With the continued evolution of mobile marketing it is easy to forget just how effective some of the discipline’s original workhorses are. SMS, for example, is the original mobile marketing bearer. This familiarity is a great advantage because it means the humble text message is both personal and trusted. Let’s take a brief look at the available variations of SMS in mobile marketing:
Bulk SMS
Sending and receiving large numbers of SMS messages to multiple recipients is the most cost effective way to reach a guaranteed audience. Bulk SMS by InTarget means that in a matter of minutes your brand can be visible on the most personal of consumer devices. Bulk SMS, however, doesn’t imply a ‘one size fits all’ type of approach because InTarget
can send the same content to all recipients or each message can be personalised.
BulkSMS replies
How many times have you wanted to reply to a commercial email or text message that annoyingly stated it was being sent from an unattended mailbox? Inexplicably, marketers often expect consumers to engage in two-way conversation using a variety of mediums, instead of just one.
Two-way bulk SMS enables your current and potential customers to continue the conversation using a text-based medium that is convenient to them. No phone call or email necessary. InTarget’s bulk SMS replies feature taps into the growing trend for all of us to talk less and text more.
Premium SMS
Premium SMS offers all the advantages of text messaging technology, with a convenient payment element included. Consumers are able to pay for goods and services simply by sending keywords to short codes using their mobile phones. The cost of their purchase is deducted either from their prepaid airtime or added onto their contract cellular bill.
InTarget provides the short code to the client who can elect to have multiple short codes for different consumer offerings. InTarget’s Premium SMS Billing then enables consumers to easily and securely pay for something they want. Mobile users can either proactively text a short code, or they can simply reply to a short code message to receive goods and services.
Consumers simply love purchasing via Premium SMS because this convenient payment facility simultaneously serves the unbanked while appealing to mobile users who might be wary of using their credit cards.
We’ve all heard variations of the corporate wisdom that says keep grounded while reaching for the stars. In mobile marketing, SMS is what keeps any campaign grounded.
Reverse-billed SMS
Finally, we come to the final type of text messaging service provided by InTarget and that is reverse-billed SMS. Weather alerts, sports scores and such like delivered via SMS only if the user specifically requests such content is probably how many of us were first introduced to mobile content and applications provided by wireless application service providers (WASPs). Reverse-billed SMS is particularly suited to clients who have access to content perceived as useful or desirable by mobile users and that can also be succinctly delivered in under 160 characters.
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