Hats off to the SMS.
Quick, direct, penetrative: it’s not surprising that it’s the communication channel enterprises rely on most to connect effectively with customers.
According to research, virtually every SMS message is read by recipients; a highly- compelling reason for brands to invest in the technology that enables it all to happen.
One-time password validations, appointment confirmations and reminders, marketing offers, customer support messaging: it’s a brilliantly-effective way of engaging, but the speed and simplicity of front-end delivery can often be out-weighed by the cost and complexity of the back-end process.
Complicated regulation, registration red tape, global geographical anomalies, sender aggregation, carrier dependence: it all makes sending a simple text far less straight-forward than it looks.
Consequently, it pays for enterprises to pick a provider with not only a value offering but also the scale, expertise, and smarts to navigate smoothly through this most bureaucratic of landscapes.
“There is a whole host of things that companies need to understand in order to maximize their investment in SMS messaging, such as the different options for sending in each country and how they may affect the strategy. You can’t just get a phone number and begin sending globally. It’s not that simple. There are many different hoops and jumps involved to deliver an SMS,” says Tyler Holmes, Senior Specialist Solutions Architect at AWS, whose Amazon Pinpoint enterprise messaging platform delivers billions of texts every day.
“Organisations go in, they get a single phone number, and then think they can send wherever they want, but that’s just not the case. First, they should ideally know which countries they need to send to, the volumes they anticipate, and how fast they need to send them.
Based on that information we can guide them through the different functionality options for different types of phone numbers and different options for different countries.
“Then there is the carrier to consider. In the US, it’s the likes of Verizon and AT&T and T-Mobile. But in other countries, multiple different carriers own the infrastructure that gets an SMS to a handset, and they, along with government, have a large say in regulations and the registration process that may be required in each country. SMS costs and regulations can change frequently, so it benefits organisations to choose a provider that can help navigate that complex landscape.”
Depending on the countries they want to send to, companies may be forced to deal with many different providers in order to piece together delivery to all of them. In the case of Amazon Pinpoint however, strong relationships with multiple providers means it can send to over 240 different countries from a single platform, decreasing the companies’ complexity and cost significantly.
“Because of the fragmented nature of SMS we sometimes see Frankenstein infrastructure; multiple APIs, multiple providers, multiple bills,” says Holmes. “Whereas we’ve been able to collectively wrap our arms around all of the available providers in order to deliver globally. It’s like a one stop shop, with a single API.”
Of course, for SMS senders, it’s the deliverability that is key. In short, the investment can be significant, so the returns must match-up. Consequently, delivery reporting is vital.
“SMS is a super-important component of an enterprise level communication stack; from sending one time passwords for people to log into their bank, to appointment updates, and any number of other use cases,” says Holmes.
“We have customers that spend millions of dollars on SMS delivery, so it’s critical for us and the customer that those messages are getting there. We give our customers visibility from start to finish in the form of a delivery receipt so they can see when messages have been delivered and take action when they have not.”
What’s for sure, SMS is clearly playing a major role in enterprises’ communication strategies and is set to continue to do so. Succinct, and ubiquitously linked to our everyday smartphone use, alerts buzz in our pockets and, even if we don’t open them, we instantly see and contextualize the message.
In a world where rapid, concise, and targeted messaging equals stellar customer engagement, that’s a high-value trick to pull off.
To learn more about how Amazon Pinpoint can help your business maximize the power of messaging, click here.
