One of the simplest and most practical formats for communication of any kind is SMS or text messaging. With a reach of about 98% of smartphone users and an open rate of 95% within the first three minutes of delivery, SMS messaging has become one of the most sought-after marketing and communication channels by business and enterprise users. Closely related is A2P messaging, which we will talk about in this article.

What is Business SMS or Text Messaging?

SMS or text messaging for businesses has revolutionized communication by providing a direct and instant channel to reach customers. Business owners can engage with their audience in real time, delivering promotions, updates, and important information straight to their mobile devices, even as their customers browse through their online or physical stores. Some of the common examples of business SMS include advertising or promotional messages, banking notifications, appointment reminders, medical information, payment reminders, and estimated times of shipment delivery. 

The process of sending an enterprise or business SMS message is called A2P (Application-to-person) messaging.

What is A2P Messaging

A2P messaging is a type of SMS or text messaging solution that enables businesses to send SMS messages from their applications directly to the mobile user through an automated process. A2P messages can involve the use of SMS, MMS, or any other format for having one-way communication with current or potential clients in which a response is not anticipated. This serves various purposes, including marketing or delivering essential services to enhance client experience. As a business owner who is trying to contact potential customers en masse, A2P is the way to go. 

By 2030, the A2P messaging market is expected to reach $79.9 bn with a CAGR of 2.9%. A2P messaging is most widely used by banking and financial services providers, then by retail, e-commerce, media, and entertainment.

Why Should Marketers Choose SMS Messaging?

• Better reach: SMS has a higher open rate than email
• Cost-effective: Less expensive than other channels like TV, digital ads, and print media
• Personalization: Businesses can offer highly customized offers and services to ensure a loyal customer base
• Enhanced customer support: Businesses can offer immediate assistance through SMS for customer inquiries or troubleshooting, reducing customer anxiety and enhancing the overall brand experience
• Cross-selling and upselling: By analyzing customer history or profiles, businesses can send SMS messages to promote complementary services

How to Develop a Successful Enterprise SMS Messaging Strategy?

1. Set Clear Business Objectives: Start by defining the goals you aim to achieve with your SMS or text messaging campaign. Whether it is increasing sales, improving customer service, or driving website traffic, having clear objectives will help define the scope of the campaign.
2. Choose the Right SMS Platform: Selecting the perfect SMS platform is crucial for managing your campaigns effectively. Look for features such as scheduling, automation, and analytics to streamline your efforts and measure performance.
3. Obtain Customer Consent: Ensure compliance with regulations such as GDPR and TCPA by obtaining consent from recipients before sending them SMS messages. Implement an opt-in process that clearly explains what type of messages they’ll receive and how often.
4. Craft Compelling Content: Create concise and compelling messages that grab the recipient’s attention and deliver value. Use clear language, include a call-to-action, and consider adding multimedia elements like images or videos to enhance engagement.
5. Multi-channel Integration: Incorporate SMS into your omnichannel marketing strategy to create a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints. Coordinate messaging across channels such as email, social media, and mobile apps to reinforce your brand message.

How to Craft Compelling SMS Messages?

Sending a message is not enough. It has to be optimized to maximize engagement. Here are some tips on how to compose compelling SMS messages:

• Brevity: Write clear, concise, and engaging messages instead of long-winding ones
• Customer Profiling: Gather detailed information about your customers to understand who they are and how to effectively market to them. Knowing their demographics and active hours is essential for successful SMS messaging.
• Segmentation: Divide your audience based on their preferences or characteristics such as age, location, online activity, etc. Tailoring messages to each segment makes your communication more personalized and engaging.
• Personalization: Include your recipient’s name at the beginning of your messages. This helps to get their attention immediately and drives them to read further.
• Preferences and Behavior Data: Craft your messages based on the behavioral data of your customers’ activities and engagement. For example, you can craft messages with specific offers or discounts your customers prefer based on previous purchases or browsing patterns.
• Find your optimal frequency: Balancing your messaging frequency is critical; sending too many or too few messages can disrupt your communication strategy. Determine the optimal frequency to keep your clients informed without overwhelming them or fading into obscurity.

Elevate Your Engagement, Amplify Your Impact with SMS-Magic

SMS-Magic is a digital messaging solution that helps businesses deliver personalized conversations at engagement touchpoints across the customer lifecycle. With direct connections in 190+ countries and 59 global networks, Conversive can connect you to audiences anywhere.

