How Utilizing Texting Can Help Small Businesses Thrive During the Pandemic
Thousands of small businesses across the United States and the rest of the world have been negatively impacted by the rapid spread of COVID-19. Many businesses scrambled, initially, to find new ways to reach their customers when they were forced to shut their doors. Now that the initial wave of panic is over, many businesses are reconsidering what can be done to maintain lines of communication and ensure their business continues to thrive.
While communicating through social media has been an effective method amid the crisis response, it’s often a less personable way to communicate with your customer base. Thankfully, innovative communication solutions, provided by companies like TextP2P, provide a solution. We recently had the chance to sit down with the founding member of TextP2P’s team, Greg Armfield, to get an idea of the services they offer and how small businesses can use them to increase communication with customers moving forward.
Q: What is TextP2P and what do you do?
Well, the official launch date of TextP2P was back in June of 2018. I was an entrepreneur, and I had extensive lists of contacts who I needed to communicate with frequently. I found that I was communicating with people across multiple platforms – email, phone, and social media – and it felt cluttered. Like many professionals in my field, I realized I needed an all-in-one text message solution. After all, market research has proven that text messages have an open-and-read rate of approximately 98%, with approximately 95% of individuals reading these messages within the first 5 minutes of having received them.
So, I asked around, and I tried to find a platform that provided me all the tools I would need to successfully communicate and market to my current clients, incoming clients, and potential leads. But I noticed that something was missing – each app I tried had an issue. Some applications were too complicated – there was no easy way to update my contacts, or I found myself struggling to easily navigate it. Some didn’t have enough functionality, and I needed something more. And those that worked well enough were outrageously expensive, making it difficult to justify the expense.
Seeing as I have a background in software development, I knew what I had to do, and I did it. I created my own platform. Once it launched, I recommended it to some friends, they recommended it to others. I knew I needed input from industry professionals so I created a social group on Facebook for feedback, bugs, and ideas, and really, we took off from there.
Our overall goal is to be the best, most affordable solution to marketing through text message and voicemail. We’re more than just a business texting platform – we help companies market their products and services, communicate with current clients, and follow up on potential leads, and organize contact and communication information – all in one place.
Q: What Services does TextP2P offer to their customers?
We are a company that provides an integrative communication service, allowing businesses to more personally connect with their customers. Our most basic services include text message campaigns and ringless voicemails. We allow companies to send personalized text messages to clients and customers, as well as sending automated, ringless voicemails. This means your clients will get a voicemail notification without their phone ever ringing – leaving them to check it on their own time, instead of potentially interrupting their workday.
However, we like to think that our services go far beyond the basics. Our text marketing tool allows businesses to create unlimited contact lists. This is great for companies who have specific clients, and are looking for ways to keep track of communication. Essentially, we like to make it so that you no longer have to worry about potential clients falling through the cracks. You can create lists of clients, based on their status. It’s easy to update your contacts, add notes, and keep track of communication all from the TextP2P platform.
Some of the additional features our platform offers include personalized messaging – using names and words such as “you” to make messaging feel personal. Additionally, we understand how important following up with clients can be, and how easy it can be to forget when you’re managing 50 other contacts. So, we added a feature that lets you schedule follow-up messages, as well as create reminders and notifications to reach back out.
Plus, we prioritize teamwork. You can create universal inboxes and invite others on your team to view and reply to customers. You can also create unlimited subaccounts so each team can have their own account, inbox, and dedicated phone number. We do this for a variety of reasons – but most importantly because it makes it easier for teams to be in-the-know about what’s going on and respond to customers quickly and easily.
And these are only a fraction of the features we offer. We want to provide our customers with a total solution to text and voicemail marketing because we know how much of a struggle it can be. And, we want to do it in a way that’s affordable, because communicating with clients and finding new leads shouldn’t break the bank.
Q: Who benefits from using your service? Who are your customers?
Hundreds of different industries can benefit from using our services. Any business that has customers or clients, or marketing campaigns – from retail stores, food chains, and bakeries to nonprofits and political campaigns can benefit from using our platform. It’s a great way to communicate, spread the word about what you’re currently offering, and gather information. Additionally, you can promote ongoing discounts, send out promotions, and answer questions about services.
In fact, there are plenty of clients that you may not have imagined could benefit from using our platform for their business texting needs. Some of our customers include the San Diego District Attorney’s office and Modesto California police department, who use our service to help victims of domestic violence. We are a great platform for client management and communication, outside of our marketing features. Many of our customers includes restaurants, retail shops, gyms, online marketing agencies, and other home service industries. Customers often use our services to communicate current and ongoing sales, promotions, product availability, appointment reminders, and conduct research.
All of this can be done within the platform. And, TextP2P has multiple integration tools, so that you can integrate with other marketing platforms you use for services such as email campaigns, website contact forms, and CRM. It’s a versatile texting application that most businesses can benefit from.
