Black Friday and Cyber Week have come and gone, but there’s still time to increase sales, engage your customer base, and deliver messages that improve their experience with your brand. SMS is the perfect channel to serve those purposes. We’ll tell you exactly why and give you some tips for text messages that lead to a happier holiday season for everyone.

Benefits of using SMS holiday promotions

There are plenty of reasons to use text messaging for holiday promotions and customer communications. Perhaps the most important is the fact that consumers everywhere want and expect to receive messages from business on their smartphones. Research from Sinch found that 45% of global consumers would prefer hearing from brands via a mobile messaging channel during the holidays (including SMS and MMS).

Adobe expects 53% of online holiday shopping will take place on mobile devices in 2024. If more than half of holiday purchases happen on mobile, doesn’t it make sense to communicate with customers where they’re most likely to buy?

While Sinch found around 60% of consumers want to hear from brands via email, SMS holiday marketing has advantages. Namely, people are more likely to open and engage with text messages than they are with email promotions inside their overcrowded inboxes. Texts get an average 98% open rate compared to 21% for email. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use email. However, it does suggest you’re missing out if you aren’t taking advantage of SMS marketing for the holiday season.

12 holiday SMS tips from SimpleTexting

So, how can you use SMS marketing to bolster your business over the holiday season? We’ve got 12 ideas for you, and there are absolutely no partridges in pear trees… We promise.

If you’re already a SimpleTexting customer, you’ll see images of how to make these ideas happen using our mass texting service as a small business. If you’re looking for a platform that connects you with customers through text messaging, our 14-day free trial is the perfect way to find out how affordable SMS marketing can benefit your business all year long.

1. Schedule mass text messages

Shoppers aren’t the only ones who are busy this time of year. The hustle and bustle of the holidays impacts small business owners and their marketing teams too. That’s why the ability to schedule SMS messages is a great way to set up communications for specific dates and times so texts arrive exactly when you need them to.

This useful tool enables you to concentrate on other pressing matters over the busy holiday period, while knowing your text messages are being sent out right on schedule. By using application to phone (A2P) software, you can schedule thousands of messages at once, all to go out within seconds.

2. Send cart abandonment text messages

Speaking of busyness and good timing – if you operate an online store, abandoned cart text messages will help you turn browsers into buyers. Did you know nearly 70% of customers abandon their cart before purchasing? As an e-commerce store, there’s nothing more infuriating than realizing just how close you’ve come to securing a sale.

Sometimes all it takes is an extra push. You can create cart abandonment text messages that will be sent out automatically to subscribers who fail to complete the checkout process. One nice thing about this type of holiday SMS marketing is you can easily measure abandoned cart recovery rate to learn just how effective your strategy was.

Craft abandoned car messages that remind them of what they’re missing out on, or include an exclusive discount to incentivize them to complete their purchase.

3. Create a post-purchase SMS campaign

The two primary sides to customer engagement are acquisition and retention. Once a new customer has signed up and made a purchase, you need to ensure they keep coming back for more. If you’re acquiring lots of new customers over the holiday season, a few text messages the new folks will improve the chances they become loyal customers rather than one-time buyers.

By creating a three or four post-purchase text message campaign, you can follow up on customer activity: ask them for a review, check-in with their order, and send them offers and discounts. Just make sure they’ve opted in to receive marketing messages from your company. Otherwise, keep it to transactional information and questions about their experience.

4. Send SMS marketing holiday promotions

PRESENT INSPO INCOMING! We’ve used our customer favorites to build wishlist inspiration this year! For moms, dads, brothers, best friends and more, we have you covered. There’s no need to revert to socks this Christmas! https://txt.st/wishlist

SMS marketing helps your business stand out from the crowd when it comes to holiday campaigns. By using text messages, you’re already cutting through the noise of thousands of promotional emails. However, to make an impression sometimes you need to be the squeaky wheel.

During the holidays, the one thing on everyone’s mind happens to be the upcoming holiday — and you can use this to your advantage as a marketer.

Use GIFs, send out wishlist inspiration, and use your contact list to inspire purchases rather than just pushing out discount codes. MMS marketing messages allow you to go beyond the basic texts that SMS allows. Of course, there are also plenty of holiday-themed emojis you can use to decorate your text message marketing. For more inspiration, check out how these 5 retailers launched Black Friday SMS strategies.

5. Use limited-time offers with text messaging

We had a late Thanksgiving in the United States this year. That means the holiday shopping window in 2024 is a little shorter than normal. And that means many consumers may be feeling the pressure to get what they need before it’s too late. You can use those feelings to your advantage with limited-time offers delivered via SMS.

Limited-time offers are an excellent strategy to activate those last-minute shoppers. Plus, SMS is an ideal way to prompt those people to take immediate action. They’re already on their phones and, thanks to your message, they’re also just a couple clicks away from checking another item off their holiday to-do list.

6. Incentivize new subscribers with exclusive discounts

In addition to attracting new customers, the holidays are also a good time to build your SMS list. One of the most effective ways to secure new SMS opt-ins is by creating an incentive.

Give people a reason to receive your updates by sharing a discount code upon signup. The holidays are an incredibly expensive time of year, and many customers will be on the lookout for deals and offers to ease the impact on their pockets.

7. Deliver holiday cheer with non-promotional texts

Building customer loyalty relies on the rapport you have with your customers. Showing your value outside of sales-driven content lets prospective customers know you also care about their interests and purchasing habits.

Whether it’s a fun quote to start the day or a link to a new blog on how to dress for the winter season, there are plenty of ways you can create engaging content that shows your customers you care beyond sales. Even a simple greeting with a “happy holidays SMS” communicates you care about customers.

8. Use keywords to make opt-in easy

We all want an easy life — and keywords were built to make subscribing to lists as easy as possible.

An SMS keyword is a short word or phrase which, when sent to your assigned phone number, will trigger an SMS marketing campaign to begin. For instance, if you are a florist looking to advertise and sell more wreaths this Christmas, your keyword could ‘XMASWREATHS’. 

When customers text this to your number, they automatically join a list of subscribers receiving text updates on Christmas Wreaths for the holiday season.  You can set up this marketing campaign in advance and choose the frequency and contents of the text messages.

9. Create a landing page for your social audience

SMS marketing and social media go hand in hand. Simply put, if you have a social audience that you’re not accessing with SMS marketing, you’re doing it wrong. While we always recommend advertising your keyword across all types of content, including social media, another easy way to get new signups is by building a landing page.

Create an easy signup form on a landing page for engaged social media users to receive SMS updates. Then, you can either add the link directly to your social media bio or you can add it to a page such as Linktree, a core landing page that contains several links to different sites.

Popular Ways to Get Opt-In With Mass Texting Services

Looking for simple, ongoing methods to get more text marketing contacts? Look no further than these three opt-in strategies. READ MORE

10. Create e-gift Cards For Those Who Missed Delivery Cut-Offs

Hooray! Jenny has just sent you a $30 gift card for Chick-fil-A! Her message: ‘Thank you for the best ThanksGiving, take a break from cooking with your favorite takeout on me!’ Claim your giftcard here: https://txt.st/gift

No matter how many texts, emails and banners you create alerting customers to delivery deadlines for the holiday season, people always manage to miss it. 

For those people, why not create an e-gift card for them to send to a friend or family. You can use text message marketing both for alerting customers to the option of gift cards, and as the primary method of delivering an e-gift card (should we say m-gift card?).

11. Ask for post-purchase reviews

Good or bad, asking for post-purchase reviews tells customers you care about their experience. Sometimes things don’t go to plan, but asking customers to fill out a review form or survey shows you’re working to do better and will more likely result in return customers.

If you’re one of the lucky e-commerce stores that had a smooth holiday period, even better! Positive reviews and feedback from customers will increase team morale and naturally make customers want to purchase from you again.

12. Create SMS-only holiday promotional offers

Finally, your trump card is that you can make your SMS subscribers feel special. Everyone loves a deal, and if you share exclusive, SMS-only offers with your subscribers (and let others know they’re missing out) you’ll have people signing up in no time.

