SMS- Viable Communications Tool 2015

According to the latest Comreg Report that was published on the 12th March 2015, Irish Communications Market Quarterly Key Data Report Q4 2014, SMS volumes have increased from Q3 2014 to Q4 2014 by 2.7%. There are a bewildering, but always fascinating, level of new concepts, technologies, ideas and services launched and fermented at an almost daily rate. Finding a role for existing technologies, such as SMS and Email, to gain traction above this “noise” can be challenging. Often technologies that are ubiquitous can be simply disregarded, as they work away in the background. So what factors cause SMS to remain standing out as a feasible and useful tool for promoting and communicating? What are the elements that makes it such a globally enduring phenomenon?

1. Impact: It is proven through multiple statistics and measurements that people read their text messages almost instantly. Messages are pushed into their awareness.
2. Reach: SMS is agnostic when it comes to handsets, locations, devices, operating systems and demographics. It can cost-effectively target a level of users like nothing else.
3. Access: People of all ages are able to read, understand and respond to text messages.
4. Traction: People actively opt-in/sign up to loyalty programs such as receiving daily deals, sales coupons etc. Why? They see a benefit. Equally, they understand that they can seamlessly opt-out of any group with little effort or hassle.
5. Broadcast: Any business, regardless of size or marketing budget, has the ability to create text messages and send group broadcasts to a dedicated list.
6. Technology: There is a vast array of technological methods to enable and facilitate businesses send SMS, These cater for what suits their infrastructure, budget, time and skillset- this can be anything from sending SMS from their email environment to an online group messaging service (such as provided by the main operators).
7. Interactivity: Businesses can communicate in real-time with their customers, it may be simply asking for their confirmation of a proposed delivery date to requests on service satisfaction feedback. The method of these replies is also diverse to suit a business’s requirements, from storing replies online to having them within an offline/online email account.
8. Cost: All aspects of sending messages can be monitored; length of messages can be controlled (very important, as 160 characters is considered 1 SMS, however between 160 and 290 characters is 2 messages, so just going over 160 by 1 doubles the cost of each message to each recipient), volume of messages can be assessed (usually the more you purchase from a provider in a bulk package, the costs go down), ROI (Return-On-Investment) can be analysed- number sent out (number of coupons cashed in, number of replies garnered, how many delivered/failed to be delivered etc..)
9. Flexibility: There are endless ways and combinations to effectively use SMS within a business for external communication such as for mobile marketing and for internal communication. External communication: From sending out tickets to events (displayed at the door for entry), to coupons (cashed in at the cashier), to updating customers on delivery times, confirm meetings, inform an opt-in list of upcoming sales, send scheduled alerts at less peak business times to drive and hence promote custom. Internal communication: As well as this, SMS can be used by businesses to cost-effectively maintain internal communications- such as server or system monitoring via SMS alerts, or updating on-the-road staff regarding destinations, future client meetings, service requests, client meeting cancellations etc.

Short Overview of SMS Marketing

SMS Marketing campaigns are proven to be effective as SMS is a push technology; meaning that unlike email they are presented immediately on the phone to be read. When developing a marketing campaign for SMS, in particular, it is important to consider the following factors:

1. You need to gather an opt-in mobile list of subscribers. These are people who have stated that they wish to receive messages from you. Refer to Creating a SMS Opt-In Contact List for more on this.
2. What time should the broadcast be sent? For example the intended demographic is critically important to understand when SMS messages, which can be perceived as “interruptions”, will have the optimal effect. For example, working adults may not appreciate messages during their work hours, late in the evening or at weekends; so a window of perhaps 5pm to 8pm on Monday to Friday would be preferred in this case. If running a TV or radio campaign, the best time may be just before the first airing of the advertisement, reminding people to view it in order to increase its effectiveness.
3. Ensure that the text offer is age appropriate to maximize the return on your marketing investment; otherwise messages will be ignored and thus wasted. Or worse, may not be suitable for certain age levels.
4. Ensure that your messages are sent to residents within a radius of the offer; if it is not a national campaign. For example, there is no point sending offers that are available in Dublin to residents in Galway.
5. Ensure the content of your message is understandable to the intended market base. For example while “gr8t” may be suitable for teenagers or those in their 20s, “great” would be more appropriate and intuitive to those of a different age range. In general it is best to avoid SMS abbreviated words as it increases the readability and lessens the chance of misinterpretation. Also use plain standard ASCII characters, and try to avoid including symbols as they can be translated differently on handsets, depending on their software.
6. It is perhaps worth considering the gender, if your business range of services are gender specific, when targeting your SMS alerts. To do this you would need to record this specific detail when building your opt-in list. It allows you to tailor offers, and thus benefit your return-on-investment.
7. Always have a hook in your SMS to gauge and encourage interest; for example, a prompt concise call-to-action in your SMS can be as straightforward as a SMS coupon offering discounts, which people claim by visiting your store;  with the bonus of allowing you to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign.
8. Always have a clear opt-out policy in your message, whether it is a phone number or a SMS “Stop” response. This is critical.
9. If sending multiple SMS in your marketing campaign to thousands of recipients then costs are a factor. One of the first areas is to consider the length of your message. Exceeding a certain number of characters can result in more cost per message. This can exponentially increase your expenditure.  As a general guide:

• Up to 160 character length = 1 SMS
• Up to 290 character length = 2 SMS
• Up to 435 character length = 3 SMS
• Up to 580 character length = 4 SMS
• Up to 725 character length = 5 SMS

What are SMSCoupons?

SMSCoupons consist of e-ticket/m-ticket, e-token, e-voucher/m-voucher and e-coupon solutions. These provide your business with a direct, traceable and inexpensive marketing interaction with your customer.

Thus, SMSCoupons can be used to send out tickets, daily deals and discount coupons immediately and inexpensively via SMS. This creates an opportunity for optimum brand recognition by also allowing your business name, your product or your brand as the sender identifier of the outgoing SMS.

Some of the services SMSCoupons can be used for include:

• e-tickets/m-tickets- broadcast e-tickets to events, concerts and seminars. The SMS is shown at the entrance to gain access. It is a quick, reliable and inexpensive way of issuing tickets. No printing or traditional distribution costs.
• e-tokens/e-coupons/m-vouchers- broadcast discount offers via SMS. For example, encourage people into your retail by offering a discount off certain items or your café by offering 10% off next coffee. Customers show the SMS message at the cashier to avail of the offer (with the message being deleted by your staff at that point of processing).