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
How to Choose the Incentive for Your SMS Marketing Opt-In Campaign
You’ve decided to try out SMS marketing. But you’re stuck on that first step of choosing the offer for your initial opt in campaign. Don’t worry, if you know the story of Goldilocks then you’ll understand just what to do after reading this blog.
How to Avoid Failing at SMS Marketing
For many businesses it's often a knee-jerk reaction to create an app, or to run mobile ads, or to start an SMS list. But without really understanding what it’s all about, you can waste a lot of time and money before realising what you actually need to do.
To Txt Speak, or NTTS. TITQ.
Is it a good idea to cram more information into your precious 160 characters by using "txtspk" acronyms and abbreviations? Yes and no! It depends on the audience and the message. In this post you can pick up some insights into this question and join us in dissecting a real life example.
SMS Marketing Ideas To Celebrate Wimbledon
Using SMS to support drive-to-web strategies
How to Use SMS Marketing to Counter Retail Fatigue
Uncertain economic times and an ever-extending holiday retail season is apparently making Brits less excited about the “usual” sales. But don’t worry, find out how SMS marketing can help you boost sales even in the face of retail fatigue.
5 SMS Marketing Ideas for Easter [Infographic]
Why you want to keep your SMS marketing database clean
Salesforce Finds SMS Messaging a Growing Part of Mobile Marketing Strategy
What do 5,000 marketers from ten different countries say about SMS? It’s great, and we’re going to do more of it. Well, that’s the gist of the results in the Salesforce 2015 State of Marketing Report. Mobile marketing has taken a central place in most company’s strategies, and SMS is a growing part of it. Here are some key statistics from the report.
Email and SMS Marketing are a Perfect Pair
Businesses with limited staff or budgets might ask themselves whether they should use email or SMS marketing. Both are relatively low cost. Both offer the ability to reach many people at the same time, yet provide personal interaction. Both have a long history of being used for marketing.