Universal, direct, personal · 2019-08-07 · SMS”, with the number of A2P messages increasing from 1.4 trillion in 2013 to 2.19 trillion by 2018. Juniper Research says A2P revenues

Netsize Messaging

... and the best way to communicate with customers, colleagues and partners

SMSUniversal, direct, personal

2SMS: Universal, direct, personal

Netsize Messaging

and the best way to communicate

with customers, colleagues and partners.

SMSUniversal, direct, personal


Table of Contents

Introduction 4

The unstoppable rise of enterprise messaging 5

SMS is ubiquitous 7SMS is always on 7SMS is immediate 8SMS campaigns are easy to create 8SMS messages can be customised 9SMS is rich 9SMS is responsive 9SMS is expensive (relatively) 10SMS can be used for payments 11

SMS in action 12

Bank card PIN codes 12Customer service feedback 13Voice SMS for the visually impaired 13SMS confirmation when buying products abroad 14A ‘one time passcode’ text to strengthen online passwords 14SMS appointment reminders 15Track your package SMS 15Buying a bus ticket 16

Now make SMS work for you 17


Introduction

Isn’t SMS supposed to be dead?You’d be forgiven for thinking so, given headlines published in 2014. They have trumpeted the rise of new forms of messaging like IM, and implied that ‘old fashioned’ text was on the wane.Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The truth is, SMS is still growing. According to Ovum’s Mobile Messaging Forecast, operator-based messaging will hit an all-time high of 7.7 trillion messages sent in 2014.

Of course, it’s true that person-to-person messaging is changing. Consumers are embracing new chat apps that promise cheaper and more flexible mobile communications. Increasingly, they’re choosing products like WhatsApp and Viber over SMS.

So why is SMS still growing? The answer lies with one simple acronym: A2P.A2P stands for application-to-person, and it describes the use of SMS by enterprises to send messages to customers, employees and partners.

This kind of messaging is exploding. Why? Because SMS remains the most immediate, ubiquitous and affordable communications tool money can buy.

In this eBook, we will explain why…


The unstoppable rise of enterprise messaging

Analyst Ovum predicts the next few years “will mark a golden age for A2P SMS”, with the number of A2P messages increasing from 1.4 trillion in 2013 to 2.19 trillion by 2018.

Juniper Research says A2P revenues will grow from $55 billion in 2013 to $60 million by 2018, and that enterprise messaging is expected to overtake P2P (person to person) SMS in 2016.

Deloitte predicts SMS will generate more than $100 billion globally in 2014, compared with about $2 billion from all IM services.

The first ever text message was sent in 1992. But more than two decades on, the medium remains as vital as ever.

Indeed, it’s just coming into its own as a channel through which businesses can talk to customers, partners, suppliers and even their own staff.

Today, enterprises use SMS for a range of applications including:

• Coupons

• Appointment reminders

• Travel updates

• Item tracking

• Fraud prevention alerts

• Rewards

• Service ratings

• Payments


Businesses realise that, when it comes to talking direct to customers, colleagues and partners, SMS is far better than email, IM, social media or direct mail.

There are nine great reasons why.

SMS is:

1 UbiquitousEvery mobile user can send and receive texts, regardless of device, OS or network

2 Always on No data connection required

3 Immediate People respond to texts far quicker than email, for example

4 Easy to create A message contains up to 160 characters, which demands a concise and clear message

5 Customisable Messages can draw from an opted-in database to include first and last name, location and more

6 Rich Messages can include links to rich content like photos and videos

7 Responsive Texts can include calls to action when you want the recipient to respond

8 Expensive (relatively) People value texts, so they are more likely to read and respond

9 A channel for payments Consumers can pay with a premium text message

So let’s look at these nine benefits in more detail…


1 SMS is ubiquitous

Anyone with a mobile phone can use SMS – no matter what handset, operator, OS or country.

That simple statement says everything about the unique reach of text as a communications channel.

Indeed, the GSMA estimates that around 3.6 billion people currently have a mobile subscription and can therefore send and receive texts.

Compare that with IM, which according to Statista, is used by around 1.5bn.

Now, 1.5bn might seem like a lot. But remember, there are so many different IM clients, none of which speak to each other.

Any organisation choosing to communicate with its customers via IM would need to support WhatsApp, Viber, BBM, iMessage and many more.

It’s just not realistic.

2 SMS is always on

Text messages are transmitted over the telco networks, which for the most part, reach across every inhabited location.

IM applications, on the other hand, require a data connection either via 3G or wi-fi.

As any mobile user knows, mobile broadband connections are far from ‘always on’, while few locations offer free wi-fi.

This means that only SMS messages can be sure to reach their targets.


3 SMS is immediate

Mobile is the most personal of all media. Most people carry their phone with them at all times, so it’s no surprise that users open and respond to texts so quickly.

A study by Frost & Sullivan found that 98 per cent of people open their text messages.

