SMS Marketing: Four Sectors Successfully Using Text Messaging
SMS marketing has seen a huge uplift in popularity in recent years, with big brands investing in the technology to better engage with their customers. There are so many benefits of SMS marketing, from the ability to directly to reach customers with your communications, to the fact that over 80% of SMS texts are read. With over approximately 90% of the world receiving mobile coverage, you’re highly likely to be able to reach your audience, regardless of where they are. SMS marketing is cost effective, and campaigns are quick to develop, in as short a time period as the time it takes to write a text message. This gives you the advantage of being able to communicate quickly, and effectively with customers, reacting to information almost instantaneously. With so many reasons to use SMS marketing, we’ve highlighted four sectors successfully using SMS messaging as case studies to highlight the advantages of investing in the technology.
Leisure
From gyms and fitness centres to restaurants and bars, the leisure sector has seen a huge growth in improved customer relations thanks to SMS marketing. Text messaging has been part of the revolution in the fitness sector in recent years, helping companies to grow their memberships exponentially. From offering discounted training sessions to sending reminders about upcoming classes, SMS marketing has helped the fitness sector to maximise its customer offering, by directly motivating customers to participate in their facilities. Gyms and health centres have also used SMS messaging to keep class sizes full, improving customer satisfaction. With online waiting lists, prompting texts notifications, your gym can promote 100% class attendance, and improved availability for your customers.
For businesses in the food sector, text messaging can be used as a way to confirm bookings or cancellations, helping to lower the number of missed bookings and no shows, which lead to a loss of revenue. SMS marketing is also a great way for these companies to send out last minute deals and offers to customers when bookings are looking light. For example, if you don’t have a booked-out restaurant over the weekend, you can send a text on Thursday offering 10% off main courses for everyone who books within a 24-hour period.
Sport
SMS marketing has been used highly effectively within the sports sector, helping to engage fans throughout the season and to continue communication during the offseason. Sports clubs and teams from amateur to professional level can use SMS marketing to promote upcoming games, events and ticket sales directly to an already engaged fan base. Text messages can be used to promote discounted ticket sales, including for lesser attended pre-season warm-up games, and friendlies. SMS messaging can help sports clubs improve their fan relationships, by offering real-time information on games to their fans, including statistics on players, scores and tournament rankings. SMS marketing is also highly effective during international sports competitions such as the World Cup, Wimbledon or the Masters tournaments. Fans can participate in the excitement around the tournament giving unrivalled access to brand sponsors throughout the games.
Travel and hospitality
If you work within the travel and hospitality sector or have been a customer of the industry in the last few years, you are likely to have enjoyed the benefits of SMS messaging directly. For airlines, the opportunities to sending text message reminders, prompting customers once online check in has opened. Providing your customers with text message reminders is also a way to add value to your relationship, offering reminder texts for flight times, and real-time information as things change. The more information your customers have about changes to their plans, the less likely they are to be frustrated when things don’t go to plan. Text messaging provides you with a quick and direct way to contact your customers with the latest information they need.
Within the hotel and accommodation sector, you can use SMS marketing to promote special offers and discounts to reduce the number of empty rooms you have. It’s also a great way to promote special occasions where you might offer packages, such as a room and dinner or a discounted two nights stay for events including Mother’s Day or New Year’s Eve. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with visitors who may only stay at your hotel once a year, or once every few years. Understanding your customer preferences is a key way to send useful, efficient SMS messaging to further your customer relationships.
Health and beauty
The health and beauty sector is a fourth industry which has enjoyed the benefits of SMS messaging for many years. A more recent development within the industry has been the advent of text messaging booking systems, which give customers far greater flexibility with appointment booking than ever before. To suit customers’ hectic, demanding lifestyles, SMS messaging allows booking around their daily lives, whether it be on the commute, on a break from work or last minute as they confirm plans. Customers will feel more positive about the service you offer as instead of being stuck waiting on hold on a call or having to log into a website to book their appointment, they can get the information they need at a time that suits them.
SMS messaging also allows businesses within the health and beauty sector to improve their customer care, by sending follow on texts asking customers to feedback within a 24-hour period after their appointment. This gives businesses a chance to address any issues almost instantaneously if a customer is unhappy, improving the number of customers likely to return to the salon in future.
