Can Mass Texting Increase Customer Loyalty?

A smart, successful business is one that not only draws in customers, but manages to retain them, even in the face of obstacles like increased competition, inconsistent and unpredictable economic times, or human fickleness. Sure, those initial sales are good, and they definitely serve to bump up the cash flow, but that's just the start. Now that you have those customers, your next step is to keep them. Fortunately, today's innovations in social networking, the Internet, and telecommunications offer the clever entrepreneur a wealth of ways to make that special connection and forge bonds of loyalty. Today, we're shining the spotlight on mass texting. A timely, relevant text from your business could net you a loyal customer. Texting Fundamentals Mass texting, otherwise known as Short Message Service or SMS, has proven to be a cost-effective way of reaching a large number of people quickly. It's amazing how much you can say with just 140 characters, as Twitter continually shows us. Everybody who has a cell phone inevitably ends up texting, and thus is familiar with the concept. But when you're dealing with mass texting, it involves blasting out your message to a vast audience of subscribers, with the intent of connecting with the audience and compelling them to act. What Kind Of Texting Are We Talking About Here? The article "Mass Texting and Customer Loyalty: What's the Connection?" points out that there are many types of messages that you as a business can send out to customers. For instance, there are appointment reminders, delivery notices, special offers and promotions, or even an entertaining or useful bit of trivia. The one thing that all of those messages have in common is that they are designed to make the customers' lives easier and more fun. It's precisely that sort of attitude that fosters feelings of loyalty in customers. After all, even though deep down they know that you are motivated to be so helpful and charming because you want their dollars, it's still hard to ignore when someone is reaching out in a friendly way. Hey, customers like to be treated like people, and doing considerate little things like the above texts goes a long way. It gets to the point where the customer begins to rely on you as a source of helpful information and a great shopping experience. In other words, you've created a loyal customer! In fact, if their experience has been good enough, they will certainly tell friends. Of course, one of your promotions COULD be a "tell your friends, win stuff" kind of promotion, so there you go. And the more you can personalize your messages, the better. This dovetails into the whole idea of treating customers like people, and the resulting good karma you reap. For instance, you could have a series of texts that advertise one promotion, with each text geared towards a particular group or demographic on your subscriber list. That's also a good reason why your subscriber list signup should have fields that enable you to find out a little more about them than just their name, e-mail address, and phone number. The more info you have on your subscribers, the better you can tailor your mass texts, and the more goodwill you earn. Avoid Overkill Remember that too much of a good thing isn't a smart idea. You want to make people like you and be loyal, not irritate and alienate them by constantly bombarding them with messages. The optimum number of messages to be sent per week is one or two, unless a special occasion warrants perhaps an extra one. Send too many, and people will start ignoring them or, even worse, unsubscribing. Messaging is a great tool, but one that, like any powerful tool, should be used wisely.