Email doesn’t fare so well. According to market researcher Epsilon email had a typical open rate of 32.9 per cent in Q1 2014. This makes SMS marketing potentially three times more effective.

29 per cent read tweets, while 12 per cent read Facebook updates.

But even more impressive than the open rate is the speed with which messages are read.

According to Juniper Research, 90 per cent of opened SMS text messages are read within four to six minutes of delivery.

4 SMS campaigns are easy to create

A text contains just 160 characters. This constraint limits the choices the sender can make.

That’s a good thing. It means most texts consist of words and links. Arguably the bite-size nature of SMS adds to their popularity with consumers; people know when they open an SMS that it will require only seconds of their time.

This has benefits for the Marketer. They need to take care to create messages that are clear and concise, which takes time, but it is usually speedier than traditional campaigns which can take weeks or months to prepare.


5 SMS messages can be customised

The beauty of opt-in SMS marketing is that campaigns can be personalised, and therefore made more appealing to particular groups of customers.

Marketers can use information drawn from an opted-in database to add details such as the recipients’ name. They can also include content and links that relate to their interests or location.

It all helps to make campaigns more relevant, and therefore successful.

6 SMS is rich

The simplest SMS messages contain up to 160 characters of plain text.

Sometimes that’s good enough. But SMS offers many richer options. A text can contain a link to web pages, pictures, videos, or a dedicated landing page for a campaign.

In this way SMS acts as a gateway to a world of richer content. While this isn’t unique, when combined with the immediacy and penetration of text messaging it becomes a very powerful communications tool.

7 SMS is responsive

Any good promotional campaign has a call to action. However, with most media, there’s a delay between reading the message and making the call to action. You can’t click on a TV ad, for example.

SMS is a genuinely two way medium.


Because mobile is a communications channel, consumers can take action immediately. They can click on a link, make a call or send a text answer to a poll.

With SMS, you can gauge the success of a campaign by including a call to action and measuring how many people respond.

These metrics are fantastically valuable, helping you understand what works and what needs changing.

8 SMS is expensive (relatively)

Expensive? A good thing?

This might seem contradictory, but the perceived premium cost of SMS actually makes it more attractive as a communications channel. And even when a user has a bundle of texts, there’s still a perception that this allowance is paid for.

In contrast, the median cost to a consumer of mobile IM services is typically zero.

So why does this make SMS a better communications channel?

Simply because the perception of cost makes consumers value an individual text more highly – even when it comes from an enterprise.

Texts are scarcer than email, and are rarely seen as spam, which makes people more likely to read and respond to a text message.


9 SMS can be used for payments

Text is a fantastic tool for marketing. But why stop there? Why not make it pay?

Consumers frequently want to make payments when they’re ‘on the go’. They want to pay for digital or quasi-digital items such as charity donations, tickets, votes and parking.

But using a credit card to buy these products is slow and cumbersome. SMS in contrast is quick, easy, immediate and trusted.

Users can simply send a text to a shortcode. When the confirmation text arrives, it is ‘reverse-billed’. In other words, the consumer still pays for it, but in a more convenient and efficient way.

This allows enterprises to both improve the customer experience, and through it’s immediacy to maximize conversions from customer interest to actual purchases.


SMS in action

Every day, more and more enterprises recognise SMS as by far the most effective method of reaching a mass audience.

Let’s look at some of these practical applications in more detail…

Bank card PIN codes

Sending PINs to bank customers by post is an expensive and risky way to transmit highly sensitive information.

These PINs are easily stolen.

Clearly using SMS is far more cost-effective and secure. Banks can send PINs by text and know that the information is much more likely to reach the customer.

In fact, they can make the process even safer by sending texts that expire after a given time – or insist that customers confirm receipt by sending a text back.

One possibility is to issue pin codes to the customers via text messages. Banks can also use SMS to send temporary numbers to cardholders who have forgotten their PINs when out shopping.

This is the kind of modern, digital experience that customers expect. We’ve all felt the panic at the front of a long supermarket queue when we put in the incorrect PIN number. SMS can be a quick, easy and secure solution in these kind of everyday emergencies, making a real impact on the customer experience And it can make money for enterprises by reducing the cost of fraud and encouraging more users to activate their cards.


Customer service feedback

Consumers are very familiar with feedback forms. They are asked to complete them after virtually every interaction with an enterprise.

So often, in fact, they can regard calls as intrusive, while letters go ignored.

This is another activity where the text message wins. It’s personal, instant, and easy.

In the UK, a TV broadcaster regularly sends texts to opted-in users after an engineer call-out. In three messages it asks customers to rate their experience (by texting from 0 to 10, or answering a yes/no question).

It’s found that response rates are between 5 and 6 times higher than other types of feedback.

Voice SMS for the visually impaired

Did you know it’s possible to hear a text message?

Voice SMS uses text-to-speech technology to convert an SMS and deliver it as a voice call to the recipient’s mobile. You can use male and female voices in up to 25 languages.