With optimized SMS delivery, your messages follow carrier rules and are never charged for blocked messages. The Automated Converse Compliance ensures that your messages comply with industry regulations, including GDPR, TCPA, CASL, and CCPA. Real-time analytics gives you in-depth insights about your message status, delivery, and active conversations.

SMS-Magic offers tailored solutions for diverse industries including finance, education, healthcare, staffing, real estate, and law to engage with customers efficiently and effectively.

Schedule a demo today to transform conversations into conversions!

Challenges Faced by Doers and Sellers in Professional Service Selling

One of the core challenges faced by Doers and sellers in Professional Services is the simultaneous demand to deliver high-quality services while actively engaging potential clients. This duality often leads to missed opportunities, as time spent on one aspect can detract from the other. Moreover, in industries like finance, education, and health & wellness, the stakes are high, and the nature of client interactions is crucial to the success of the service being offered.

To further understand the challenges, here are a few that we came across after talking to our clientele. 

• Dual Responsibilities – Balancing the roles of delivering services and selling them.
• Opportunity Costs – The risk of missed opportunities when focusing on one role over the other.
• Client Interaction Importance – Ensuring client interactions are optimal, especially in critical industries like finance, education, and health & wellness.
• Pressure of Quality Delivery – Maintaining high-quality services while being proactive in client engagement.
• High-Stakes Decisions – The weight of every client interaction, especially when the success of the service is directly linked to client satisfaction.

The Power of Integrated Messaging: Deep Dive

Multichannel Messaging – In an era where clients are omnipresent across various platforms, SMS-Magic’s omnichannel capabilities ensure that Doers and sellers in Professional Services can engage on any platform of choice, from SMS to LINE, ensuring no opportunity is missed.

Messaging and CRM Integration – Imagine the power of having a unified view of all client communications within the CRM you use daily. It’s not just about convenience but about harnessing data for more potent, personalized engagement.

Global Coverage – In our interconnected world, professional services aren’t bound by geographical barriers. With messaging support for 59 carriers across 190+ countries, SMS-Magic ensures doer-sellers can truly cater to a global clientele.

Compliance – Particularly for industries like finance or health & wellness, adherence to regulations is non-negotiable. SMS-Magic’s compliance features, which adapt in real-time to global regulatory shifts, are a boon. Whether it’s GDPR in Europe or TCPA in the U.S., compliance is ensured.

Case Studies Showcasing the Transformation

• Finance Industry – A leading financial advisory firm leveraged SMS-Magic’s platform to engage with potential investors. Through personalized messaging campaigns, they could generate inquiries for loans, insurance, and investments. The platform’s compliance feature ensured all communications were in line with regulatory standards, resulting in a 40% increase in conversions.
• Health & Wellness – A wellness center utilized the platform’s multichannel messaging capabilities to counsel and register new patients. With a  HIPAA-compliant solution, they could share health tips and ensure timely treatment follow-ups, resulting in a significant boost in patient trust and engagement.
• Real Estate – A real estate agency implemented SMS-Magic to drive open house promotions and negotiations. With CRM integration, all interactions were informed and tailored, leading to faster property turnovers and increased referrals.
• Education Sector – A premier university utilized SMS-Magic to enhance its student admission process. Through automated yet personalized messaging campaigns, prospective students received timely counsel, reducing admission drop-offs by 30%.
• Legal Domain – A top-tier law firm harnessed the power of SMS-Magic for client engagement. They implemented multichannel messaging to update clients about case progress, resulting in enhanced client trust and a 20% uptick in client referrals.

These are just a few examples of the transformative impact messaging can have across different industries.

Role of Messaging in Transforming Engagement

This is where the magic of messaging steps in. Founded over 15 years ago, SMS-Magic has been at the forefront of the messaging revolution, recognizing the unique challenges faced by doers and sellers in professional services. With features like 24×7 inbound messaging and omnichannel support, the platform ensures that professionals can maintain constant communication with their clients across various channels – be it SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or others.

Moreover, the integration capabilities with CRMs like Salesforce and Zoho ensure that these communications are seamlessly woven into the broader sales and service process. This means professionals can focus on what they do best, while the messaging system takes care of engagement.

