SMS Marketing: How to Use Text Messaging to Increase Appointments
One of the most powerful tools at a business’s disposal in today’s world is the same thing billions of people carry in their pockets and check multiple times per day: their phones. If you aren’t actively making text messaging part of your advertising strategy, you could be leaving money on the table, so let’s take a closer look at it and how it can help you connect with your customers and book more appointments.
What Is SMS Marketing?
Short message service (SMS) marketing – also called text marketing – is a tactic where businesses send texts directly to their current and prospective customers to alert them about everything from promotional offers to upcoming appointments to coupons and discounts. Like email marketing, SMS is a channel entirely owned by you and your business, linking you to customers without having to worry about the whims and algorithms of social media platforms. And text messaging can be even more effective, with a 98% average open rate, compared to email’s 20%, and a 9.18% click-thru rate, compared to 2.5% for email.
A few more SMS marketing statistics to keep in mind:
- 97% of U.S. adults own a mobile phone (85% of these are smartphones)
- 45% of text messages receive a response, 8x that of email (6%)
- The average SMS response time is 3 minutes, 60x that of email (90 minutes)
- 48% of customers prefer communication from businesses to come from text messages
- 75% of consumers would rather text customer support than correspond with them via phone or social media
What Are the Benefits of Text Message Marketing?
We’ve already mentioned a few of them – like how it’s more effective than email messaging and completely owned by your business – but that’s just the starting point.
Communication is fast
Ninety-five percent of text messages are opened within three minutes of receipt, which makes it a direct and easy way to get information to your customers quickly. This is extra beneficial when it comes to situations like appointment reminders and reschedules.
Connection creates customer loyalty
In a world where people are looking for brands and businesses that treat them as an individual person, SMS messages can be personalized in a way that makes your customers feel seen and valued.
A cost-effective channel for higher ROI
Especially for locally owned businesses that need to maximize every dollar of their marketing budget, text message marketing is an affordable and effective channel to leverage. From a report by Decision Telecom, they found that SMS marketing campaigns saw a return on investment for $16.70 for every dollar spent.
Making channel integration easy
These days, we need to meet customers where they are with a message personalized to them, and while you can do that solely with text message marketing, it works even better when it’s part of a broader campaign. SMS marketing can support email, social media, and website channels, further boosting things like seasonal promotions, newsletter signups, quick follow-ups, etc.
How Can SMS Marketing Help Increase Appointments?
So how exactly does a robust SMS marketing channel support your home services business with increasing successful appointments? It all goes back to those statistics above, where we see a much higher percentage of customers opening text messages and clicking thru to any links. It’s ability to so successfully keep you in touch with your customers, especially on urgent and time-sensitive matters, comes in great handy when it comes to scheduling, confirming, reminding, and rescheduling appointments.
Some statistics from research by the company SpotOn:
- 58% of consumers express a more positive outlook toward a business if they offer SMS capabilities
- 75% of millennials think that texting is a helpful way to receive appointment reminders
- No-shows have been proven to be reduced by 40% with text reminders
- Less than 5% of scheduled appointments are canceled after clients receive a text reminder
This all makes sense when you consider that younger generations tend to rank texting as their preferred form of communication. A 2024 survey found that a quarter of people aged 18-34 never answer the phone and nearly 70% of that same demographic prefer a text over a phone call.
By connecting with these populations through their preferred channels, you:
- Demonstrate that you value their choices
- Give them an unobtrusive way to be reminded on their own time
- Support them by giving them one less thing to remember
SMS Marketing Best Practices
If you don’t already have text message marketing set up, it’s important to know what people are looking for when it comes to texts from businesses.
From a G2 survey, customers like to receive the following:
- 67% of consumers want delivery updates
- 64% of consumers want order confirmation
- 64% of consumers want appointment reminders
- 54% of consumers want calendar reminders
- 49% of consumers want promotional coupons
Before you start sending messages, though, make sure you know current best practices to stay compliant and make the most of these connections:
- Recipients need to have opted-in and have an easy way to opt-out. This is the highest priority in order to stay in line with the FCC’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
- Build targeted lists with customer feedback. Rather than have one list where everyone receives every message, let your customers indicate what they’re wanting to see and send them only that. That way, you’re not irritating someone who only wants appointment reminders by sending them promo codes.
- Take the time to craft compelling messages. Just because texting is quick doesn’t mean you should put any less effort into the content you’re sending out.
- Keep your timing in mind. Make sure you’re not sending out texts at inopportune times of the day, like during the night, morning or evening commutes, during dinnertime, etc. Also, space out your messages so you’re not coming across as spammy.
- Make it easy for them to reach you. If a customer can just tap a link or a phone number to reach out, they’re far more likely to do so than if they have to go grab their laptop and look something up. Also, if you need a response, like an appointment confirmation, give them a quick, simple strategy, like just responding YES or NO.
Text Marketing for Better Connections
Home service companies are all about creating a relationship with your customers and building their trust and loyalty. Establishing a dedicated list for SMS marketing lets you nurture these connections and give people easy, convenient ways to reach you for information, scheduling appointments, getting reminders, and more. This way, when something comes up around the house, they turn to you – because you’re just a text message away.