Combine an SMS-only offer with a keyword, and you’ll have new subscribers ready and waiting to use your offer code in no time.

Use AI for help with holiday sms marketing

If the idea of crafting holiday text messages for your customers feels a little overwhelming, SimpleTexting has new features that will help you get the job done. Use our AI Assist tool to generate campaign copy that’s designed to work with SMS. Here’s exactly how it works…

Don't feel like the text messages you wrote are hitting the right note? You can also use AI features built into SimpleTexting to adjust your tone to be friendlier or more professional.

Cut through the noise this holiday season

The world is your oyster when it comes to SMS marketing. Without the competition of 400 other email marketing campaigns hitting your subscribers’ inbox, you can rely on text message to reach your customers this holiday. 

If you’re looking for a business text messaging service to reach your customers and increase revenue, SimpleTexting offers a no-risk two-week free trial. Sign up today with no credit card required and join thousands of businesses cutting through the noise this Fall.

The post Holiday SMS marketing ideas for your small business appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

In reality, though, it’s a pretty simple concept. It’s the practice of sending customized texts to subscribers based on their location.

SMS geofencing can be done in a few different ways depending on your text marketing provider and tools.

If you’re using SimpleTexting, you won’t be able to track your customers in real time to text them based on where they are, but all is not lost. You can still run geofencing effectively with us (and I’ll get to that shortly).

Let’s get into all things geofencing.

What is SMS geofencing?

SMS geofencing works by sending out text messages when a customer enters a specific location.

With that said, we need to lay out two very important rules before you get started. 

1. You must get consent to send SMS marketing messages to your customer.  If you are new to business text messaging, the first thing you learn is that every one of your subscribers must opt-in to receive text messages from you.
   
   One of the quickest and easiest ways to obtain consent is by setting up a keyword (pictured below). A keyword is a specific word or phrase which, when texted into your allocated number, signs up the customer to receive your marketing SMS.
   
   If one of your opt-in methods is a keyword, you can trigger a message immediately to request the location of your customer. This, as you’ll see in point 2, is critical.
   
2. You must get permission to use their location. Once your customer has opted in, you then need to request permission for their location. Location is not automatically enabled via message, so to track your subscribers they need to enable it.

ICECREAMSUNDAZE

Thank you for becoming a Sundaze Icecream subscriber! Would you like to share your location with us to receive local offers and promos? Reply YES or NO.

We get it, most businesses would love to send out a blanket SMS to anyone within a 5-mile radius, but unfortunately, that is not possible.

How does SMS geofencing work?

Once you have both types of permission from your customer, you’re ready to go.

To track your customer’s location, your SMS provider will have to tap into the customer’s GPS or RFID signals. As most messaging apps do not permanently have location information switched on, this ‘location lookup’ process is necessary to determine when your customer enters the geofence. 

This means that instead of tracking your customers 24/7—which is both costly and time-consuming—you can optimize your chances of successful SMS geofencing by choosing when to look up their location.

For example, if you’re a coffee shop using geofencing, you’ll want to check customers’ locations in the morning and at lunchtime. You can then send out a local promotion to customers within your geofence.

If you’re a sushi restaurant, you would check customer locations just before lunch and dinner, to catch customers when they’re in the mood for food and in your geofence.

How to use SMS geofencing

If you’re ready to introduce SMS geofencing to your marketing strategy, here’s how to set it up.  

1. Set up custom fields for your preferred location details. Use zip codes, cities, or your various locations. 

1. Use Data Collection to collect your subscribers’ location. You’ll use those custom fields you set up to fill in an automated series of data collection questions for your subscribers to answer. 

1. Put that data to work and create segments for each location you need to communicate with. A segment is a group of subscribers with something in common (like their zip code or local store). You can send messages to each individual segment so your subscribers only get messages relevant to them. 

Why is SMS geofencing effective?

There’s a reason SMS geofencing is used by Uber, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and more. It’s one of the most effective ways to increase marketing performance.

Pizza Hut trialed sending out a text promotion to customers within half a mile of its restaurants. The result? A 142% increase in sales.

That isn’t just a fluke either. The data tells us that: 

• Mobile location-based coupons may boost additional mobile sales by more than 99%.
• Marketers who use location-based data say they’ve found more engagement and responsiveness of 48% each.
• 72% of computer, tablet, and smartphone users are interested in advertising customized to their location or zip code.
• Per 90% of marketers, location-based advertising and marketing boosted customer base expansion (86%) revenue, and consumer engagement (84%).

Leveraging geofencing for marketing is simply about contacting your customers at the right time and place. By knowing their location, there’s no need to guess when or if it’s the best time to contact them.

Use location-based SMS marketing to optimize your marketing efforts

Though SimpleTexting doesn’t have a built-in feature for geofencing, you can use several location-based SMS marketing tactics within our SMS platform.

To get started, sign up for our free two-week free trial, no credit card required. If you like what you see, you can take full advantage of our suite of SMS marketing features when you upgrade.

The post SMS geofencing: What it is and how it works appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Whatever the reason, toll-free numbers are used across the U.S. as an easy way for customers to get in touch with a business. 

But did you know that toll-free numbers are used for more than just phone calls? You can text-enable a toll-free number to use for two-way messaging, mass texting, and more.

Whether you want a toll-free number for texting or phone calls, here’s everything you need to know about them.

Table of contents

• What is a toll-free number?
• What are the benefits of a toll-free number?
• How does a toll-free number work?
• Types of toll-free numbers
• How to get a toll-free number
• How much do toll-free numbers cost?
• Toll-free verification for texting

What is a toll-free number?

Toll-free numbers are phone numbers that consist of a three-digit prefix beginning with the number 8. 

Toll free number prefixes: 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, or 888

As toll-free number calls are free for people calling in to the number, businesses often use them for customer service.

If a business has text-enabled its toll-free number, it can also send and receive text messages.

What are the benefits of a toll-free number?

Businesses use toll-free numbers for two main reasons: free calls for customers and national brand credibility.

Free calls

When used for inbound phone calls, the biggest benefit of a toll-free number is that it’s free for customers to call.

A free number encourages customers to reach out to a business where they otherwise wouldn’t. Rather than diving through a list of contact numbers, your customers can reach out to just one number and know they’ll be directed to the right place.

Brand credibility

For businesses that operate throughout North America, toll-free numbers help show the size of your brand. For instance, if you conduct business all across the U.S. but have a number with a Phoenix area code, customers in other parts of the country may perceive your business as a local operation.

Some businesses that operate across North America choose a toll-free number for their customer support and local numbers for their physical retail locations or offices.

How does a toll-free number work? 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assigns toll-free numbers on a first-come, first-serve basis. The business using the number pays for the inbound and outbound calls made from it. 

How does the FCC manage toll-free numbers?

There are third-party providers known as Responsible Organizations or RespOrgs, which manage and assign numbers on behalf of the FCC. 

In the same way that you can claim a URL if it’s not in use, you can use a toll-free phone number that’s unclaimed through a provider or expired.

All RespOrgs have access to a database with information on the owners and status of toll-free numbers. This allows businesses that have purchased a toll-free number to move between RespOrgs and telecom providers if needed.

Toll-free numbers and international customers

Only customers in the country where the toll-free number is registered can make calls to 1-800 numbers for free. 

If you have customers in other countries and don’t want to pass on charges to them, you can use International Toll-free Services (ITFS) or Universal International Toll Free Number (UIFN).

Forwarding calls from a toll-free number

Most times, you can forward incoming calls to your toll-free number to a cell phone or landline. As you evaluate toll-free number providers, check to see if they offer call forwarding. In some cases, SimpleTexting can help you set up call forwarding when you use our toll-free number texting service.

Types of toll-free numbers

It’s easy to purchase and set up a toll-free number. 

First, you must decide if you’d prefer a vanity number — one which is customizable — or if you’re happy to receive a standard toll-free number that’s randomly generated. 

