SMS – Is that all folks?
The first text message ever sent was in 1992, while the first ad on a mobile phone was transmitted via SMS in 2000, from a Web-to-SMS platform and for several years, it has been the most common way to send Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS.
Through all this time, SMS has had tremendous success as its features were, and some still are, unbeatable:
• It is easy to use
• It does not require internet access
• It works on any type of device
• It ensures the successful message delivery
• It drives awareness
• It increases the potential reach of brands
• Secure information transmission
But aren’t SMS and SMS marketing supposed to be dead?
Given the rapid and popular growth of applications such as Skype, Viber Messaging, What’s App and a series of other OTT’s, you’d surely expect so. The reality is that Person-to-Person (P2P) SMS is affected and decreased, according to Portio Research, by 30% during the past decade. Nevertheless, let us inform you that it is far from dead, as A2P SMS is still growing, and its growing fast, while for the exact same period it increased by 50%.
Despite the fact that the OTTs are responsible for the deduction of the P2P traffic, the oxymoron is that at the same time their part in the increase of the A2P traffic is critical, as they trust their valuable users to be authenticated through SMS (Two-factor Authentication).
Furthermore, the development of APIs and SDKs incorporated SMS into ERPs, CRMs, webpage management platforms and e-commerce platforms. The result? Increasing automated SMS shipping, increasing automated communication!
SMS still remains the most immediate and ubiquitous way of communication and constitutes an excellent strategic tool for B2C communication as it:
• assists brands in creating targeted campaigns based on personal and behavioural information reaching a highly-engaged audience
• constitutes a two-way interactive application
• can be fully automated, hence reducing human cost and minimising the probability of human error
• can be used and “support” e-commerce, CRMs and ERPs
• will be adopted by IoT devices.
Consequently, it becomes clear that SMS remains vital as one of the most direct, personal, effective and secure channels of communication.
Whatever industry you are in, it is hard to ignore the benefits of text messaging. And if you are not already engaging with customers via SMS, it’s time to do so!