How SMS Marketing Can Help Financial Institutions

Long awaited news of an interest rate cut has created a buzz at your financial institution. A sluggish national economy receives an infusion of cash that should boost the lending power of banks around the country. With the good news still fresh in the minds of every employee, the question now is: How do you let your customers know about the lower interest rate that should produce much more friendly lending terms?

The answer is not by sending emails or posting on social media. One communication tool stands out: text marketing.

Once considered the domain for exchanging personal messages, text marketing has grown into a powerful tool for banks, brokers, and lending institutions to reach out and grab the attention of current clients and prospective customers. The key to leveraging the incredible benefits delivered by moving to a texting platform is knowing how to set up a highly effective campaign that originates from an SMS broadcasting software program.

Important Benefits of SMS Messaging

SMS messaging offers an easy-to-use texting platform that can shape the future of your financial institution. Let’s review five key benefits of SMS marketing for financial institutions.

Send Real-Time Updates

Stock markets rise or dip, economies change, and events around the world have an impact on our financial well-being. Though SMS can’t help you predict the future, it can help you stay informed about the present with real-time updates. Real-time updates can be used both externally, for customers, and internally, among employees. Financial institutions can send updates about operations to employees, notifications for changes in portfolios or stocks to customers, and changes in the banking industry to both.

Grow Sales

SMS marketing is a subtle way to present additional financial products that increase the number of revenue channels for your financial institution. SMS has a more personal touch than emails or letters, which can help you build the trust your company needs to open new revenue doors.

Resolve Disputes Quickly

Though no industry wants to make a mistake, the consequences of mistakes in the financial industry are often personal. Just one incorrect number on a ledger or miscalculation can cause panic when a customer views their account balance. Customer dispute resolutions that take place over the phone or via email can be lengthy and confusing, but an advanced SMS messaging system allows your financial intuition to contact or respond to customers quickly to resolve disputes as soon as possible.

Lower Costs

Whether you’re running a large call center or just having employees answer the phone as needed, staying in touch with your customers can drag down the company budget. With SMS messaging, auto-responses and keywords can direct customers to resources without tying up employees, leaving them more time to provide support to customers who need hands-on help.

Enhance Customer Service

Text message marketing for financial institutions makes it easy for customers to interact with your company. They no longer have to wait on hold to speak to a representative, but can quickly and easily contact your company via text during business hours. They can make appointments, request important financial advice, and even find valuable resources all with the click of a button.

How Text Marketing for Financial Institutions Works

The first order of business is to find the best SMS marketing service. You want to work with a provider that offers innovative texting solutions at an affordable rate. Customization options are also important for nuanced marketing, and a global network is a must if your institution operates in more than one country.

After signing up with an SMS provider, you’ll need to pick out a short code and start creating memorable keywords. SMS messaging keywords are unique terms comprised of letters and/or numbers that your subscribers can use to communicate with you. An SMS keyword should stand out, but also shouldn’t be too complicated.

Automatic replies to new subscribers should welcome them to your texting list, but also provide vital information, such as if they’ll be charged per message or how to opt out. Welcome offers and introductions to useful products are also often included in order to provide incentives for subscribers.

Text Message Marketing Ideas for Financial institutions

SMS communication and marketing for financial institutions starts with sending alerts and notifications that keeps your customers informed about important financial issues. Alerts and notifications can be used for anything from announcing new financial services to blog posts about household budgets to debt collection freezes during emergencies. Though simple in nature, alerts and notifications can be a strong pillar of a communication strategy.

Above all, SMS helps your financial institution build customer trust and loyalty. The more they use your texting platform, the more customers will view it as a useful and convenient extension of your services.

Customer Service at Your Fingertips

Customer support is important, whether you’re an international institution that provides 24/7 service or a local bank whose phones shut down at closing time. Long wait periods and limited forums for help frustrate customers. Setting up an SMS messaging service allows your customers to more easily reach out to you in real time. Customers can multi-task while they wait for responses and employees are better able to handle large volumes of support requests. Text marketing for financial institutions increases the bond between customers and your company.

Links to the Latest Financial News

The rapidly changing financial industry requires your customers to stay in tune with important news and events. Texting gives you a powerful tool for educating your customers. Subscribers can receive the latest financial news that is customized to their location, such as how to financially recover after natural disasters hit, or information that is relevant to their job, such as banking tips during deployment for military personnel. Sending links to your company’s media or other reliable news sources builds credibility and trust, and makes your institution’s reputation as a reliable source of information.

Efficient Banking Tools

When financial institutions use SMS, it opens the proverbial door to more banking opportunities. If your institution has a mobile banking app or online payment portal, SMS can integrate with it seamlessly to provide a more efficient and comprehensive banking experience. You can send customers payment reminders, updates about billing, notifications about new mobile banking features, and more. If you or your customers are worried about security, SMS can double as an authentication tool to send access codes and PINs to users. Subscribers can even inquire about balances for a wide variety of accounts or request to receive receipts and account history summaries via text.

Dash Notify: The Best SMS Marketing Software for Financial Institutions

With an abundance of SMS marketing companies out there, how do you find the right one for your financial institution? The answer is simple: after careful research, choose the company that gives you the best service for the best price.

With Dash Notify, we’re confident we can meet your financial institution’s unique needs. Along with top-rated customer support that’s available 24/7, we offer a variety of customization options, real-time reporting and analytics tracking, and service in over 200 countries across the globe. Contact us today to learn about how we can help you better serve your customers.

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