"While US consumers are fully embracing text messaging," says Alan Berrey in an article at MarketingProfs, "very few enterprises have followed suit." And when you consider that 80 percent of Americans own mobile phones, and send over one billion test messages each day, it makes sense to develop a strategy for this largely untapped channel. Here are some of Berrey's pointers:

Join in. "Far too many companies do not support text messaging at all," he says. "The key ingredient for most companies is simply to get started."

Let people know you're there. Demonstrate your texting proficiency early in the customer relationship, and you can fully employ the channel throughout the sub-processes of acquisition, support and retention.

Keep it short. Messages need to be relevant, timely and brief. "If you cannot convey the message in 160 characters," he notes, "then the message is probably not well suited for text messaging."

And be sure to integrate with other channels. "Text messaging rarely stands on its own," reports Alan Berrey. "In most cases, [it] is used to augment other communications."

→ end article preview
Read the Full Article