SMS/Text Marketing – SMS-Magic https://www.sms-magic.com Simple Business Text Messaging Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:58:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Unraveling 12 Essential SMS Marketing Myths for Ultimate Success in 2023! https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/12-powerful-sms-marketing-myths-debunked/ Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:58:41 +0000 https://www.sms-magic.com/?p=61853 The world we navigate is connected at unprecedented levels. In this dynamic landscape, it’s intriguing how some misconceptions, especially surrounding business SMS communication, can persist. So, let’s embark on a conversational journey to debunk these SMS Marketing Myths and spotlight how SMS-Magic is revolutionizing the realm of SMS marketing.

SMS Marketing Myth 1: One Size Fits All in Messaging Solutions

Reality: Every car isn’t a Lamborghini, right? Initiated in 2008, SMS-Magic has never stopped evolving. Beyond traditional text messaging services, we focus on creating genuine engagement and fostering customer relationships. Our SMS platform prioritizes results, evidenced by clients experiencing a staggering 40% hike in conversions.

SMS Marketing Myth 2: It’s Just… Texting

Reality: Think of a master chef crafting a gourmet dish: whether they use secret ingredients or everyday food, they always deliver something fantastic. That’s how we view messaging! SMS-Magic elevates business text messaging into an art form. By prioritizing genuine, resonant content, we’ve become the go-to choice for high-stakes conversations such as finance and healthcare.

SMS Marketing Myth 3: Platforms are Too Complex

Reality: Ever tried assembling a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle? Daunting, right? But with SMS-Magic, the experience is more like snapping together Lego bricks. By designing a user-friendly interface, we let businesses focus on what they excel at, leaving the SMS intricacies to us.

SMS Marketing Myth 4: Compliance is a Constant Battle

Reality: Imagine a world where you can set-and-forget rules and regulations. Welcome to the SMS-Magic realm! We actively monitor and adapt to regulatory updates and changes , ensuring your SMS campaigns remain compliant. Say goodbye to those tedious manual updates.

SMS Marketing Myth 5: Integration Nightmares Await

Reality: Imagine effortlessly blending paint on a canvas so every color is clear, bright, and tells a story. That’s the integration experience with SMS-Magic. Whether you’re using Salesforce, Zoho, or other CRM systems, our seamless integration ensures fluidity in your communication processes.

SMS Marketing Myth 6: Setting Up is Like Climbing Everest

Reality: With us, it’s more of a walk in the park! Begin your SMS marketing journey with SMS-Magic in a day. Should you encounter any challenges our top-notch support team is just a call away.

SMS Marketing Myth 7: Termination Equals Data Loss

Reality: Consider us the guardians of your digital memories. Even post-cancellation, your data is safely and securely maintained, ensuring your hard work and customer interactions aren’t lost to the void.

SMS Marketing Myth 8: Texts Play Second Fiddle to Emails

Reality: In our digital age, timeliness is the name of the game. While emails sit unread, SMS messages boast a jaw-dropping 98% open rate. Makes you wonder: Who’s truly leading the customer engagement race?

SMS Marketing Myth 9: Bulk Messaging Equals Spam

Reality: We believe in quality over quantity. Rather than bombarding users, our personalized SMS strategies ensure that each message feels personalized, leading to a whopping 75% of users feeling more connected to brands.

SMS Marketing Myth 10: SMS Lacks Engagement Power

Reality: If engagement was a dance, SMS would be leading the Conga Line! Brands that weave SMS into their strategies witness a soaring 30% uptick in engagement. It’s time to join the dance!

SMS Marketing Myth 11: Serious Businesses Don’t Text

Reality: Think of professional SMS communication as the modern-day briefcase: sleek, efficient, and indispensable. From appointment reminders in healthcare to transactional updates in finance, secure business messaging has become a keystone in professional communication.

SMS Marketing Myth 12: SMS Isn’t ROI Friendly

Reality: Here’s some economics 101: for every dollar channeled into SMS campaigns, businesses often see returns exceeding $40. It’s an investment that truly pays dividends.

The prowess of SMS marketing isn’t just about numbers or open rates. It’s about resonance. It’s about conversations that matter. Dive deep with SMS-Magic and watch your business narratives turn magical, one message at a time. After all, in this age of fleeting attention spans, it’s not merely the message, but the connection that counts. Stay ahead, stay engaged, and remember: Magic is just an SMS away! 

