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5 minutes to read

Oct 14 2022

How SMS Marketing Can Be Helpful for BFSI

Oladeinde Toheeb

The banking, financial services and insurance industry has experienced an unprecedented number of changes and challenges in recent years, mainly in areas of customer communication and digital transformation.

Most financial institutions are going into an advanced age of mobile communications and are adopting SMS messaging services of which both have resulted in an increase in customer satisfaction. Mobile phones have become one of the most personal communication channels and more companies are implementing two-way messaging to improve customer interaction and internal communication gaining a competitive edge in an oversaturated market.

There’s a lot of  reasons why those in the financial services industry need to reach their customers. You’ve probably received an SMS from your bank today and as a decision-maker in this industry, it’s essential that you’re familiar with how SMS campaigns like white label bulk SMS can be used to your advantage.

SMS messages are a very effective, yet underused, communication strategy that can improve engagement with your customers and prospects at any stage of the buying journey. With open and response rates far exceeding any other medium, you really should consider adding SMS to your marketing arsenal.

Key Benefits of SMS Services for Financial Institutions

• Cost Effective. SMS helps to provide value at a marginal cost. With an ever increasing number of mobile phone users, SMS has become the most popular low cost messaging channel as the total number of people who use digital banking systems will reach 3.6 billion in 2024 — a dramatic increase (54%) from 2.4 billion in 2020. Its direct and non-intrusive feature provides you with higher open and response rates than any other available channels at a much lower cost.
• Reduced Workload and turnaround time. Large help desks are becoming obsolete because most financial issues can be resolved via SMS messages. This also helps minimize human error and workload on staff.

• Easy Tracking of Account Activity. For your customers, SMS represents a convenient way to track their account activity in real-time. As soon as a customer opts in to your service, you can send text alerts or useful information.
• Improved customer loyalty . SMS is easy to use and accessible anywhere. Its instant nature makes your customers feel you care for them which in turn triggers responses easily. A simple thank you message or follow-up after an agreement will help you improve customer relations. Moreover,  messages in emails and social media could be lost in dozens of other social messages whereas sms communications that are not so spammy. Within sms there is not that dozens tones of information like in social media/emails

Ways You Can Use SMS Marketing in Your Business Operations

Use SMS Campaigns to Attract New Customers

Text messages are a great way to talk to potential customers in order to give them an idea about products you can offer to them. An SMS campaign is also an effective way to get an existing client to upgrade their account.

Give Existing Customers Updates on New Services

With SMS messaging, you’re able to reach thousands of people, give them updates at a very low cost, and offer new products and services. This is an excellent technique to improve customer experience.

Reducing the Risk of Data Breach Using 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Customer data security is of great importance to financial institutions. To minimize the risk of data breach, you can implement our 2FA via SMS One-Time Password (OTP) solution to provide an extra layer of security for your customers while accessing their financial information. Our authentication solution can also help your customers conduct their sensitive transactions conveniently and securely

Ensure You Have Two-Way Messaging Enabled

Nowadays, customers prefer interactive customer support rather than speaking to a person. Most customers find these conversations to be too intimate and somewhat embarrassing. The perceived veil of anonymity of an SMS makes customers feel at ease when discussing their finances You can learn more about two-way messaging on our platform.

Extended Customer Support

SMS messaging provides a convenient alternative to having a call representative on standby. Now the process can be automated by creating auto-responses for certain keywords like change password, current balance, next payment and more.
Now more than ever, customers expect the financial institutions they use to communicate on a personalized level and in real time. There is no communication platform that is as direct as the SMS. But, while over 65% of the world regularly uses text messaging and about 40% of marketers use SMS for campaigns.

SMS messaging has become one of the most effective ways for institutions in the BFSI sector to connect with customers and prospects in a very personalized and immediate manner. As more customers are opting for digital channels, the use of SMS messaging is on the rise.

If you would like to get started with SMS today, BSG is an online communication platform that makes it easy for you to personalize your messages so that your customers feel warm and loved. We are just one call away and what’s more, we just revamped our website and added a couple more features we know you will love and you can try them for free!