The uptake of Instant messaging (IM) applications such as WhatsApp and Viber has been rapid. In fact, adoption has been so great that a recent report published by research firm Informa estimated that traffic generated by mobile IM services would be double the volume of SMS traffic by the end of 2013. However, despite the growing popularity of these services, it would be presumptuous to write off SMS, the original, most reliable and ubiquitous form of mobile messaging.
Instant messaging may have great applications for the consumer market but it falls short as an effective tool for businesses. Many companies have adopted IM platforms, such as Skype or iChat, but they are used primarily as internal communication networks, allowing employees to share ideas and best practice in an enterprise environment. These services don’t lend themselves to marketing and promotional campaigns or transaction or service related notifications because IM platforms are peer-to-peer applications and only accessible to closed groups online, they are exclusive by nature and don’t have the reach businesses require when targeting customers and clients or other external groups.
Even the IM services with the broadest reach or the most familiar branding have their drawbacks. Take Facebook Messenger, for instance, which has experienced rapid uptake on mobile but can only support person-to-person (P2P) messaging. This excludes the use of application-to-person (A2P) messaging, which has become an essential tool for businesses allowing them to send messages directly from their systems to a targeted database
Businesses continue to utilise SMS as a channel to communicate with customers, staff and other groups particularly as IM is limited in terms of reach and cross platform integration. To put the value of SMS to businesses into perspective, the research firm Infonetics estimates that SMS marketing spend globally will reach $8 billion by 2016.
Businesses have put their faith in SMS for many years and will continue to do so. But what makes SMS so appealing to businesses when there seems to be many alternative messaging services on the market?
The immediate response would be that text messaging has become second nature to mobile users – it is a technology people understand for sending short and important messages. It is also quick, easy and cost effective for businesses to implement and with the onset of A2P messaging, SMS is now integral to both automated and manual business processes, whether upstream to consumers and clients or downstream to suppliers. Unlike mobile-IM, SMS is a form of communication that is not reliant on an IP-connection and is a standard feature on all mobile phones. For example, dependence on text messaging commonly occurs when people are travelling abroad and they switch off their data roaming connection to avoid heavy tariffs. In addition, if an online business was to suffer an outage, it would still be able to despatch immediate SMS alerts to customers to inform them of the situation and when the server is back on line. This would assuage the customer and help to protect the company’s reputation, contributing to customer loyalty in the long-term.
The reliability and ubiquity of SMS hasn’t escaped social networking brands either. Twitter, for example, recently announced plans to leverage SMS to deliver alerts to users’ phones from emergency services during a natural disaster when other means of communication aren’t accessible. Similar initiatives have been launched by local Government organisations to inform people about emergency situations.
SMS also offers businesses a degree of security. A2P messaging has been widely adopted by banks and credit card companies issuing one-time passwords (OTPs) for transaction verifications, which are then entered onto a webpage. OTP is also used outside the financial services industry to verify a customer for online transactions. SMS messaging supports the security of e-commerce sites whilst providing peace of mind and reassurance to the customer receiving the code.
To take full advantage of A2P messaging companies should also be mindful of who they’re targeting and how they go about constructing their database. Target message recipients must be given the choice to be kept ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the database. Companies need to ensure the opt-in process is simple and straightforward; if a recipient wants out, then the process to decline the service is as easy as replying STOP to a message.
Customer acquisition through an opt-in process is an important consideration of any mobile marketing campaign. This process creates a targeted, permission-based audience, one that will be receptive to timely, relevant and useful communication. This adds to the CRM activities of a business and builds customer loyalty.
SMS has proved to be an effective form of engagement with existing and potential customers, stimulating a rate of response from targeted individuals much higher than other mediums such as email or online advertising. The market research company eMarketer conducted a survey of mobile phone users in the U.S. with 45 per cent stating they were interested in receiving mobile alerts from brands.
In customer relationship management (CRM) terms, A2P messaging serves as a dynamic service tool, updating subscribers on progress of their service delivery, for instance. Companies are now also using it as an information service platform in its own right. In the retail sector, promotions are despatched via A2P SMS messaging to stimulate greater footfall in-store. In the small business development sector companies are using text messaging to remind clients of appointments. In the building and maintenance industry, workflow management is enhanced by sending appointment reminders via SMS to tenants of social housing properties who have requested repairs.
Mobile IM may have captured the public’s imagination, but these messaging applications have a limited role to play when it comes to business. P2P messaging is primarily a consumer proposition - it simply doesn’t have the same reach of A2P messaging, which is more applicable to the needs of a business. With the use of SMS, and permission based databases, companies are able to maintain communication between individuals and groups without contravening privacy or being intrusive. SMS is a well-established yet versatile business communications tool which allows companies of all shapes and sizes to integrate CRM into their business strategies. A2P SMS messaging usage is on the increase and its stock will continue to rise as new and cost-effective ways for the business world to leverage this communications tool continue to present themselves.
By Dr Pieter Streicher, Managing Director of BulkSMS.com.
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