![]() Solution: A Sales-Based, Two-Way Text Messaging Platform The new direct messaging strategy lacked some refinement. Two-way text message marketing is a sales role, not a customer service one.Īs a result, employees trained to handle post-purchase issues were also forced to handle sales inquiries. In its infancy, two-way SMS placed undue stress on customer service agents (usually managing online chat windows). Retaining more phone numbers on your text message marketing list means you can engage them repeatedly with limited-time offers, special events, social media contests, and more. More importantly, two-way messaging is more compelling, and shoppers are far less likely to opt-out of future messages. This critical KPI shift - engagement - gives interested consumers the ability to provide feedback and complete a sale later on. With two-way texting conversations, customers have more choices: ![]() SMS marketers might initially see some conversions on the first few blasts, but recipients soon tire of the one-dimensional approach. In one-way text message blasts, customers have three choices: However, this emergence of two-way messaging profoundly changed SMS marketing for e-commerce in particular. While the human touch of chatting directly with customers produced significant engagement, manually responding to every message required time that many e-commerce brands just didn’t have. Responses from User A go to a conversation portal for the brand to manually respond Initially, e-commerce brands used two-way text messaging to engage shoppers directly. The Days of Two-way Text Marketing: Conversation Portals to Manage Responses Cheaper than dedicated short code, 10DLC is the perfect platform for a two-way texting service.Īs personal messaging started gaining traction, several constraints arose. Plus, the introduction of 10DLC A2P numbers ensures more reliable deliverability than standard long code. Online shoppers can ask questions and get an immediate reply - just as though they were texting a friend. Thinking in "direct messaging" terms allows e-commerce vendors to engage consumers with personal feedback. But a two-way texting service offers you another way to measure ROI - engagement. Customers who are not prepared to buy can't ask questions or respond in any other way but click a link or ignore the text.Īs such, the only way to measure ROI with one-way text messaging is to count clicks and resulting sales. One-way messages obviously want customers to buy now (often when they are not yet ready). However, these one-way blasts lack potency for e-commerce vendors. Additionally, coupon codes over one-way blasts from your favorite restaurant will incentivize you to buy. When One-Way SMS Blasts are Successfulįor example, municipalities can send Amber Alerts or extreme weather warnings to residents efficiently. ![]() However, cell carriers are increasingly blocking these standard long code numbers for "gray routing" reasons. That said, the 10-digital number (long code) does feel more personal to recipients. Additionally, vendors can brand their 6-digit numbers (short code) with catchy words or easy-to-remember sequences.įor standard long code, organizations can't send the same volume of texts at a time. With dedicated short code, an organization can send a single message to thousands of phone numbers at once. As a result, they try to save money through less-than-ideal text marketing platforms, such as shared short code and standard long code formats. This tactic is unfortunate because SMS is one of the few marketing platforms that empower two-way engagement.ĭoing one-way SMS blasts effectively (using dedicated short code) is also too expensive for most e-commerce vendors. Some SMS marketers only use texting to send one-way blasts. Source: Voice Sage How One-Way SMS Blasts Work Spam folders, filtering, number blocking, and more have rendered one-way communication ineffective compared to 10-20 years ago. As a result, performance has declined sharply. Over the past decade, email, PPC, and other one-way digital channels have become saturated. Business texting services are no longer so one-dimensional, however. Generic, one-way marketing automation can be useful because it allows you to deliver information to large groups of people in seconds. Until recently, all B2C (business to consumer) e-commerce SMS and email marketing has taken the form of one-way blasts. One-Way Text Blasts Produce Limited Results We will demonstrate how each works and then offer some direction as you decide which marketing tactics work best for you. Our goal in this article is to differentiate the two most popular approaches to business texting (one-way blasts vs. E-commerce vendors are just beginning to notice how results from two-way SMS conversations are well worth the investment. A good two-way texting service allows for much more personal customer engagement than with a traditional one-way text blast.
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