When is my appointment?

When is the meeting?

Hi John, This is your reminder message for tonight's party.

Familiar with these reminder message samples from real life?Reminders such as those above are things we come across every day in our life because it is in our nature to forget things. It is not only courteous to remind others of things they might forget, but also a sign of respect.  Technology has come with some convenient and effective ways to set and deliver reminders – from automatic set reminders to people texting or calling each other. This article discusses how messaging can be a great form of reminding people and the subtle art of “how to remind someone politely through a text”.

For that purpose, messaging comes across as a very handy option that takes care of reminding people just at the right time and saving you from forgetting things due to the absence of set reminders.

How messaging can serve to be a great way of reminding people?

1. People care least about payments – remind them!

When it comes to making payments to the creditors for the things so purchased, it is the tendency of people to forget about it. Hence, the best way of reminding people about the payments is to remind them through messages.

Even pre-set Voice SMS can serve as a great option for businesses to act as a reminder for their customers to make payments.

2. People forget about urgent meet-ups – remind them!

Business executives have a series of tasks to do. And with numerous things running in the mind, it becomes impossible to remember about the meet-ups too. The easiest way to remind people about their lined up meetings is to message them about it and let them know when they have the next meeting.

3. Birthdays and anniversaries are forgettable things – remind them!

In a mundane life where there are endless tasks, remembering birthdays and anniversaries of every customer is just not possible.

Reminders in the form of SMS can hence be set so that businesses never forget birthdays and anniversaries of their customers.

4. Remind people about various other things – but in an instant!

With a variety of options available in the messaging arena including Bulk SMS, Voice SMS etc, it becomes easier to remind people about a lot of other things too.

From sending SMS related to reminding about something, to making people aware of the offers on a particular item, SMS is a great way to make people remember.

5. Forgetting is in a human’s nature – smile and remind!

As mentioned above, it is in the nature of a human to forget about the daily chores and manage the payments and expiry and offers related to anything and everything.

The best way to manage forgetfulness is to smile, but politely, and remind, but with an SMS.

An SMS is not only short and sweet, but it is also a great way to remind people about the things they might just forget.

The Evolution of Messaging

Ever since Neil Papworth used a PC to send the first-ever text message – “Merry Christmas”, advances in mobile phone technology have given birth to instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook messenger. In formal or informal settings, instant messaging comes in handy when sending out reminders to other people – from business entities reminding their customers to renew their subscriptions to family members and friends reminding each other of a planned family gathering. Irrespective of the nature and context of message reminders, they need to be very short, clear, and laced with positivity.

The New King of Messaging

It’s the year 2020, and there's one platform that's leaving other messaging platforms in the dust (sorry Messenger!) in terms of usage, convenience and accessibility. What started out as a convenient tool for friends and family to communicate, has turned out to be a powerful channel for businesses to seamlessly engage with users and stay in their purchase radar.

Meet Whatsapp.

WhatsApp messaging for businesses

WhatsApp is unarguably among the top instant messaging platforms. This platform could not come at a better time for businesses – it has revolutionized how these brands market themselves. Over the years, it has been shown that consumers are more than willing to interact with their service/product providers. The rise of messaging applications and tools such as chatbots attest to this notion.

Apart from the “normal” consumer version of WhatsApp, there is also a business version tailored specifically for business entities with a large pool of customers. With this version, business entities can create a comprehensive profile about themselves – with information such as addresses and business description. In addition, it allows for automated messages and reminders.

The following are the benefits of WhatsApp messaging for businesses:

1. Provision of customer support:
   If you are a small business or startup, you might not be in a position to offer a customer support desk for your customer. By using WhatsApp Business, you can interact with your customers, timely addressing their concerns, and offering support whenever possible. To make things better, WhatsApp Business supports all sorts of media formats; that means you can attach text, audio, or even a promotional video.
2. Getting feedback and doing consumer research:
   One of the beneficial things about having an active personal interaction with your customers is that you get to build your service or product with them. Through this interaction, you can do customer research in a bid to learn and understand more about your customers’ preferences and needs. Not sure what features to include in your next product? Ask your customers. Trouble nailing that perfect price point?"Ask your customers! With this knowledge, you can try perfecting your services or products. You can throw in some promotion or rewards for your participants, to encourage future engagements.
3. Solicitation of reviews and ratings:
   Most products are built in phases, trial versions being among the last phases. In this phase, the product is released to customers to try it out, and provide reviews. WhatsApp Business is a great platform to solicit reviews and ratings in a timely, effective, and cost-free manner. Solicitation of reviews may take the form of a survey that queries customers on how they feel about the new product, and areas they think, require improvements. In addition, customers can be requested to rate a new product. These reviews and ratings are taken into consideration in developing a final version of the product.
4. Sending out reminders:
   Just the same way as keeping your customers informed on the status of their orders via SMS and Email, Whatsapp can also double up as a message reminder app. There is a new product in line? Send a reminder to your customers on a possible release date. Payment due dates are around the corner? Send a reminder to your customers to pay on time. Since WhatsApp is an instant messaging platform, reminders will be received as soon as you hit the send button, and depending on the structure and context of the reminder, you may or may not let the customer respond to your messages.

How to send reminder messages in WhatsApp

Just because the platform is free doesn't mean you have to spam your customers. Here are a few tips to get you started on the WhatsApp Reminder bandwagon.

1. Be short, clear, and genuine:
   Short message reminders are easy to read, understand, and get a response. Like a quick text from a friend, these messages can be effective and non-intrusive. In addition, make sure to adopt a positive tone in your messaging, because that greatly determines whether your message will be positively received.
2. Give the right amount of context:
   While the message should be short, it shouldn’t be so short that it cannot accommodate its core context. The recipient should easily understand what you are talking about. The recipient should also be reminded of what is expected from them; for example, interviewees being reminded to bring their resumes.
3. Remind them of the due date (if it exists):
   Take a company offering subscription-based services, for example, when sending out payment reminders, they should make sure to include due dates of their payments. This will offer a chance for a customer to act quickly.

WhatsApp is a goldmine for businesses when done right. We hope this article helped you understand the potential of this medium and how it can help engage with customers better. Talk to us to know about how MSG91 can help you leverage WhatsApp to supercharge your business.