Guest post by Ryan Gould, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services at Elevation Marketing
One of the biggest benefits, if not THE biggest benefit, of long code texting is that it enables people to respond to messages and have conversations. And that’s why it’s so important you optimize this interaction: to build the best possible relationships with your customers.
We’ll give you insights to use long code text marketing to have quality interactions with customers. At the end of reading this article, you’ll know:
- Simple and effective ways to build relationships with your customers through texting
- What you can and can’t do with long code while stimulating interactions with your customers
- How to send texts that are fun for customers to interact with
We’ll do this by covering 5 concrete ways you can take advantage of long code to boost customer interactions.
1. Provide Customer Support
Since you’re texting from a 10-digit number people can respond to, long code is perfect for providing interactive customer support. You can even text customers to let them know about your availability on the number to provide this service.
It’s best to send this message when customers buy a product or service from you and provide their number. Another option is when they’re “registering the product” online and give you their phone number as part of the registration process.
Once customers have your support number in their text message history, they can message you anytime. Obviously you then need to respond to their messages efficiently and set realistic expectations around response times.
The great thing about this is you can have ongoing conversations with all your customers. And that’s something they can’t help but love you for!
2. Use Voice Functionality
Remember, a long code number isn’t just a 10-digit number for texting only. You can also use it for voice calls. No matter what, make sure you are able to receive calls on the number, just like on a normal phone number, further helping you take customer relationships beyond text messages.
You can even include an invitation to call on the texts you send out to your customers so they can respond by calling you if they want. This builds trust with customers and gives them further access to you.
Skipio even offers Ringless Voicemail, which means you can use your 10-digit number to leave voicemails without actually ringing anyone’s phone. This personalized outreach can be automated and allows you to reach many people at one time.
Think of the ideal situations when you could have voice conversations with customers. Could it be for older customers who don’t like texting as much as they like to talk on the phone? Or perhaps it’s reserved for more technical support issues.
3. Send Appointment and Payment Reminders
A very meaningful way to interact with your customers via text is by sending them appointment reminders. This is a win-win for both you and the customer since you help them show up to the appointment so you can serve them! Plus, if there’s any confusion or rescheduling to be done, it can be done via the same conversation.
Another reminder you can send out is for customers to make their payment! This keeps them accountable and prompt in their payments and keeps your cash flows healthy. Quite similar to appointment reminders, texting can be used for making any clarifications regarding the payment so there’s no room for confusion!
If you integrate your CRM or calendar system with Skipio, each of these types of messages can be triggered to go out automatically based on information in your CRM and calendar systems.
4. Ask Customers for Feedback and Reviews
Long code texting is the perfect catalyst to ask for customer feedback. At regular time intervals during the life cycle of every customer you transact with, you should send a text to find out how they’re doing, how they’re finding your product or service, and if there’s any room for improvement that they think you should implement.
So if you’re a restaurant, you can send a text asking for feedback about your customers’ dining experiences. They could simply reply at their time and pace with a few words about their experience at your establishment and what you can improve to make them happier.
If your product is more complex, like a SaaS product, include a survey link or direct link to a review site in the text you send. This way you get more comprehensive feedback about your services.
5. Make Relevant, Personal Recommendations
There’s a bunch of ways to use long code text marketing for making recommendations. Since you’re the expert, make suggestions to your customers about what they should do next in their journey with you.
For instance, if you sell musical instruments and a customer just bought their first flute from your store, send them recommendations for items that would best protect their new investment.
As part of your customer retention strategy, you could also just send tips about the space you’re in. With the music store example, you can send personalized learning tips to help them become better musicians. And of course texting is the medium through which you deliver the advice. As your customers come to trust your expertise, they’re more likely to become a repeat customer and refer you to others.
All of the above strategies help make your long code text marketing campaigns more interactive, geared toward soliciting a response or reaction. This goes a long way in making the most of your long code texts since you’re staying on track with their core purpose.
From legacy Fortune 100 institutions to inventive start-ups, Ryan brings extensive experience with a wide range of B2B clients. He skillfully architects and manages the delivery of integrated marketing programs, and believes strongly in strategy, not just tactics, that effectively aligns sales and marketing teams within organizations
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rygould/