Vanity numbers include an 800-number prefix, followed by a word or phrase relevant to your business (like 1-800-CONTACTS). If you have the 800 at the beginning of the number, it will operate the same way as any other toll-free number.

Next, you’ll need to decide if you want a toll-free number for a landline or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service. The biggest difference is that while landline services make calls over a physical connection, VoIP enables calls through the internet.

How to get a toll-free number

RespOrgs offer both vanity and auto-generated toll-free numbers. Here are some providers you can use to purchase your own.

1. SimpleTexting 

If you need a toll-free number for texting, our team at SimpleTexting can get you up and running in minutes. As soon as you upgrade to a paid account, you can start texting from your toll-free number. 

Plus, we’ll guide you through the process of verifying your toll-free number with wireless carriers (an industry-wide requirement). 

Pricing plans start at $29/month for 500 texting credits and unlimited contacts.  

The verdict: We’re a little biased, of course, but our toll-free texting platform truly is one of the most versatile and user-friendly platforms out there. See what other business owners and marketers are saying about us on third-party review sites.  

2. Grasshopper

Grasshopper continuously updates its toll-free numbers; it offers a variety of 800+ numbers, including vanity number options.

Prices start at $16 per month and the service includes unlimited minutes with any plan.

However, Grasshopper has limited features, which means businesses may quickly outgrow it. Without call recording, call routing or the option of an automated voice menu, businesses need to be available to pick up the phone. The bigger the business, the harder this will be to navigate around.

Verdict: If you’re looking to move away from using your personal phone number for business, Grasshopper is a great option. Businesses with 1–5 employees may get the most out of Grasshopper, since it has limited features compared to other providers.

3. FreedomVoice

FreedomVoice has been a toll-free number provider for over two decades. It’s one of the most reputable in the business, and offers affordable, minute-based plans starting at 400 minutes. 

FreedomVoice offers a toll-free number setup in just minutes. It offers fewer features than competitors, and wouldn’t be the right provider for a large business. However, it is ideal for smaller businesses that aren’t looking for a VoIP system, but may look to scale in the future. 

Verdict: FreedomVoice doesn’t have the bells and whistles, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The installation process is quick and simple, and the variety of numbers available make it a great option for small businesses that are looking to add credibility with a toll-free or vanity number.

4. RingCentral

If you’re looking for a provider that has it all, RingCentral is your one-stop-shop for all things toll-free. With plans ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 minutes, it can accommodate businesses of all sizes.

On top of the toll-free numbers on offer, RingCentral also provides a range of other services and features including faxing, conference calls, and call logs. Its range of tools enables established businesses to merge any existing communication strategies with their new toll-free numbers. 

Verdict: Thanks to its range of plans, businesses of all sizes can utilize RingCentral. From purchasing a basic plan to one with all of the add-ons, you can build a bespoke plan with your toll-free number, dependent on your business’ needs. 

5. Dialpad

While a relatively young company, Dialpad stands out from its competitors because of its range of integration and collaborative features.

Not only can you purchase a toll-free number from Dialpad at $23 per month, but you can optimize your workflow to create a seamless integration between any apps or tools you may already use.

Dialpad offers monthly breakdowns of your call metrics, including who placed the call, the date/time of each one and the cost of the call. 

Verdict: Dialpad should be your go-to if you are a company with an established workflow across a variety of different apps. From Slack to G-Suite to Salesforce, you can integrate Dialpad to optimize a range of processes within your business.

6. 800.com

800.com is a user-friendly, fast toll-free number service provider for companies of all sizes.

Users have the option to choose a plan with unlimited minutes or a plan that offers unlimited seats, but with limited minutes. As 800.com enables number parking, you only need to pay for the service as and when you use it.

Verdict: 800.com is one of the easiest ways to get a toll-free number up and running without compromising on features. Other features include faxing and call forwarding. For the high price tag, though, most businesses would expect call recording to be an option—which it isn’t.

How much do toll-free numbers cost?

The expenses associated with toll-free numbers can differ, but they fall into a few major categories:

• Set-up fee: This is a one-time charge when you first get your toll-free number. Not all providers charge a set-up fee.
• Monthly subscription fee: Most providers charge a monthly fee for retaining the number. This charge can depend on the service provider you choose and which services are included.
• Call charges: Besides the monthly subscription fee, some providers also charge on a per-minute basis for calls made to the toll-free number. If the plan has a limit on the number of minutes and you exceed it, there may be additional fees.
• Features and Add-On Fees: Some providers charge additional fees for advanced features such as auto-attendant, call recording, and text messaging.

Toll-free verification for texting

Once you’ve chosen your toll-free number, you’ll need to have it verified. Wireless carriers require toll-free verification to help cut down on spam texts.

Verification may sound intimidating, but our team is here to help. You’ll just need to provide some basic information about your business and what kinds of texts you’ll be sending.

Note: Once you choose your toll-free number, you won’t be able to send messages until you’re fully verified (that’s typically 3-5 business days).

Make your business more accessible with a toll-free number

Toll-free numbers make communication easier for both parties. Whether it’s enabling customers to call up for free, or allowing businesses to better manage their inboxes, it’s never been easier to build strong customer relationships without being face-to-face.

Toll-free numbers offer a degree of separation between the personal and professional. If you’re a business looking to step away from using personal cell phones, why not text-enable your toll-free number with SimpleTexting? Join now for a risk-free, 14-day free trial.

The post How to get a toll-free number for your business appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

To ease the financial hit of private education, most schools offer a variety of payment options to space out paying school fees throughout the year.

With so much to think about already, it’s normal for parents to lose track of what has and hasn’t been paid, and when payments are due.

One of the easiest ways to minimize the number of missed payments is by setting up fee reminders to go out to parents ahead of time.

That’s where your text messaging service can step in.

Why Do You Need a Fee Reminder For Parents?

Effectively managing cash flow is a critical part of your school’s operations. However, late and delayed payments can happen.

Most of the time an overdue payment is accidental, but in the event that things escalate it’s always best as a school to have everything in writing from the get-go. 

Sending out fee reminders a couple of days ahead of payment day is proof that there has been no miscommunication on behalf of the school.

In the majority of situations, it simply takes communication to remedy any late payments, and a fee reminder SMS is a great way to give parents a polite notice ahead of time.

Why Use SMS For Your School Fee Reminders?

Parents expect communication from their child’s school. Whether it’s newsletters, performance updates, or information, schools should be keeping parents informed through the academic year.

Cell phones are the primary communication device across the U.S. With a contact list of parents’ numbers, your school has direct access to the people it needs to be sending fee reminders to.

Phone calls are a more intrusive form of communication, and calls may be screened if a parent doesn’t recognize the number, or if they’re too busy to pick up the phone.

With a 98% open rate, SMS payment reminders are a reliable way of making sure parents don’t forget to pay the due school fees.

An SMS platform like SimpleTexting allows you to manage your inbox from one dashboard. You can set up automated reminders, engage in two-way conversations and send bulk messages. 

Examples of SMS Fee Reminders to Parents

Money is a delicate subject, so finding the right tone of voice for your fee reminder email is important.

Obviously, we don’t recommend a ‘give me your money’ approach, but you do need to be clear and firm. Especially when following up with late or missed payments.

Here are some templates you can use if you’re struggling to craft your fee reminder text.

Semester Upcoming Payment Fee Reminder 

You can customize your fee reminders with the time and date to ensure payments aren’t missed. 

Add in a reference to the most recent vacation to make your reminder more friendly.

General Upcoming Payment Fee Reminder 

If you’re looking to save time with a recurring payment reminder for parents, you don’t need to be specific about dates.

Instead, include a link to your school’s payment portal or send them to the payment information page on your website.

General Upcoming Payment Fee Reminder 

If you’re looking to save time with a recurring payment reminder for parents, you don’t need to be specific about dates.

Instead, include a link to your school’s payment portal or send them to the payment information page on your website.

Missed Payment Fee Reminder

Missed payments happen, especially over the holiday period. A short follow-up text is usually all it takes for parents to spring into action and pay any missed school fees.

