business

SMS marketing steps in to complete your strategy. With SMS you reach a captive audience, communicating in a way that’s relevant – and crucial – in modern times. Text messaging platforms for business enable you to reach your customers efficiently and effectively.

These platforms serve as a distribution point, allowing you to craft and send messages to your audience. More than that, they enable you to have two-way conversations with your customers in a way that feels comfortable for them. More and more consumers are reporting that they’d rather text a business than make a phone call.

Text messaging platforms for business allow you to send a high volume of texts in a short amount of time. You craft a message in the dashboard, select your audience, and hit send. That’s it. Your message gets distributed to your subscribers swiftly from your dedicated short code or 10 DLC (10-Digit Long Code).

The Rise of Business Text

It’s Marketing 101: it’s not about what you want to say but what you want your audience to receive. More than marketing, this is a key to doing business. To communicate with prospective and current customers, you need to reach them where they’re reachable.

Phones have become an inseparable facet of life. Most people wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without their mobile phone, which means they’re always within arm’s reach. Couple that with the clear preference for text over phone calls or email, and you’ll get the picture on effective customer communication.

Related: SMS Short Codes for Marketing

A whopping 90% of people open a text message within 3 minutes of receiving it. This is a far cry from the 20% open rate of emails. Texts also have a 45% response rate compared to just 6% for email. While this doesn’t imply that email marketing is a total loss, it does illustrate the importance of including text in your marketing strategy.

Not limited to sales and marketing, text messaging platforms for business can help CPG companies communicate with their text-savvy customers. Text can be used to communicate important information or reminders. It can also be a line of communication for customers looking to reach your customer service department.

How SMS Marketing Benefits CPG Companies

In such a fast-moving, crowded, unforgiving space like CPG, SMS marketing can help you stay front of mind with current and future customers. Marketing activities can be targeted to your subscriber audience and will reach them in a timely and effective way.

ROI for text messaging platforms for business is clear and measurable, letting you gauge how and where you’re directing your cash flow. Messages should be short, intriguing, and actionable. Remember, it’s a text, not an email campaign. You want to get straight to the point to win their interest without bothering them by hearing from you. Text is a direct line to their attention. Make the most of it.

Let’s look at some common uses for SMS marketing, keeping in mind that with each text, you should reference your business so they know from where the text comes:

Promotions, Giveaways, and Coupons

Text messaging platforms for business are perfect for getting the word out about promotional activities. Send text messages to announce promotions and discounts. Include a link where a coupon can be found, or supply an online code to redeem the discount. This will help you track the effectiveness of your distribution.

You can also use text to encourage participation in a giveaway or contest. Whether your customer needs to simply respond, sign up, or make a purchase to participate, SMS will help increase participation.

Product Launches and Events

If you’re launching a new product or service you have a great opportunity to engage with your audience. Start by sending messages to build some suspense – “Something new is coming…” – and encourage recipients to sign up to be the first to know.

Invite customers to exclusive in-person or online events by providing a sign up link. If you want to make a special offer to the first people to purchase your product when it launches, send a short text to invite them for an exclusive benefit.

Related: A Game Changer – Bulk SMS Marketing

Upselling and Add-Ons

Not limited to messages to gain new customers, you can use business SMS to encourage upsells and add-ons. Once your customers make a purchase, send a message with helpful other products or services that compliment the ones they already own. This helps you become more entrenched, while adding value to your customers by showing them more opportunity for useful items from your catalogue.

Helpful Tips and Follow Ups

After customers make a purchase, you can build value by supporting them in using your products. Whether it’s instructional documents or supportive videos on making the most of the product they purchased, text messaging platforms for business are a great way to distribute information and ensure your customers have all they need.

Other Uses for Business SMS

We’ve covered how SMS can be used for marketing campaigns and outreach, but that’s not all it can do for you. Text messages are an effective tool for ongoing customer support and communication.

Consumers are tired of sifting through automated directories and waiting on hold for the next representative. Automated text replies allow them to access the information they need quickly and easily, and saves them the wait for questions that could be easily answered.

SMS for Customer Service

Customers want personalized experiences with authentic interaction, and they want it in real time. They also prefer text over talking, so you’ll have to develop new ways of making yourself – via your customer service team – available.

SMS customer services provides a number to your customers to text when they need support or information. An automated response system can be set up, allowing the system to field a certain number of questions on your behalf. If the question can’t be answered or the issue resolved via this automated text-based interaction, you can direct the conversation to a live representative to take over.

Service Reminders

Another aspect of doing business is follow-up. Whether you book appointments, schedule installations, or have recurring service requirements, sending proactive messages to your customers is a great way to build value. You’ll also reduce your no-shows, saving your employees time.

Text messaging platforms for business allow you to send texts to confirm appointments and include a link to add it to their calendar. As their appointment time approaches, you can schedule a short-and-sweet reminder to ensure they’re available on the day. You can also give customers the opportunity to respond and request a reschedule, allowing the whole interaction to happen easily via text.

Integrate Your Internal Teams

Leveraging integrations with CRM solutions, text messaging platforms for business can bring your internal teams together. These integrations allow for transparency and cohesion amongst teams, allowing Customer Service, Tech or Product Support, and other teams to see full conversations with clients.

Connect your CRM and your text messaging platform via their APIs, allowing the two systems to sync and share data. Once connected, these two systems make ongoing conversations and customer data available to teams in real-time. This takes the guesswork – and potential for communication errors – out of passing a case from one department to the next.

SMS Builds Value

There are many ways you can use text messaging platforms for business but the ultimate goal is the same: to build value, to stay front of mind, and to set yourself apart from the crowded arena of CPG.

No matter how you choose to leverage SMS in your business and marketing strategies, TrueDialog can help you easily distribute messages to your audience  

 

Disclaimer: Please note that this advice is for informational purposes only and is neither intended as nor should be substituted for consultation with appropriate legal counsel and/or your organization’s regulatory compliance team.