Why All Service Businesses Should Use SMS Confirmation Services

Text messaging has been around since 1992 when a UK software programmer sent an SMS from his computer to his colleague’s cell phone.

Not much has changed in the meantime as the fundamentals have stayed the same, and this channel of communication is not going anywhere anytime soon despite a number of new additions that have been emerging and facilitating business and personal communication.

But that’s not the only reason why service businesses should take advantage of this marketing channel, particularly when we’re talking about SMS verification and confirmation services.

Protect Your Customers From Cybersecurity Threats

Did you know that there’s a cyber attack every 39 seconds?

Service businesses usually handle a lot of sensitive data, which means that you have to be very careful about who can access it. Besides, websites that offer online registrations and deal with financial transactions are at particular risk of being hacked. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure that only users who can prove their real identity can register, log in, transfer money, or access personal information through your website.

Implementing multi-factor authentication adds another layer of security, and SMS is usually its mandatory part. Namely, by sending customers one-time codes that they have to enter when trying to make a payment or transfer money from their account, banks and other financial institutions can easily establish their customers’ identity and prevent fraud.

Similarly, social media platforms and email service providers can benefit from this tactic as it prevents people from registering fake and fraudulent accounts.

SMS confirmation can also be used to authorize upgrades. Many service businesses offer a freemium model, meaning that they allow customers to use the basic version of their application for free, but providing access to premium features only to those who pay a subscription. By sending a confirmation SMS with a pin that will verify their identity, paid users can simplify the process and curb unauthorized downloads.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

Due to the abundance of different businesses offering the same or similar solutions, consumers’ expectations have increased.

That’s why it’s essential to deliver on your promises and provide a remarkable customer experience if you don’t want to lose customers. The fact that you care about your customers’ safety will help you build loyalty with them and minimize churn.

Another instance when SMS confirmation can come in handy is when your customers forget their password. Instead of a complicated authentication process, you can simply send them a verification SMS so that they can access their account and change the password. It’s simple, quick, and easy, but not at the expense of security protection protocols.

There’s no need to involve your customer support reps in solving such repetitive and unchallenging issues and waste their time. So, it’s a win-win situation – your support reps will have to handle only complex issues that require their full attention and skills, while your customers won’t have to wait for an available rep to pick up their call and help them retrieve a password.

Improve Your Marketing Efforts

By collecting your customers’ phone numbers on registration, you’ll be able to tap into the power of personalized marketing.

Namely, accurate and relevant customer information plays an important role in the success of your marketing strategy, and having your customers’ phone number provides you with an opportunity to get in touch with them directly.

This channel is quick and efficient, and you can reach out to a large audience in just a moment. That’s why you should plan on using SMS when you’re setting your digital marketing budget.  

Once your customer registers, you can suggest them to sign up for mobile notifications and updates so that you can start sending them special offers, important service information, or ask them for feedback. As most people always have their smartphones by their side, you can be sure that your messages will be delivered in an instant, as well as that you’re going to grab your recipients’ attention.

Finally, as phones are personal devices, people are more likely to share their email address with you than give you their number. So, once they do, it’s a sign that they will be more responsive to your messages.

Save Money

Text messages are affordable, especially when you’re buying them in bulk.

Although you’ll have to invest in a reliable SMS confirmation service, you’ll actually minimize your business and marketing expenses in the long run. Namely, this approach will allow you to collect the correct phone numbers of your users and prospects, which means that your later attempts of reaching them, delivering an important message, or starting a conversation will be successful.

In other words, your messages will be delivered to the right people, and you won’t have to waste your time and resources trying to get in touch with your audience.

Track the Performance of Your Campaigns

It’s easy to track whether your messages have been delivered and opened so that you can keep tabs on your campaigns and see how they perform.

Besides that, you can also measure the engagement of your SMS campaigns and tweak your future efforts based on that. This way, you’ll see how your recipients behave when they receive your SMS and pinpoint what possibly went wrong if they fail to take action or respond.

Some providers will send you a weekly or monthly report with detailed analytics of your campaigns, thus allowing you to gain insights into the number of new subscribers, opt-ins, opt-outs, as well as soft and hard bounces.

Conclusion

SMS confirmation services can have numerous benefits for both your service business and your customers. Information security and protecting your customers and your business from cyberattacks is among the most important ones, but others, such as improved customer experience and cost-efficiency, also play an important role.