• Sending text messages – SMS basics – Part 3: Keywords and best practices for mobile messaging services
• Sending an SMS: SMS marketing basics – measuring the success of your customer campaigns

New to SMS marketing and not sure where to start? Octopush makes SMS simple by providing all the essential information you need for yourSMS campaigns in a 3-part series, starting with this first article.

Different types of SMS marketing campaigns

There is a wide range of SMS operations and use cases. Let’s review the different existing models:

Promotional offers : customers sign up for your SMS marketing campaigns to receive messages from your company. These are very popular and are used to send customers promotional texts about your services, discount coupons, special offers, and more.

Informational SMS: customers sign up for your communication program to receive information about your brand directly on their phones. This type of message is used to send information such as links or phone numbers to subscribers when they have requested it, for example, through customer service. These are one-off operations.

Data collection SMS: to receive information about them. This practice is generally used to collect user contact information, such as a web address. These campaigns are also one-off, and subscribers do not expect to receive recurring SMS messages when they sign up.

Voting SMS : this solution allows users to indicate their choice during a voting operation. In France, voting in political elections via SMS is not yet authorized. Voting operations are one-off.

SMS to screen : allows you to link text messages to any web-connected screen. Still rarely used in France, it is ideal for offering an innovative and fun way for users to engage during events like sports matches or other gatherings.

Donation SMS : allows users to donate money to a specific cause or organization. This donation can be made by adding the donated amount to the user's mobile phone bill or by sending them a link to a web payment page. These operations are one-off.

Text-to-winoffer users a chance to win a contest. They are also one-off, meaning users only engage for the duration of the campaign.

The ultimate hybrid solution

The countless benefits of sending SMS via the internet are well-established. This solution is extremely beneficial, regardless of your industry. For example,sending SMS via an online platform gives you the ability to reach far more people (unlike emails).

But why? First of all, because nowadays, almost everyone owns a mobile phone. In this sense, everyone—or nearly everyone—can receive and reply to text messages. As a result, it is the perfect communication channel to ensure you reach a much wider audience.

Also, note that internet-based SMS is subject to fewer restrictions than standard text messages. You can therefore launch much more effective SMS campaigns using this solution.

The different types of SMS

There are 3 main types of messages. What are they, and when should you use them?

Premium message: used when an organization or cause wants to add your donation to a mobile phone bill.

Standard message : most brands use these standard texts for customer relations, as these messages are similar in length and cost to the texts their subscribers exchange with their personal contacts.

MMS message : when a brand wants to send more than 160 characters in a single message, or an image or video to a mobile device, MMS is recommended.

Why choose SMS marketing

This type of communication requires user permission. This means that the texts are requested by the user, unlike the vast majority of campaigns. As a result, the customer engagement rate for such an operation reaches very high levels.

Text messages enjoy an average open rate of 99%. When you compare this figure to the 18% open rate of an email marketing campaign, you quickly understand why brands are turning to text messaging to communicate with users on their phones.

This type of marketing benefits from a key advantage: immediacy. In fact, 90% of text messages are opened within 3 minutes of receipt. It is an ideal way to send messages at the exact moment you want them to be not only received, but above all, seen.

Furthermore, this type of campaign does not require your targets to be connected to the web. You reach your audience wherever they are. SMS marketing is widely adopted by all user profiles.

Text messaging has become the king of mobile technologies favored by phone users today. This is an understatement, given that every segment of the population owns a phone and rarely parts with it. Through this channel, your brand can communicate with its audience regardless of their age, demographic, or type of phone.

Text messages have the advantage of being trackable. Traceability is complete when you set up a text messaging operation. Which subscribers received your message correctly; which subscribers responded to your call to action by visiting your store or clicking the link included in your message (see our article on rich SMS)… You have total control over your actions and possess all the tools necessary to adopt a reasoned, long-term strategy.

Sending SMS in a few simple steps

1. Log in: Create a no-obligation account on the Octopush platform.
2. Import your contact list or database in just a few clicks. Octopush offers a service to detect and remove duplicates and verify the validity of phone numbers.
3. Send your texts via the platform. It’s simple: just compose your message, set your sending options (mail merge, scheduled sending, campaign templates, sender customization, etc.), test your campaign, and send it.
4. Analyze your campaign results using campaign history and delivery reports (for professional SMS, delivery receipts are included).

With Octopush, you can test 5 texts before deciding. Our text messaging platform is commitment-free, with no contracts. We do not require a minimum sending volume. Your credits have no expiration date.

Octopush stands as one of the best SMS gateway in France. To offer our clients impeccable service quality, our professional support team is available 24/7, making sending texts a breeze. Text messaging is undeniably THE marketing solution you shouldn't miss to improve customer relationships and, consequently, sales.

Octopush offers businesses of all sizes and sectors (restaurants, political parties, churches, SMEs, artisans, etc.) reliable text messaging solutions at highly competitive prices, all while providing high-quality customer service. Today, you don't need to be an expert to launch a marketing operation.