Put the focus on your customers with a SMS Gateway Provider

by | Mar 4, 2015 |

Trying to handle all of aspects of your business by yourself is admirable, but when it comes to marketing and customer communication, we all need professional help. That is why it is a good idea to sign up with a SMS Gateway Provider. Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to keep everything in-house to save costs. While this might work in certain areas of your business, it isn’t necessarily a good idea for others. One of those areas that you shouldn’t try to tackle alone is customer communication. Why? Because if you get it wrong or only halfway right, you could end up missing your mark completely and waste resources in the process. Okay, so what does this have to do with a SMS Gateway Provider? Marketing and communicating with your customers via SMS sounds unbelievably simple, right? All you have to do is type the message on your phone and send it to all the customers in your database. Done! Nope. A lot of things can go wrong in the process, actually. Your network provider might not be able to handle the bulk and your messages could be delayed or not even reach your customers at all. This won’t only result in a loss of time and money, but you will end up worrying so much about the logistics of your mobile marketing that you end up losing sight of the most important thing in your business – your customer. With the help of a SMS Gateway provider, you can rest assured that: Your customers will receive your texts no matter which mobile network they...

PREMIUM SMS

by | Oct 31, 2014 |

LOOKING TO IMPRESS YOUR CLIENTS IN A NIFTY WAY ! Have you ever requested a service code or entered into a competition by sending a text to a special shortened number?  Then you have made use of a SMS Short Code. SMS Short Code ensure that you get quality leads – people won’t SMS you if they aren’t genuinely interested in what you have to offer.  You can present a strong, straightforward call to action. It’s also a nifty way to impress potential customers.  HOW ? Well, you will be able to: Get Quality Leads – People won’t SMS if they are not interested Strong, straight forward call to action – Quicker Response Dedicated Short Code – Which belongs to your business alone Having a Dedicated Short Code, makes it easier to protect your brand’s reputation and employ hard-core sales tactics. Just like Ordinary Billing, it’s a great way for consumers to make purchases without the hassle (and security risk) of giving away your credit card information or banking details.  Businesses also benefit from this because it is easy to set up, run and can be used as an income generator. You can attach a certain Tafiff (that the user has to pay) to the Short Code, so you can have different short codes for different products. Premium SMS Billing is a specific type of Interactive SMS service that allows consumers to pay for something they want (content, services, etc) simply by sending a message to a short code, or by replying to an incoming SMS message.  To make it more effective, a business can identify a keyword befitting...

BULK SMS

by | Oct 21, 2014 |

ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR BULK SMS MOBILE ADVERTISING ? INTEGRAT is a leading Mobile WASP Aggregator in Africa that provides Mobile Integration and has been specialising in the Mobile Value Added Services (VAS) industry since 2001.   Integrat makes sending and receiving of Bulk SMS  messages  straight forward.  Whatever sector you are in,  wherever  you  are  in the world, we can help you put messaging at the heart of your business. Benefits of using Bulk SMS through Integrat : Gives you the ability to target a much larger audience It’s Cost Effective way of communicating to your customer Should the receiver miss your text at that very moment, they can always read it a few seconds later – unlike a missed call.  It connects you with them instantly and is much cheaper than calling them. Reach your targeted audience Make use of Integrat’s ready made platform that won’t only help the process to go down smoothly, but it will even save you money at the same time. Where to start with Bulk SMS Marketing ? It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you first start thinking about incorporating Bulk SMS as part of your marketing strategy.  After all, there are so many things you can do with it and hundreds of things you want to say.  Where do you even start ?  Get Customers to sign up You can’t send text messages if you don’t have phone numbers.  As simple as it sounds, getting those numbers will probably be the hardest part.  You will need to think smart and be creative.  One of the best ways to grow your opt-in...

Is your SMS Gateway provider the real deal?

by | Jul 9, 2014 |

Choosing a SMS Gateway provider is no easy task. Knowing if the one you are currently with is the real deal, is an equally good question. How can you find out? Look for the WASPA affiliation WASPA is a body that keeps an eye on mobile aggregators to make sure they play by the rules. If the aggregator is a member of WASPA, you can be sure they will go out of their way to comply with standards of fairness, advertising rules etc. and they will help you to do the same on your side. This should be the very first thing you look at when choosing your SMS Gateway provider. Put them to the test It is easy for any business to make promises to clients regarding quality products or speedy service delivery. But can they fulfil these promises? Some things, unfortunately, you can only determine when your deal with the provider is up and running. But there are a few basic things you can test beforehand so you can at least have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. How they respond: it doesn’t matter if you are experiencing a crisis or have a simple question, you want to receive attention as soon as possible. And you want to get in contact with your SMS Gateway provider in more than one way. Put their communication channels to the test and see how they respond. Have a look at their social media channels (most companies have a Facebook and Twitter account) and take a look at their response to customer complaints. For example do they respond...

Where do SMS Service Providers fit in?

by | Jun 6, 2014 |

SMS Service Providers are companies that offer SMS services (sometimes products as well). They usually act as a middle man between a mobile network operator and mobile users. These companies are also referred to a SMS Gateway providers or SMS resellers. Some people think that SMS Service Providers are their own little island and not dependant on other companies, but this is not the case. They usually have an arrangement with mobile networks (e.g. Vodacom, MTN, Cell C) to use their message centres in order to provide a service to consumers. In other words, they aren’t mobile networks themselves. In some cases, it might be more expensive for consumers to deal directly with mobile operators when it comes to buying things like bulk SMS. That is where SMS Service Providers come in. They will negotiate better rates and deals for certain services so they can offer cheaper options to their clients. But, as with all things that seem too good to be true, consumers should always be wary when service providers offer them extremely low rates. In such cases the quality of the service might not be up to par and the consumer will subsequently “pay the price”. What does it mean when a website or SMS Service provider offers free SMS? The sender of a text message is usually the one who carriers the cost of the message – not the receiver. Thus, even though a site offers messages free of charge to users, someone still has to pay for it. Usually, the owner of the site carries the cost – that is why consumers are offered a...

Why choosing a SMS Gateway provider can be difficult

by | Apr 9, 2014 |

When it comes to choosing a good SMS Gateway Provider today, you will be spoilt for choice. But not all of these providers have the knowledge and experience to make your campaigns successful. SMS marketing is no longer a rarity. All over the world companies, both big and small, are making use of texting and MMS messages to reach consumers. Naturally, this provides an amazing opportunity for providers to start their own companies that offer these services to business owners. Basically, these guys are shooting up like mushrooms to fill the gap in the industry. This makes it difficult for a business to choose a good SMS Gateway Provider, because let’s face it, it is easy to get tricked if you don’t have any knowledge about the subject yourself. It makes companies vulnerable to providers who are trying to out-promise one another with excellent service and very cheap prices. That is why it is very important for business owners to do a little research and shop around before they commit to a provider. What should you look for in a SMS Gateway Provider? Reasonable prices: always available and willing to help you at a moment’s notice. Easy to use: you want it to be easy for your staff to access and use the programmes/ software provided by the SMS Gateway Provider. Want to know more? Then give Integrat a shout; we are standing by to take your...