As technology becomes more advanced and consumer preferences continue to evolve, we have witnessed a continuing need for immediate access to information. SMS marketing is not a new concept, but it does satiate the customer’s need to receive and process information quickly, and now more than ever before it is possible to create an integrated, automated experience around that customer’s journey in their relationship with your organization. Coupling your messaging tool with your CRM, like Salesforce’s Sales Cloud, is a natural way to ensure you are providing the appropriate level of lead nurturing and capitalizing on opportunities.

Here are some useful tips to keep in mind as you consider your marketing or business development strategy!

1. SMS content actually gets read

If you are debating how to best reach your target audience, you are probably looking at several channels including both SMS and Email. Maybe to demonstrate the value you bring to customers you have to use Email. But if you can get your message across succinctly, SMS marketing will provide you with more meaningful interactions with prospective purchasers. It traditionally has much higher open rates with levels above 90% compared with generally disappointing email rates. There is also less opportunity for SMS to be filtered out of an individual’s inbox than there is for email.

The downside to the added reach is added cost. An email campaign will likely not cost much beyond the content generation and a licensing fee for whichever software you choose. Texting, however, will incur costs based on the number of messages sent, and if you want to send an MMS, that expense will be even greater per message. If you can accept replies and have a team to respond, don’t forget to budget for the potential of additional messages beyond the initial campaign!

2. Splurge on the two-way conversation feature

Many SMS tools, especially ones that integrate well with Salesforce, will allow you to send bulk messages, but that feature can only take you so far. For a truly personalized customer experience, an optimal setup includes the ability to have one-on-one conversations with prospects and customers and your dedicated team of reps or agents. PhoneIQ is an example of a tool that does this exceptionally well, as your messenger is integrated into your phone system and can be accessed from the same utility bar component in Salesforce.

In addition to your selling activities, one-on-one messaging enables your team to respond to inquiries or issues more quickly. With a faster time to initial contact, you open the door for faster time to resolution. Your entire organization can benefit from this functionality!

3. Consider a tool with a smooth AppExchange integration

If you are using Salesforce’s Sales Cloud or keep an eye on general digital transformation trends, you are probably aware of the push to break down silos and keep your user experience to a single platform. The same rings true for your SMS tool – why purchase one that would require you to either manually sync data with Salesforce or build and maintain a custom integration? Even with a handy tool like Zapier, you likely have a limited integration, will consume Zaps rapidly with texting, and are responsible for maintaining. Why not let a third-party company maintain your integration and release new features for you along the way!

There are a handful of tools like PhoneIQ, SMS Magic, or 360 SMS that provide the ability to use their SMS platform from right within Salesforce, making it so your users do not even have to change a browser tab to text the intended recipient(s). Bonus points if that tool is built natively on Salesforce, like PhoneIQ!

4. “Intentionalize” your customer journey

Yes, we made up the word “intentionalize”. But it really does capture the spirit of how to think about your business development strategy from the perspective of your customer. Maybe your offering lends itself well to the mere exposure effect, where folks will buy it if it is a necessity and they see the name enough. More than likely, however, some thought must go into what the appropriate message is to share with a prospect or customer at the appropriate time.

Maybe you can base a follow up campaign off those who responded favorably to an initial campaign and provide them with supplemental information. Maybe it is as simple as following up with an existing customer regularly to thank them for their relationship. Ultimately, the intentionalization of your customer journey is not something dependent on the technology you choose, but it is critical to have in place and well defined to allow Salesforce and your SMS tool to work for you. The next topic, adding value with automation, is going to be incredibly difficult to do without first agreeing upon an ideal state business process.

5. Carefully map out where automation can add value

“Automate everything” is a common phrase tossed around today, but it is not necessarily feasible in the world of scarce resources that we live in. Looking at what Salesforce can do with Flows and other automation tools through a strategic lens, however, you can do some incredibly powerful things with your customer interactions via the SMS channel.

For example, maybe you want to send out a text campaign, and depending on the way a customer responds, automatically disposition their Lead or Contact record in Salesforce appropriately. If they provide a positive response, automatically generate an opportunity, and assign to a sales rep based on whatever logic you choose so that they can follow up. Using Salesforce’s Campaign feature, track the overall value of the Opportunities generated, the value of the Opportunities marked closed won (within a reasonable timeframe for your sales cycle), and compare those against the initial costs incurred for the SMS messages, etc.

Now you can attach an ROI to your marketing efforts, which for so many and for so long has seemed an insurmountable task.

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