There are 3.8 billion mobile phone users worldwide. That’s why texting is big. But, do you use a business SMS service?
And, more importantly — why would you use an online service if you get unlimited text messaging for free on your phone plan?
Step away from your handset friends.
We’re going to dive into the world of bulk messaging. In this blog we’ll cover:
- Key stats: Why businesses love text
- The downside of messaging customers from your phone
- 8 reasons to use a business messaging tool
Skip the blog. Download our free ebook: The '2024 Guide to SMS'.
Key stats: why businesses love text
Text messaging is a great way to connect with customers and subscribers. Plus, lots of customers prefer receiving texts for certain types of communication.
- 98% of messages are read within 2 minutes.
- Text messages are opened 5x more than emails.
- Email response rates average just 6% – compared with 45% for SMS.
- Texting is the preferred B2C channel by consumers.
- 60% of consumers would rather text a company back regarding support issues.
- At least 75% of consumers prefer to receive offers through SMS.
- The click-through rate for text offers is almost 10% higher than for any other marketing channel (email, social media, etc).
Read: discover more text messaging statistics.
The downside of messaging customers from your phone
Texting customers from your personal phone is like trying to do laps in a pool full of jelly. It’s fun at first, but you sink as soon as you try to swim.
Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. It can be tempting to use a mobile phone plan to message customers. Especially, if the plan offers "unlimited" SMS.
Unfortunately, most mobile providers enforce a fair use policy. This means that "unlimited" messages might not actually be unlimited. This will be a problem if you need to send a high volume of messages. Or, you want to scale your communications as you grow.
Plus, a mobile handset is typically not as secure as purpose-built software. And, if you use a handset, you'll need to consider how you manage growing contact lists, customer opt-ins, data storage and replies.
8 reasons to use a business messaging tool
Could an SMS service solve your communication headaches? It might not be a magic cure-all, but there are some big benefits to using a texting tool, like ClickSend.
1. No handset limitations
Your mobile handset can do a lot of things. But, most phones are not built to send hundreds of messages at once.
You can most likely only contact 10 or 20 people at once. It's not exactly the most efficient way to communicate for busy business owners or staff.
Business SMS services use Application-To-Person (ATP) messaging and powerful SMS gateways, so you can easily send hundreds or even thousands of messages at once. And, most tools have offered a deliverability report — so you can make sure your messages are received.
The best bit? All the tricky technical stuff are under the hood. Making messaging feel seamless and easy.
2. No mobile carrier limitations
As we’ve already mentioned, many telecommunications companies have a limit to how many messages you can send on any given day.
Sending commercial messages may breach your mobile plan’s “fair use policy”.
For example, one of the biggest telcos in Australia, Telstra, includes in their FairPlay policy that ‘excessive’ use is more than 100 SMS per day from your handset.
If you wish to send business messages through your mobile plan, you need to confirm with your mobile provider that it is allowed. Or, skip the hold music and give a business SMS tool a try.
3. Scaling your business — made easy
As your brand grows, so will your communication needs. It's difficult (and time-consuming) to manage an increase in customer enquiries from a small mobile phone screen.
An SMS tool sets you up for success as you grow. It helps to organise, streamline and manage your customer communications. Many tools have features such as auto-responses, bulk messaging, and detailed reporting built-in. Time-saving, here you come.
4. In-built privacy and compliance features
Most quality messaging services include all the bells and whistles to keep your customers and your company safe.
Before you send your first message, you'll need to understand the laws and rules around spam compliance and data protection. These rules can be complicated and change from country to country. High-quality SMS tools can help you make sure your texts are compliant. Plus, they have sophisticated security to keep your data safe.
Many tools have extra features included for free. For example, ClickSend automatically handles subscriber opt-outs. This frees you up to focus on running your business, instead of managing contact lists.
5. Send from your company name or dedicated number
Keep your personal number, private. You don’t even need to share your business number if you don’t want to.
You can use a shared number that’s for work messages. That way it’s easy to keep your personal and work messages separate — and maintain your sanity.
There are other number options too. You can send SMS from your company name, or choose a dedicated number that supports replies.
By using a dedicated or shared number, your customer communications are professional and consistent. There are some organisation and privacy benefits too – which help to build trust and credibility with your customers.
6. Multi-user access to the same conversations
If you have a team of staff, customer support or different team members may handle custom communications.
An SMS provider allows you to have multiple staff members monitoring your SMS inbox ( without having to share access to your mobile handset). Message history and customer details can be saved in one spot, so it’s easy for team collaboration.
7. Ability to automate messages, marketing and replies
If you're sending transactional messages one by one you won't be able to scale your communications.
Most transactional messages can be automated. From purchase confirmations to shipping advice, delivery updates, appointment reminders, and more.
Read: Marketing versus Transactional SMS
SMS services like ClickSend, have several options to automate your communications. You can use SMS keywords, an autoresponder, a no/low-code integration, or through custom build by developers. There's an option for every skill level.
8. Support, whenever you need it
“I fondly remember my last interaction with my telco provider” – said no one ever. When it comes to stellar customer support, mobile carriers don't feature high on the list.
Sign up for a designated messaging platform and see the difference.
For example, at ClickSend we’re invested in making sure you get the best out of your transactional and marketing messages. That’s why we offer 24/7 customer support — with real humans on the other line.
Level up your professional communications
Sign up for a free trial and get access to our easy-to-use platform, free 24/7 support, and free credit to send your first messages. Get going, sign up today.
