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How Community-Led Growth Can Benefit Investors

Community-led growth (CLG) is a powerful way to grow a business. People who are enthusiastic about your company and what you have to offer are an invaluable tool. Harnessing that enthusiasm can help with customer acquisition, retention, brand sentiment, expansion, and more. But you (and your company) are not the only ones who can benefit from community-led growth. It can benefit your investors as well. What is community-led growth? Here’s a quick recap. It’s a business strategy that leverages a company’s community of users, customers, and fans to drive growth and engagement. At its core, it’s an evolution of the growth strategies that preceded it: Sales-led and product-led. A successful community-led growth strategy centers around building a community that not only contributes to your goals as a company but your users as well. 89% of responders in the 2022 Community Index Report agreed that community iscritical to their company’s mission. 79% said that community has had a positive impact on their organization’s objectives, and 62% said that their organization will be increasing their investment in community. 7 benefits of CLG that impact investors 1. Increased revenue growth: While communities take time and effort to build, the energy is worth it. Community-led growth can drive customer acquisition and retention, leading to increased revenue growth and stronger financial performance. 2. Higher customer lifetime value: Customer lifetime value is an important metric that helps indicate the total revenue that a company can expect from a single customer throughout their relationship with the company. It’s a valuable metric because it allows you the power to leverage the value of every single customer throughout their journey. Because CLG can result in higher levels of customer engagement and loyalty, this can lead to a higher customer lifetime value. 3. Improved margins: By being engaged with your most enthusiastic customers, you can get direct feedback from them. Feedback on the customer experience, directly from your customers can lead to a more cost-effective acquisition process, improving margins. 4. Stronger brand: Building a strong community of loyal customers can increase your brand sentiment. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, and the larger and stronger your community grows, so does your brand. Positive brand sentiment reflects well on investors as well as the company. 5. Better returns: By focusing on building a strong community, CLG can lead to better returns for investors as the company’s financial performance improves and its market position strengthens. 6. Increased customer loyalty: Connection is important, especially when it comes to creating loyal, lifelong customers. Community-led growth can lead to increased customer loyalty, as users feel a strong sense of connection and community with the product or brand. 7. Reduced customer churn: This growth strategy can reduce customer churn, as customers are likelier to stick around and continue using the product due to their involvement in the community. A strong customer base is appealing to investors. Happy and engaged customers are loyal customers, so why not build an entire community out of them, right?

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Easily Avoid These 9 SMS Marketing “Dont’s”

