In our last blog post, we’ve talked about all the benefits your business can get if you use SMS appointment reminders for contacting and reminding your clients about their upcoming appointments with you. Now, we would like to expand a little bit more in the appointment reminder text messages structure and best practices, so you can learn all the needed information before starting to send your SMS campaigns.
Before talking about SMS reminder best practices, we need to keep in mind that SMS reminders not only benefit the customers; not only they’re an excellent tool for businesses as well assisting to reduce the load of work of your customer care agents for calling each of your clients individually to remind them about their appointments, but also you’ll be reducing the no-shows dramatically! The SMS open rate of up to 98% ensures that a lot of eyes will be aware of the information you send, due this, it is of extreme importance to learn about the best ways to efficiently remind your clients about their upcoming appointments, without irritating, confusing them, or making them want to sign out of your SMS notifications.
Thanks to our wide experience in SMS marketing, we can share some of the best practices and things to consider when sending appointment reminders via SMS text, that we have learned from some of the best mobile and digital marketers out there.
Timing is everything!
All businesses need to know that knowing when to send an SMS is of vital importance. Most people don’t want to be disturbed when they’re already preparing for bed time, much less to be woken up by an SMS notification at 1 am. Make sure to always send your SMS texts during business hours, never too early in the morning or too late in the evening.
Consider all the possible time zone differences
If you have clients in different states or countries, you’ll have to make sure that your databases are segmented by region/timezone to send the SMS reminders at the respective business hour of your preference.
Remind your clients with at least 24 hours of anticipation
Sending your clients a reminder 24 hours prior to the appointment with you is considered the perfect anticipation time, as you are giving your client enough time to cancel, reschedule, or take the necessary actions to ensure their assistance. A second reminder with an hour of anticipation is also an excellent practice.
Make it personal
Make sure to include your client’s name in all the SMS notifications you send. This will make your clients feel appreciated and show that your business is concerned for giving personalized customer service. Remember, clients love to be unique, not a number more in your lists.
Always to the point!
Make the most of your SMS messages, by making them clear and always straight to the point. Don’t forget what’s the main purpose of the text you’ll send, and avoid including different topics in one same message. If you’re going to send appointments reminders, stick to it, and don’t send extra promo offers in the same reminder. You can risk losing a client if you over text them!
These are the main best practices to consider when sending appointment reminders via SMS text message. Now that you are aware of them, you’re ready to start planning your contents, timing and database segmentation. The next step would be to start sending SMS! And, of course we can help with that too. SixFive has a wide experience as a bulk SMS provider, and the worldwide route coverage to help you deliver your SMS messages anywhere in the world, at the right time, at the best market prices. Feel free to contact us, we’ll be more than pleased to help!
