Is driving local traffic your number one goal? Is getting a 97% open rate* and transforming customer communication high on your list, too? Would you like your marketing decisions to be based more on data? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those, then you need to watch this webinar. You’ll get the latest insights on using text messaging as a marketing channel for prospecting and customer nurturing. These insights come from Podium’s recent survey of more than 1,000 local consumers to learn more about the opportunities texting brings local businesses. In this training you will learn: • How messaging has evolved over the last decade, and how customer preferences impact local businesses. • How to create an effective text message strategy (and what to avoid). • How promotional text messages can be an effective marketing channel for local businesses of all sizes. Mobile continues to transform what we expect from, and how we interact with, businesses. It might appear that this only impacts ecommerce retailers or big-box chains, but in reality, the same people who prefer these new options are coming into your local business every day. Thomas Clawson, Partner Marketing Manager at Podium, will discuss just how critical text messaging has become for businesses and how to make it part of your strategy.

2. 15 SMS Marketing Trends
Every Local Business
Marketer Needs to Know
October 2021
How businesses can capitalize on the changing
tides of customer communications

3. Presenters
Thomas Clawson
Partner Marketing Manager

4. Agenda
01 The evolution of business messaging
02 Consumer messaging trends
03 The power of conversational messaging
04 SMS marketing for local businesses

5. We surveyed over 1,000 consumers across the United
States and Australia to learn:
- How messaging has evolved over the last decade, and how
customer preferences impact local businesses
- How to create an effective text message strategy (and what
to avoid)
- How promotional text messages can be an effective
marketing channel for local businesses of all sizes
The question: how do customers want to
communicate with local businesses?

6. The evolution of
business messaging
01

7. 98%
Same-day open rate of text
messages
18%
Click-through rates of text
messages - 6.9x higher than
email.
12%
Local businesses using
texting as a marketing tool
A new age of customer communication. (Stats 1-3)
Telegram Postal Mail Catalog Email Text

8. “We have to be thinking about consumers of the future.
They are the people who grew up with cell phones
and computers…they are very efficient
with their time, and we need to be
aware of that.”
“
Madeline Sweeten, LA Furniture

9. Consumer messaging
trends
02

10. It’s simple: your customers want to text.
(Stats 4-5)
209%
The difference in response rate between text
messaging and phone, email, or Facebook.
1.8x
Consumer preference for texting compared
to any other communication method.

11. The power of
conversational messaging
03

12. 74% of consumers
report that they would
be more likely to text
with a local business if
they knew a real person
was going to receive
and respond to their
message.
Beyond blasts messages:
consumers crave conversations
(Stats 6-7)
50% of consumers
report being more likely
to respond to a text
message
from a business if the
employee introduces
themselves.

13. Texting’s unfair advantage
(Stats 8-9)
How do you currently converse with
local businesses you frequent?
Would you like the ability to converse
with a local business via text message?

14. SMS marketing for local
businesses
04

15. Are you using text as a marketing
channel today?

16. Local businesses are uniquely positioned to win with SMS
marketing. (Stat 10)
Local businesses have an unfair
advantage in gaining consent to
promote via SMS, the most intimate
channel available to marketers.

17. SMS marketing best practices (Stat 11-12)
How often would you like to receive promotional text
messages from local businesses?
Which of the following types of promotional text
messages would you like to receive from local
businesses?

18. SMS marketing best practices
(Stats 13-15)
59% of consumers have been texted
by a business that they did not give
permission to.
61% of consumers would unsubscribe
from promotional messages from
a local business if they received
messages they didn’t recall signing
up for.

19. Business texting is here.
What will you do?

20. Podium – the messaging
platform that does it all.
Win more leads.
Turn online prospects into offline buyers by standing out
when they’re searching and providing a convenient way to
get in touch—no matter where they’re looking for you.
Earn more repeat customers
Answer questions, schedule appointments, and close
the deal without the hold music and phone tag.
Do more as a team.
Don’t just do more—do it together. Connect and
collaborate with your team, all from the same platform
where you interact with your leads and customers.

21. We’re in the business of
modernizing local payments.
Download the 2021 Local Business Messaging Report
Learn how Podium can revolutionize the way you do business.
Trusted by over 90,000 businesses and 90 million happy customers.
•
•

22. Thank You