Additional School Fees Reminder

Occasionally, extra payments may be necessary throughout the school year. 

Most parents will pay upfront, however, there may be miscommunication between parents and students on when these payments are due. Send a reminder to let the parents know of any upcoming deadlines.

How to Send a Fee Reminder SMS to Parents With SimpleTexting

Hopefully, you can see the benefits of using SMS to send fee reminders. 

Here’s how you can manage them all from one platform.

1. From the left-hand side of the dashboard, select Campaigns and click ‘New’ to start a new campaign.

2. Name your campaign with a relevant title, and type your message into the text box. You can select your audience from the dropdown list.

There are two different types of campaigns you can use to send out your fee reminder. A recurring campaign, or a one-off scheduled campaign.

How to Send a Scheduled Fee Reminder

If you want to send a scheduled text message, select the ‘scheduled’ campaign type and input the time and date you want your message to be sent out. 

When you’re happy with your message and when to send it out, preview the message by clicking ‘Next’ and hit ‘Schedule’ to get your campaign running.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully scheduled a school fee reminder! 

How to Send a Recurring Fee Reminder

If you’ve decided to send a recurring fee reminder, select the ‘recurring’ campaign type.

Scroll down to see the variety of options for scheduling a recurring campaign. Choose the date of the month and how often you want the campaign to be sent out. 

You can also select the time and start date for your campaign to start rolling. 

When you’re happy, you can schedule your campaign by selecting ‘Next’ and confirming the preview of your SMS. 

A recurring campaign is a great way to save time, however, it’s important that you refrain from using dates or anything that may expire in your message.

Remember, you can share the URLs and encourage parents to check payment portals or website pages for more information on the upcoming payment.

How to Write the Perfect Fee Reminder Message

Fee reminders are a must-have for all schools, especially for institutions that rely on payments from monthly arrangements. Payment reminders must contain all the basics, such as the student’s name, payment due date, and the name of your school or institution. Finding the amount each student owes may be too time-consuming to include, as every individual’s situation is different.

Timing and Frequency

When sending fee reminder text messages, it’s vital to strike the right balance. Send reminders sparingly, ideally one or two times before the due date, to avoid being too intrusive. Aim to send the initial reminder a few days in advance to give parents and guardians ample time to make the payment. Keep the messages concise and clear, including essential information such as the due date, amount, and payment methods, while avoiding unnecessary details.

Tone of Voice and Providing the Right Information

Maintain a polite and friendly tone throughout the messages, expressing gratitude for their cooperation and support. Personalize the text by addressing parents/guardians by name and mentioning the student’s name, grade, or class. Provide clear instructions on how and where to pay and include contact information for any questions they might have. 

Compliance

Always be sure to respect recipients’ preferences by offering an opt-out option if they have already made the payment or no longer require reminders. Finally, ensure compliance with data privacy regulations and obtain proper consent before sending text messages.

Below are some free SMS fee reminder templates to use:

Template 1: 

Hi [Parent/Guardian’s Name], just a friendly reminder that the deadline for school fee payment is [date]. Please make sure to submit the payment by then to avoid any late charges. If you’ve already made the payment, kindly disregard this message. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you! [School Name]

Template 2:

Hey [Parent/Guardian’s Name], this is a reminder about the pending school fee for [Student’s Name] in [Grade/Class]. The payment for the [semester/term/year] is due by [date]. You can pay online at [payment portal] or visit the school office. Let us know if you need any assistance. Thanks! [School Name]

Reduce Follow-Up Admin With SMS Fee Reminders

For every school fee that’s missed, a member of the administration team will have to spend time following up with the payment.

Sending an SMS fee reminder is a preventative measure for ensuring your students’ parents have school fees in mind at the beginning of the semester. For more information on this consider checking out our Guide to Mass Text Messaging for Schools!

If you’re not already using an SMS platform, you can start today risk-free by signing up for our 14-day free trial.

The post How to Send a Fee Reminder SMS to Parents appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

To put this into perspective, on Black Friday 2021 alone, over 6.9 billion emails were sent.

Where do you begin if you want to cut through the noise and reach your audience? That kind of competition is no joke.

Unsurprisingly, we suggest introducing SMS marketing to your marketing channels this holiday season. From its 98% open rates to the personal nature of marketing through your cell phone, SMS click-through rates are over 414% higher than email.

Whether you’re new to SMS marketing, or are looking for new ways to use it over the holiday period, here’s how you can build a strong SMS holiday marketing campaign.

The Benefits of Using SMS Marketing for the Holiday Season

We’ve talked about the high open rate and click-through rates, but why is SMS so successful? 

To begin with, when you use SMS you’re cutting through the noise of overcrowded email inboxes. Not to mention beating the spam filter (think of all the untouched emails in your junk folder.)

In 2020, mobile shopping increased by over 41% during the holiday period. The prediction is that by 2025, ‘mcommerce’ as it’s known, will account for almost half of all retail e-commerce sales in the U.S.

With click-through links and Apple and Google Pay all on our mobile devices, purchasing from your cell phone has never been easier. With emojis and MMS, you can also appeal to your audience visually as well as through promos. 

There’s nothing a text message can’t do that an email can, and you have the added advantage of your subscribers actually opening it.

Holiday SMS Ideas to Increase Revenue

Tap into your subscribers and increase your revenue with these tips.

1. Schedule Mass Text Messages

If you use a business texting platform, you’ll be able to schedule text messages in advance. 

This useful tool enables you to concentrate on other pressing matters over the busy holiday period, while knowing your text messages are being sent out at the right time to the right audience.

By using application to phone (A2P) software, you can schedule thousands of messages at once, all to go out within seconds.

2. Send Cart Abandonment Text Messages

Did you know nearly 70% of customers abandon their cart before purchasing? As an e-commerce store, there’s nothing more infuriating than realizing just how close you’ve come to securing a sale.

Sometimes all it takes is an extra push. You can create cart abandonment text messages that will be sent out automatically to subscribers who abandon their cart.

Remind them of what they’re missing out on, or even include an exclusive discount to incentivize them.

3. Create a Post-Purchase SMS Campaign

The two primary sides to customer engagement are acquisition and retention.

Once a new customer has signed up and made a purchase, you need to ensure they keep coming back for more.

By creating a three or four post-purchase text message campaign, you can follow up on customer activity: ask them for a review, check-in with their order, and send them offers and discounts.

4. Build a Promotional Holiday Campaign

PRESENT INSPO INCOMING! We’ve used our customer favorites to build wishlist inspiration this year! For moms, dads, brothers, best friends and more, we have you covered. There’s no need to revert to socks this Christmas! https://txt.st/wishlist

‘Tis the season to stand out from the crowd when it comes to holiday campaigns. By using text message, you’re already cutting through the noise of thousands of emails.

However, to make an impression sometimes you need to be the squeaky wheel.

During the holidays, the one thing on everyone’s mind happens to be the upcoming holiday — and you can use this to your advantage as a marketer.

Use GIFs, send out wishlist inspiration, and use your contact list to inspire purchases rather than just pushing out discount codes.

5. Use Time-Limited Offers

We all know that person who leaves shopping to the last minute. The likelihood is, a one-off promotion could be the deciding factor in where they make a purchase. 

With little time and fewer options, the holiday season is the perfect time to capture last-minute shoppers rushed off their feet.

Holiday SMS Ideas to Attract New Customers

6. Incentivize New Subscribers With Exclusive Discounts

One of the most effective ways to secure new SMS opt-ins is by creating an incentive.

Give people a reason to receive your updates by sharing a discount code upon signup. The holidays are an incredibly expensive time of year, and many customers will be on the lookout for deals and offers to ease the impact on their pockets.

7. Create Non-Promotional Content

Building customer loyalty relies on the rapport you have with your customers. Showing your value outside of sales-driven content lets prospective customers know you also care about their interests and purchasing habits.

Whether it’s a fun quote to start the day or a link to a new blog on how to dress this fall, there are plenty of ways you can create engaging content that shows your customers you care beyond sales.