Q: How can TextP2P help service businesses generate revenue during COVID19?
Right now, the best thing that a business can do to help continue generating revenue is to communicate with their clients. And communication can be difficult during these times. Research on the impact the pandemic has had on people has shown that we all feel a little bit overwhelmed by social media posts and email campaigns. However, we’ve written about it before on our blog – 8 Reason Why Text Message Marketing is Very Effective. It’s more personal, and people are more likely to read the messages you send through texts and click on links sent through text.
With a much higher success rate, COVID19 text messaging campaigns are showing to be far more successful than email campaigns. You probably hear about it online, too – that everyone is getting emails letting them know how companies are going to stay safe during the pandemic. But how many people are getting personalized text messages from their favorite stores, companies, and providers? People are pushing hard to support local businesses at the moment, but if you’re not in the spotlight, you might get looked over – especially as a small business.
It’s also a great way to communicate with your customers during this time, in general. A lot of people are going to assume that businesses are closed during the pandemic. Providing them an open line of communication, updates on what services can currently be offered, and a way to ask questions and confirm invoicing and other issues electronically will help businesses maintain their relatively normal daily operations. Seeing as many customer’s preferred method of communication is text messaging, it gives you the advantage there, too.
Q: How can TextP2P help retail shops drive sales during COVID19?
Every line of business is struggling right now, but many retail stores were hit the hardest, but our tool can definitely help. One way that our retail store partners can use our platform to drive sales in the upcoming months is by sending out promotional text messages. COVID19 text messaging campaigns might include details on ongoing sales and specials that many businesses are offering during the pandemic.
For those stores that have e-commerce storefronts, retail stores can also use our platform to send out messages directing customers to place orders there. Stores that have transitioned to curbside delivery can also provide this information to their customers, letting them know what goods and services can be safely provided. Promoting sales and currently available services to customers will help drive sales and keep customers coming, despite the pandemic.
Q: How can TextP2P help businesses stay connected with their employees working from home?
Honestly, we know that businesses are also concerned about keeping their employees in touch with each other during these trying times. We all have a variety of ways to communicate with others in the office – either through email, phone calls, or in-office messaging platforms.
Right now, though, employees everywhere feel a little left in the dark. Our services don’t have to be used exclusively for marketing. Creating lists of employees and sending out text message updates is one of the best ways to communicate during these times, as text message communication has a nearly 100% open and response rate. It’s the best way for employers to make sure their employees see and are aware of important operation updates as they happen.
Trying to keep up with hundreds of employee phone numbers – or even 20 to 30 employee phone numbers, when working on a per-manager basis – can be difficult and it’s easy to accidentally miss a few people. Using our texting application to create employee lists ensures that no teammate is left behind.
Q: How can TextP2P help businesses get new customers and leads during COVID19?
One of the best benefits of our application is our keyword text message campaign template. You could tell potential new clients to text the word “SAVE” to a phone number, which can then generate automated responses or drip marketing text messages. People who are looking for deals on goods and services right now are more likely to reach out, in case you have something to offer them given the fact everyone is under some sort of financial strain.
Additionally, if you utilize marketing strategies on your web-based platforms such as a lead generator in the form of an online freebie, TextP2P is able to integrate with thousands of different platforms to allow you to import submitted data and send text marketing material to potential customers who have submitted their information. This is great for companies who want to easily follow up on multiple leads over multiple platforms.
Of course, the other benefit to this form of marketing is the ability to quickly, easily, and openly communicate with these potential leads. Individuals who are interested in your product or service might have questions – especially amid the concerns of the coronavirus – and being able to easily and quickly communicate with them increases your chances of turning a lead into a sale.
Q: Can sales agents and businesses try your product for free?
Absolutely! Our team offers demos to interested parties where we walk you through the software platform and answer questions about how to use the tools we provide. It’s a great way to learn and understand how the program works and see if it provides the features you need to be successful in your text marketing endeavors. Moreover, this is a great chance to have any questions about our platform answered. Our goal in demos is to make sure that businesses and their representatives are comfortable with the software and understand what it can do and how they can use it to be successful.
If you are interested in trying the product, we do have a free 14 day trial of our software. The 14-day trial provides you with 100 free texting credits and gives you access to all of the features and functionalities our platform provides paid users. While we do require a credit card to sign up, as long as you cancel before the end of the 14-day period, it’s a risk-free trial. From there, you’ll be automatically enrolled in our 500 text credit monthly plan, which is $21 a month. You can also cancel this subscription at any time, for any reason.
Both of these options give you the ability to learn about the software and see how your business can use it to grow your marketing endeavors. We are also available to assist you and your company, should you have any questions about the product as you go through your trial. Our goal is to help you learn the software, become familiar with its features, and find out if it is the right fit for your company’s needs. If it doesn’t, you can simply cancel your subscription before the trial ends.
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