B2B SMS Marketing: The Complete Guide for Small Businesses

What's a typical Monday morning like for you? For many business owners, it starts with a quick scroll through your email. You decide which emails to trash and which to act on, and you hope they don't continue to pile up as you go. Then, you grab your phone to tackle your SMS messages. Perhaps you missed a text or two from a client over the weekend. Or, maybe you have some new prospects to reach out to.

There's the dilemma. If you work in a business-to-business (B2B) environment (providing accounting, legal or consulting services, for example) most of your business contacts are at work. Is it appropriate to text your clients at work? Is it professional?

The short answer is, yes. These days, B2B texting, even while clients are at work, can be totally acceptable. In fact, B2B SMS marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your business.

In this post, we'll cover everything you need to know about B2B SMS marketing. We'll review what business texting is and why your brand should be great at it. Then, we'll wrap up with some quick tips to follow to optimize your B2B SMS marketing campaigns.

What is B2B SMS marketing?

B2B SMS marketing is the practice of using text messages to promote your brand in a business-to-business (B2B) setting. Rather than selling directly to consumers, you're using text and SMS messaging to nurture relationships and attract more clients to your business.

For business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses, texting during the workday is fairly common practice. The average small business's customers may want to check the status of their kitchen remodel, and they definitely want text updates on their pup's pampering session at the groomer.

But if your small business operates in the business services space, the concept of using text messages to communicate with B2B clients can seem taboo. Accountants, bookkeepers, consultants, insurance providers and more regularly walk the line of keeping things professional while still delivering a personal client experience. So you may default to email to keep in touch.

However, there's no reason to fear text messaging your professional contacts. Work-related mobile usage is on the rise, and your clients aren't immune to the trend.

• 87% of companies expect their employees to use their personal devices for work.
• 68% of companies said their employees spend at least 4 hours a week using their smartphones for work-related purposes.
• 60% of workplace buyers say mobile played a significant role in a recent purchase.

Employers used to frown upon personal cellphone usage at work. Now, most know it's a necessary part of the job.

According to Google:

"B2B buyers are becoming increasingly savvier with technology, using mobile for work, and multitasking across multiple screens. They are also no longer tethered to a desk. The B2B buyer is more likely to work from home or stay productive on mobile while commuting and traveling."

The Benefits of B2B SMS Marketing

If your typical Monday doesn't include text message exchanges, it's time to start texting your clients. Let's talk about why B2B text messaging is the next big differentiator in business communications.

Benefits of texting your professional contacts:

• SMS messages almost always reach their recipients. Text message apps don't have spam filters (at least, not yet). And if you've ever tried to report a text as spam, you know it's not easy to do. So compared to email, your message is much more likely to deliver without issue.
• People actually prefer getting text messages from businesses. This is especially true with millennials. Since recipients can choose when to respond to text messages, texts are more convenient and less intrusive than phone calls.
• Texts feel more personal. Think about the last time you communicated with your significant other. Was it via email? Snail mail? Chances are, you communicate most often with your closest contacts over text. By nature, texting can feel more personal and intimate.
• The response rate is incredibly high. The average response rate for text message marketing campaigns is around 30%, compared to an average email response rate of 5 - 15%. It's easy to ignore an email. It's not easy to ignore a text.
• The average reaction time is even better.90% of text messages are read in 3 minutes or less. This makes sense, because 89% of smartphone users always have their phone within arm's reach.

We know texting is effective. But you may still feel unsure about workplace texting, especially when it comes to your business.

Here are the top B2B texting mistakes to avoid, with our help.

7 B2B SMS Marketing Tips

Before you send your next big campaign from your smartphone, hang on. The rules of engagement for more traditional business communication channels still apply. If you approach workplace texting haphazardly, it can feel unwelcome and unprofessional.

Don't risk your business's professionalism. Consider the texting traps other business texters fall into, so you can avoid them.

1. Don't break the law.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) heavily regulate text message communications and marketing. Read through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and CAN-SPAM Act regulations that apply to business texting. These laws protect consumers from unwanted messages and explicitly define what you can send and who you can send it to.

