Text messaging and messaging through mobile apps have now surpassed emails and phone calls as the primary medium for personalized communication. Today, more than 5 billion people communicate with each other by sending text messages globally. With an open rate of 98%, compared to email at 15%, it is obvious that people prefer texting over cold calling and emails. 

Multichannel messaging is becoming increasingly more important as well, as users start interacting with businesses through Facebook messaging and WhatsApp messaging.

But, with so many different channels of communication, it can be difficult to keep track of conversations. By integrating all of your messaging in your CRM, it’s possible to increase the volume of campaigns, questions answered and deals won, all while maintaining personalized conversations. 

7 Tips to Build Personalized Conversations with Your Customers 

1. Notify Customers

Notifying your customers about a special deal or making an important announcement through multichannel messaging is a good use of bulk campaigns. Your customers will appreciate good deals and being informed about product updates or services. 

2. Order Updates

Messages are a straightforward and convenient way to keep customers informed and in the loop. For instance, you can send your customers a message informing them about when their orders are shipped. By sending regular order updates, it is more likely that the order will be received by your customer as scheduled. 

3. Account Alerts

Customers who opt-in to account alerts can receive updates to their accounts via messaging.  Sending account alerts messages to your customers is one way to build personalized conversations.

4. Appointment Reminders

A missed appointment will always be frustrating for both you and your customer. Sending timely appointment reminders will decrease the number of no-shows. You can also send messages with an option for cancellation and rescheduling the appointments, saving time for you both.

5. Run a Contest

The high open rate and engagement rate make multichannel messaging perfect for running a contest. Running an SMS-based contest and offering deals and discounts for the contest winners is a good way to build customer success through personalized messages.  

6. Surveys and Polls

You are sending appointment reminders, order updates, account details, and also running a contest using SMS messages. That’s perfect! Surveys and polls help you understand what your customers think about you, your product, and your services. All this will help you build your brand! 

7. Customer Service

SMS messages can also be sent regularly as a part of customer service or after-sale service. It will always be beneficial to send personalized messages to your customers asking for their feedback on the services they used. This is something that will let your customers know that they are important. 

Best Practices while Building Personalized Conversations with Customers

It’s great that you have planned to build personalized conversations with your customers. But just like email or phone calls, messaging has its own rules and code of conduct. 

Here are some of the best practices that you should follow while sending customized messages:

1. Get Permission

Whether you are planning to send personalized messages to address any customer questions or are preparing for message marketing, getting customer consent is imperative.

2. Consider Timing

While sending messages, you need to consider the business hours of the customers. Just how they would not appreciate a late-night call, they won’t want to get a text late in the evening or early in the morning. 

3. Keep Things Short

Messages are meant to be short and to the point. Long messages with long URLs are less likely to get read.

4. Avoid Spam

Messages are naturally more personal than cold calls and emails. That’s why a spam text will be considered a violation as compared to a spam email. With a spam text, you are likely to frustrate your customers.

5. Branded Short URLs

Branded short URLs are the best practice today. It increases the deliverability rate and keeps all of your messages on brand.

Want to see how personalization works within multichannel messaging at SMS-Magic? Reach out and we would be happy to give you a personal tour and share examples from our clients!