Are you struggling to keep your SaaS users engaged and active?
You’re not alone. Many businesses struggle with retaining customers who sign up but later become inactive.
Here’s some good news. There’s a tried and trusted tool that helps activate sleeping users.
SMS is that tool. Read on. Let’s show you how.
This article explores the benefits of SMS activating sleeping users. We’ll also provide expert tips on SMS to wake your dormant users.
Let’s get started.
What is SaaS customer retention?
SaaS customer retention is how your Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company keeps its customers around for a while to yield your business a higher LTV.
This means building a loyal customer base that won’t move on to a competitor. Instead, they will keep using your software.
Copy, tweak, and use these 10 SMS templates to convert freemium to premium
Why is doing all you can to keep your customers so crucial?
Keeping your current customers is cheaper than constantly trying to find new ones.
What are the merits of using SMS for SaaS customer retention?
With a high open rate and direct access to customers’ mobile phones, SMS helps you interact with customers and keep them engaged.
Here are some of its benefits:
- SMS is cost-effective: SMS is a cost-effective way to communicate with your customers.
- SMS is direct: SMS is a quick way to communicate with your customers on their mobile phones. And since SMS must be less than 160-character texts, your messages are clear and concise.
- SMS has a high open rate: This means customers will most likely read your messages.
- SMS can be automated: Set up a series of messages for your customers at specific intervals. Thus eliminating the need to send them yourself manually.
- SMS can be tracked: You can track and analyse your growth with SMS campaigns. This makes it flexible to regulate your campaigns when needed.
- SMS encourages customer engagement: With SMS, you can increase customer engagement. This leads to increased retention rates and a loyal customer base.
But don’t take our word for it. Let’s see what experts have to say.
4 experts suggested ways to activate your sleeping users and increase SaaS retention with SMS
SaaS industry experts think SMS can be the missing piece in your puzzle.
Let’s dive into their suggestions to keep your customers returning for more.
Produce content that tells a story
Andrei Petrik, CEO & Co-founder at NetHunt CRM, has some advice here.
“Help customers understand where your products fit into their lives by producing content that tells a story.”
“You know how when browsing through products online or in a store, you ask yourself questions like, “Do I need this product?”.
Or “How will this make my life better?” That’s where the idea of storytelling comes in.
Here’s why that’s important: You’re not only giving your customers a list of features and benefits. You demonstrate how your product fits into their lives and solves their problems.
Andrei continues, “This strategy encourages an emotional rather than only a financial investment .”
You build an emotional connection between your customers and the product. Sometimes, this connection is just as important as a financial investment.
Here’s an example. You have a project management tool and want to retain your customers through SMS.
Instead of sending out generic messages like “Don’t forget to use our product,” create SMS content highlighting use cases your customers are unaware of.
Send out SMS messages that explain how a particular feature of your tool can save time and improve productivity.
Personalise your SMS
Joanne Coffey, Retention Marketing Manager at Jones Road Beauty, says you should personalise your SMS.
When you send a text, make it personal. Add something like a GIF or funny image related to that product. It makes it not feel like a marketing message.
Sending abandoned cart texts is a great way to prompt your customers to complete their purchases.
Also, learn how to secure your SaaS application
However, sending a plain text message might not give them that push. That’s where personalisation comes in.
You can send a text message like this:
Then, add a funny GIF or image of someone struggling with social media marketing. Don’t forget your call to action to complete the purchase.
Adding some personality and humour makes your SMS feel less like a marketing message and more like a friendly reminder from a friend.
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Identify the reason for churn
What’s a strategy if you can’t identify the root cause?
Markus Rentsch, a customer success strategy consultant at Remark-able, says,
As a SaaS business owner, you must understand why customers leave your product. By analysing your churn data, you can identify the gaps in your product that cause customers to leave.
This will help you make needful changes to improve your product and retain more customers.
You can use SMS to send out surveys. Ask your customers to complete customer satisfaction surveys. Then, take note of the areas you need improvement.
Through your analysis, you might make a business-changing discovery.
You must first identify the customers who have churned using any customer management software.
Then, craft a concise message about why your customers left your product. Keep these messages simple and easy to answer.
Next, Send the survey via SMS to the customer’s mobile phone number. Include a straightforward call to action that encourages them to respond.
And finally, analyse the survey responses. Look for patterns that can help you recognise the root causes of churn.
Customers might be leaving because your tool isn’t very integrable. Or, your SaaS product is missing critical features that they need to manage their projects.
Here are some sample questions to include in your SMS survey:
- What was the primary reason for cancelling your subscription?
- Did you encounter any problems with our product that were not resolved to your satisfaction?
- Were there any features or functionalities missing from our product that you were expecting?
Copy and use 15 SMS survey templates for gathering valuable customer data
Educate your customers
Himani Kankaria, Digital Marketing Consultant for SaaS and founder of Missive Digital, says this:
“Regarding customer retention, educating your customers should be your utmost priority. Have a content strategy dedicated to customer retention.”
One effective way to retain customers is by enlightening them on how to get the most value out of your product. To achieve this, you need a content strategy dedicated to customer retention.
SMS is a powerful tool for customer retention because it allows you to deliver concise messages to your customers’ phones.
You can use SMS to educate your customers on how to get added value from your SaaS product. You can also use SMS to boost your content strategy for customer retention.
You can send out an SMS to your customers with a link to your latest blog post or video tutorial.
Or, you can send an SMS reminder about an upcoming update to your messaging software.
You keep your customers engaged and informed by using SMS to promote your SaaS product.
This can ultimately lead to higher customer retention.
Boost your SaaS retention rates with SMSCountry
With high open rates and personalisation features, SMS allows your business to reach your customers anywhere and keep them engaged.
Looking for the best SMS service provider to help pull this off? SMSCountry is your best bet.
SMSCountry is a fast, secure, and reliable SMS service provider backed by 24/7 customer support.
With fast OTPs, security alerts, updates, and transactional messages, it’s easy to see why Google, Microsoft, and Hyundai use SMSCountry.
Looks like what you want for your business?
Sign up for free on SMSCountry or schedule a free demo. Our team is waiting to assist you.