If you’ve added SMS marketing (aka bulk texting) to your marketing strategy, you’ve likely done a lot of prep work already. You’ve weighed the pros and cons of texting vs. emailing your customers, you’ve identified the benefits, and you’re ready to send out that first mass text blast. Congrats! But, before you take the plunge and fire off your first round of messages, make sure you’re not doing one of these easily avoidable “don’ts” and alienating your customers before you have the chance to hook them. So when rolling out SMS marketing, make sure you don’t… 1. Send messages after hours: While this is a common courtesy (you want to keep your customers happy, after all), it’s also a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA.) If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the TCPA, it’s a good idea to do that before you send your first message so you stay in compliance and don’t end up with some hefty fines. Under the TCPA, businesses may only call or send text messages to subscribers between 8 A.M. and 9 P.M. in their timezone in the United States. You might have subscribers from all over the country, so factoring that into your automation will be key. If you have an international audience, make sure you are compliant with those countries as well. 2. Make people opt out instead of opt in: In order to text customers, you need to receive their consent (another TCPA stipulation). This consent can come in a few ways. Texting a keyword, filling out an online or paper form, or checking a box on your website are all ways to obtain consent. Just remember, they have to opt in not opt out so this box can’t be pre-checked. 3. Only offer a one-way street: This isn’t a TCPA compliance requirement but a recommended best practice. By making your SMS marketing a two-way communication, you can facilitate customer feedback. This can strengthen your consumer-brand relationship and can lead to better brand sentiment and customer retention. By having an easily accessible and responsive channel for feedback, you can foster more customer loyalty. The catch? This can take more time and energy, so don’t encourage two-way communication if you don’t have the bandwidth to respond promptly and thoughtfully. 4. Write the next great American novel: Keep it simple! You might write lengthy texts to friends and family, but text messages are meant to be a short-form marketing communication tool. Don’t forget that while people have opted in to receive your messages, depending on their phone plan there might be messaging rate associated with receiving your texts. The last thing you want is an angry customer contacting you because you racked up their phone bill. By keeping them short and the number of messages low, people will be less likely to feel like you are spamming them. However, you don’t want to cut corners and use a bunch of shorthand or emojis. If you absolutely have to, keep the acronyms to a minimum and only use well-known ones. Writing effective copy for text messaging is hard! But, as Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” And speaking of those messaging rates… 5. Leave off the disclaimer Never assume your customers are aware of fees. Even if those fees are coming from their own phone plan. Tack on a disclaimer to the opt-in message that clearly states standard message and data rates may apply to the text messages they’ll receive from you. This will help you avoid any backlash down the road, and it shows you’re conscientious of your customer’s needs. 6. Forget your call to action As we mentioned earlier, you want to keep your messages short and to the point. And the best way to make your short copy as effective as possible? A call to action. The five Ws will be your friend here: Who, what, where, when, and why. Couple it with a “how,” and you have yourself a great call to action. Let the recipient know why you’re messaging them: You’re having a sale, and you’re offering them a discount code. Great start. Then, make sure to add on how they can redeem that code (or how they can receive it if it’s not in the initial message.) 7. Make it difficult to stop receiving messages: Of course, the last thing you want is for people to unsubscribe, but it will happen. The best thing you can do? Make it easy for people to do so. In their initial opt-in message, tell them how they can unsubscribe (usually by texting STOP or another keyword) and remind them often when you’re sending out your blasts. By making unsubscribing easy, your customers won’t feel like you’ve locked them into something. 8. Forget to introduce yourself You’re likely not the only brand someone receives messages from on any given day. By clarifying who you are upfront, your texts will be better received and feel more engaging to the recipient. And don’t just say who you are in the initial text! Make sure you remind them every time you send a message. Don’t assume your customers have saved your number to their contacts. This will also make sure your messages don’t get mistaken for spam they didn’t sign up for. 9. Over-communicate Play it cool. The sweet spot for how many messages you send and how frequently you send them will vary by your customer demographics and industry. However, regardless of industry, it’s easy to over-communicate with your customers. It may take some trial and error to find the right cadence, so be sure to listen to customer feedback. If a few people reach out saying you’re sending too many messages, chances are they’re not the only ones who think that.

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How Community-Led Growth Can Make For Happy Customers

Every business has a community surrounding it, no matter how big your business is or what products or services you provide. These communities are typically made up of clients, investors, consumers, industry thought leaders, and more. Supportive people who are familiar with what you provide and want to see your business thrive. Your business has a community surrounding it, so have you harnessed that community in your business strategy? If you haven’t, you’re missing out on a powerful tool: Community-led growth (CLG.) Refresher: What is CLG? Community-led growth really has one goal: To create a self-sustaining growth cycle fueled by said community that drives new user acquisitions and engagement. CLG harnesses a company’s users, customers, and fans to drive growth and engagement. The ideology is that by creating a strong sense of community around something (a business, product, service, brand, etc.) you can then use that community to drive customer acquisition, engagement, and revenue. Referral marketing, community events, forums, activations, and user-generated content are all ways this can be achieved. Pretty cool, right? 5 ways community-led growth can benefit your customers While CLG provides numerous benefits to the business itself, it’s also incredibly beneficial to the customer (or user, or client.) After all, customers are a huge part of community-led growth, and are part of the key to its success. Because the cycle is self-sustaining, customers aid in the success of community-led growth, and in turn, reap the benefits as it grows. 1. Improved customer experience: CLG can lead to a more engaged and involved user community, driving product development and improvements based on user feedback and input. With community-led growth, the customer has a more personalized connection with a business. By getting feedback direct from your community, you can ensure that you are rolling out new products and services that your customers actually want, not just what you think they want. 2. Increased value: Because of CLG’s affect on customer experience by driving new feature development and enhancements based on their needs and preferences, those developments make your business more valuable to them. When you are meeting their needs directly, that increases loyalty fueling that self-sustaining cycle even more. 3. Better customer support: Communities support each other. As the community surrounding your business grows and strengthens, they can help eachother by answering questions and providing support to other users via forums, groups, and other online spaces. 4. Increased sense of community: You might have noticed that all of these benefits build on eachother. This is all apart of the self-sustaining cycle we’ve been talking about. The more the community grows, and the stronger it becomes, it can lead to a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience. 5. Increased ROI: CLG is a cost-effective strategy for your business that can drive customer acquisition and retention, leading to increased revenue and a higher return on investment for clients. It’s a win-win situation for both parties. Don’t you love it when everyone wins?

