What industries use business SMS?
If it was up to us, ALL industries would use business SMS to communicate with their customers. Why? Because 97% of companies found that communicating with customers over SMS was more effective than other methods and 85% of customers prefer to communicate with businesses and organizations via text (vs phone or email).
There are tons of similar statistics that illustrate customer preference for business SMS communications – but we won’t belabor those here. Instead, let’s take a look at the industries that are reaping the benefits of SMS marketing by reaching their customers, leads, and employees where they are: on their phones.
Text Messaging Service for Small Businesses
Before getting into the types of industries that are successfully using text messaging services to engage with their customers, it’s important to note how important business SMS can be for customer outreach, brand visibility, and overall growth for small businesses. SMS marketing and business texting give small businesses the reach of larger corporations within their budgets and two-way SMS features allow for personal communication between customers and the brand. Together, these aspects of business SMS help build the type of brand loyalty that can make all the difference for small businesses.
Industries That Use Business SMS
As we mentioned earlier, we think companies in all industries can benefit from business texting solutions. Likewise, community-focused entities – such as municipalities, parks and recreation, nonprofit organizations, HOAs and community associations, religious organizations, and community response organizations – have found business SMS to be the best way to build community engagement and create valuable connections.
There are, however, a number of industries that have seen significant improvement in communication and sales thanks to business texting.
Retail Stores
Whether online or brick-and-mortar, retail stores rely on SMS marketing to connect with customers about sales, holiday promotions, loyalty programs, and more. For physical stores, business SMS can quickly (and autonomously) respond to customer inquiries about store hours, driving directions, holiday closures, and other important store information.
On the retail store management front, business texting solutions like Teamtext help store managers and retail associates stay in the loop and communicate as a team.
Restaurants
Most restaurants rely on loyal local patrons to keep the doors (and the kitchen) open. Business SMS allows restaurants to send out daily specials, reservation confirmations, special event details, and more to keep both their regulars and new diners up-to-date on offerings and reservations. Business texting features like Pathways provide automated text responses to commonly asked questions – such as service hours, directions, menu options, etc. – saving valuable time and resources for hard-working staff.
Medical & Healthcare Industries
Business SMS saves the medical and healthcare industries significant time and money, freeing up resources to focus on better patient care. Medical and healthcare offices have transitioned appointment and prescription refill requests to SMS, creating workflow and operational efficiency across the board. Offices rely on business texting solutions to prioritize callbacks, confirm appointments, communicate waiting room delays, alert patients to test result availability, communicate pre and post-procedure instructions, and more.
Human Resources
No matter the industry, business SMS possibilities for Human Resource departments are endless. HR departments use text to communicate with job candidates throughout each phase of the interview process while simultaneously keeping current employees informed of all operations and facilities updates, emergency protocols, weather-related closures, and more. Business texting solutions result in a more engaged and informed company that’s employees have all the information they need to do their best work.
Real Estate & Property Management
In today’s hot real estate and rental market, it’s vital to reach potential buyers and renters the second a property becomes available, there’s a price drop, offers are accepted or rejected, or an application is approved. Business SMS can do all this and more. For property management companies, two-way SMS is the most convenient way to communicate with tenants, manage maintenance requests, schedule service appointments, send rent reminders and provide amenity updates. Business SMS helps management create a community that is engaged, informed, and safe.
Travel Agencies
Business texting solutions allow travel agencies to keep in constant contact with clients while they travel to warn of travel and flight delays, weather issues, or itinerary changes. Travel agencies use SMS to give restaurant recommendations, provide tour options, highlight points of interest, and more. Post-trip, travel agencies can use Surveys to solicit valuable customer feedback and suggestions.
Business SMS Benefits All Industries
While these six industries have reaped the benefits of business texting, this is by no means an exhaustive list. Door-to-door sales, home and delivery services, home-based businesses, financial and professional services, construction businesses, and political organizations – to name a few – all use SMS to better serve their clients and create communities of well-informed, supported customers.