If you’re like us, that SMS from the hairdresser two days before your appointment is the only way you remember you were booked in.

Same goes for the doctor’s appointment and hey, it’s the only reason you know that wine you like is back in stock with your bottlo.

There are actually hundreds of occupations that lose money when customers miss appointments -- from dentists, mechanics and pet groomers to personal trainers and vet clinics. So it makes sense that more and more businesses are using SMS to stay in touch with their customers.

With text message open rates near 100 percent (and according to a recent study over 90 percent are opened within three minutes), finding a provider who can help you automate personalised reminder messages can dramatically reduce cancellations or no-shows.

And that’s not all SMS is good for. When you’re trying to sell your products and services, timing is everything. Reaching the consumer at just the right moment, when they’re most inclined to make a purchase, can be the difference between them thinking it’s a good idea and actually doing something about it.

For example, if you’re a restaurant, you can send out your specials by SMS before dinner deliveries start, or a drinks service can focus on pre-public holiday booze runs. Genius.

Texting also lets you segment your audience -- that restaurant can send separate messages to vegetarians or meat-eaters at the same time, for example.

SMS is also useful when it comes to customer service needs. According to a recent US survey, more than half of consumers say they would prefer text as a customer support platform.

Texting is easy for consumers and easy for businesses too.

Having a text program that answers commonly asked questions allows your staff to work more efficiently, and you can gauge customer satisfaction with quick and easy surveys by SMS at the end of it all. Brilliant.

There are many SMS services that also send SMS through e-mail providers such as Outlook and Gmail. This means your e-mail can send text messages to multiple contacts and then they can reply back to your e-mail. Higher open rates and ease of use -- what’s not to love about that.

Another bonus of e-mail to SMS services is scheduling. Messages can be sent to mobile phones immediately or at a later time or date.

Lastly, SMS is a really economical marketing tool. Many businesses just want to talk to their customers in a cost-effective way. So if you don’t have a heap of cash to get your business noticed, SMS marketing is a good option.

By sending SMS to specific audiences you can get your message across to the people you want to see it. With 17.9 million of us having smartphones these days, SMS seems such a no brainer, don’t you think?

SMS Comparison has done all the hard work so you can find the right provider to work for your business.

Featured image: supplied