7 Benefits of Using SMS for Business & Best SMS Tools

Businesses use SMSs to provide discount coupons, announce ongoing sales and offers, send appointment letters, announce the opening of their new store in a nearby area, the status of orders of online shoppers, etc. Businesses must use the word limit of SMSs 160 characters wisely in a very impactful way to convey messages. In this article, we are going to talk about the benefits of SMS for business.

Most of the SMSs are sent through Cloud Telephony technology and are encrypted. This makes SMSs a secure and reliable platform for businesses to reach their customers and leads.  

Benefits of SMS for Business

• High open rates

98% of the SMSs are opened and read. This is more than any other medium of communication i.e. phone calls or emails. This helps businesses as they get an effective response from customers and leads. 

• Better conversion rate

SMSs have the highest opening and response rates. Also, the delivery is fast and requires an internet connection. Due to this the marketing and sales team get responses from customers and leads fast. Through this, the conversion rates from SMSs are high in comparison to their counterparts. If you attach a link in your text message then the chances of people visiting your website increases a lot in comparison to any other medium. SMSs generate traffic on your website more than any other medium,

• Cost-effective

SMSs are the most inexpensive forms of communication because of the cloud messaging service. Cloud technology along with SMS API offers bulk messaging at a very low cost. Businesses can reach numerous people in a few seconds. Also since it is a very good option for small and new businesses as it is cost-effective. It is more cost-effective than traditional forms of promotions like television ads, mobile ads, magazines, etc.

• Global audience reaches

SMS generates the highest website traffic than any other form of communication. According to a survey, SMSs generate 52.2% of the world’s website traffic. Plus SMS doesn’t require any internet connectivity so you can check and send SMSs anywhere on the go. All these factors make SMSs the best platform for businesses to generate revenues, especially for small and emerging businesses to grow and develop. 

• Instant delivery

In order to achieve the maximum benefits of SMS for business you must associate your messaging service with a good Cloud telephony provider. Your cloud telephony provider should have strong network operator connections across the world. This is highly useful in sending time-bound OTPs. Businesses can reach thousands of customers across the globe in a matter of a few seconds only.

• Measure the success of your campaigns

The role of a business doesn’t end just because they’ve run the marketing campaign. After sending SMSs also businesses must keep track of the progress of their performance to know how they are performing and what areas to focus upon now. Also, this insight will help them in their future performances. Cloud telephony providers offer detailed graphical analysis, of the number of messages delivered, timestamps, response rate, the status of the message, which browser was used by the customer, geolocation, etc. This helps businesses in understanding their basic goals, their target audience, and the success of their campaigns. And how to perform better in their future campaigns etc.

• Easy Subscribe and Unsubscribe

This is the most important and the first step you should follow. According to GDPR compliances, businesses must take permission from their customers before sending them promotional messages. You have to send your customers a form to opt-in i.e. subscribe before proceeding with sending them your promotional messages. Similarly, you have to always give them an option for unsubscribing i.e. opt-out. If someone voluntarily opted out then it means they’re currently not interested in your products/services. If you keep sending them messages then there are chances they will simply block you and you will not be able to return to them in the future also. 

In the future messaging services will rely on cloud messaging solutions more. They did not just connect businesses to many people, they also enabled data-driven campaigns and provided better clarity for future campaigns. This makes SMS for business an ideal way to propagate marketing and customer service content.

SuiteCRM Bulk SMS

SuiteCRM Bulk SMS is a mass texting service that allows you to send bulk messages to a segmented set of customers with just a click. It streamlines the process of bulk SMS. You just have to choose the template and the recipients and the rest of the work would be automated. It is powered by Twilio SMS API which is the best in the market. 

Features

• Multiple agents can send bulk SMSs through this plugin. They just have to configure a Twilio phone number for sending bulk SMSs.
• Every message sent and received through this plugin will be saved in SuiteCRM and can be viewed anytime in the record’s history.
• It also has the option for live chat. Through this, you can chat with multiple people at the same time. 
• You can create multiple SMS templates as per your needs and directly insert them into live chat box. 
• After you choose your recipients this plugin will automatically build segmented target lists of recipients.
• There is a message icon next to the phone number through which you can start a personal conversation with anyone in the SuiteCRM.
• You will receive a daily report of the SMS delivery statistics i.e. the number of SMSs sent, received, failed, and unsubscribed.

Twilio SMS for SuiteCRM

If you have made up your mind for using SMS for business then Twilio SMS with SuiteCRM is for you. This plugin gives you the feature of live chat through which you can engage with your customers in a more personalized way directly from your SuiteCRM. It records first-time message senders in SuiteCRM. It is powered by Twilio SMS API which is the best in the market. 

Features

• It has many SMS templates which you can also customize.
• This live chat option is not limited to only a single customer; you can chat with multiple customers at the same time. 
• You can also add emojis in your text to reflect your emotions better. 
• You can even start a chat with anyone by clicking on the message icon right next to the phone number. You can use it from the listview, detail view, or subpanel.
• You can get your daily SMS activities on your email. It will show the daily SMS delivery statistics ie. the number of SMSs sent, received, missed, replied to, and unsubscribed in a day.
• Admins can even check the status of agents anytime during the day.
• In the past chat history, you can check the previous messages and can even check to whom the messages were sent and on which date. 
• It has a customer directory where you can check all the phone numbers present in your CRM. 
• You can check the conversation history of any person in the sub-panel called Twilio SMS.
• All the opted-out phone numbers will be in a separate section. 
• If you missed any incoming message from a customer then you will get a notification.
• Whenever you receive a message the live chat will open automatically. 
• By using Ctrl+F you can search in the chat box. 
• This tool will automatically adjust the timezone of the chat based on user location. 
• The chat window is customizable and draggable.
• You can export the chat history to any phone number.

Conclusion

SMSs due to their high opening and response rates, cost efficiency and instant delivery is the most ideal channel for businesses to promote their goods and services. It is especially the most ideal option for small and emerging businesses where there are not sufficient funds and resources. SMS for business is the best way to generate more and more leads and convert them into customers.