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9 Reasons Automated Text Messages Are Better Than Email Marketing

Whether you’re just starting a business or have been in the game for years, you know how important marketing is. You also know that not all marketing is created equal, and some tactics are more effective than others. Times change, and with new technologies always emerging, keeping up with your customers can be hard. While email campaigns have been an effective tool in the past, depending on your customer base, there may be more effective ways to meet them where they are. One of those ways? Automated text messages. Now, we don’t want to discredit email marketing entirely. There are still some great benefits, and it can be an effective part of a holistic marketing strategy. But chances are, if you are only emailing your customers and you aren’t texting them, you could be missing out on leads. Bulk texting, whether done manually or automated, may feel daunting. But there are some serious benefits to easing off your email campaigns and switching to SMS messaging. 9 Reasons Why Automated Text Messaging Is Better Than Email 1. Immediacy: Text messages are like getting a love letter from your crush, while emails are like getting a chain letter from your grandma. Harsh but true. 46% of American smartphone users think they spend about 4-5 hours on their smartphones. The odds are good that their phones are already in their hands, so why not send them a message their more likely to see right away? 2. Personalization: Emails can be personalized, sure. But texting in and of itself feels more personalized. Something about getting a mass email blast feels colder than a text. By personalizing your automated text blasts, you can send people the offers and information they really want. And it will be right at their fingertips. Let’s face it, text messages feel like getting a hand-written note, while emails feel like getting a mass-produced brochure. 3. Interactivity: When it comes to interactivity, text messages are to a game of ping pong, as emails are to a game of solitaire. It’s far easier to have interactions (whether automated or not) with texts than with emails. Surveys feel more interactive, and appointment confirmations feel more like calling the office than checking a box. 4. Convenience: Since about 98% of Americans across all generations have a smartphone, texting just makes sense. There is a good reason why it is such a popular form of communication. Forbes estimates that 23 billion text messages are sent worldwide on a daily basis. They are easy to send, receive, and answer and take far less effort than email. Text messages are like having a personal assistant in your pocket, while emails are like having a personal assistant stuck at a desk. Which do you prefer? 5. Attention-grabbing: If emails are a scheduled conference call, then text messages are a surprise party. Marketing is all about grabbing attention. Think about how many bulk emails you receive daily and have been sent daily for the last decade or so. You’re likely desensitized to them, and if you’re desensitized to them, you can bet your customers are too. 6. Opt-in: Text marketing makes customers feel like they have more agency over what marketing messages they are receiving. How many emails do you get from brands and businesses daily that you don’t remember ever signing up for? If you opt into one type of email list, you’re likely added to more distribution lists at that company that you didn’t opt in to. Customers have to opt-in to receive text messages, which means they are more likely to be interested in hearing from you. 7. Cost-effective: Who doesn’t want to save money? Especially on their marketing? The advantages of text messaging are similar to those of grocery store discounts, while the disadvantages of email marketing campaigns are similar to paying full price for a fancy meal. Per message, bulk texts will likely cost you less in time and energy, as well as monetarily, than email campaigns. Of course, this depends on what services you use. 8. Time-sensitive: How many unread emails do you have in your inbox? Okay, inbox zero; how many of those have you actually read? Exactly. 95% of texts are opened within three minutes of receipt, while 83% of emails are opened within 48 hours (and the remaining 17% take longer than that.) Text messages are like a reminder to take out the trash before the garbage truck comes, while emails are like a reminder to take out the trash…next week. 9. Saturation: Compared to other marketing channels, SMS marketing is still fairly low-saturated. This means you are competing with fewer businesses for the attention of your customers on that channel. Instead of drowning in a spam folder with hundreds of expired email campaigns, you could be a part of a much smaller, more curated handful of promotional texts a person receives every day.