Conclusion – Future of Doer and Sellers in Professional Services with Integrated Messaging

As we gaze into the future, one thing becomes abundantly clear: The line between service delivery and client engagement is blurring. For doer-sellers in Professional services, this intersection is where magic happens. With platforms like SMS-Magic, this magic is not just about enhanced communication but about crafting measurable client experiences.

In essence, the future for doers and sellers in professional services is not just about offering or selling, but about communicating, engaging, and resonating. And in this narrative, integrated messaging emerges not just as a tool but as a catalyst for change. SMS-Magic, with its vast array of features and dedication to continuous innovation, stands poised to lead doer-sellers into this brave new world of empowered communication.

What are High-Stakes Services?

High-consideration services involve consumers making major decisions where they expect positive, or even life-changing outcomes. With so much on the line, these services must offer engagement that builds trust and meets individual needs. A few defining characteristics of these services are:

• Highly personalized to everyone
• Time-sensitive or urgent
• Require access to private information/records
• Decisions carry substantial consequences
• Frequently complex or emotionally charged

How Consumer Preferences Have Shifted

Rigid communication channels like email and phone calls restrict the ability to deliver personalized, convenient engagement.

• 73% expect transparent, honest communication from businesses.
• 68% want providers to inform them of the issues that may affect them.
• 62% are more loyal to providers who understand their specific needs.

Shortcomings of Email Communication – For High-Stakes Services

Email communication has notable drawbacks and constraints. The rapid accumulation of emails can lead to an inbox overloaded with information. Sifting through an abundance of messages can be a tiresome task that causes critical messages to get lost in the shuffle. Some examples are:

1. The sender can’t ensure messages reach recipients and get read promptly – A patient emails their doctor about unusual symptoms, but the doctor doesn’t see it for several days.

2. Inability to express subtleties and emotions when discussing delicate subjects – An attorney attempts to explain legal risks in an email, but the tone seems harsh.

3. Inconsistent hand-offs between departments create disjointed experiences – A client gets bounced between departments and must re-explain their issue each time.

4. Privacy issues with sensitive information – Financial details get put in an insecure email exposed to hacking risks.

Shortcomings of Phone Calls – For High-Stakes Services

Using a phone for business can be convenient, but it may also have many drawbacks. The biggest roadblock with phone calls is that the person being called must be available. If they are not available, we run into these problems:

The Growing Need for More Responsive Channels

The digital age has fundamentally transformed how consumers interact with businesses. With the rise of social media and instant messaging platforms, people now anticipate real-time responses. Traditional modes of communication like emails and phone calls, though still prevalent, are increasingly perceived as archaic for high-stakes services.

Factors Influencing Today’s Communication Standards Several underlying factors shape the current expectations:

• Instant Gratification: In an era where we can order food, hail a cab, or get answers to queries within seconds, waiting for responses via emails or missing phone calls can be frustrating.
• Shift to Visual Communication: With platforms like Instagram and TikTok dominating the digital space, people prefer visual and interactive communication over long text emails or auditory phone calls.
• Mobile-First World: Most consumers access services via their mobile devices. Emails and phone calls often disrupt the flow, whereas direct app-based or SMS-based interactions feel more seamless.

Evolution Beyond Emails and Calls

Text Messaging and Its Benefits Text messaging, particularly SMS and chatbots, has rapidly risen as a preferred communication method. Here’s why:

• Direct and Immediate: Texts get read, typically within 3 minutes of being received. This immediacy ensures that crucial information isn’t overlooked.
• Visual Aids: Modern texting allows for the incorporation of images, videos, and gifs, making communication more engaging.
• End-to-End Encryption: Text messaging can offer enhanced security measures ensuring the confidentiality of private information.

These factors show why legacy channels fall drastically short of meeting the engagement requirements of high-stakes services. Businesses and professional services need modern solutions to facilitate convenient, compliant, and trusted communication between providers and consumers. Companies that embrace text messaging to connect with customers on their terms will gain a substantial competitive advantage as we move deeper into the digital future.

Connect with us today to get your high-stakes conversations started. 

In an era where every transaction holds immense significance, understanding the intricacies of Customer Engagement in High-stakes Services becomes paramount. These services, encompassing sectors such as finance, healthcare, and real estate, don’t merely entail transactions but define crucial life choices with long-lasting impacts. The challenge lies in the paradox of their nature: while the stakes are astronomically high, customer trust and loyalty remain precariously fragile. 