Fastsms is a market-leading SMS marketing and text messaging platform, supporting businesses across the UK to improve their customer relationships and increase their revenues. Working across several sectors, we specialise in efficient, cost-effective communications which will produce tangible benefits for your business. For more information about how SMS messaging could work for your business, contact us today on 0800 954 5305 or email us on helpdesk@fastsms.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
Related Articles
5 Facts Your Business Should Know About A2P SMS Messaging
Is SMS messaging a good investment of your business’ time and money? A report from Mobile Ecosystem Forum shares some data on how SMS is being used, who is using it, and provides some evidence showing the answer to that question is most likely “Yes”!
How Travel Agents Can Compete with Online Booking Sites by Using SMS Messaging
The lure of quick, easy and cheap travel arrangements online has revolutionised the way people find and book travel. Travel agents offer so much more than search, click and book, but still find themselves facing competition from online booking. But none of the major online booking sites can offer the personalised service an agent does.
SMS Marketing: Four Sectors Successfully Using Text Messaging
SMS marketing has seen a huge uplift in popularity in recent years, with big brands investing in the technology to better engage with their customers. There are so many benefits of SMS marketing, from the ability to directly to reach customers with your communications, to the fact that over 80% of SMS texts are read. With over approximately 90% of the world receiving mobile coverage, you’re highly likely to be able to reach your audience, regardless of where they are. SMS marketing is cost effective, and campaigns are quick to develop, in as short a time period as the time it takes to write a text message. This gives you the advantage of being able to communicate quickly, and effectively with customers, reacting to information almost instantaneously. With so many reasons to use SMS marketing, we’ve highlighted four sectors successfully using SMS messaging as case studies to highlight the advantages of investing in the technology.
How to Use SMS for Patient Engagement and Better Healthcare
There is something of a revolution occurring in the UK, and worldwide, where healthcare is concerned. Gone are the days of patients idly sitting and waiting for doctors to dole out advice. With 93% of the population holding a tool in their hands, anybody can use a mobile phone to access a wealth of information, just at our fingertips. SMS can maintain that feeling of instant information without causing the confusion, panic and misunderstanding so often associated with self-diagnosis.
How SMS Marketing Can Revolutionise Your Beauty Business
There are many benefits of using SMS marketing for businesses within the health and beauty industry. From instantly connecting with customers to booking appointments and increasing sales, the opportunities for the health and beauty sector are huge when it comes to business text messaging. Due to the fast-paced nature of appointment booking within the industry, and the increasing competition, SMS marketing could be the key to separate you from your competition.
How SMS Improves Patient Satisfaction in the Healthcare Sector
The challenges facing the healthcare sector today, whether you work for an NHS Trust or a private health company, are increasing. In an ever-evolving environment, maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction is an unenviable challenge many healthcare providers face on a day-to-day basis. How can SMS help?
Hotels Use SMS Messaging to Head Off Bad Reviews
Online travel and review sites are great for travellers. They are good for hotels too, but they offer a double edged sword. User reviews are unfiltered – that is the travellers can say whatever they like both good and bad. And managing a bad review can be difficult, but how can SMS help?
5 SMS or Mobile Facts You Need to Know
So many of us are used to having our mobiles around nearly 24 hours a day that it’s easy to forget it’s still a growing industry. And though SMS has been around for over two decades, the ways we use it and people’s willingness to use it continues to grow. So for this blog I picked out five facts about mobile and SMS that really make the case that SMS for business has come of age. Let’s see if you agree.
Pagers vs. SMS Messaging for Emergency Services
For decades, all kinds of emergency personnel relied on pagers to communicate with each other and their organisations. The system was created long before the days of mobile phones or even text messaging. But now things are changing, as we explain in this blog post.
How Campsites Can Use SMS Messaging to Get New Business
The campervan and caravan industry grew 16% this past year. Campsite and holiday park owners can connect with the thousands of new travellers using SMS messaging. After all, 76% of travellers prefer to take their mobile on holiday rather than a friend.