How Business SMS Fights Customer App Fatigue

Man receiving a business SMS message on a smartphone

Customers are overwhelmed by all the apps on the market. In fact, 51% of the U.S. population hasn’t downloaded any apps in a month. Many of the apps on their phones are rarely used, except for a select few. For businesses who want to connect with their customers through branded apps, this can be a problem. Enter business SMS. 

Business SMS platforms allow companies to reach opted-in customers through one of their favorite channels—messaging. These enterprise-grade platforms empower team members to send, receive, and manage customer messages through both native SMS apps and over-the-top (OTT) apps, like Facebook Messenger, Google’s Business Messages, WhatsApp, and Apple Business Chat. 

Read on to learn how business texting fights app fatigue—and encourages customers to read your content. 

Business SMS Doesn’t Ask Customers To Download Another App

Customers don’t want to download another app. It doesn’t matter how much they love your brand; they have too many apps on their phones already. They don’t even use a lot of them. This is one of the main symptoms leading to app fatigue: there are simply too many options on the app market, and too many to use.  

Asking customers to download your app can:

  • Force them to decide whether it’s worth connecting with your team or not
  • Add another step to their journey to reach your team
  • Increase their feeling of app fatigue

Some customers may download your app anyway, especially if they need to speak with one of your team members quickly. However, many will not, even if they have a simple question about your products or service. 

Pro tip: Make your opt-in process simple so customers can start texting your teams as quickly as possible. Ask customers to text in a keyword, like START, or select a checkbox on a web form. This will make the sign-up process smooth and ensure they don’t get sign-up fatigue either. Afterwards, secure a double opt in by sending them a quick confirmation text. This will ensure they meant to sign up for your SMS service in the first place and also increase customer engagement rates. 

Business SMS Goes Straight to Customers’ Notifications 

Notification fatigue is another problem that comes with the slew of apps on customer phones. Most customers leave app notifications off; otherwise, they would be constantly bombarded with all kinds of alerts. If you ask customers to download a branded app to keep in touch with your team, chances are they will turn off those notifications, too. 

Business texting goes straight to one of the main channels that customers do receive notifications from: their native SMS channel. Today, 82% of customers leave their notifications on for native SMS apps. Business texting platforms can also receive and reply to messages from OTT channels like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Around 77% of customers leave notifications on for these messaging apps. 

Because business SMS messages arrive in channels where notifications are turned on, customers immediately see them. They don’t have to open an app to check for new messages; they know right when they arrive. 

Pro tip: You don’t want customers to get message fatigue, either. Be sure to limit any texts you send. Text only valuable, customer-centric information. Of course, you can always reply promptly to incoming messages. Replies to customer questions do not affect customers’ communication fatigue. 

Business SMS Lets Customers Receive Important Messages in One Place

Customers experience some fatigue because they have too many apps on their phone. In fact, most people already have 3 messaging apps on their phone screens. If your brand asks them to add another, it may be difficult for them to see your messages in time, or at all. If they do end up checking all of their messaging apps frequently, including your branded app, it can give them app fatigue. 

Business SMS helps reduce customer app fatigue by ensuring your important content lands in one of their main messaging hubs, whether it’s a native SMS app or an OTT messaging app. Plus, your messages will have a place of honor alongside messages from your customers’ friends and family. 

When customers can receive all their texts in a single place, they’ll be less likely to experience app fatigue—and more likely to read your texts. 

Pro tip: Offer as many messaging points as you can support for customers. This way, they can choose the hub that is most convenient for them. You’ll also want to offer new channels, as long as they’ve achieved a relatively high level of popularity. 

 

Ready to fight app fatigue with business SMS? Try out our text service for business for free today. 

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