Therefore, it’s about selling a service and ensuring a partnership rooted in trust, value, and mutual understanding. The subsequent intricacies of this engagement arena are often overlooked, potentially leading to missed opportunities and compromised relationships. Recognizing and addressing the unique demands of these high-stakes sectors is what this discussion intends to delve into, underlining why it’s absolutely essential to refine our approach and elevate the dialogue between businesses and their clientele.

Let’s explore why and how a sophisticated messaging strategy, such as SMS-Magic, becomes invaluable when talking about Customer Engagement in High-stakes services.

1. High Consideration
   Industries requiring heavy investments like finance and real estate need a holistic approach to communication. This is where omnichannel messaging can make a real difference.

SMS-Magic Advantage: We excel with our omnichannel messaging and 24×7 inbound messaging, ensuring customers have an avenue of communication anytime, anywhere.

2. High Value
   Higher education sectors are significant in terms of both investment and consequence. In such fields, personalized communication holds the key to successful engagement.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Our platform offers seamless, personalized communication, one-to-one whenever required, so you can help your service seekers make informed decisions. 

3. Impact on Self-image
   The healthcare sector is intrinsically linked to one’s well-being. Here, communication should foster trust and support, emphasizing the importance of one’s choices.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Our multichannel messaging system ensures that patients can always find timely advice and an empathetic ear, no matter the platform.

4. Consultative Selling:
   In legal or staffing sectors, it’s the expertise that’s for sale. Effective communication is about delivering the right insights, at the right time.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Our mobile application, which comes fully equipped with CRM integration, enables consultants to offer real-time advice, tailored to the client’s needs.

5. Time-sensitive Matters:
   In financial services, every second counts. Delays can lead to missed opportunities or escalating risks, highlighting the need for intelligent automation in communication.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Our platform incorporates intelligent automation, ensuring that businesses act swiftly and effectively in time-sensitive scenarios.

6. Long-Term Consequences:
   Education and financial decisions impact one’s future. The communication in these sectors should reflect this longevity, emphasizing continuous support and guidance.

SMS-Magic Advantage: With our customer lifecycle engagement approach, we promise a long-lasting relationship, providing valuable insights throughout the client’s journey.

7. Long Customer Lifecycle:
   Real estate is a long game, with transactions spanning months or even years. Such a prolonged customer lifecycle demands persistent, consistent, and informative communication.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Through CRM integration, we ensure that every engagement is informed, context-aware, and tailored, nurturing valuable long-term relationships.

8. Multiple Stakeholders:
   In sectors like staffing, the challenge is to ensure clarity among multiple parties. Effective communication should bring everyone onto the same page.

SMS-Magic Advantage: Our centralized messaging portal is designed to streamline interactions, ensuring synchronized and clear communication among all stakeholders.

9. Strict Regulations:
   The finance and healthcare sectors come with a slew of regulations. Navigating these while ensuring effective communication is a challenge in itself.

SMS-Magic Advantage: We excel in messaging compliance, ensuring that whether it’s HIPAA requirements or 10DLC registration intricacies, businesses remain compliant without the associated stress.

Charting Success in Customer Engagement in High-Stakes Services

The intricate nature of customer engagement in high-stakes arenas requires a strategic, versatile, and secure approach. SMS-Magic, boasting over 15 years of expertise, stands as a beacon for businesses venturing into these waters. From compliance to omnichannel messaging and CRM integrations, we’ve curated a platform that resonates with both the business and its clientele. In an era where a personal touch signifies distinction, SMS-Magic ensures every conversation is purposeful, timely, and impactful.

Key Takeaway – In high-stakes sectors, each interaction bears weight. Choose SMS-Magic – where every conversation genuinely matters. Because when it comes to Customer Engagement in high-stakes services, you do want perfection.

Get in touch with us today – And let’s get your conversations going!

SMS Marketing Myth 1: One Size Fits All in Messaging Solutions

Reality: Every car isn’t a Lamborghini, right? Initiated in 2008, SMS-Magic has never stopped evolving. Beyond traditional text messaging services, we focus on creating genuine engagement and fostering customer relationships. Our SMS platform prioritizes results, evidenced by clients experiencing a staggering 40% hike in conversions.