2. Don't text someone without their permission.

To add some additional protection, include an opt-in (or out) option in your initial texts with business contacts. Doing so covers your business legally and gives your contacts a sense of control.

Simply ask for a "YES" or "NO" response in your initial texts, or offer a link to subscribe or unsubscribe.

3. Avoid sending long, complicated messages.

Not everyone has the latest smartphone, but nearly everyone can receive text messages. Still, older devices tend to break up longer strings of text into multiple messages or speech bubbles. If that happens, your texts could deliver out of order or not at all.

To deliver your texts in one shot, keep the messages short. The ideal text message is limited to 160 characters, max.

It may be tempting to use text slang (IMHO, TTYL, and the like) or emoji to shorten your messages. More on that in a sec.

4. Be respectful of your clients' data.

Be respectful of your contacts' data. Don't send large files, high resolution images, or cumbersome links.

Not sure what to do about unsightly or long URLs (www.thislinkiswaytoolongtouseinbusinesstexting)? If you need to include a link, shorten it.

Create branded short links with free services like Rebrandly or Short.cm. Pro tip: Branded short links get up to 39% more clicks than generic short links, so they're worth your extra effort.

5. Include special discounts and offers.

No one likes being sold to, so if all you do is send sales pitches and bills, you'll make enemies pretty quickly.

Instead, send more helpful text messages, too. One study broke down the most helpful types of texts respondents like to receive:

• Product offers or coupons
• Account activity, payment reminders, and fraud alerts
• Order alerts or delivery notifications
• General appointment reminders
• Security authentication prompts
• Satisfaction surveys

6. Avoid contacting clients outside of business hours.

While business text messages are less intrusive than phone calls, they're still not welcome outside of work hours. Be considerate of your contacts' personal time, and don't text too early in the morning or late in the evening.

Oh, and definitely don't text on holidays or weekends unless a client asks you to. That time is sacred!

7. Keep a consistent tone and branding.

While text messages to business clients should feel friendly and personal, they should still reflect your business's high level of professionalism.

Unless it's part of a cute or clever campaign you're running, try to avoid using emoji and slang. It sacrifices clarity and could easily confuse your audience. And, if misinterpreted, you could accidentally end up offending someone enough to miss out on a sale.

B2B SMS Marketing Examples

Before we talk about how to text clients, let's review some examples of B2B SMS marketing.

1. Appointment Reminders

Here's a text reminding a client about an upcoming appointment. These are great for nurturing relationships with customers and creating good experiences. It also improves your communication, ensuring you and your customers are on the same page when it comes to scheduling.

2. Customer Review Request

This B2B SMS message asks the customer to submit a review for the brand online. It's a great example of how you can use automation to improve your SMS marketing campaigns. Whenever a customer completes a service with you, send them a link that directs them to your local business listings. That will save you time and provide a steady stream of reviews for your business.

Tip: You can use this review link generator to ask for reviews for your business.

3. Quotes & Estimates

This text provides the customer with an estimate or quote. This is really convenient for professional services and contractors who work on the go and may have to provide these types of documents via text

Best Practices for Business Texting

Now that you know what not to do, here are a few quick reminders about how to do text marketing the right way.

Workplace texting best practices:

• Send helpful notifications. Don't oversell or pester contacts with transactional texts. Mix in product offers and coupons, friendly appointment reminders, and requests for online reviews and feedback.
• Mind mobile restrictions. Respectful your contacts' data. Don't send large files, images or links. And always point to mobile-friendly web pages.
• Text enable your business phone number. Thumbs getting tired? Text enable your business phone number with software like Thryv, so you can manage all your texts at once. This will reduce the time you spend squinting at your phone and save your thumb muscles some serious heavy lifting. It'll keep you organized, too.

If you ask us, the benefits of B2B texting outweigh the potential traps. Avoiding these common mistakes and follow mobile marketing best practices, and you'll be a workplace texting expert in no time.

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