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Community-Led Growth: What It Is and 6 Awesome Benefits

A good business owner is always looking for ways to improve and grow their business. Marketing is huge, and anyone looking to boss their industry seeks out ways to make their marketing strategy more effective. We’ve waxed poetic about the benefits of adding bulk texting and QR codes to your marketing strategy, but there is another tool you should utilize to expand your brand: Your audience. How do you do that? Community-led growth. What is community-led growth? Community-led growth (CLG) is a business strategy that leverages a company’s community of users, customers, and fans to drive growth and engagement. The idea is to create a strong sense of community around a product or brand and to use that community to drive customer acquisition, engagement, and revenue. This can be achieved through tactics such as user-generated content, referral marketing, and community events and activations. The goal is to create a self-sustaining growth cycle where the community drives new user acquisition and engagement, which in turn fuels further growth and community building. Lather, rinse, repeat. Why does it matter? No matter how large your customer base is, every brand has a community surrounding it. Word of mouth and recommendations from trusted people in one’s life are effective and valuable marketing tools. By harnessing the power of the people passionate about your brand, you can turn them into some of your best advocates. Community-led growth is targeted and mutually beneficial. It helps your company by increasing your reach and engagement, and the customer can get more out of your product or service while being able to provide feedback on the future of your business. So what are the benefits? 1. Cost-effective customer acquisition: CLG can help companies acquire customers more cost-effectively than traditional sales and marketing methods, as the community can help drive referrals and new customer acquisition. By building a community of passionate experts, whether online, in-person, or both, those passionate experts can attract more people like them, saving you money on marketing strategies aiming to reach those new customers directly. 2. Increased customer engagement: CLG can create opportunities for increased customer engagement, as users are more likely to be active and involved in a product or brand when they feel a strong sense of community. By creating an online or in-person community around your business, your customers will feel a more personalized connection. Aren’t you more likely to recommend brands and products to people that you love and feel connected to? So are your customers. 3. Brand advocacy: If you’re curious about a new product or company but unsure if it’s worth investing your time and money in, having a trusted source you can rely on for a recommendation is paramount. Think about the companies you interact (in some way) with on a daily basis. Aren’t you more likely to tell your friends and colleagues about the ones you love? CLG can increase brand advocacy, as community members are likelier to recommend the product or brand to others. 4. User-generated content: Community-led growth can create amazing opportunities for user-generated content, which can be used to drive further engagement and growth. Testimonials, reviews, forums etc. can all be user-generated and incredibly impactful on your brand. 5. Improved customer retention: CLG can help improve customer retention, as community members are more likely to stick around and continue using the product. If your customers feel connected to your brand on a more meaningful level, they’re more likely to stick around through your evolution as a business. They will likely be some of your first adopters when you launch a new product or service, and the longer you can retain them, the more powerful the community will be. 6. Data-driven decision-making: CLG generates a wealth of data to inform and improve product development and overall business strategy. Since your community is so much more connected to your business than a more passive audience, you can get more nuanced and tangible feedback from them. By hosting your community online in places like Slack, Discord, or LinkedIn, you can also use native data and analytics to understand your customers better and make more informed decisions.