Use this content as a lead magnet when it comes to attracting new customers, by showing value beyond what they can buy from you.

8. Use Keywords to Make Opt-in Easy

We all want an easy life — and keywords were built to make subscribing to lists as easy as possible.

An SMS keyword is a short word or phrase which, when sent to your assigned phone number, will trigger an SMS marketing campaign to begin.

For instance, if you are a florist looking to advertise and sell more wreaths this Christmas, your keyword could ‘XMASWREATHS’. 

When customers text this to your number, they automatically join a list of subscribers receiving text updates on Christmas Wreaths for the holiday season. 

You can set up this marketing campaign in advance and choose the frequency and contents of the text messages.

9. Create a Landing Page For Your Social Audience

SMS marketing and social media go hand in hand. Simply put, if you have a social audience that you’re not accessing with SMS marketing, you’re doing it wrong.

While we always recommend advertising your keyword across all types of content, including social media, another easy way to get new signups is by building a landing page.

Create an easy signup form on a landing page for engaged social media users to receive SMS updates. 

Then, you can either add the link directly to your social media bio or you can add it to a page such as Linktree, a core landing page that contains several links to different sites.

Popular Ways to Get Opt-In With Mass Texting Services

Looking for simple, ongoing methods to get more text marketing contacts? Look no further than these three opt-in strategies. READ MORE

SMS Ideas to Retain Customers After the Holiday Season

10. Create E-Gift Cards For Those Who Missed Delivery Cut-Offs

Hooray! Jenny has just sent you a $30 gift card for Chick-fil-A! Her message: ‘Thank you for the best ThanksGiving, take a break from cooking with your favorite takeout on me!’ Claim your giftcard here: https://txt.st/gift

No matter how many texts, emails and banners you create alerting customers to delivery deadlines for the holiday season, people always manage to miss it. 

For those people, why not create an e-gift card for them to send to a friend or family. You can use text message marketing both for alerting customers to the option of e-gift cards, and as the primary method of delivering an e-gift card (should we say m-gift card?).

11. Ask for Post-Purchase Reviews

Good or bad, asking for post-purchase reviews tells customers you care about their experience. Sometimes things don’t go to plan, but asking customers to fill out a review form or survey shows you’re working to do better and will more likely result in return customers.

If you’re one of the lucky e-commerce stores that had a smooth holiday period, even better! Positive reviews and feedback from customers will increase team morale and naturally make customers want to purchase from you again.

12. Create SMS-Only Offers

Finally, your trump card is that you can make your SMS subscribers feel special. Everyone loves a deal, and if you share exclusive, SMS-only offers with your subscribers (and let others know they’re missing out) you’ll have people signing up in no time.

Combine an SMS-only offer with a keyword, and you’ll have new subscribers ready and waiting to use your offer code in no time.

Tips For Writing a Strong SMS Marketing Message

We’ve shared our favorite ways to incentivize holiday purchases with SMS this year, but how do you actually go about writing an effective text message?

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to SMS marketing. However, we recommend the following tips to keep your customers engaged and click-through rates high:

1. Keep your message to the point

You don’t need to write a paragraph on why you’re the best retailer in the world. Get to the point of your text message, and if it’s an offer, let them know how long it’s redeemable for.

2. Don’t overuse slang

Your text message needs to be skimmable to be effective. ‘We wnt 2 giv u a sik offer’ is never going to cut it. Not to mention, it looks unprofessional.

Instead, text as you talk, and remember to keep it short and sweet where possible.

3. Use imagery if you want to!

SMS doesn’t need to be boring. In fact, there’s a whole realm of MMS available for you to use. Whether you share a GIF or create a #relatable meme, your text messages can still be aesthetically pleasing.

4. Let the subscriber know who it’s from

There’s a chance your subscriber is receiving more than one SMS marketing campaign. And, even if they aren’t, they may also simply have forgotten who they’ve subscribed to. Remember to sign off or introduce yourself whenever you send a text message. 

Cut Through the Noise This Holiday Season

The world is your oyster when it comes to SMS marketing. Without the competition of 400 other email marketing campaigns hitting your subscribers’ inbox, you can rely on text message to reach your customers this holiday. 

If you’re looking for a business text messaging service to reach your customers and increase revenue, SimpleTexting offers a no-risk two-week free trial. Sign up today with no credit card required and join thousands of businesses cutting through the noise this Fall.

The post 12 Holiday SMS Ideas to Increase Revenue appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

With 98% open rates, it’s not a matter of if customers will open your text messages – it’s a matter of when.

Combine the power of SMS with an automated workflow, and you’re in for an easy ride. Whether it’s marketing, sales, or customer service, building workflows around SMS interactions and contacts will boost engagement, increase customer satisfaction and reduce administration time. 

And the good news is that it’s not hard to build an automated workflow. All you need is a CRM like HubSpot to get you started.

Here’s how you can build an integrated SMS workflow between two of marketing’s most influential tools. 

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing software and growth platform that lets your entire company work together — from marketing to sales to customer service.

The purpose of HubSpot is to help companies grow with inbound marketing, whether you’re attracting visitors, converting leads or retaining current customers. It was created as a reaction to the shift in customers no longer wanting to be interrupted by marketers.

It’s a platform for companies of all sizes, from small businesses to corporations. Since its founding, there has been a worldwide change in both how companies market to their customers and how customers best respond to marketing. 

Despite its wide success and many tools, HubSpot lacks the ability to send and receive text messages within its platform. For the millions of businesses around the world that use text messages as a marketing channel, an SMS platform integration is required.

Here’s how you can integrate HubSpot with business text messaging platform, SimpleTexting.

Benefits of using HubSpot and SMS

From efficiency to engagement boosts, a HubSpot and SMS integration is one of the most effective ways to build a successful workflow for customer relationships. 

To get started with integrating HubSpot with SMS, you’ll need to join a business texting platform. If you couldn’t tell – that’s where we come in.

SimpleTexting is a business texting platform that enables businesses to both send out mass text messages and converse in two-way messaging with customers. The benefit to using an SMS platform is that you can create and track all business messages within one platform across all sides of your business.

As an integration with HubSpot, you can create audience segments, text message campaigns, and automated messages to sync up with the customer information you have available on HubSpot.

Here are some of the benefits other teams have experienced as a result of integrating these platforms:

Unite your marketing channels

HubSpot is one of the best tools to centralize your marketing efforts and help your team work more efficiently.

If you’re already using an SMS platform, integrating it with a CRM like HubSpot enables you to sync data between platforms and add texting as a marketing channel, so HubSpot will know when you text leads within SimpleTexting.

Working from HubSpot enables your team to access marketing channels and leads no matter where they are in the funnel, all from one place.

Quickly connect with new leads

As any marketer knows, there’s no time to lose when a new lead comes in. You need to catch them while they’re warm. 

If you’re not aware of conversational customer engagement, now is the time to get familiar. Over 61% of customers want to be able to text with brands, they want to have conversations and connect with a human rather than listen to an automated voicemail.

HubSpot encourages its users to check lead emails and messages within the platform. So even if your inbox isn’t open, you’ll know what’s recently come in and can respond quickly. 

Automate repetitive tasks

How much time do we all spend on mundane tasks that could – and should – be automated? One of HubSpot’s leading features is its ability to automate workflows. 

Both within SMS integrations and beyond, the CRM automates the simple, repetitive tasks that you just don’t want to waste time on. This enables marketing and sales teams to speed up their workflows and improve their overall performance.

Personalize to boost engagement

We’ve talked about the importance of conversational customer engagement, and a huge part of this is the personalization element of marketing.

No longer are customers comfortable with being talked at. They want promotions in-line with their purchasing habits, they want to be addressed by name and they want to experience marketing on a micro-level. 

The information and data stored on HubSpot is of vital importance when it comes to building a personal marketing strategy for your customers. You can boost engagement rates with separate contact lists depending on where a customer is in their buyer journey, create personalized SMS offers and even take information such as names and birthdays to send out specific texts to individuals.

