Benefits of using SMS short codes
Adding SMS text messaging to your marketing campaign strategy is an effective way to increase your reach, improve brand awareness, and save money on your marketing materials.
There are many reasons why you should use SMS short codes for your marketing campaigns, such as:
Boosts open rates
It's a well-known fact that consumers tend to ignore printed media for various reasons, which means this type of advertising has a low open rate.
However, short code messages are known to boost open rates due to the fact that the media is more targeted, the customer wants to receive updates from the business, and people feel they have to open the text message to clear a notification. This results in the customer viewing the text and getting information about a promotion or news related to the business.
Increases consumer engagement
Consumers use SMS messages as a convenient way to communicate with each other, businesses, and just about every entity they need to come into contact with.
Text messages allow the consumer to engage with the sender on their terms and in their own time. That means the consumer is more likely to take their time to read a short code text message from a business. They can quickly identify who it's from and look at the message at their leisure.
Cost-effective
SMS marketing is more cost-effective than other forms of marketing due to its reach and efficiency. Designing a text takes less time than a flyer, and you don't have to pay for printing costs, postage, or per- rates for click-throughs or impressions.
There is an SMS short code cost for the service, but ultimately, the cost-to-conversion ratio tends to be lower when compared to most other types of marketing campaigns.
Mobile-friendly
Most people receive their texts on their smartphones and keep their phones with them throughout the day. That means you can reach your customer base anywhere they happen to be. You don't have to wait for them to get home and check their mailbox for a flyer, only to have them discard it because the message wasn't compelling.
Increases brand awareness
Short code text messages help to increase brand awareness without causing your customers to tune out. Sending a text message to customers gently reminds them of a new promotion or news about your business. Anything you would do through other marketing efforts can also be done with SMS and MMS messages.
SMS short code best practices
SMS marketing involves using direct contact with your customers via a cellular phone that can send and receive text messages.
That means you or your marketing team must be familiar with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) before starting a short code SMS marketing campaign. Violating the TCPA rules and regulations for short code marketing can result in fines that max out at $500 per violation.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) is another governing body that you need to pay attention to. The CTIA created the short code format and maintains the short code registry. The CTIA does not issue fines but will report non-compliant short code operators to the mobile carriers, who can then shut down your marketing efforts until the problem has been cleared.
In order to avoid issues with the TCPA and CTIA, you need to engage in best practices when signing up customers and sending them text messages. Make sure to use an opt-in method that clearly states the customer has to agree to receive the messages and use opt-in language such as "yes" or "I'm in" that shows a clear acceptance and agreement.
It's also important to make it easy for your customers to find your short code number to help increase the number of people who opt in. More customers that opt in means a larger audience and the opportunity to send a high volume of messages at once.
You should also keywords in your messages, such as help, press # for more information, and stop, to make it easy for customers to get more information or opt out of receiving further text messages.