SMS Marketing Myth 2: It’s Just… Texting

Reality: Think of a master chef crafting a gourmet dish: whether they use secret ingredients or everyday food, they always deliver something fantastic. That’s how we view messaging! SMS-Magic elevates business text messaging into an art form. By prioritizing genuine, resonant content, we’ve become the go-to choice for high-stakes conversations such as finance and healthcare.

SMS Marketing Myth 3: Platforms are Too Complex

Reality: Ever tried assembling a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle? Daunting, right? But with SMS-Magic, the experience is more like snapping together Lego bricks. By designing a user-friendly interface, we let businesses focus on what they excel at, leaving the SMS intricacies to us.

SMS Marketing Myth 4: Compliance is a Constant Battle

Reality: Imagine a world where you can set-and-forget rules and regulations. Welcome to the SMS-Magic realm! We actively monitor and adapt to regulatory updates and changes , ensuring your SMS campaigns remain compliant. Say goodbye to those tedious manual updates.

SMS Marketing Myth 5: Integration Nightmares Await

Reality: Imagine effortlessly blending paint on a canvas so every color is clear, bright, and tells a story. That’s the integration experience with SMS-Magic. Whether you’re using Salesforce, Zoho, or other CRM systems, our seamless integration ensures fluidity in your communication processes.

SMS Marketing Myth 6: Setting Up is Like Climbing Everest

Reality: With us, it’s more of a walk in the park! Begin your SMS marketing journey with SMS-Magic in a day. Should you encounter any challenges our top-notch support team is just a call away.

SMS Marketing Myth 7: Termination Equals Data Loss

Reality: Consider us the guardians of your digital memories. Even post-cancellation, your data is safely and securely maintained, ensuring your hard work and customer interactions aren’t lost to the void.

SMS Marketing Myth 8: Texts Play Second Fiddle to Emails

Reality: In our digital age, timeliness is the name of the game. While emails sit unread, SMS messages boast a jaw-dropping 98% open rate. Makes you wonder: Who’s truly leading the customer engagement race?

SMS Marketing Myth 9: Bulk Messaging Equals Spam

Reality: We believe in quality over quantity. Rather than bombarding users, our personalized SMS strategies ensure that each message feels personalized, leading to a whopping 75% of users feeling more connected to brands.

SMS Marketing Myth 10: SMS Lacks Engagement Power

Reality: If engagement was a dance, SMS would be leading the Conga Line! Brands that weave SMS into their strategies witness a soaring 30% uptick in engagement. It’s time to join the dance!

SMS Marketing Myth 11: Serious Businesses Don’t Text

Reality: Think of professional SMS communication as the modern-day briefcase: sleek, efficient, and indispensable. From appointment reminders in healthcare to transactional updates in finance, secure business messaging has become a keystone in professional communication.

SMS Marketing Myth 12: SMS Isn’t ROI Friendly

Reality: Here’s some economics 101: for every dollar channeled into SMS campaigns, businesses often see returns exceeding $40. It’s an investment that truly pays dividends.

The prowess of SMS marketing isn’t just about numbers or open rates. It’s about resonance. It’s about conversations that matter. Dive deep with SMS-Magic and watch your business narratives turn magical, one message at a time. After all, in this age of fleeting attention spans, it’s not merely the message, but the connection that counts. Stay ahead, stay engaged, and remember: Magic is just an SMS away! 

Increasingly, healthcare providers are turning to technology to solve this issue. At the forefront of this technological revolution is the power of Text Messaging in Healthcare, a tool that has shown great promise in improving patient adherence and engagement. But how exactly does this work? Let’s dive in.

Powering Medication Adherence Through Text Messaging in Healthcare

Patient preference and adherence is a critical component of effective healthcare, but nearly 50% of patients do not take their medications as prescribed. This non-compliance can lead to severe health repercussions and increased healthcare costs. Enter the game-changer: Conversational Messaging. You’ll be impressed to know that the ‘Impact of Reminders on Adherence’, A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that text message reminders improved medication adherence rates by 17.8%

SMS messaging for healthcare offers a straightforward, cost-effective, and patient-friendly solution to medication non-adherence. With personalized medication reminders delivered right to a patient’s mobile device, patients are more likely to stick to their prescription schedules. Messaging can further encourage Patient preference and adherence by providing clear instructions for medication intake, addressing common concerns about side effects, and offering timely support when patients need it.