How to use HubSpot SMS messaging with SimpleTexting

Before you link the two platforms together, you’ll need accounts with Hubspot, SimpleTexting, and Zapier. Follow the steps below to successfully integrate HubSpot with your SimpleTexting account.

You can sign up for a free two-week SimpleTexting trial to see if it’s right for your HubSpot SMS integration!

Step 1: Sign up for a Zapier account

It’s fast and easy to set up a Zapier integration, but you’ll need to sign up for an account. Once you’re signed up, you can connect to thousands of platforms, including SimpleTexting.

After entering your details, you’ll be asked to customize the experience. 

You will then be taken to your dashboard, where you can see workflow recommendations. This is also where you’ll find any ‘Zaps’ (integrations) once you’re set up. 

Step 2: Sign up for a SimpleTexting account

In your SimpleTexting dashboard, navigate to the ‘Integrations’ tab on the left-hand side of the dashboard. This is where you can integrate SimpleTexting with Zapier.

Click on Zapier, and find your server URL and API Key. You’ll need these for your integration.

Step 3: Make a Zap

Head back to Zapier and click on ‘Create Zap’ in the top-left of your screen. Once you’re in, you can search for SimpleTexting and select it to begin creating your trigger.

Step 4: Select your trigger

A trigger is a catalyst that will set your Zap into motion.

For example, if you have a new customer subscribe to receive text updates, this is the trigger. We’ll next select an ‘Action’ which is what you want to happen when that trigger goes off.

Step 5: Select your action

To setup an Action, you’ll need to log into your SimpleTexting account. Remember the API key from step 4? This is where you’ll be asked for that.

You can search for HubSpot in the Apps search bar, and select the event that you want to happen when the trigger starts. 

Creating Zaps automates the workflow between HubSpot and SimpleTexting, and you’re not limited to just one. 

Choose what you want to do when contacts unsubscribe, set up templates to send out to your HubSpot contacts, and create different responses depending on where they are in your HubSpot CRM.

Build an efficient workflow with a HubSpot and SMS integration

Integrations are the tech world’s answer to ‘two hands make light work’. When you combine two top-level tools, you can expect an increase in efficiency, effectiveness, and a smoother workflow.

Apps such as SimpleTexting and HubSpot have been built with integrations in mind, which is why it’s so quick and easy to get set up and start sharing information between the two tools. 

Why spend your day doing menial tasks when you can set up an automation to do it for you? If you’re a business looking to get started with business texting, use the link below to start your two-week free trial.

The post HubSpot and SMS appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Us too.

While losing or breaking your phone is certainly inconvenient, it no longer has to be the end of the world.

Thanks to the cloud and backups, you can easily restore most of the content from your old phone on your new one.

Backing up your text messages means saving and storing them in the cloud. So in the case of an unfortunate event, you don’t need to panic about losing your contacts, photos or text messages.

On some devices, message backups are automatic. However, understanding and learning how to back up your text messages manually is vital to ensure you’ve got everything saved.

Let’s dig into how to back up your text messages on both an iPhone and Android device.

Why Is It Important To Back Up Your Text Messages?

Even the most cautious person in the world can’t guarantee their phone won’t be lost, stolen or broken.

Phone backups are often the very last thing on our to-do list, because in the present moment it just isn’t necessary. All of the information is there. However, having a backup is crucial when the time does come to get a new phone.

From important information to messages from loved ones to simply the inconvenience of losing all conversation points – there are many reasons why you should back up your text messages.

Hopefully, we’ve managed to convince you. Depending on whether you have an iPhone or Android, there are different ways to ensure your conversations aren’t lost.

Use the steps below to back up your text messages on your cellphone. 

Two Ways to Back Up Text Messages on an iPhone

You can back up your iMessages with or without iCloud. Here are two different ways you can save those conversations right now.

Method 1: How to Back Up Text Messages With iCloud 

The good news is that Apple’s iCloud is ready and waiting to receive and save your messages. All you have to do is activate it.

iCloud only allows up to 5GB of storage, which means you may need to purchase an iCloud plan. These start at $0.99 for 50 GB and increase according to how much you need.

When you’ve bought your iCloud storage, you can take the following steps to back up your text messages:

1. Head to Settings on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Select ‘iCloud’.

3. There are two ways to make sure your messages are backed up:

• Switch the Messages toggle so that it turns green.

• Select ‘iCloud Backup’ at the bottom, and switch this toggle to green too.

As soon as you do this, your phone will begin backing up your text messages!

How to recover deleted text messages

It's possible to retrieve deleted text messages. Follow this step-by step guide to quickly and safely recover your texts. READ MORE

Method 2: How to Back Up Your Text Messages On Your Computer

When you plug your iPhone into your computer, iTunes immediately appears. Believe it or not, iTunes is so much more than a music streaming app. It’s also a tool for backing up your entire phone.

If you’re only looking to back up your text messages, this option isn’t for you. But if you want your whole phone backed up, iTunes is a great way to do that.

Use a USB to connect your phone to your MacBook. Once iTunes is launched, follow these instructions.

1. Select the device you want to backup in the top left-hand corner.
   This will give you a rundown of your phone status. Including battery power, GB and what the device is. 

2. Select ‘Summary’. 

3. Scroll down to ‘Backups’, ‘This Computer’, followed by ‘Back Up Now’ (4).
   The backup process will start. You may need to leave and come back to your computer, as this can take a short time.

Two Ways to Back Up Text Messages on an Android

You can use Google Drive or a third-party app to back up your text messages on android. Depending on your preference, follow the instructions below.

Method 3: How to Back Up Text Messages on Android With Google Drive

If you’re not an iPhone user, it’s just as easy to backup your text messages. Google has its own equivalent of iCloud, known as Google Drive.

Anyone who’s used a Google app at home or work should be familiar with Google Drive, your data is automatically saved in it. 

Here’s how to make sure your phone is also connected to Google Drive so you don’t lose any messages.

1. Head to ‘Settings’ on your Android device.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the settings page and tap ‘Google’.

3. Select ‘Backup’.

4. Select ‘Back up now‘.

You can head to the main menu of Google Drive to find your backups. 

If you log onto a new phone using the Google Account connected to the one you backed up, you’ll be able to access your messages. 

Method 4: How to Back Up Text Messages on Android with a Third-Party App

If there’s a reason you would rather not use Google Drive – maybe you have a preference for OneDrive or DropBox – you can use a third-party app.

1. Go to the Google Play Store
Use the search bar to find a backup app like ‘SMS Backup and Restore’ (this is one popular option, but research and read reviews to see which app is right for you).

2. Open the app, and select ‘Get Started’.

3. Accept permission for the app to access your phone information.
It will request access to contacts, make and manage phone calls, your phone call logs, access photos, media and files, and send and view SMS messages on your device. 

You need to ‘allow’ these permissions in order for the backup to take place.

4. Select ‘Set Up a Backup’.
Confirm what backup you’d like to start (in this case, text messages.)

5. Decide where you want to store your data.
You can choose between Google Drive, OneDrive, and DropBox. You’ll then need to log in to your selected drive.

6. Choose how, when and how often to back up your text messages.
Once in, you can choose how often to delete backups whether to back up over Wi-Fi and how often you want your backups to occur.

7. Select ‘BACK UP NOW’ in the bottom right-hand corner.

Don’t Overcomplicate Text Message Backups

‘The cloud’, ‘Drive’, ‘Backups’: all jargon words that only had one meaning a decade ago. And none of those meanings had anything to do with tech.

Read: How to Print Text Messages

Don’t feel overwhelmed by these terms. Text message backups are not only important, but they’re incredibly easy to do. If you’ve followed our guide, you can sleep easy knowing your text messages are safely and securely saved to something other than your phone.

The post How to Back Up Text Messages appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Don’t worry, we have too.

Whether you’ve simply texted the wrong person or, in a worst-case scenario, sent a screenshot of the conversation back to the sender, damage control needs to happen (and fast).

