According to one recent study, roughly 90% of industry-leading marketers say that their personalization efforts “significantly contribute” to the overall profitability of their businesses. Not only is it appreciated by 69% of consumers, but 80% of people say they’re more likely to do business with an organization that goes out of its way to deliver the types of tailored experiences they like.

At the same time, personalization is about so much more than just including someone’s name when you send them an email or serve them up an ad. To truly make a long-lasting impact and to exceed expectations (not just satisfy them), you need to go deeper. That’s why SMS APIs have become critically important — not only in terms of empowering your personalization efforts but about how they can take customer experiences to the next level.

The Ongoing Impact of SMS APIs on the Customer Experience

To get an idea of how powerful the right SMS API and a platform like Mitto can be, consider this within the context of something like the banking experience. Someone’s finances are a big part of their lives, and they’re looking for interactions that are far more personal than average. They want to see that the banks and other financial institutions they’re doing business with are taking the situation as seriously as they are.

For years, banks have been using SMS text messages to send out real-time transaction alerts — not just to confirm legitimate purchases, but to help combat fraud as well. It happens automatically and immediately after a credit or debit card has been swiped, taking what was formerly a passive communication channel and turning it into a more proactive experience for the consumer.

The same type of thing has been happening in e-commerce for many years, too. Many major online retailers use SMS to notify customers instantly about delivery statuses for products they’ve purchased. Whether something is “Out for Delivery” or “Delayed,” it doesn’t matter — people feel better when they know the exact status of their items, and they expect brands to respond in kind.

Taking Advantage of a New Digital Frontier

Even healthcare providers are using SMS APIs to enhance the digital customer experience. Many are using it as a way to send out appointment reminders and booking confirmations — two things that have been proven to help people remember and show up for critical preventative healthcare appointments.

In all these examples, an SMS API is being used not to “sell to” people or bombard them with advertising. It’s being employed to help make sure that people have the information they need, exactly when they need it, in the most efficient way possible. It’s making their lives better, and they’re responding with greater brand loyalty as a result. 

According to another recent study, “creating a more personalized customer experience” is the top priority of roughly 51% of marketing professionals. Personalization, in general, is something that 75% of company executives see as essential for creating superior digital experiences. It’s also something that 61% of people have already come to not just desire but expect — a trend that shows no signs of slowing. 

Statistics like these underline why properly integrating SMS APIs into your outreach efforts is so pivotal to your business’s long-term success. Because of the real-time nature of SMS interactions, it doesn’t just help increase customer engagement. It also helps dramatically boost satisfaction, allowing brands to carve out the type of competitive advantage for themselves in a crowded marketplace that they might not be able to get through other means.