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6 Business Types Benefitting From Automated SMS Marketing Right Now

SMS (short message service) marketing can be hard to avoid nowadays. And that’s for a good reason: It’s an effective tool that lends itself to a holistic marketing strategy. Adding another layer to your marketing campaign might seem daunting. You’re already on social media, and you already send email blasts. You have paid ads and a sleek website. Do you really need something else on top of that, automated or not? Will your business even benefit from it? Do you have time for it? The short answer to those questions is yes.The long answer to those questions is 100% yes. Especially if you opt for automated SMS marketing instead of doing it manually, it offers numerous benefits, including saving you and your team a lot of time while still offering a great experience. A refresher on what SMS marketing is: SMS marketing can be done manually or automatically. It’s a text message that is sent in response to a specific trigger or action, usually automatically. These messages can be used for various purposes, like confirming a purchase, providing updates on an order, or reminding a customer of an upcoming appointment. They’re often used by businesses to improve customer service, increase efficiency, and streamline communication. It may seem like SMS marketing is only beneficial to certain industries. However, many people benefit from SMS marketing. It’s a versatile tool that can fit into your marketing strategy with ease. 6 Business Types That Benefit from SMS Marketing 1. Travel Industry: Travel alerts, flight updates, deals. All of these can be communicated through automated bulk texting. Automated text messaging can be used to improve customer service, increase sales, and streamline communication with clients and customers. 2. Healthcare providers: By using automated text messaging, health professionals can remind patients of appointments, send test results, and provide health-related information. It is a quick and easy way to keep patients up to date, even if they are away from their computer or can’t answer a phone call. 3. Educational institutions: Schools have a lot of information they need to communicate on a regular basis to students, parents, and even teachers. Students and parents can be notified of school closures, upcoming events, and other important information through automated text messages sent by schools. And what teacher wouldn’t love to wake up to a snow day text? 4. Non-profits: Non-profits can easily benefit from adding bulk texting to their marketing strategies. Fundraising campaigns and upcoming events can be communicated to donors with automated text messages. 5. Government agencies: Email campaigns and local signage aren’t always the best way to convey information to the public. Public alerts and notifications can be sent via automated text messaging, including weather warnings, and emergency notifications. 6. E-commerce: Of course, one of the earliest adopters of bulk texting was e-commerce, which is still a great marketing tool. Online retailers can use automated text messages to confirm orders, inform customers about shipping statuses, and alert them to special offers. Overall, automated text messaging can be a valuable tool for anyone who needs to communicate with a large group of people quickly and efficiently. Add automated bulk texting to your marketing strategy and reach your customers like a BOSS.

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Automated SMS Marketing: 7 Benefits You Need To Know Immediately

