Right now I want a gut-check on the personalized texting space. I’ve had a few too many people tell me they hate those texts, nobody reads them, blah blah to not take a hard look at the space. I know that people do read them, and they do influence action. Now, however, I’d like to really break down why they work for the concreteness that comes from doing so.
We all sign up for dozens or even hundreds of different online services/sites a month. Whenever there’s remote interest, you might put your info into five different registration pages just to learn more about it. The next day you forget about that passing interest and move on. That’s just how people work. Even when greater intent is expressed - putting something in the cart, booking an intro call, etc people forget. A reminder text is useful to urge purchasing decisions. It returns the prospect to the exigence of their interest and converts a passing interest into a more actionable one. There’s an element of accountability in this, you feel more accountable when a third party validates your interest and asks the question “why didn’t you show up?”. It’s innate.
Nobody cares about you, basically. At least that’s the impression most stores give off. Yeah there are loyalty programs and those work pretty well, but there are probably millions of other people that belong to those programs. If you receive a text, that’s one message that’s unique to you coming from a brand. It’s about as personal as you’re going to get aside from a sales person walking up to your house to knock on your door. A wisp of care from a company, even if it's to help their bottom line, works for consumers. Throwing our name in a message with their product makes us feel special even if we consciously think this is ad-nonsense.
Almost every time we actually do purchase some product or service, we are incredibly lazy to repurchase even if it's in our “best interest” to do so. For the case of fitness, it’s definitely the healthy decision to renew the gym membership or take the package-deal after the trial, but we don’t for a combination of reasons 1, 2, and the fact that we’re lazy. A text that effectively says as much constantly reminds you of that fact and affects the behavior. “You’re lazy”, “You’re lazy”, “You’re lazy”. Ok, fine I’ll get the stupid gym membership. One month later and you tell everyone how much you love the gym. For most reading this, I expect this is incredibly relatable. Admit it.
So while personalized messaging has a ways to go to improve the dispassionate ad-speak problem, I’m convinced it has its merits - from the brand perspective. From the consumers’ end that’s a much more philosophical conversation about commercialism, minimalism, and austerity which I’d prefer very much to avoid. Making these texts better at least helps the consumer have a more enjoyable experience that feels like the brand cares. For the brand, that just means more dollars since an increase in any of the above dimensions is another quarter in the piggy bank.