When it comes to business text messaging, the stakes of texting the wrong person are even higher. The wrong message to the wrong audience could have a lasting impact on your brand.

The good news is that customers are people too. They’re most likely going to cringe with you and laugh it off. 

But where do you even start with sending out that follow-up apology text message? We have you covered in the following guide.

What to Do When You Text the Wrong Person

Before we jump into our pre-written templates, let’s break down what you should do as soon as you realize you’ve hit send on the wrong person or people.

Respond Quickly

With this guide, you’ll have no excuse for not having a contingency plan in place. The best way to deal with texting the wrong person is to make sure you’ve sent a follow-up quickly.

This avoids any confusion and minimizes the impact of the original text message. If you’ve sent out the wrong promotional code, you could even send a good-will gesture with a more relevant one to this audience.

Say You’re Sorry

You’d be surprised by how many businesses fail to apologize for sending the wrong message. Even when the mistake doesn’t seem like a big deal, you have no idea how the customer’s day is going or the impact sending a text at that time had.

Simply including the word ‘sorry’ in your apology is a must. And just like with other types of apologies, never follow it with a ‘but…’.

Own Your Mistake

Owning your mistake is about acknowledging something has happened. In other words, please do not ignore it. Customers will take far worse to receiving the wrong text message with zero explanation than they will if they receive a humbling ‘hands up’ text message straight after. 

Ensure you’ve acknowledged exactly what text message you’re referring to in your second one. If you send multiple texts to the same customer, they may be confused as to what’s relevant and what isn’t.

Move On

Sure, we can all lie in bed cringing about past mistakes until 3:00 AM. But the reality is we’re all human. 

The most you can do is attempt to put things right, and once you’ve sent out your apology text message, it’s time to put it aside and focus on other things.

5 Templates for When You Text the Wrong Person

There are two different considerations when it comes to apologizing for texting the wrong person.

The first is what was the mistaken text message? Was it a big deal, or is it minor? The second is how you want your brand to respond. Are you going to play it off with a joke or send a more in-depth apology?

The following five templates cover all options.

1. Short and Sweet

“Hi [insert name], so sorry but you can ignore our last text message and continue with your day! Have a great one!”

Keeping it short and to the point is key. We’ve included an apology, and let the recipient know there’s nothing to worry about. These things happen, and if you keep it light and direct, they’ll soon move on and forget about it.

2. Lengthy and Apologetic

“Hi [insert name], we want to let you know we’re aware you’ve just received the wrong text message. Please accept our sincere apologies if this [disrupted your day/confused /offended] you in any way. While we always try to avoid mistakes, we’re only human and are already working on fixing this. Thank you for your understanding! If you have questions, please reply to this text.”

You may need to go the extra mile if you’ve sent a text message with personal details or with inappropriate content.

In this text, we’ve left it up to you to decide why the first text message may have been poorly received. As an addition, we’ve encouraged the customer to reach out with questions, this puts ahead of any complaints that may come in as a result of the text message. 

3. Honest and Open

“Oops! We accidentally sent you the wrong message. Sorry about that, please feel free to ignore it! We hope you’re having a great day. SimpleTexting”

A little more light-hearted than the first short and sweet message, this one remains direct while adding a little more personality. Wishing your customers a great day is a positive way to round off the text message and is a reminder that you care about them.

4. Humorous

“Well this is awkward…  Bob in marketing got hold of our phone and hit the wrong button! We’re sorry if you just received the wrong text message, we promise Bob’s about to learn some SMS marketing etiquette!”

Disclaimer: If you really do have a Bob in marketing, you should swap out the name.

Hopefully, it’s obvious that Bob doesn’t really exist. But playing it off with a joke and making light of the situation is sometimes the only way to go. Especially if you’re a brand that prides itself on being informal and conversational. 

5. Generous

“Sorry! You just received the wrong text message from us. As a token of our apology, we’d like to offer you a 20% discount for the next 24 hours. Just use OOPS20 at the checkout to claim! txt.me/ST.”

When all else fails, a token of good will is going to soften the blow. Everyone likes a discount, and cutting your losses by sending one out in the follow-up message is a guaranteed way to keep complaints and unsubscribes to a minimum.

Texting the Wrong Person Happens to us All

You know what they say, the only guarantees in life are death, taxes, and texting the wrong person. 

It happens to everyone, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be the end of the world. If you keep your follow-up message genuine and use a version of the word ‘sorry’ you’ll likely receive minimal backlash when you reach out to apologize.

If you’re a business or organization that’s considering SMS marketing, we promise the likelihood of texting the wrong person is minimal! Use our free two-week free trial to experience the range of SimpleTexting’s features and make up your own mind with zero risk.

The post Here’s How to Apologize for Texting the Wrong Person appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Maybe you can relate. Your phone is only too happy to tell you that your texts aren’t sending, but it doesn’t tell you why.

Because I (and our users) have fallen victim to send failures way more than we’d like to, I decided to get to the bottom of why this happens. 

In fact, around 1-5% of texts get lost. So, what’s going on?

The first step in this investigation is to eliminate possible reasons why your messages aren’t delivering. Let’s dig into the 10 most common reasons SMS campaigns don’t make it to their destination.

1. Your number isn’t verified by carriers for mass texting

To combat fraud, spam, and other illegal activities from their networks, wireless carriers require businesses to verify their phone numbers.

If you haven’t registered your 10-digit local number with The Campaign Registry or verified your toll-free number with wireless carriers yet, your messages may be limited. Check out our guides to learn more about toll-free number verification and 10-digit number registration, and chat with our team using the blue button in the bottom right corner for help.

→ Need help choosing a number? Check out our guide to virtual phone numbers.

2. You’re using the wrong messaging type

If you’re trying to send SMS campaigns from a personal phone number, you may experience carrier filtering. This is known as peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging, which is traditional text messaging from one individual to another. 

When you text on your cell phone to a friend or acquaintance, you are using P2P messaging.

Application-to-person messages (A2P) are commonly used by businesses or organizations for marketing purposes. They require the sender to be registered with an SMS application that allows them to send out mass messages to hundreds or thousands of recipients at once.

If you are attempting to use A2P-style messaging from a personal number, your mass messages could be flagged and therefore not delivered. 

3. Your message contains illegal content

If you’re sending text messages containing adult content, drug references, or any kind of criminal activity, your messages will be blocked by the receiving carrier.

That’s because the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) — a regulatory body that enforces guidelines for SMS messages — prohibits messages with SHAFT content — sex, hate speech, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco. 

The CTIA also prohibits messages that contain:

• Depictions or endorsements of violence 
• Adult or otherwise inappropriate content 
• Profanity 

If your business sells alcohol, you can send SMS campaigns to advertise events like happy hours or drink specials as long as you have an age verification method in place.

3. You’re sending too many text messages

If you’re sending too many text messages, your messages could be caught in the spam filter. Depending on the phone you’re using, there are compliance guidelines as to how many messages a user can send.

While there’s no hard-and-fast rule for how many messages you can send to each contact, you can estimate what would be a reasonable amount of messages for your industry or business type. 

For instance, someone using texts to message their employees about available shifts or schedule changes may send dozens of messages a week to each contact, while a retail store may only send a promotional message once a week. 

4. Your links look suspicious

Some scammers use link shorteners to disguise phishing links. Carriers may filter messages with links that look shady, including those that are shortened by third-party apps.

If you’re sending texts with our platform, you can shorten links from the message composer so you don’t have to use a separate link shortener. 

5. Your mass texting platform is prohibited in the recipient’s country

Depending on which country you are receiving or sending messages from, local regulations may restrict the sending of SMS messages to prevent spam.

For example, in some countries, messages notated as ‘marketing’ can be sent only during workdays and in a specific time window. If sent outside this window, your message will not be delivered. 

Just be sure to do your research here (or ask our team for help). If you use an A2P service, you can schedule messages and send them out automatically at specific times to help bypass these restrictions.