Regardless of industry, automation can be a lifesaver. Automating your SMS marketing is no different. It can reduce mistakes, save valuable and precious time, and boost productivity. Whether you’re an entrepreneur launching a startup or a marketing mogul at a well-established company, these are universal perks. According to Intuit, automation can handle up to 40% of repetitive workplace tasks and prevent nearly 22 hours of wasted time per week. Twenty-two extra hours a week? So that’s how Beyonce must do it… If you want to meet consumers where they are, then SMS marketing is a must. In a roundup of statistics posted by Avochato, 9 out of 10 consumers want to communicate with businesses and brands via text message. Overall, automated SMS marketing has a lot of advantages, but we outlined seven we consider “must-know” if you want to market your business like a BOSS! 1. Timely and Efficient: Automated SMS marketing allows you to send targeted and personalized messages to large groups of people in a timely and efficient manner. Remember those stats from Intuit we shared above? Saving time and being efficient is important for you and your consumers. It saves them time too! 2. Low Effort: Since you don’t have to send every text individually, it reduces the amount of effort each campaign can take. You can have it all! 3. Consistency: It’s key. By automating your SMS marketing, you can schedule when your communications go out to consumers. You can target them when they’re most likely to engage with your messaging and keep consumers up to date with sales, promotions, and important information. With automation, you don’t have to worry about remembering your communication schedule. You can set it and forget it. 4. Cost-Effective: Automation is a common feature of SMS marketing platforms. You won’t need to purchase additional tools or services to utilize this feature, making it a more cost-effective solution. 5. Decrease Errors: Everyone makes mistakes. However, mistakes like spelling someone’s name wrong can be detrimental to your marketing strategy. With automation, you can take the time needed to proofread and triple-check your messages before they go live. Imagine doing that with every single text message individually…you don’t have time for that! By automating your SMS campaign, you’ve given yourself time back, so there’s no need to rush the proofreading part of the process. 6. Instant Communication: By automating, you are able to connect with your consumers instantly. You won’t need someone on standby at 2 A.M. to communicate with the night owls, but they still get effective personalized communication. Automation helps you cater to your consumer’s needs, whatever they may be, without sacrificing your efficiency. 7. Don’t Miss A Beat: The consumer journey is an important part of an effective marketing strategy. With automation, you can ensure that you aren’t missing a single step of that journey. You can guarantee that effective communication is being served to your customers from point A to point Z without wasting the resources you would have if you did it manually. SMS Messaging is an effective part of any marketing strategy, and by taking it up a notch with automation, you’ll communicate with your audience like a BOSS.

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QR Codes & Digital Business Cards: 7 Reasons They’re Better Than Paper

QR Codes are an important part of marketing strategies in today’s world. They allow for more eco-friendly collateral and help keep interactions contactless. They are revolutionizing how we share information with our customers, from menus to business cards. Business cards have been around for far longer than you might think they have. They date back to 15th-century China when royalty and aristocrats would use them as “visiting cards” to announce their arrival to whoever was hosting them. They reached popularity outside of the aristocracy in Europe around the 17th century. While they’ve evolved over the centuries, they remain a valuable tool for networking and connecting with potential customers. The latest in business card evolution? Digitizing. Digital business cards are a fast, easy way to share your information with people without ensuring you have a stack on you at all times. They also decrease the amount of cards people, including yourself, need to keep track of once they acquire them. What is a digital business card? Digital business cards come in a few forms. They’re still the same networking tool your grandfather used, just virtual. This offers numerous benefits that traditional business cards lack. A digital business card can be shared via a URL, a QR code, or even an app. The recipient can then click on the URL, scan the QR code or use an app to access the information. Some virtual business card apps require the recipient to have the same app to access the information, but others allow the card to be accessed without the app. URLs can be embedded on websites or social media profiles allowing for wide distribution. QR codes can be put on webpages or apps or even printed out onto a piece of paper or a standard business card that people can scan, allowing for just one piece of paper instead of dozens, if not hundreds, of copies. Who needs a digital business card? Everyone who uses a traditional business card can benefit from a digital business card. It’s nearly impossible these days to do business without using devices like phones, computers, and the internet. If you are using these things, you need a virtual business card. Trust us. When should you use a digital business card? Whenever you would use a traditional business card. If you’re attending a conference, tradeshow, or networking event, you could print out a QR code and slide it into a tabletop display for people to scan after visiting your booth. You could also have a traditional business card with a QR code on it that people can scan, allowing you to have just one card on you. No more running out of cards to distribute halfway through the networking event. Why is a digital business card better than a traditional paper card? 1. Environmentally friendly No paper or printing is required. Of course, there are instances when a hard copy may be warranted, like some of the examples above. However, the virtual aspect allows you to reduce how many copies you need. So even if you print out a QR code here and there, it will be significantly less than what you would need with a traditional paper card. Multiply this by all of your employees that need them, and you’re saving a lot of trees! 2. Up-to-date information Digital cards can be easily updated with the latest information. If your phone number changes or your office moves to a new address, you don’t need to worry about ordering new cards. That information can easily be updated without any disruption to your workflow. And new employees won’t have to wait for cards to be designed, printed, and shipped to start using them. 3. Convenient storage Digital cards can be stored on a smartphone, reducing the need for a physical cardholder. If you opt for a hard copy, you only need one or two. It’s less you need to keep track of, eliminating the classic “let me give you my card” while you fumble around in your pockets for one. 4. Analytics tracking Digital cards can track who has viewed the card and when. Many times a digital business card can store the person who scans its information in your address book or a system, so you don’t have to worry about collecting it yourself. This makes it much easier to track leads, follow up with people you met networking, and get a sense of your potential client’s interest. 5. Cost-effective Digital cards are typically free or low-cost compared to printing paper cards. If you go the app route, there are many free options out there. Printing out batches of paper business cards for every person on your team who needs them can add up quickly. Especially if they need to be updated. 6. Interactivity Digital cards can contain links, videos, and other interactive elements. You aren’t limited to just a name, phone number, and address. You can use it as an opportunity to share a video highlighting your product or to link to your website to give the recipient easy access directly to your company. 7. More creativity No longer limited by the space of a small business card, the world is truly your oyster. From the design to the content to the distribution experience, you have more choices than you do with a paper card. The creativity that digital business cards give you allows for an opportunity to stand out from your competitors immediately and make a lasting impression.

