Although plenty of consumers still prefer face-to-face interactions, phone calls, and even emails, millennials are quickly coming up. Soon, they’ll represent the largest consumer base, making it more and more lucrative for businesses to cater to their tastes and preferences. Do you know what millennials like? Texts. It’s not just that generation, either. More people of all ages prefer receiving sales, coupons, updates, and even receipts via text. It’s efficient, convenient, and eco-friendly, not to mention less invasive than other methods of communication. If you’re not already texting your customers, it’s time to think about starting. First, though, make sure you follow these tips because no one likes a bad text buddy.
Always Get Permission
No one enjoys receiving unsolicited texts. Never assume that your customers are okay with getting a text from your business. Just as you get permission before emailing a newsletter or sending information about upcoming sales, you have to ask before you start texting willy nilly. As much as today’s target markets enjoy this type of communication, the fastest way to turn off your consumer base is to send them texts they never agreed to.
Don’t Overdo It
Sending too many text messages will also turn off your customers. For one thing, it’s annoying to constantly receive texts from a business. Often, even daily texts are a bit too much, although that depends on the nature of your business. Generally, one or two texts a week will do the trick. Texting may also cost someone money, and the last thing you want to do is answer to a barrage of angry customers complaining that you owe them money due to your text bombs.
Stay on Message
Avoid irrelevant texts. Everything needs to be done in the voice of the brand, but it also needs to be relevant to the brand. If it doesn’t add value to your business, brand, product, or service, don’t send it. Useful info, promotional texts, coupons, and similar offers go over well, but don’t start sending cat pictures to customers.
Most of all, make sure your customers know that there’s a real person on the other end. Come off like a robot and they’ll be hitting “unsubscribe” faster than you can ask “WTF?”