This is an excellent solution for enterprises with visually impaired customers.

In fact, many countries have discrimination legislation that says disabled people must be offered the same choice of services as other users of communications services, at no extra cost.

It has a wide array of applications. Users can listen to a variety of important messages such as alerts, reminders and confirmations, PIN codes and One Time Passwords.

Organisations can send voice SMS messages using the same platform as conventional SMS text messages.


SMS confirmation when buying products abroad

In an era of online fraud, banks are extra careful when a card is used overseas. Typically, they will call a cardholder to check the purchase is legitimate.

However, these calls are expensive to make and they’re not always answered.

A text is far more effective. It’s quick and cheap to deliver. Many consumers are suspicious of answering a call abroad because of roaming costs, so only find out there is a problem when their card is declined. Sending SMS is an effective way of clearly getting the message across, without any cost to the consumer. An SMS also sits on the phone without requiring an immediate reverse confirmation, so waits for a customer who is out of coverage, or has their phone switched off

A ‘one time passcode’ text to strengthen online passwords

Online shopping is not always a smooth experience. Merchants are conflicted – they want to make logins quick, but they must also make them safe.

So they ask for passwords and PINs. But these measures can be hacked or phished by fraudsters.

SMS can really help here. Site owners can ask users to register as normal, but then send a one-time passcode to a customer’s phone, which they then enter into a text box on the page.

This process offers better protection because of the combination of ‘what you know’ (the passcode) and what you have (the phone). The use of multiple devices helps verify the consumer in an immediate way and thus enhances the security of the e-commerce purchase. Handsets tend to be passcode protected so this is a more secure option for sending a password than email.


SMS appointment reminders

When customers/patients/interviewees don’t show up for their appointments, the costs can be exorbitant.

Just consider the wasted staff time, the lengthy process of re-arranging and the missed chance for another individual to fill the slot.

This is why so many organisations now send SMS reminders. Healthcare providers have had great success with text.

Indeed, a 2012 US study revealed that the attendance rate for patients who received text message reminders over a four month period were significantly higher (79.2 per cent) compared to the attendance rate of those who received no reminder (35.5 per cent).

SMS also allows those consumers who can no longer attend an appointment an easy and hassle free way to opt-out, allowing enterprises to make use of this time for other customers.

Track your package SMS

One of the great annoyances of modern life is the missed delivery. And in the era of online shopping, the ‘we tried to delivery your package’ card is more familiar than ever.

Thankfully, the text message is helping to tackle this.

Many postal services now let customers text the tracking number of their parcel to a shortcode, and then receive an SMS with its location. They can also send further updates of its progress.

Even better, some companies will text with a delivery window.


Buying a bus ticket

Paper transport tickets can be costly and inefficient. You need staff to sell them – or to buy and maintain expensive ticket machines to dispense them.

There’s also the risk of robbery, when drivers are handling large quantities of cash. That’s why more and more travel operators are exploring SMS tickets.

Here, customers can buy tickets by texting a shortcode. The operator then deducts the payment from the user’s phone bill and sends back a text to the customer. This text is the ticket. The passenger then shows this to the driver.

The system appeals to transport providers because of the gains in efficiency and security.

Customers like it too. They are freed from the need to queue for tickets and have the correct change. They don’t even need to register for the service.

Bus company ATAF Gestioni Italian is already a convert. It uses this system to sell tickets for the bus in 13 cities in the metropolitan area of Florence and sold 811,500 tickets text in the first five months of 2014.

That’s 43 percent more than the same period in 2013.

Now make SMS work for you

We hope this handy guide has persuaded you of the fantastic benefits of SMS. If you want to improve your marketing, CRM and internal communications while reducing costs:

• read more on Netsize.com/messaging/

• or contact us Netsize.com/contact-us/

About Netsize – Business on the move

www.netsize.com

Netsize - a Gemalto company - is the global leader for mobile operator micro-payment solution and messaging services. We connect and contract directly with mobile operators and help our clients to monetize mobile services or provide messaging services. These can be for selling digital goods or for vending and ticketing, as well as for value added services like mobile marketing to manage customer relationships and app store payments.

The Netsize payment and messaging network reaches more than 2 billion consumers. We connect more than 1,000 merchants and service providers to over 160 mobile network operators. This unique coverage gives us the ability to innovate and offer our clients customized In-App Payment, P-SMS, as well as Online and Direct Billing solutions in over 50 countries.

Netsize employs more than 250 telecom professionals and has local offices in 21 countries. By using our direct connections to our broad base of mobile operators worldwide, our clients can enjoy the benefits of focusing on quick market engagement and results-driven campaigns.©

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Documents

Universal, direct, personal · 2019-08-07 · SMS”, with the number of A2P messages increasing from 1.4 trillion in 2013 to 2.19 trillion by 2018. Juniper Research says A2P revenues