Texting used to be a mere form of entertainment years ago among teens and young adults. It has come a long way and is now popularly accepted as an effective means of communication for pleasure and business. It has even transcended age demographics. Today, text messaging boasts ten times the open rate of email marketing! 60% of people in the world own a mobile phone compared to 40% who have access to the internet. The number of people that are accessible via an SMS campaign is much higher than that of an email. The main catalyst for this explosive growth is the extensive usage of mobile phones. A lot of users appreciate and subscribe to text alerts due to time constraints. People nowadays look for instant gratification and want everything at their fingertips. Unless information is readily available from time to time, they no longer have the patience to wait. Every time I have a flight to catch, go watch a movie, complete a bank transaction, sign in to my email account, I rely on my mobile phone to receive text message alerts for information about flight delays, reminders, OTP alerts, account balance, the list is endless. Here are a few reasons why you should use text marketing: Direct Channel SMS being the most immediate channel available, it allows you to send direct messages to multiple customers/ clients at once. There may be some critical information that would have to be communicated within a limited time constraint. Instead of picking up the telephone and calling each one, you can send a single text to everyone at once. The message will be communicated within short notice. Quality over Quantity SMS messages have crisp, concise messages which are to the point and deliver information leaving less room for irrelevant details. They also contain a call to action which encourages immediate responses. Cost Effective SMS marketing does not break the bank and is a cost effective method of boosting business because you can create text campaigns with minimal budgets. Saves TimeTime is money. You can simply schedule SMS message campaigns to be sent at a later time and work on other aspects of your business. Opt-in / Opt-out option You can always give the freedom for customers/ users to opt in and opt out of receiving messages thereby not annoying the ones who are not interested.. This helps you to track which customers are interested and which are not. Better Engagement and Interaction SMS is a personal message to your audience. You could send them a thank you message, inform them of a special personalized offer, delivery updates, product availability, the list is endless. Sometimes, customers sign up to get alerts when a product is available. They can be sent a text message with that information whenever the product is available again and this excites most customers. Communication being a key factor in building relationships, constant updates and important information sent via text messages helps build lasting relationships with customers. It helps businesses gain their confidence. Better Response Rate Since most people are always within arms distance of their mobile phones, they usually check and read almost every text. This increases chances of having higher response rates thereby driving traffic to your website/ business. Wide Audience Smartphone or not, does not matter! Any mobile phone user is accessible and guarantees a wide range of audience thereby driving better ROI and conversions. Preference to TextingA growing number of people are increasingly preferring texting as a chosen method of communication because of the ease of use and access.Unlimited Subscribers and KeywordsYou can send messages to any number of customers/ people and have specific keywords as well to make it easier. You can create set templates and use them again and again.Open SMS Pro is our flagship mobile application which allows you to send single or bulk texts from any salesforce or Force.com application. You can broadcast daily updates, send appointment reminders, promotional messages, payment details, have two way communication with your customers/ clients and understand their needs and demands better, communicate effectively within short notice. Open SMS Pro has a host of features including conducting SMS Campaigns, sending SMS messages to custom objects, Workflow support, and the ability to chat live with customers from within Salesforce. It also allows users to send bulk SMS from any Salesforce or Force.com application. You can also chat and receive messages from any mobile. Do get in touch with us at sales@appshark.com and we will be happy to arrange a free demo for you!