Enhancing Appointment Compliance via Text Messaging in Healthcare

Missing healthcare appointments is a pervasive issue that leads to delayed care, disrupted treatment plans, and unnecessary healthcare costs. The U.S. healthcare system incurs over $150 billion in annual costs due to no-show appointments, as demonstrated by a study released in the BMC Health Services Research journal. This problem, too, can be tackled effectively through SMS messaging.

SMS healthcare text reminders for appointments significantly reduce the likelihood of no-shows. Moreover, by enabling two-way communication, text messaging allows patients to easily reschedule appointments if needed. This reduces the chances of empty appointment slots, enhancing clinic efficiency.

As the ‘Impact of Reminders on Appointment Attendance’ study in the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, text message reminders reduced the rate of missed appointments by nearly 30%. Furthermore, it also fosters stronger patient-doctor relationships by maintaining consistent communication and demonstrating the healthcare provider’s commitment to the patient’s well-being.

Transforming Overall Patient Engagement through Text Messaging in Healthcare

Beyond improving patient preference and adherence and appointment compliance, messaging can transform overall patient engagement. For example, The survey conducted by the National Library of Medicine provided intriguing data about patients’ communication preferences. A remarkable 98.2% of patients found text messages to be a favorable mode of communication, and 95.5% felt a heightened sense of connection with their healthcare team through this medium. Additionally, 91.9% of respondents agreed that these text updates reduced their need to make calls to the office.

Equally noteworthy is that 91.9% of patients showed a clear preference for text updates over other communication methods such as emails, phone calls, or patient portal messages. By texting regular health tips, wellness checks, and encouragement, SMS marketing services can foster healthier lifestyles and a greater sense of connection between patients and healthcare providers.

This two-way communication also empowers patients, giving them a more active role in their healthcare journey. This empowerment not only enhances patients’ overall satisfaction but also improves health outcomes by promoting active participation in their healthcare.

Why Choose SMS-Magic: The Best SMS Marketing Services

With numerous SMS service providers in the market, it’s important to choose one that truly stands out. SMS-Magic offers the best SMS marketing services, tailored to meet the unique needs of healthcare professionals.

We understand the necessity of ensuring patient adherence and preference in the healthcare industry. That’s why our services are designed to deliver personalized, timely, and accurate messages. Through our robust platform, you can send appointment reminders, medication alerts, and follow-up messages that keep your patients engaged and compliant.

Moreover, SMS-Magic’s user-friendly platform allows healthcare providers to easily manage their communication with hundreds or even thousands of patients. Our services are HIPAA-compliant, ensuring all patient communication is private and secure.

At SMS-Magic, we’re committed to harnessing the power of conversational messaging to enhance patient adherence. We’re here to help healthcare providers leverage this powerful tool to promote better patient outcomes. So why wait? Join us in driving SMS healthcare forward with SMS-Magic, and let’s make non-adherent patients a thing of the past.

Thank you for reading our blog! Stay tuned for more insights on how messaging is shaping the future of various industries. Remember, with SMS-Magic, your communication possibilities are endless. Follow us to get timely updates. 

Medication Delays and Forgetfulness

The National Library of Medicine reported that up to 50% of patients taking medications struggle to maintain their physician’s recommendations. One of the top factors contributing to nonadherence is a lack of social support and overconfidence in patients’ memory. Thankfully, messaging can aid in both areas.

According to Science Direct, short and simple SMS messaging has proven to reduce medication delays from 85% to 19% after adding a text messaging solution in a clinical trial. The study found that personalized and timely reminders through SMS can improve medication adherence, saving medication costs and leading to substantial improvements in health and disease management.

Reducing No-Shows with SMS Messages

Missing appointments can wreak havoc on patient health as well as office efficiency, creating longer wait times and inefficient use of resources. Research shows that the primary reason patients miss appointments is forgetfulness, and sending a simple text message reminder can help keep them on track.

Messaging not only reduces patient no-shows to appointments. Simple texts can also ensure they arrive on time. The domino effect of late arrivals can disrupt the flow of the entire day. Reminding them of the date and time via messaging days before, 24 hours prior, and the day of the appointment can help ensure patients arrive on time.

