If you have a mobile device, chances are you’ve probably gotten an unwanted text or SMS before. They are unavoidable, ranging from unsolicited advertising to ‘special’ marketing promotions. In the end, it makes you ask how your number was made available to this person. Even worse, when customers find out a company they are affiliated with is doing this, a common knee-jerk reaction is to stop being a customer altogether.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to make sure this never happens to you. It comes down to having a clear, bulletproof opt-in strategy at your organization.
Below are a few ways to encourage customers to utilize mobile opt-in.
Offer Incentives
There are few things that take the sting out of something quite like incentives. Email gurus and web marketers do this often — offering free stuff people want. Rewards work because they show that you care about your customers, which is one step toward winning their trust.
Develop a Customer-Oriented Process
Banking institutions may benefit from SMS opt-ins, but getting customers to actually opt-in to SMS mobile solutions requires reframing the conversation around their wants and needs. Making the process easy for customers is one way to get them to move forward. Also critical in the user experience is making the consumer feel they are in control of their options and showing how they will benefit from their selection.
Track Data But Remain Clear About it
Pull notifications are great ways to gather information about customers. However, this links back to customer trust. Be clear about the data that your credit union intends to gather through mobile opt-ins and allow customers to understand how the collection of that data benefits them. If they’re on your side, then you’re more likely to continue to have them as customers.
Make Opting-In and Opting-Out Clear
Opting-in to text messaging for banking customers can be easy. While there are some things that must be mentioned up front, it generally just takes a text messaging platform that has a clear understanding of your banking operations. Opting-out, also doesn’t have to be a complicated process, with the right procedures in place.
Taking the steps to create an opt-in flow is something a good technology vendor can do for your financial institution. If you would like to learn more about how our text messaging solutions work for banks and credit unions, please contact us.