Are you looking for a text message provider for your business?
Text marketing is an effective and cost effective way to grab your customers’ attention and encourage them to engage with you.
Naturally, you want to choose the provider whose service will best help you achieve your business aims.
So how can you do just that? What should you keep in mind when choosing a texting service for your small business.
Know What You Need
The first step to finding the right text message service is knowing what you need from them.
In essence, text marketing is straightforward.
Customers sign up, and you reach out to them with compelling messages that encourage them to take the next step. That could be buying, contacting you, hopping over to your social media profile, or something else.
However, knowing what you need still matters. Ask yourself:
- How many subscribers do you hope to have?
- How often will you be texting them?
- How many groups will you split your subscribers into?
- What is the aim of your text message campaigns?
The better understanding you have of your needs, the better placed you are to make sure your provider can meet them.
Choose a Knowledgeable Provider
The best texting service for your business is one that is knowledgeable about small business texting.
For example, are they up to speed on text message laws?
There are rules governing texting, and if you fall foul of them you could face a fine. Choose a text message partner who understands the law and can help you stay on the right side of it.
A provider who has a special interest in business texting is a must.
Providers who are focused on business are more likely to provide a business-friendly service with the functionality you need to get good results from your campaign.
Ask About Tracking Ability
As the article “Top Tips for Choosing the Best Texting Service” says, being able to adequately track and analyze your data is important if you want to assess how well your text campaign is doing.
You might need to track open rates, for example, or subscribe / unsubscribe rates. Perhaps you plan on including links in your texts, in which case you’ll want to know the click through rate.
Choose a provider that offers excellent tracking options, with easy to read reports that let you see at a glance how your texts are performing.
Lessen the Learning Curve
Functionality and ease of use are important considerations when choosing your text messaging service.
It’s natural to face a learning curve of some kind whenever you adopt something new for your business, but this curve shouldn’t be so steep as to be off putting.
Look for a provider who makes it easy to get to grips with their service.
Sending texts when you want to, to whomever you want to, should be a straightforward process. Be on the lookout for a user-friendly interface, and easy setup.
Always Shop Around
Don’t go for the first texting service you find that matches your criteria. Instead, shop around and find a few different options.
Providing excellent functionality and meeting your business needs should come before price, but of course once you find services that can do that, price can be useful when choosing between them.
Many services offer a trial run.
Take advantage of that to see if they’re a good fit for your business before making a final commitment.
The right text provider can make a big difference to how easy it is to run and track your text marketing campaigns.
Start your search armed with a good idea of what you need; with the wide choice of text providers out there, you’re sure to find the best one for your business.
About the Author: Tristan Anwyn writes on a variety of topics including social media, how to build customer relationships, content marketing and how to find the best text message provider for your business.