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What Are QR Codes & 6 Ways To Add Them to Your Marketing Strategy Now

QR codes (quick response codes) have grown in popularity over the last few years. While they were officially released in 1994, it took a while for mass adoption to take off. They became a useful tool for places like restaurants during the pandemic when people wanted contactless experiences, and their popularity is only growing. While a restaurant using a QR code for their menus is a no-brainer, the application for other types of businesses might not be so obvious. However, there are many ways that businesses of all kinds can leverage the technology and reap the benefits that QR codes provide. What is a QR Code? A QR code is a type of two-dimensional barcode that can store information such as website links, contact information, and other data. It can be scanned using a smartphone camera and a QR code reader app. Why should you use QR codes? Ease of accessibility: People are busy. You’re busy, your team is busy, and your customer is busy. So don’t you want to share information as quickly and as easily as possible? With a quick scan of the QR code, you’re given the exact information you need. You no longer need a special app to scan them, eliminating the need for people to search for the information on their own or download yet another app. The user experience is seamless and doesn’t require anything out of the ordinary. Just the phone they likely already have in their pocket. This brings us to… Smartphones are everywhere: Smartphones have been widely adopted. From young kids to grandparents, the majority of people have a smartphone. By capitalizing on the day-to-day technology that everyone carries with them and already owns, you are meeting your customers where they are without requiring anything from them. They simply open up their camera app, take a quick selfie, and scan your code. This avoids app fatigue and caters directly to your business’ and customers’ needs. It’s greener: Oftentimes, QR codes can replace the need for paper materials. Or, at the very least, cuts down on the amount needed. Restaurants can provide and update their menu without printing them out. By putting a QR code on your table at a conference, you can provide potential customers with the information they need without needing to provide flyers or pamphlets. How are businesses using QR Codes? Different types of businesses can benefit from QR codes and are using QR codes in a variety of ways. Here are six we’ve highlighted for you. 1. Marketing QR codes can link to company websites, product pages, or promotional offers. Replace handouts with a QR code at a trade show or event. Use QR codes so people can easily follow your business on social media. 2. Payments QR codes can be used for mobile payments, reducing the need for cash or card transactions. It’s secure and simple and can be done from a phone. 3. Contactless check-in QR codes can be used for check-ins at events, hotels, or gyms. Eliminate the need for individual physical badges, and reduce contact points. 4. Inventory tracking QR codes can be used to track retail and supply chain management inventory. Inventory can be tracked in real-time. A traditional barcode can hold 20 characters, and a QR code can hold 7,000 numbers or 4,000 alpha-numeric characters, allowing you to track more inventory with one code. 5. Access control QR codes can be used for secure building access or event entry. It’s a simple yet secure authentication process that is convenient for users and provides you with granular data in real-time. 6. Business Cards A QR code on your business card allows you to provide someone with more information than can fit on a standard business card. By seeing who scans the code, you can follow up and engage with potential customers and clients searching for more information. Bonus Use: Menus! Want to implement QR codes but don’t know where to start? The BOSS.Tech

