SMS Is Here To Stay, Here’s Why

There are many reasons why SMS is popular despite the headrush of so many instant messaging apps. Let’s take a look at these:

To communicate with someone on Facebook, you need to send across a friend request, otherwise your messages to them may end up in a folder that they may not see. On the other hand, an SMS makes reaching out to customers much easier. A mobile research firm concluded that 90 per cent of people go through an SMS within three minutes of receiving it! What’s more, about 66 per cent of Americans check their phone 160 times a day!

For companies that are looking to market effectively, SMS cannot be neglected. It boasts high open rates and is a centralized mode of communication today. Undoubtedly, more and more marketers today include it as a medium to send out campaigns.

For an SMS to reach your customer, they do not have to download any specific app. Just a phone and an operator plan are all that it takes, giving it a global reach. SMS doesn’t have the constraints that most internet-based apps have and is not reliant on the handset manufacturer, service provider, or even web connectivity. Unlike over-the-top messaging apps (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Hike, WeChat etc.), it does not have hardware or software constraints, and is not dependent on the availability or speed of the internet. It can reach any mobile phone, even the most basic one.

You would be wondering what makes people go through an SMS more often than emails? Well, the nature of platform puts SMS in a more favorable position. You may receive a notification for an SMS but rarely so for an email. Also, given the number of promotional and junk emails, one may even not want to turn on their notifications for it. A study revealed that in the US, an average person receives about 88 emails a day, much higher than SMS which accounts to a little over 30 per day. Easier to attend, right?

Sinch (India) has over 500 enterprise clients, each of whom trust the SMS platform by Sinch to engage with their customers. Some messages are mission-critical and need to be conveyed at the right time, such as bank transaction messages, or a one-time password to conduct or verify a transaction.  Our robust and carrier-grade SMS platform powers over five billion messages per month and delivers mission critical transactional, promotional and OTP messages. What’s more, it also has interactive SMS options for Mi Phone users.

SMS is the most dependent technology for modern customer needs. Application-to-person (A2P) SMS allows an app to deliver messages to a mobile subscriber. Best in class, enterprise grade A2P solutions are available to enterprises. There are state-of-the-art APIs available that can be integrated seamless with the enterprise IT infrastructure. Today, in accessing the global telecom network directly, companies gain faster delivery times and better reliability of service. This makes A2P SMS accessible to more companies to connect to their customer, thereby making SMS as the most preferred channel of communication.

 Enterprises rely on text messaging to deliver the most crucial information to their customers including one-time passwords, transaction information (payments/account withdrawals), appointment reminders, flight updates, etc. Companies use state-of-the-art APIs and effective cloud communication platforms to ensure timely updates to consumers.

 SMS offers an additional layer of security: Two factor authentication through SMS is the most used method by companies to avoid data theft and protect consumers from financial frauds. Use of the OTP (Online Transaction Password) is quite well-known in the present day. Though, SMS may be viewed as antiquated technology.

One of the main concerns with SMS has been that given its popularity, small and big companies have been using it extensively. How do you ensure that you are not viewed as spam and junk? We have a solution for our clients. Thanks to Google’s verified SMS, our clients can send across SMS to their customers as verified businesses. Here’s your chance to build trust, garner visibility for your brand, secure communication as also look forward to great ROI.

With such great open rates, SMS is also a popular platform for remarketing strategies. While we do not wish to underplay the role of email marketing, some bit of SMS intervention can work for your business too.

For more information about any of ACL’s products, get in touch at marketing@aclmobile.com

What SMS services are provided by Sinch?  Solutions for Campaign Management, One Time Password, Transactional Alerts, and 2-Way Messaging are provided by Sinch.

What does cPaaS provider, Sinch’s pull platform enable?  Sinch’s 2-way Messaging Enterprise grade platform empowers enterprise to send-receive high volume messages with a brand recognized 5- to 6-digit number of their choice.