Two-Way Text Messaging: Personalize Customer Relationships
Two-way text messaging — also known as two-way SMS — enables businesses to personalize and improve customer experiences by sending appointment and delivery reminders, facilitating customer support inquiries, and more.
In this article we focus on the following:
- What is Two-Way Text Messaging?
- Why Two-Way Text Messaging is Good for Business
- What Are Some Examples of Two-Way Text Messaging?
Want to try Pareteum’s Two-Way Text Messaging solution? Set up a call with one of our SMS experts!
What is Two-Way Text Messaging?
Two-way text messaging refers to the ability to both send and receive text messages. Of course, this functionality comes standard on practically every personal mobile device, but for businesses, it’s substantially less common.
While SMS is already one of the most important business tools for sales, marketing, and customer engagement, most SMS platforms for enterprises and SMBs allow only one-way communications. Two-way platforms, however, enable these businesses to have more direct, personalized relationships with their clients, customers, and employees.
Why Two-Way Text Messaging is Good for Business
Two-Way Text Messaging is Really Popular
Text messaging is a proven, ultra-popular communications solution for individuals and businesses alike. Not only is it among the most affordable ways to communicate, but it’s also widely accessible, globally standardized, and natively supported on practically every mobile phone on the market. In other words, unlike over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, or Viber, users don’t need to download the same third-party clients or browsers to communicate via SMS.
Additionally, SMS is one of the few communications tools capable of reaching across countries, age groups, genders, and a variety of other important demographic groups. This is borne out in the fact that roughly 65% of the global population can send and receive text messages. What’s more approximately 98% of all text messages are opened within three minutes.
Two-Way Text Messaging for Personalized Customer Experiences
Personalized experiences make customers feel valued and appreciated — this is the basic assumption underlying business strategies like account-based marketing (ABM) and account-based sales (ABS). Indeed, according to a recent report by Business 2 Community, 97% of marketers saw a measurable lift in business resulting from increased personalization. As such, it should come as no surprise that curated experiences will continue to play an important role in things like customer service, engagement, outreach, and support.
Two-way text messaging is a perfect tool for capitalizing on these trends. It enables businesses to engage with customers directly, without relying on contact centers and support lines. And, unlike most chatbots and webchat tools, customers can rest assured that when they send businesses a text, they’ll get a response from a real person.
What Are Some Examples of Two-Way Text Messaging?
1. Two-Way Text Messaging for Appointment Reminders
Many doctors, beauticians, mechanics, and other client-based businesses have begun leveraging SMS to send clients reminders for upcoming appointments. However, two-way texting takes things one step further, enabling clients to:
- Alert businesses when they’re running late.
- Cancel appointments they can’t make.
- Reschedule appointments for later dates.
- And more
2. Two-Way Text Messaging for Delivery Reminders
Delivery reminders are another common SMS use case. If a customer orders something from an online business, that business can alert them when their order is out for delivery. Two-way texting, however, enables retailers to confirm delivery times with recipients.
For example, let’s say a customer is set to receive a delivery at 10:30 AM on a Monday. The retailer that shipped the order can send them an SMS with this ETA and include the option to delay the delivery to a later date or time. This not only makes things more convenient for customers, but also decreases the likelihood of failed deliveries.
3. Two-Way Text Messaging for Customer Inquiries
Businesses can also set up dedicated virtual numbers that customers can text whenever they have specific questions or service inquiries. This is convenient for customers since it enables them to reach out to businesses on their own time. It’s also helpful for businesses since it helps them reduce the wait times on their support lines, meaning more urgent requests can be handled without delay
How can Pareteum’s Two-Way Text Messaging Solution improve your business? Contact one of our SMS experts today!
About Pareteum
Pareteum is an experienced provider of Communications Platform as a Service solutions. We empower enterprises, communications service providers, internet service providers, mobile operators, full MVNOs, light MVNOs, early-stage innovators, developers, IoT (Internet of Things), and telecommunications infrastructure providers with the freedom and control to create, deliver, and scale innovative communications experiences.
The Pareteum platform connects people and devices around the world using the secure, ubiquitous, and highly scalable solution to deliver data, voice, video, SMS/text messaging, media, and content enablement.
For more information on Pareteum’s Messaging solution, set up a meeting!
