Why Outsource SMS Support for Sales and Marketing

Published by Fair Trade Outsourcing on September 7, 2018September 7, 2018

According to TextRequest, more than 6 billion texts are sent every day in the United States. The average consumer sends 72 messages per day, including app-to-app messaging. It’s obvious that SMS support plays a vital role in business, especially in sales and marketing. Outsourcing SMS support for these consumer-oriented business processes definitely brings advantages to companies like yours.

#1 Mobile-first populations prefer to communicate with businesses through text.

Mobile users aged 18 to 34 send and receive more than 6,000 texts each month. They’re not just using SMS to text each other; they’re sending texts through an app such as Facebook and WhatsApp. This generation grew up holding a smartphone wherever they go.

It shouldn’t be a surprise to see millennials use their phones to pay for their purchases, to check their savings account, or to contact a bank or financial institution for information. They also prefer to send and receive texts from retail and e-commerce businesses. They want to know about promotional events and info about their orders.

#2 Texting is quicker and easier to manage than calling.

Text messages take only seconds to compose and send. Mobile users can type a message and send it using only one hand. They can do it while they’re cooking in the kitchen, eating their lunch, or cleaning the house. And, recipients receive them almost as soon as those texts are sent.

For customer service reps, handling a call is certainly more difficult than catering to the needs of a customer through chat or text messaging. With texting, one customer service rep can help up to seven people in the same amount of time that it may take to help one person over the phone, based on Overstock.com’s experience.

#3 Messages sent through SMS have a higher open rate than email.

Shift Communications revealed that more than 80% of mobile users read every text message they receive. In contrast, the average total open rate of email is only 18%. And, text messages are read, on average, within 5 seconds or sooner.

The difference between men and women is minimal, but it’s understandable why women are less likely to read a text message from someone they don’t know compared to men. Yet, women are more likely to use SMS to get special offers and coupons from businesses.

#4 The response rate for text is higher than email.

According to studies, SMS marketing has the highest reach with 75 percent of all mobile phones capable of receiving texts, and SMS has the highest open rate because most devices only require one tap to open a message. But, does SMS elicit a dialogue between the consumer and the organization? It seems it does.

Based on a longitudinal medical study on new mothers and their preferred mode of communication, the overall response rate to queries was 70% for SMS and 45% for email.

Of course, the nature of these texts may have contributed to the immediate response of these mothers. After they were discharged from the hospital, the new mothers received educational materials on safe sleep and infant care practices.

Less than half of the participants chose to receive the info through SMS and around 55.7% chose email. The mothers who received the texts and videos through SMS, however, had a higher response rate than the other group.

#5 Today, 3GPP cellular networks cover around 95% of the world’s population.

Emerging technologies have made it possible for mobile users to send SMS that includes text as well as images and links. Aside from improved speed, capacity, and latency, these messages can be sent almost everywhere because the latest generation of wireless technology doesn’t need large cell towers to radiate signals over long distances. By 2023, 5G will have coverage of more than 20 percent of the global population.

Outsource SMS Support for TCPA Compliance

But, here’s the most important reason of all why outsourcing SMS support is good for business. TCPA regulations place the same burdens of responsibility on SMS marketing as the FCC does on telemarketing. But, SMS marketing is not as strictly regulated or heavily fined by the FCC as phone calls because there are already limitations in place.

Companies can send promotional texts and communicate with their consumers through SMS as long as mobile users agreed to receive notifications through their phones. The texts should include all the relevant info, such as the name of the company, the terms and conditions of using the service, the benefits that the consumer will receive, and the expiry date of the promo.