The 3 Biggest Benefits of Using a Shortcode in Your SMS Marketing
Over 92% of people in the UK have mobile phones. SMS marketing is one of the best ways to reach out to them in a personal way. But for your marketing to be a real success, you need to get replies. Using a shortcode with keywords offers many benefits for your marketing. Although there are numerous advantages from using shortcodes let’s just take a look at the top three:
- The shortcode becomes identifiable with your brand. Recognition is important in marketing. When you’re competing for attention among other text messages you’ll want your customers to know the message is from you so they won’t ignore it.
- A shortcode is easy to type. If you want to have people send you messages, they’ll need to reply to your message, or type in your contact number. A short code is a five digit number so it ends up being much easier for people to enter it into their mobile than a traditional 11 digit number.
- Short means easy to remember. To maximise your mobile marketing investment, you’ll want to advertise your mobile campaigns on multiple channels. If people see printed material, or hear your shortcode on the radio, they can remember it well enough to respond to your call to action.
Using shortcodes is easy too. SMS providers usually have a dedicated code. You can rent keywords to use on their shortcode, usually for a small fee. For example, keywords on the fastsms shortcode costs just £25 per month (or just £250 if you rent it for a year).
Larger brands might consider obtaining their own shortcode rather than renting keywords on a shared shortcode. Just be prepared for a long lead time and monthly fees near a thousand pounds per month.
So for most businesses, the combination of shared shortcodes and rented keywords has all the benefits for SMS marketing without the extreme cost of a custom dedicated shortcode. If you want more information on using shortcodes for your business, click on the chat button and our representatives can answer all your questions. Or if you’d rather you can contact us via email or phone. Alternatively take a look at our free Mobile Marketing Guide which offers a wealth of info, tips and advice on SMS matters.
Related Articles
10 Invaluable Ways to use SMS Marketing for Your Business
There is something about SMS marketing that is not like any other form of marketing. It is a simple form of communication, but highly effective in forging close relationships with clients who purchase from you regularly. Here are 10 key ways to use SMS marketing for your business and how to get the most out of your clients.
Oops! What to do When You Send the Wrong Message
Sending a text message to the wrong person can be embarrassing. I've done it many times. Thankfully though, they were just simple messages like "be home soon" or "I'll tell you later". Innocuous, harmless and easily explained away. But what if you make a mistake with your business SMS messages?
5 Things To Consider Before Launching Your First Text Marketing Campaign
SMS is well established as a successful marketing channel - however that doesn't mean you should just dive in head first. Here's five things you should consider before launching your first SMS marketing campaign.
How Entertainment Venues Can Use SMS Marketing
Whether it's a cinema, theatre or concert hall, your entertainment venue is missing a trick if it's not utilising SMS marketing to get those bums on seats. We take an in-depth look at how all kinds of entertainment venues can really make the most of SMS marketing.
5 Great Easter Marketing Campaigns to Inspire Your SMS Marketing
The Super Amazing Speed of SMS Marketing
One of the greatest advantages of SMS marketing is how fast it is. You might be thinking I'm talking about the almost instantaneous delivery rates, or how quick it is to write a message and send it to your entire list - but this time we're talking about how fast you can get results.
Building an SMS Inbound Marketing Campaign for Your Hotel Business
SMS flies under many marketers radars when it comes to building an inbound marketing strategy. But if Buzzfeed's news app is to be believed, there are days when SMS generates the greatest percentage of shares on that channel, beating out Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and email. SMS share buttons are reported to have been used 4 times more than Twitter buttons. When you consider Twitter has 317 million active users, then SMS marketing has huge potential for a hotel business.
3 Reasons Why SMS is The Key to Your Mobile Marketing
The year of mobile marketing is finally here. You’ve heard it before, but it’s clear it has finally arrived. In fact, it may have arrived last year so if you haven’t joined yet you might be late to the party. Don’t worry, there’s still time. Here are 3 reasons SMS needs to be an integral part of your mobile strategy going forward.