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SMS Marketing: What It Is, How It Works, and 7 Reasons Why It’s So Popular

In today’s business world, you’ve likely interacted with SMS (short message service) marketing in some form. Maybe you’ve signed up for a retailer’s text alerts to get 10% off your first purchase. Or you opted in to receive text updates from your doctor’s office. SMS Marketing is a quick, simple, effective way to reach customers on a device they have with them all the time. If you haven’t implemented SMS messaging into your marketing strategy, it’s time to consider it. But adding a new technology can be daunting, so we’ve broken down SMS marketing into the essentials for you: What it is, how it works, and why it’s so popular. The What: SMS marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses text messages to promote products or services to customers who’ve opted in to receive such notifications. It’s an effective marketing tool that businesses can use for promotional and transactional purposes. Something to remember, though, is they’re subject to legal regulations, such as obtaining consent before sending messages. The How: So how exactly does SMS marketing work? That’s a great question. SMS marketing starts with businesses obtaining a list of mobile phone numbers from customers who’ve opted in to receive text messages from the company. Businesses then use these numbers to send promotional, transactional, or informational messages to existing and potential customers. Businesses can obtain mobile numbers through various means, such as sign-ups on their website, in-store registration, or purchasing a list of numbers. Once they obtain a list of phone numbers, businesses can use an SMS marketing platform to compose and send text messages to these customers. These platforms typically offer features such as scheduling messages in advance, creating personalized message templates and analyzing the performance of campaigns. Customers who’ve opted in to receive texts will receive the message and can interact with it by following links, replying, or making a purchase. It’s important to note that in most countries, businesses must obtain consent from customers before sending them text messages and must provide an easy opt-out option for customers who no longer want to receive texts. The Why: Why is SMS marketing so popular? Well, there are several reasons. From convenience to high open rates to cost-effectiveness, it’s clear why so many businesses have adopted it into their marketing strategies. Here are just seven reasons why SMS marketing has increased in popularity. 1. High open rate: Text messages have a high open rate of over 98%. Why is it so high? Typically, people read texts within minutes of being received and are less likely to be overlooked or deleted than other digital communication forms. Think about how quickly you look at your text messages⸺your customers are probably doing the same. 2. Targeted messaging: SMS marketing allows businesses to target specific segments of their customer base with tailored messaging. Which helps increase the relevance and effectiveness of the marketing message. 3. Cost-effective: It’s relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of direct marketing. It does not require expensive design or production costs, and businesses can reach many customers with a single message. With automation features, SMS marketing can also save you and your team a lot of time. And time is money, as they say. 4. Personalization: SMS marketing allows businesses to personalize the message, addressing the customer by name and making the message more relevant. People know that when they opt-in for texts from a company, they will likely be bulk messages sent from a template. Making them more personal shows your customer a level of care and consideration that could lead to more trust in your business. 5. Convenient: Text messages can be sent and received on any mobile device, making it a convenient communication method for businesses and customers. You don’t even need a smartphone! Which allows you to reach many different demographics that you might not reach with other forms of marketing. 6. Measurable: Businesses can track their campaigns’ performance and measure their efforts’ ROI with ease, allowing them to make data-driven decisions. Many SMS marketing services offer analytics to capture that data and make your marketing strategy much more effective. 7. Compliance: SMS marketing is subject to legal regulations. Businesses can ensure they comply with these regulations by obtaining customer consent before sending messages and providing an easy opt-out option. It’s simple, straightforward, and efficient.

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