6. Your contact list has invalid phone numbers

If your contact list is littered with invalid or deactivated numbers, it may signal to carriers that you don’t have their permission or they’re no longer interested in your texts.

Depending on which SMS service you use, you may need to submit your contact list to a verification service to identify invalid or deactivated numbers. 

SimpleTexting has self-cleaning lists that do this for you so you won’t unknowingly send multiple messages to invalid phone numbers.

There are two ways to see which of your contacts are invalid.

1. In your inbox, you’ll see an Invalid tag in the contact’s details.

2. From the Contacts tab, you’ll see the Invalid section on the far-right side of the screen.

It may be hard to believe, but there’s a chance your undelivered messages were sent to a landline. 

Although far less common in recent years, people still do have landline phones, so there is a possibility the phone number is simply not capable of receiving text messages.

7. The contact doesn’t want to receive your text messages anymore

Sometimes people change their minds about subscribing to texting lists. They may:

• Block the phone number.
• Report the number as spam to their wireless carrier.
• Unsubscribe (eg. “Text STOP to stop receiving these messages”) 

Either way, your messages will fail to deliver to a contact who indicates that they don’t want to receive your texts. 

It’s important to remember that you must honor every opt-out request you receive according to compliance guidelines.

8. The contact has a billing issue or hasn’t paid their bill

Occasionally, a recipient may go over their plan or be in debt to a cell phone provider. 

In these circumstances, the provider or carrier may turn off that phone number’s ability to send and receive messages to encourage the user to pay what they owe. 

9. The phone settings have “receive SMS messages” turned off

It is possible that the contact you’re sending messages to has turned off their phone’s ability to receive SMS. 

While SMS is common in the U.S., in other areas of the world, platforms like Whatsapp and Telegram are more widely used. 

If the SMS setting is deactivated, your messages won’t be delivered.

10. The carrier is experiencing technical difficulties

Sometimes message deliverability is just out of your control. There may be times when the wireless carrier or their hardware is having technical difficulties, which can prevent messages from reaching your contact’s phone.

Avoid undelivered text messages with the right phone number

Many of the reasons your text messages aren’t sending can be attributed to the type of message you’re sending or the way you’re sending it.

Have a question about message deliverability? We love answering any and all questions about texting. Chat with our customer support team by clicking on the blue button at the bottom of your screen.

The post Why are my texts not sending? Common causes + tips appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

For the majority of us working behind screens, even the timeout spent scrolling on social media or watching television is an extension of the working day. The unrelenting consumption of information has made downtime harder than ever to find, and it can cause employee exhaustion.

But what do we really mean by employee burnout – and how bad is it?

What is Employee Burnout?

You may have heard of “The Great Resignation” or “The Big Quit”––informal names for the approximately 47 million workers that quit their jobs in 2021. Mass quitting can become the unfortunate byproduct of employee burnout in the workplace.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s job; feelings of negativity or cynicism related to one’s job, or reduced professional efficacy.”

While this is the official definition, the question remains: what’s causing employee burnout these days? Is it stagnant pay, lack of career growth, COVID fatigue, staff shortages, or lack of recognition from employers? How much does burnout vary by generation or across industries? And how does it impact quitting across the U.S.?

These are questions that needed answering, so we sent out a survey and dove into the responses.

Methodology

In this campaign, we surveyed 1,000 full-time employees across the U.S. (hourly and salaried, remote and non-remote, office work and skilled trades, etc.) about their experiences with employee burnout and its impact on their desire to quit their jobs.

The survey ran from February 15 to February 18, 2022. Additionally, we analyzed quit rates in 2021 by industry, state, and region using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

How common is employee burnout? According to our employee burnout statistics, four out of five employees say they’ve experienced burnout in the last year.

Meanwhile, a little more than 40% say they feel burned out on either a weekly or daily basis. And for as much pain as finding and landing a new job is, one in ten hospitality and retail workers say they’re willing to quit their current job and find a new one if it means they’ll no longer feel burned out. 

Temperature Check

Close to three in four employees don’t tell their manager when they’re feeling burned out. In the tech industry specifically, 46% don’t express when they experience burnout because they don’t want their manager to question their competence or ability to do the job required.

Among the generations, Gen Zers are the least likely to tell their manager if they’re feeling burned out. This could be a sign of the cutthroat nature of some of the industries that Gen Zers are flocking towards (like tech) or the stigma that mental health concerns carry in the modern workplace.

In fact, 60% of the Gen Zers we interviewed said they feel uncomfortable talking about their mental health with their manager. 

Running on Fumes

What causes employee exhaustion and burnout in the first place? According to over half of our respondents, the answer is a heavier workload.

However, almost just as many cited stagnant wages, and about 40% said they feel burned out when their place of business is consistently understaffed (which typically results in a heavier workload). 

Even though 70% of our respondents say that a pay increase would help with burnout, and stagnant wages were the second most common cause of burnout, there’s still a large category of people in the hospitality and restaurant industries that say even a raise wouldn’t be enough to alleviate their feelings of burnout. 

The remote-work trend that the pandemic has accelerated plays a role in employee burnout too. For example, 55% of non-remote workers say they’d feel less burned out if they worked fully remote, and 85% of workers that are currently remote have no desire to go back to working in-person full-time. 

Employee Resignation Statistics

So the majority of employees have experienced or are currently experiencing burnout, but how many people are actually quitting their job?

If you’re a Gen Zer, there’s about a one in four chance you’ve quit a job sometime in the last year (these are the highest odds out of all the generations). 

But it’s not just Gen Zers that aren’t afraid to put themselves before a company:
1) One in three respondents think about quitting their job once a week or more.

2) 46% of respondents say they would quit their job, even without another one lined up, if they started feeling too burned out

3) 51% of respondents say they’re currently looking for a new job either actively or passively.  

While higher pay or better benefits may not be able to erase the feelings of burnout in every employee, 64% of our respondents say those perks would at least prevent them from quitting.

No other answer comes close to higher pay or better benefits, but there was still a lot of support for more time off, more career growth opportunities, a lighter workload, and a shorter workweek.

American Quit Rates

Mass resignation in the U.S. has been coined “The Big Quit” for good reason. The national average quit rate in fall/winter 2021 (August – December 2021) was 2.9%. Year over year, the national quit rate jumped by 20.83% between December 2020 and December 2021. 

Georgia, Hawaii, Montana, Kentucky, and Colorado were the states with the highest average quit rates between August and November 2021. In fact, Georgia’s average quit rate during that time period was 31.9% higher than the national average. 

Alternatively, D.C., New York, California, Pennsylvania, and Washington were the locations with the lowest average quit rates during that time period. Hover over your state to see its average employee quit rate between August and November 2021.

Other Key Findings

• Accommodation and food services, leisure and hospitality, and retail were the industry sectors with the highest average quit rates between August and December 2021––6.3%, 5.9%, and 4.6%, respectively (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• During that same time period, the accommodation and food services sector, which includes restaurant & hotel workers, had a quit rate that was 73.9% higher than the national average (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• According to survey responses, hourly workers are 12% more likely than salaried workers to have experienced burnout in the last year

• 81% of education employees and 87% of healthcare employees have experienced burnout in the last year

• Over 20% of education, healthcare, and hospitality employees say they feel uncomfortable taking their vacation time during the pandemic

• Nearly 40% of Gen Z employees say burnout has negatively impacted their desire to be social outside of work

• 61% of Gen Z employees say working amidst the COVID-19 news cycle makes them feel more burned out

• Nearly 50% of non-remote workers think about quitting their current job once a week or more often

Closing Thoughts

Employee burnout touches all industries, from tech and healthcare to retail and hospitality, and can affect job performance and workplace happiness. And as we now know, the majority of employees don’t like to tell their bosses when they are feeling burned out. 

So what can a company do about this? One option is to use SMS internally to conduct polls or surveys that can collect anonymous employee feedback and gauge average burnout levels among staff. Learn more about what SimpleTexting can do for your business and start your 14-day free trial!

The post An Overview of Employee Burnout Statistics & Quit Rates in the U.S. appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.