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Texting Top Talent: The New Wave of Revolutionary Recruitment https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/text-recruiting-messaging-guide/ Thu, 10 Aug 2023 11:26:51 +0000 https://www.sms-magic.com/?p=61710 In the high-octane landscape of recruitment, time isn’t just money—it’s talent. The faster you establish contact with potential candidates, the quicker you can assess their profiles and secure top performers for your organization. So, how do we turbocharge this process? The key lies in the prowess of Conversational Messaging and Text Recruiting.

With an astounding average response time of a mere three minutes, it overshadows traditional approaches like email and voicemail, not merely by a few strides but by miles. But the benefits of SMS messaging extend far beyond the time limit to get a reply from your candidate. It has the potential to redefine your recruitment landscape, slashing your time-to-hire, and magnetizing the digitally-inclined millennial and Gen Z talent pool. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will navigate the intricacies of messaging as a recruitment powerhouse and equip you with 9 actionable insights to ensnare top-tier talent. But before we dive right into the crux of our discussion, it’s essential to highlight the powerful role of text messaging in modern recruitment. 

Why Text Recruiting is the Key to Streamlining your Talent Hunt

With escalating costs and extended time-to-hire, traditional recruitment channels are increasingly proving inefficient. Over 83% of talent leaders acknowledge recruiting and retaining talent as their chief priority, adopting cost-effective and time-saving strategies is paramount. Here’s where using text recruiting messaging steps in, slashing cost-to-hire and significantly boosting efficiency, even with heightened hiring volumes.

Messaging’s real-time simplicity stands out from other communication methods. It efficiently engages candidates, especially since 39% lose interest from prolonged hiring. It’s especially useful for connecting with passive candidates, letting recruiters nurture relationships for future needs. Later in this blog, we’ll discuss using Text Recruiting Software to enhance recruitment strategies.

Harnessing the Benefits of Conversational Messaging into Text Recruiting

Conversational messaging, with its superior response times and increased reach, can slash your time-to-hire significantly. It enables real-time interaction with potential candidates, accelerating the screening and interview coordination process, thereby landing you the desired talent swiftly and seamlessly.

Text Recruiting

Transition from Passive to Proactive

The transition from passive to proactive recruiting can be a game changer. Using messaging as a tool, recruiters can actively reach out to candidates, fostering an engaging two-way conversation. It not only enhances the candidate experience but also allows recruiters to glean essential insights about the candidates, paving the way for informed decision-making.

Speaking the Digital Tongue in Text Recruiting

Millennial and Gen Z candidates are digital natives. To attract this tech-savvy talent, recruiters must communicate via their preferred channels. Messaging serves as an effective platform to engage with these candidates, by offering the quick, informal, and interactive communication they prefer.

Text Recruiting

Agility Personified

Filling temporary positions quickly is crucial to maintaining business continuity and productivity. With text messaging, recruiters can instantly connect with a broad network of potential candidates, streamlining the sourcing, screening, and hiring process. It’s a game-changer when speed and efficiency are the keys to success.

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Crowning Practices

While the potential of SMS messaging in recruitment is vast, it must be employed strategically. From crafting engaging messages, and respecting candidate’s privacy, to timely follow-ups – best practices should be at the heart of your messaging recruitment strategy such as the Best SMS Marketing Services provided by SMS-Magic. This ensures optimal use of the tool while enhancing the candidate experience.

Text Messaging Templates 

Effective messaging demands the right blend of professionalism and personalization. To help recruiters navigate this balance, we provide proven text messaging templates. These templates, tailored to various stages of the recruitment process, ensure consistent, concise, and effective communication with candidates. So, to get these templates, get your sms-magic login and start conversing today to recruit the premier talent. 

Cultivating Personal Bonds

The power of messaging lies in its ability to cultivate personal relationships. Unlike formal emails, text messages foster casual and warm exchanges, making candidates feel valued and engaged. This personalized approach can significantly boost your brand image, leading to higher acceptance rates.

Decoding the Generation

Messaging resonates with younger candidates due to its immediacy and informality. This digitally-adept cohort prefers quick, concise interactions over lengthy, formal communication. Understanding this preference is crucial in tailoring your communication strategy, enabling you to attract and retain young talent more effectively.

