Use of SMS marketing is extensive not in this world of the internet and everyone seems to make the best use of it. According to Pew Research, this has proved to be the best way to tap the mobile users who are hooked to the internet most of the times. One of the most significant areas that reap the benefits of SMS and MMS text marketing using shortcodes apart from the different business brands is the local governments and public safety agencies.
The reach out the ability of these text messages is undisputed and unquestionable. It is for this reason that more and more industries, business owners and even public safety and local government agencies are focusing on developing consumer mobile engagement strategies in a better and bigger way. There are set guidelines for this and in order to do that it is required to have proper access to the local mobile numbers as well as the approval to the messages sent.
Ideally, for all government agencies, the official vehicle for communication with the public to convey safety messages through a mobile channel is Wireless Emergency Alerts. WEA ensures this for the different agencies enabling them to accomplish the desired results with local mobile numbers.
With the use of the common short codes, this is overly helpful for the agencies as well as different business brands. Being just a simple five or six-digit codes, these are easy to remember for the mobile users who can opt-in to receive the message and notification sent by a specific agency if they want.
It is easy for the brands to reach to the users as these codes are universal and are usually accessible by all types of mobile devices even if it is not a smartphone and across all types of networks and carriers.
In today’s fast and first mobile world, local governments, as well as businesses, can employ these common short codes to increase the potential reach of their campaign and target audience, ensure a better and higher level of engagement and even get more mobile users connected and keep informed.
Role of digital assistants
The use of digital assistants and its dominance in SMS short code text messaging cannot be overlooked. Over the years, the digital assistants have proved to be most useful in this aspect and have caught the attention of the marketers. There are several reasons for it such as:
- It has many building skills with several mini apps that help in performing the tasks. Powered by this tool, marketers are looking forward to making the best use of the vast opportunity that SMS text messaging offers in building workable and effective interfaces for the new Home hub of Google.
- The opportunities provided by digital assistants are much more significant than those provided by chatbots. The level of adoption is far too much strong and this is the primary reason that it may replace the need for an app for specific brands. Customers can leverage these interfaces even more for different other activities throughout the day.
- On the other hand, it is found that most consumers spend much of their time with digital assistants that are voice controlled. This means they are highly likely to start to expect such kinds of interactions from different brands. This particularly possible when the platforms have the power to build a one-stop contact point that will help the brands to keep their consumers engaged for a long time.
However, digital assistants will not replace the apps for each and every brand. The need for it depends on several factors such as:
- Brand loyalty requirements by the app users
- The digital commitment
- Data maturity
- Offering high-quality experience and
- The existence of a captive audience.
With the help of digital assistants, brands can now compete well with more focus and attention on mobile moments. If you as a marketer need to gain the most using these digital assistants, it is recommended that you deliver useful shortcuts for the consumers to get more relevant information. You are also required to think in the terms of conversational interfaces with better and proper leveraging of artificial intelligence. This will, in the end, help you to gain more consumer insights and at the same time build a better and more proactive user experience.
Provide hybrid solutions
If you use the digital assistants in tandem with chatbots you will be able to provide a more hybrid solution to overcome the common challenges that are associated with user engagement. One such common challenge is how fast the users move between visual and voice communications.
It is important for you to know at this point that irrespective of the type of combination digital assistants, chatbots and app marketer you use to leverage your brand, there will be a significant difference in how these will help in developing better and more prospective mobile engagements. In order to go forward, you will need to focus on the voice-driven experiences.
It is also useful to know at this point that although voice is the fastest way to send any information, it is visual that is proven to be the fastest way to receive any info. Therefore, you should speak to convey your request and relay on the visual in the app as its answer.
The point of speaking to place your request could be anywhere. It can be:
- Within the app
- Within the Messenger app
- Within Siri or
- Within a 3rd party app as well.
However, you will need to have a very strong mobile Web content which is the next big thing in the next generation of mobile and mobile marketing since more searches are conducted through mobile rather than using a desktop.
This shift will be more noticeable and profound as the use of digital assistants gain steam. You can already see its effect when you look at search engines such as Google that have developed and essentially integrated a mobile-first strategy in its search index. Therefore, make sure your effort is mobile optimized.
