The holidays can be hectic for businesses, with 44% of American workers feeling burned out during this time of year. Creating holiday marketing campaigns, stocking shelves, and sorting through the influx of customer inquiries leaves retailers little time for anything else. However, with holiday shoppers predicted to spend almost $989 billion this year, businesses must find effective ways to engage consumers at scale.
Automated messages via SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber provide a time-saving solution to customer communication, increasing productivity and profits for busy brands.
What Is Message Automation?
Automated messages are pre-scheduled or triggered responses sent to customers without manual intervention. Businesses can use a communications platform as a service (CPaaS) tool to set up automated Viber, WhatsApp, or SMS workflows and send highly personalized communication to individuals or bulk recipients.
Message automation supports marketing and customer support initiatives. Retailers can use it for promotions, loyalty programs, and to answer common inquiries via texts or chat apps.
5 Top Benefits of Automated Messages
Automating customer communications significantly improves business operations and engagement during the hectic holiday season. The top five benefits of automated messages for retailers are:
- Saves Time: Automated messages handle repetitive tasks (like answering FAQs), so brands don’t need to dedicate staff time to these activities.
- Improved Productivity: Employees can focus on more strategic tasks while automation handles routine communications. Instead of manually sending appointment reminders or shipping updates, businesses can set up these messages to go out automatically.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction: Customers receive fast, accurate, and timely updates on their favorite communication channels, leading to a smoother shopping experience and greater satisfaction. Automation delivers 24/7 support, even outside business hours.
- Prompt Support: Automated communication can handle frequently asked questions and provide quick resolutions, reducing the load on customer service teams. Automated messages instantly answer common inquiries like “Where’s my order?” or “What are your holiday hours?”
- Better ROI: SMS and chat apps deliver optimal marketing ROI. Roughly 60% of customers read texts within the first five minutes of receiving them. And with 98% open rates, SMS can be more effective than emails. Additionally, with two billion users worldwide, WhatsApp enables businesses to expand their reach and instantly engage numerous customers. Viber can also boost ROI, as one in four users tap the ‘buy’ button on product ads they receive.
How Does Automated Messaging Work?
Automated messaging platforms use Viber, SMS, and WhatsApp application programming interfaces (API) that seamlessly integrate with your customer relationship management (CRM) platform, like HubSpot or Zoho. After integrating your CRM with your eCommerce platform, you can automate sending messages based on predefined triggers or events. For example, you can set up an automatic SMS text to send when an order is shipped, including tracking details and estimated delivery.
Mitto’s user-friendly Campaigns platform makes it easy for brands to automate SMS texts. Send your campaign now or schedule it for a later date. Our intuitive platform lets you personalize your messages with rich, dynamic content and track performance results. Data analytics reveal deep insights into what performs best, helping to optimize future holiday campaigns.
Holiday Use Cases for Automated Messages
5 Quick Tips for Implementing Automated Messages During the Holidays
Use these five actionable tips to ensure your automated messaging campaign goes off without a hitch.
- Start Early: Set up automated workflows before the holiday rush to ensure smooth communication.
- Tailor Your Messages to the Platform: SMS messages should be brief and easy to read. With 1,000 character counts, Viber gives brands more freedom to experiment with and personalize content to a specific shopper’s wants and needs, including images and videos.
- Offer Opt-Out Options: Always allow customers to unsubscribe or manage their preferences for SMS communications.
- Monitor and Adjust: Track the effectiveness of your automated messages and make adjustments if needed for better customer engagement.
- Test Your Workflow: Before the holidays begin, do a trial run of your automated messaging system to ensure everything works smoothly.
Dominate the Hectic Holiday Season with Mitto
Mitto’s advanced SMS, Viber, and WhatsApp APIs make it effortless for brands to communicate with consumers during the holiday shopping season. Our solutions seamlessly integrate with your Zoho or HubSpot CRM. Send personalized campaigns, answer all inquiries, and boost productivity without adding more tools to your tech stack.
Ready to save more time while making more money? Let’s chat.