The Recruitment of Tomorrow

With digital transformation permeating every aspect of business, recruitment is no exception. Embracing messaging as a key tool is not just about staying current; it’s about anticipating and adapting to the future of recruitment. Leveraging the power of Text Recruiting Platforms today can set your recruitment strategy on the path of success for years to come.

In the dynamic realm of recruitment, standing still is not an option; evolution is the key to success. As we’ve journeyed through the various ways text messaging can revolutionize your recruitment process, it’s clear that the power of Conversational Messaging is undeniable. By harnessing this tool, you can attract and engage top talent, reduce your time-to-hire, and enhance client satisfaction, all while future-proofing your recruitment strategy. As we navigate the digital age, embracing messaging is not just a strategic move—it’s an imperative.

Ready to revolutionize your recruitment strategy? Let’s embark on this journey together! Contact one of the Best SMS Marketing Services Provider SMS-Magic today and allow us to guide you through the transformation. With our cutting-edge messaging solutions and expertise, we’ll help you unlock the full potential of text messaging in your recruitment process. Start your journey to recruitment excellence today — because your future talent is just a text message away. 

Connect with us now, and get full insights about what we have to offer. 

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Tons of Great Tips for Building TCPA-Compliant Text Marketing Lists https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/tips-for-building-tcpa-compliant-text-lists/ Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:09:03 +0000 https://www.sms-magic.com/?p=58440 It’s a circular problem. You can’t send text messages to prospective customers until you have “express written consent.” And you can’t reach out by text to gain express written consent. So how can you stay compliant but still attract customers, clients or patients to your text marketing campaigns?

We’ve got tons of suggestions. But first, let’s make sure we spell out what express written consent means.

Express Written Content. Tips for Building TCPA-Compliant Text

You must have express written consent before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. That means more than just asking for their phone number. It doesn’t matter who it is – an existing customer, a former client, a trade-show lead, or someone on a purchased marketing list. Before that first message goes out, your customer must say it’s okay.

The U.S. Congress created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to combat unsolicited phone calls. Through the years, however, it has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

What do you need to include in your messages asking for express written consent? Our recent blog will give you the details for your calls to action.

Here are our suggestions for gaining express written consent while abiding by TCPA regulations:

Trade Show Touches

If you regularly exhibit at trade shows, you can promote your text messaging program to prospects,  existing clients and lapsed clients with your booth signage. A stand-alone sign or banner can provide the initial instructions, and your text messaging program can automatically handle the exchange when the customer responds.

Business Cards

If you use business cards at trade shows or other business meetings, you can include initial instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on the business card.

Product Packaging

Include instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on product packaging, shopping bags, tote bags, napkins, or other peripheral materials you regularly give to customers.

Coupons & Discounts

You can offer coupons and discounts if someone signs up for your SMS marketing program, but be careful how you word your offer. Make sure you explain the coupon or discount is only available if they sign up to receive SMS marketing messages from you. So “A 20% discount is available when you join our text messaging list” is okay. “Text us to get a 20% discount” is not.

Emails

If you have permission to email your customers, you can send instructions for opting into your messaging campaign. Be sure to take care in the wording when you offer a discount, coupon or added bonus in your email.

Website

Pop-up windows on your website can prompt users to opt into your messaging program. You can also include information on static web pages that have high traffic.

Contests

Start a contest that includes opting into your texting program. Social media channels work well for this type of customer interaction.

Social Media

Use your social media channels to extend your offer.

Online Ads

Include your offer in online ad campaigns.

Signage, Point of Purchase

If you have a physical location that your customers visit, include your text messaging offer on store signage or point-of-purchase materials. Using a short code phone number can make it easy for a customer to respond.

Customer Receipts

Print your offer on customer receipts or include them on email receipts.

Radio, Television, Newspaper

Media that’s not online can provide a receptive, if different, audience.

Billboards

Drivers don’t have much time to read a billboard, so use clever short codes so that they can remember how to respond. Short codes, unlike long codes, use five or six digits to send a text. Sending “opt-in” to CHEESE could get you extra toppings on your next pizza.

Billboards

Blogs

Include an opt-in message in all your blogs. Or create pop-up windows that appear while someone is reading a blog. You can provide a special white paper or case study as a premium for opting in. As with coupons and discounts, be careful how you word the offer.

Yard Signs

Yard signs are not just for homeowners. You can use them on your business property to encourage customers, clients or patients to sign up for text messaging.

