SMS Applications are About More Than Just Marketing
I talk a lot on our blog about using SMS for marketing. That’s because SMS messaging is an amazing channel for marketers. But it can be used for so much more than that. In this blog I wanted to highlight a couple of example SMS applications that just might get your “little grey cells” thinking about how to use SMS messaging for your organisation.
Logistics
Managing staff, deliveries, or inventory is a necessarily complex job. Communication is the key to keeping everyone informed and things moving smoothly. And the faster the people in your organisation can communicate, the better able they are to stay on track, make adjustments, or avert disaster before it happens.
For example, a warehouse manager can get text alerts when inventory of a critical supply drops below a certain level. The manager can take immediate action and prevent any shortages or delays. Even if you already use email or computer notifications, these take time to arrive and may never be seen by a busy manager. But SMS offers almost instantaneous delivery directly to the manager’s mobile, which could make the difference between a successful shipment or an expensive delay.
Unique SMS Applications
The great thing about technology is how people are always finding new ways to use it. This next use case comes from the US and a group called VetAdvisor. They help returning American soldiers transition back into civilian life by offering coaching, career advice, and financial education.
Every veteran is assigned a wellness coach who keeps in touch with them and helps them with their specific challenges. The coaches send them real-time encouragement and advice via SMS. The service even integrates with some devices, such as the Fitbit. The coaches can see their progress and issues through the Fitbit data, then send them SMS messages to offer support, ask questions, or set up a meeting.
VetAdvisor is one example of a service thinking out of the box and trying new technology together with SMS in a way that provides a valuable service to its members.
Can you think of any new ways SMS applications could support your organisation? Share your ideas in the comments.
Related Articles
SMS Alerts! SMS Messaging for The IT Industry
The life of an IT administrator or manager is a constant battle with the equipment and software they manage. If an issue isn’t fixed in a reasonable time, there are usually consequences in one form or another. So how can you use SMS alerts to make sure your IT team is always aware of issues and the need to fix them quickly?
SMS Messaging for B2B Marketing
Ask most individuals and they will tell you that they generally use SMS messaging for personal communications. For B2B marketers, this single assumption often leads to this powerful channel being completely ignored. Whilst it may be true that most messages sent by individuals are indeed personal in nature, this is not necessarily the same for messages they receive. Read on to learn why SMS messaging has huge potential in B2B marketing and how to use it to increase ROI and engagement.
8 Reasons to Use SMS in Your Service Based Business
When the glass ceiling on your annual turnover and profits is governed by the number of hours you have to trade, it's even more important to ensure your marketing strategies are as fruitful and affordable as possible. SMS marketing appears, at first blush, to require a lot in the way of technology, budget and management, but it's incredibly successful for small businesses in service industries - even the ones with small budgets and limited resources...
Why businesses love SMS notifications
5 steps to effective call deflection
Should you promote your business and services by SMS?
How Many Characters can I use for SMS Marketing? [Infographic]
How SMS Marketing can Save Workplace Training Providers Time & Money
How work based education providers can take advantage of SMS Messaging to boost attendance and reduce the time and costs associated with arranging and re-arranging training sessions. Read this article to learn how private education and training companies can benefit from simple SMS confirmations and reminders with some illustrative examples. We also briefly explore the possibilities offered by automated responses using SMS keywords in conjunction with a virtual mobile number.
A Brief History of the SMS Message [Infographic]
5 SMS Marketing Tips to Help Small Businesses Succeed
For many startups and small businesses, SMS Marketing is conspicuous by its absence from their marketing strategy, despite it being proven to be one of the most cost effective and most powerful ever forms of marketing. So why is it that small businesses are shying away from this awesome channel and how can they use it to their advantage? Here’s what the experts here at Fastsms have to say.