Use SMS Messaging to Engage Patients

You can also use messaging to check in with your patients between appointments, keeping them engaged in their health and with your office. Creating automated messages using your database (CRM) and a messaging platform like SMS-Magic can save your office time. By creating segmented lists based on various factors in your database, you can send personalized and relevant messages to their phone screen.

Asking questions is a fantastic way to prompt engagement, like “Have you gotten your 30 minutes of exercise for your heart health today?” or “Meditation is a great way to reduce anxiety. Here’s a FREE 5-minute session [Link].” These interactive check-ins will keep your patients engaged with helpful information and can help keep your services in mind.

Sending Helpful Healthcare and Program Information

Absorbing healthcare information can be overwhelming for patients at times. You can help them understand their medical plan, prescriptions, and diagnosis by sending messages with links to more information that can supplement office visits and phone calls.

In addition, healthcare providers often recommend non-pharmaceutical interventions like meditation, mindfulness exercises, mental healthcare, or smoking cessation programs, and messages are crucial to keeping them on track. These program messages can be inspirational and motivating, provide links to assignments or videos, or be informational with recent statistics and research. Regardless of the information sent, messaging can send it all to their phones, keeping your patients committed, informed, and up to date.

Use Surveys to See How You’re Doing

While adding messaging as a communication channel will help your patients stay on top of their health and keep your office efficient, there are always ways to improve. Surveys help you gather information to improve your processes, and you can obtain this valuable feedback quickly with messaging. The text message survey can be a poll, text-to-vote, or net promoter score, or you can also include a link to a web-based survey. Keyword triggers can help gather even more data you need with a back-and-forth flow of questions and answers.

The Bottom Line

Although your patients may be busy, most of them check their phones more than 90 times a day, and you can use this to your advantage by sending vital medical information and reminders directly to their phones with messaging.

Ready to get messaging working for your staff and your patients? To get started with SMS-Magic, contact our customer support team for a demo or a free trial!

Each communication channel, however, has strengths and weaknesses and each probably appeals to different types of customers. For example, your Instagram posts won’t be seen by customers who only use Facebook. By combining channels you can overlap your outreach, overcome weaknesses and create more effective campaigns. Each channel can enhance all the other channels.

Our customers have seen significant results simply by adding messaging to their other channels and using it well. Here are 5 suggestions for using messaging to enhance your multichannel marketing efforts:

Create ‘Surround Sound’ With Messaging

Engaging your customers through a variety of channels can create a sense that your business is part of their life. Imagine seeing the same product advertised on a TV spot, a billboard, and an in-store poster. You’d think about that product three separate times, and you’d see it as part of your surroundings. On the other hand, if you saw three separate billboards for the same product, you’d likely tune out after the first one or two.

Reaching out to your customers through multiple channels can have a similar effect. Your customers only want to see so many emails from your business. They’ll also unsubscribe if you send them too many messages. A single email combined with a single message, however, can be far more powerful than sending two emails or two messages. A multichannel strategy ensures your marketing campaign is greater than the sum of its parts.

Use Messaging For Procedural Exchanges

Some transactions and conversations make more sense to conduct via non-messaging channels. For instance, signing closing documents on a house requires virtual signatures and reading lots of fine print, so it often makes sense via email. A thorough explanation of how to apply for an academic program might also require an email or phone call. However, you can still use messaging to streamline these exchanges. Here’s an example of how the conversation might go:

Agent: We got a counter-offer from our buyers today! I’m sending it to your email. Take a look and sign when you get a chance!

Customer: Fantastic! I’m looking now.

If the agent had simply emailed the customer with the counteroffer, the agent would have waited longer to get a response. Most customers don’t check their email inboxes as often as they check their messages. By alerting the customer that important documents were waiting in the inbox, however, the agent was able to prompt immediate action. The customer appreciated the heads-up, too!

Drive Engagement Through Other Channels Via Messaging

Messaging is a powerful, immediate way to get your customers’ attention. A good message typically includes a call to action – a clear invitation for the recipient to do something. Messaging can be an effective way to invite your audience to take action on another channel. Here’s how a staffing company might use this approach:

Agent: We’ve reviewed your application, and we have a position in mind for you. Would you be interested in taking a typing test to get the process started?

Customer: Sure!

Agent: Great! I’m sending an invitation to your email inbox now.

The immediacy and urgency associated with messaging can help you engage customers via other channels with the same energy. 