Tee Shirts

Clever text on your team’s tee shirts can help spread the word at trade shows, charity events or community projects. Short codes would be a great way to keep the message brief.

What Should Happen After a Customer Opts-In

After your customer has opted-in, you’ll want to send a text confirming their participation. In that text, you can mention all the information they need to make an informed decision, such as what they can expect to receive, how often messages will arrive, applicable message and data rates, who you are, and how to opt out. That isn’t a complete list of the information you need to share, but you can find a list in our recent blog. Products like SMS-Magic can help you automate the messages that follow an offer response. What could be easier?

Keeping Track of Who Opted In and Who Opted Out

You’ll need to keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out, as well as who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times. SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze, particularly if you have tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Keep Track of Opt-ins and Opt-Outs

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

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Grow Your Pipeline and Funnel Leads With Text Message Marketing https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/grow-your-pipeline-and-funnel-leads-with-text-message-marketing/ Thu, 22 Aug 2019 10:06:40 +0000 /?p=44343 Text messaging is so much more than just quick messages. Text message marketing is a key way to grow your pipeline and move more leads to sales.

When you blend text messaging with other marketing channels, such as email, you get more value from all your marketing programs. That’s why we make it easy to use text messaging with your Marketing Cloud platform. You easily get 6X more responses, personalize engagement and accelerate lead to opportunity transitions.

We put together this infographic to give marketing leaders a quick overview of how you will grow your pipeline and funnel leads with text message marketing from SMS-Magic.

Grow Your Pipeline and Funnel Leads With Text Message Marketing

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging for your team and want to learn more, schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your business results.

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When to Use Text Messaging vs. Email in Marketing https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/when-to-use-text-messaging-vs-email-in-marketing/ Thu, 06 Jun 2019 08:30:31 +0000 /?p=43219 How do you decide when to use text messaging vs. email for your marketing programs? Or should you use them both as part of your campaigns?

The answer is, it depends.

Your choice should revolve around the specific goals of your program, the audiences you want to engage with and the type of content you’ll deliver.

The strengths of text messaging vs email

Both channels have their strengths, so it isn’t a clear either/or choice. The choice for your company may also be different than for another, once again, depending on the variables.

Text messaging

Texting is a much more natural form of communication in today’s digital world. Generations of the digital age prefer it over any other channel. It’s immediate, interactive and until now, hasn’t been spoiled by over-zealous marketers.

  • Text messaging is a better channel for attracting new prospects and engaging them in early conversations, given the 90%+ read rate and 6X response rates vs email.
  • It offers a powerful, non-invasive way to ask questions that help you understand interest areas and intent, and begin to create personalized conversations that will compel leads to move forward.
  • Text messaging lends itself to delivering shorter or digital content, although many digital natives are happy to read a 20-page document on their mobile devices.
  • Is obviously the highly preferred channel for younger audiences, since they are the true digital natives.
Email

Email has been so heavily over-used by some marketers that it’s not a good channel for capturing the attention of many prospects. It’s low open and read rates make it a poor channel for any sort of attraction in today’s world.

  • It is a better channel for engaging and retaining traditional customers who are accustomed to communicating via email. Many customers already expect your emails and updates, and prefer this form of communication.
  • Email is usually a better option when you’re delivering long-form content like whitepapers, longer articles, contracts and other lengthy documentation. Many people don’t want to read such documents on a mobile device.
  • For programs that deliver regularly scheduled content, for example newsletters or customer support updates, email may be a better choice.
Blended campaigns

We believe the best option for many marketers isn’t a text messaging vs email choice. It’s the blending of both to create an optimal communication flow that balances attraction and engagement with ease of content delivery. Here are some basic parameters for blending text messaging and email.

  • Use text messaging to initially attract your new leads and engage with fresh prospects. It’s a much more compelling way to attract new audience members.
  • Use text messaging to ask them simple questions about their interest areas, problems, and other information that helps you and your sales teams better personalize each conversation.
  • When they respond to a message that offers long-form content, for example, a guide or white paper, ask them whether they prefer delivery via text or email. Also, be sure to ask current leads and customers who opt in to your text messaging communications which channel they prefer. That’s the beauty of blended conversations, each audience member gets their own choice.
  • For those who prefer, use email as an option to deliver long-form content, or for all communications if that’s what your audience member prefers.
  • When it comes to regularly scheduled long-form content, like newsletters, customer support updates, product updates etc., post the content on a webpage as well as creating a standalone document. Share the document via email with those who prefer, while you can text the url to those who requested text messaging communication.

