Snappy Kraken Launches ‘Convos’ Texting Service

The financial services marketing company Snappy Kraken has announced the launch of a new solution called Convos, which creates an opportunity for advisers to exchange timely and compliant text messages with their clients.

In launching Convos, Snappy Kraken cites internal survey data that suggests text messages have a six times higher open rate compared with marketing emails—with significantly shorter waiting-to-open times. To harness this, the firm says, Convos “puts instantaneous communications at an adviser’s fingertips through a desktop app with an intuitive dashboard that is as easy to use as iMessage.”

Notably, Convos integrates into major customer relationship management platforms, including Salesforce, WealthBox and Redtail Technology.

“People want to deepen existing relationships and communicate in real-time, so our Convos app allows for that personalization, and for people to receive their messaging on the device that is practically glued to their hand,” says Robert Sofia, founder and chief executive officer at Snappy Kraken. “We all know from personal experience that when we get a text message our eyes immediately veer to our cellphone. Snappy Kraken’s Convos tool takes advantage of this powerful opportunity to connect with, engage and retain clients.”

Through the service, advisers can send messages from either their existing office phone number or create a new phone number. These messages are then sent either to a specific client or broadcast a message out to a larger group.

Messages are Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reviewed in advance to ensure compliance. Additionally, for broker/dealer (B/D) partners, Convos integrates with MyRepChat to make compliance easier.

Snappy Kraken says it will create new and engaging text messaging marketing content each month to keep conversations fresh, and the “Leads Never Cold” feature automatically keeps conversations going with a client to help drive engagement and retention. The pre-generated content includes general conversation starters and specific financial-related information. Financial advisers can set up appointments via text message, and there is also a widget that can be placed on advisers’ websites to direct clients to Convos.

Pricing for Convos starts at $19 a month with an additional 10 cents per outbound message, while received messages are free.