Use Other Channels To Promote Messaging

Your customers may not know that messaging is an option if they’re reaching out via other channels. One health insurance company offers a push-button option on their phone menu, asking callers if they’d like to text with an agent instead. If not, the caller can continue to hold. If the caller indicates “yes,” an agent will reach out via text. Now, instead of being stuck on hold, the customer can get their questions answered while going about their daily activities. Most callers aren’t aware of this option before they call, but they’re grateful for the option when it’s offered!

Offer ‘Summaries’ Via Messaging

A good marketing message is short and sweet. By offering just enough to whet your audience’s appetite for more, you can prompt them to seek out the details via other channels. Here’s a great example of how a nonprofit organization might use this strategy:

Agent: Thanks for your contribution! We raised over $200,000 for leukemia research this month. To learn how we’re using these funds to find a cure, visit our website!

Adding conversational messaging to your toolkit makes all your other channels that much more effective. Try it today!

Our customer support team can help you get started with SMS-Magic. Contact us for a demo or a free trial!

If you’re like most people in the United States, you use a combination of payment methods. Using a mobile app or paying bills from a laptop computer is just so much easier than trudging to the bank or writing checks used to be.

It’s how we do business. If you were anywhere else in the world, however, you would probably be conducting business using a text messaging app like WhatsApp or WeChat. Think that sounds farfetched? Text messaging is a communication trend that will soon be widely used in the U.S., and we don’t need a crystal ball to tell us so.

We’ve been watching the billions of people who are using text messaging apps around the world. Like mobile phone adoption, the U.S. is slow to start using text messaging, especially with apps like WhatsApp, but it’s coming. To keep your business healthy and growing, you need to understand and leverage new communication channels as quickly as you can or risk losing customers and sales.

If It’s Broke, Fix It

If you’ve been trying to reach your customers and potential customers with conventional channels like phone calls, direct mail or email, you probably are wondering why your results are mediocre, at best. It’s because we only open emails 22 percent of the time, according to Gigaom. Phone calls have a lower response rate.

Conversely, we send more than 5 billion texts a day, and we open 98 percent of them. Asurion’s research shows that Americans look at our phones 96 times a day or once every 10 minutes.

Most texts sent in the U.S. today use the native texting capability that comes packaged in mobile phones – Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Message Service (MMS). SMS messages are limited to text only but are quick and inexpensive, great for reminders. MMS messages can contain photos or videos and are often very eye-catching. They can create high response rates, but they are more expensive to send and take longer to transmit.

The rest of the world, however, is using an assortment of “over-the-top” apps that use the internet to send the message, not a cellular service. Facebook Messenger is the top app in North America and Australia, WhatsApp is most popular in most of South America, Russia, India and parts of Africa, and WeChat is the leader in China. If your company is based in the United States, you might not be familiar with apps like Viber, Telegram, Line, Discord, KakaoTalk, Phoenix, or Zalo, but if you’re trying to reach customers in specific countries, you may need to become familiar with the favorites in that area.

When someone in India uses WhatsApp to do their banking, they are using a Facebook service that offers end-to-end security. Security is one of the priorities for most OTT apps, but it isn’t always available in the initial download. Most of the apps are free to download but may charge for business uses. They allow users to share files, to set messages to self-destruct, to make voice calls and to chat with groups of up to 200,000 users. Some also allow voice calls even to those who haven’t downloaded a specific app.

Are You Ready to Use OTT Apps Now?

The downside of using OTT apps is that the people you send to must also have the app. That limits your audience in the U.S. right now, but trends indicate that OTT app usage will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Here’s what we recommend: start using text messaging to reach your customers and potential customers. We have a customer who increased customer responses to their campaigns from less than one percent to over 15 percent just by changing from emails to texts.

Work the kinks out of your campaigns now. As OTT app adoption accelerates, you will be perfectly poised to take advantage of the technology while your competition struggles.

Our system, working with your CRM, can keep track of all your customer interactions in one place. It can also keep track of messages sent from a variety of platforms, starting with native mobile text capabilities and expanding to OTT apps like Messenger, WhatsApp, SnapChat or the others as needed.

SMS-Magic offers a free trial so that you can get a feel for our product. If you’re as pleased as we think you will be, you can choose the level of service that’s best for your company.

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. We’ll share what we see in our crystal ball. Let us show you how you can engage your customers in a new way!