We believe the next generation of successful marketing programs will be based on the blended approach described above. Next week, we’ll walk through an example of such a campaign with more details. We’ll share how to create the optimum balance to attract more leads, then compel more of your pipeline to actually read and digest your content, then quickly move them through your pipeline and into sales.

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging software, and are interested in learning more about what you can do with SMS, feel free to schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your marketing results.

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The Basics of Incorporating SMS Messages Into your Email Marketing https://www.sms-magic.com/blog/incorporating-sms-messages-into-your-email-marketing/ Thu, 30 May 2019 08:30:01 +0000 /?p=43172 With the immediacy, convenience, and brevity of SMS messages as compared to email marketing, it’s no wonder why consumers and businesses increasingly prefer texting as a communication channel. In fact, the average person now sends 25% more texts than emails on a daily basis. The open and response rates are also pretty impressive, with 74% of consumers reporting to have zero unread texts at any given time compared to only 17% for email.

The trend towards texting as a communication channel has many businesses jumping on board and adopting business text messaging software. You may be wondering, well, what about email? A big factor to take into consideration when launching your text messaging marketing programs is how you will best incorporate your message marketing into your existing email marketing.

Blending text messaging with your email marketing is a great way to maximize your reach and engagement with your audience. Start with the basics to create a solid foundation on which you can expand later.

Get started by learning a few basic first steps:

  • How to opt your email marketing audience into receiving text messages while staying compliant
  • How to use text messaging for nurture or drip programs
  • How to determine which channel is most appropriate for the different types of content you send

Opt your email marketing audience into SMS messages

It’s important that you have permission to text your audience, even if they’ve already opted-in to email. Here are a few ways to get the permission you need to start sending texts:

  • Add an opt-in check-box to your forms. Make sure to offer text-messaging as an option to receive company updates, promotions, and information on your website forms. This way if they don’t want to receive emails and instead prefer texts, you can reach out to them on the channel they prefer.
  • Incorporate a keyword opt-in into your email content. Remind your audience that you also provide text messaging as a communication channel, and that they can opt-in at any time. For example, you can include a simple “Text INFO to 12345 for to learn more” and they will always have that option to opt-in. You can also use offers to compel your audience to opt-in to text messaging.  For example, a discount coupon, free demo or trial, a conversation with a key professor, special priority for new jobs or a free mortgage evaluation.
  • Include text messaging as an option in your preference center. If you have an email preference center, add a check-box for your audience to opt-in to different types of text messages that offer relevant content.
  • When you send the first text, make sure to confirm the opt-in. This is called a double opt-in, and it’s a great way to make sure your audience wants to receive texts from you while still giving them the option to unsubscribe at any time. You can send a message that says something like “You have subscribed to receive company updates, respond Y to confirm. To unsubscribe at any time, reply STOP”. This extra step is not required for text opt-ins, so you decide whether you want the extra step or not.

Start to build your text message-based nurture or multi-touch programs

You can easily start profiling your audience for message marketing campaigns by sending your opt-in list quick questions with keywords to determine what type of content they would find most valuable.

For example, you can ask them to respond with keywords that relate to the type of product they are interested in, and then only send relevant content based on their response. You can also give your audience the option to opt-in to certain types of texts, such as new product release announcements, tips and tricks, or sales and specials.

Determine whether to use email or SMS messages for the different types of content you send

To get the most out of SMS messages and email marketing, it’s important to make sure you’re using the channel that’s most appropriate for the type of content you are sending. Brief messages that don’t require heavy amounts of content are great for text messages. Some examples include announcements for events or promotions, scheduling confirmations and reminders, links to short-form content such as blog posts or quick videos and help with information about products or services. Email is a great way to deliver long-form content, such as educational documents like white papers or case studies, or other documents that are best viewed on a desktop screen.

Once you get an opt-in list to send texts to and an idea of what kind of content you should send to your audience, you’ve got a great start to incorporating your texting with your email programs. Take time to determine how to use text messaging in addition to email to deliver relevant, personal, and valuable content to your audience.

If you haven’t yet adopted business text messaging software, and are interested in learning more about what you can do with SMS, feel free to schedule a demo and we’d be happy to share our expertise with you, answer questions and show you what text messaging can do for your marketing results.

 

 

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