This post was contributed by Fusebill. Fusebill is a software platform that simplifies subscription billing management by automating manual accounting, financial processes, and workflows.

If you’re looking for the best way to communicate with your subscription customers, it’s hard to go wrong with SMS, or text messaging.

Around 95 percent of people own mobile phones, with texting being the most used function, so you’re certainly connecting with customers in a way they’re used to. Additionally, 9 out of 10 consumers say they actually prefer communicating with businesses by text, with many labeling it an unobtrusive, fast, and convenient means of communication.

It’s no wonder SMS has become such a popular marketing tool—one frequently used to share special business offers and discounts with customers, promote surveys, and offer customer support.

As it turns out, SMS is also an effective tool for finance teams—especially those working within a B2C subscription …

Art and function. Experience and utility. A Picasso painting and a freight train. Individually, each serves a purpose. One for enjoyment, one for functionality.

In customer engagement, you need both: utility to make your campaign useful to your customer, and a delightful experience to make it enjoyable.

But you can’t just stick a Picasso painting in a freight train and call it a day.

Connecting utility and experience to enhance the customer journey requires thinking differently about how to make these two concepts actually work together.

Alerts and notification messages are one powerful way to marry these two concepts to improve consumer trust, but first you must break through the noise—a growing challenge in today's digital world.

And while it might seem simple, elementary even, to just send a mass message about a change in store hours or push out a generic delivery notification, in doing so, you miss a …

A record-breaking hurricane, an ongoing international pandemic, and an upcoming presidential election.

What might sound like the beginning of a bad joke is just another day in the life of a consumer in 2020. And as uncertainty continues, building consumer trust is critical for brands to maintain their customer base this year and beyond.

With 62 percent of customers expecting their brand preferences to change permanently before the pandemic subsides, the numbers speak for themselves. Businesses that want their customers to stick around need to connect with them on a more meaningful level than in the past. And for many of those brands, text marketing is the key to establishing two-way conversations and increasing consumer trust long term.

If you’re considering using SMS to engage with your customers, but stuck choosing a service provider, the factors below are a good place to start. Then, use our business value calculator …

Messaging channels like SMS play a pivotal role in contact tracing as tracers inform potentially affected individuals and monitor the spread of COVID-19.

Tracers often call highly exposed contacts, but symptom tracking and notifications for those with lower exposure can be automated, saving valuable time and resources.

To effectively use messaging channels like SMS for contact tracing, it’s important to understand the task you’re performing, compliance regulations in your region, and your options for the actual number sending the text message itself.

Let’s take a look at how you can build a framework to deliver critical messages to citizens at scale.

Common contact tracing tasks

Typically, there are two types of people tracers need to contact: patients who’ve tested positive for COVID-19, and exposed contacts identified by patients.

To communicate effectively, it’s important to consider how to deliver messages that prove legitimacy and build trust. Unfortunately, bad actors are out …

If you are a physician or manage a medical practice, sending SMS messages to patients carries a lot of upside. These forms of communication can minimize no-show appointments, improve interactions between provider and patients, and even provide more effective care/dosage instructions—all while saving your practice resources.

But healthcare SMS and text messaging is far from a turnkey process. Because the information contained in these messages could be considered protected health information (PHI), sending SMS messages needs to comply with the strict requirements outlined in HIPAA. In the event of a breach, PHI could be exposed, and your practice could face penalties and fines. Breaches can also damage patient trust in the practice or physician.

Let’s examine the potential benefits of adding SMS to your medical practice communications, how to do so in a manner that supports HIPAA compliance, and key considerations when choosing a HIPAA-eligible SMS provider.

How …