Start the New Year with one interesting prediction for SMS messaging

Across the web there are many articles predicting the future of mobile and SMS. I picked the most interesting one (to me anyway) to focus on for the first blog of 2015.
What it is
You’ve all seen the share buttons on web content. They go hand in hand with online articles and videos. Usually you can share by posting directly to Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, emailing a link, and sometimes you have sharing options like Digg and Reddit (among many others).
In 2015, you just might start to see an option to share via text message too.
From what I’ve found, the source of this prediction is James Mottram, director of content development for USA Today Sports Media Group. He’s been quoted as saying, “Everyone starts adding SMS share buttons to content,” when asked for his big prediction for mobile in 2015.
How it works
The SMS share buttons would work just like other share buttons. SMS providers or web developers would use the service’s application programming interface (API) to create the code that would send an SMS message with a link to the content. Website and content owners with SMS accounts could then put the code at the end of their articles or videos. The share buttons would appear with all the others.
If you as the viewer or reader wanted to share it with someone, you’d click on the SMS button, enter the mobile number you wanted to send to and off the message would go.
Upsides to SMS sharing
Everyone wants their website content shared for SEO purposes, increasing website traffic, brand recognition and a host of other reasons. And for all those same reasons, another channel for sharing is a good thing.
Mottram, along with his quote about adding SMS share buttons, has discussed how they used SMS sharing on the USA Today website. Specifically they added it to their “For The Win”, or FTW, section of the website. FTW is a video driven sports interview and review part of USA Today. The results Mottram discusses are pretty astounding. The SMS share buttons were used 3-4 times more often than Twitter buttons.
As of this writing though, the SMS share buttons were no longer on FTW. The quotes from Mottram were all late last year so it’s possible they are still in the testing process. There’s no way to be sure of course.
In discussing SMS, Cooper Fleishman of DailyDot.com, agrees with Mottram’s predictions. He goes on to add, “Sharing links via text feels more personal. It’s more immediate than shooting friends an email they’re free to ignore.”
So not only does sharing increase with the option of sending via SMS, the share is likely to have more impact on the recipient because of how personal SMS messages are – especially when received from friends and family.
But there are downsides
As a content provider, adding an SMS share button has some downsides too.
The first is there is no standard yet on how it works or how it should look. Each SMS service provider or developer will likely create their own button for sharing and people will not immediately recognise them the way they do Facebook or Twitter buttons. That doesn’t mean it can’t work (as the FTW example shows), but it does highlight that you will have to make it clear what the purpose of the button is to website visitors. At least until a standard graphic representation of SMS sharing evolves.
Another downside is, of course, the cost. Since it is impossible to know ahead of time how many SMS shares you will get on a particular piece of content, or even any of your content, budgeting for SMS messages becomes an issue. This isn’t insurmountable though as you can try it out on limited content at first to get an estimate of how often your visitors would use the buttons. Also most SMS service providers offer the option of setting spending limits, or at worst, the buttons will no longer work when you’ve run out of message credits. In effect, that allows you to set an upper threshold on the cost.
You might be tempted to hook up with one of the free text or SMS service providers for sharing too. After all, content sharing messages don’t necessarily need to be received in a timely fashion. But with free services, delivery isn’t guaranteed so the shares may never be received, or received so late as to make them irrelevant. That can upset your website visitors who sent the message but discovered it was never received. It also isn’t good for you since the intended recipient never had the opportunity to visit your website and perhaps discover other things of interest. You may have lost a sale, or subscriber, or missed an opportunity to convert the recipient into a customer.
One more potential downside is regulations. Since the messages will likely be sent to people not on your own list, you’ll have to make sure the message comes from the person sharing it. And the message should be clear on who sent it, even though it originated with you. This is another area where the standards and best practices are not clearly defined when using SMS this way. But it likely can be managed the same way an email share is by including the name of the sender as the official sender so the recipient knows who it is from.
What do you think of SMS sharing buttons? Would you use them on your website? Would you send links via SMS if you had the option (and there was no cost to you)?
Related Articles
The most effective mobile marketing example messages
How and why you need to provide excellent customer service
The Truth About SMS Opt Out Rates
You’ve read all about getting subscribers, the legal and recommended guidelines, and put great offers out to your list. But people still unsubscribe. Should you be worried? Are you doing something wrong? That depends. As the saying goes, you can’t make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time. You will have opt-outs, but whether you have too many is the question you should be asking.
Here’s Why SMS Marketing Is Literally The Best Idea Ever
Is SMS marketing the worst idea ever? That’s the opinion of one author in Entrepreneur Magazine. He gives five reasons why companies should never bother sending SMS messages to customers. I take him on, point by point to show why he’s wrong and SMS marketing is the best idea ever.
3 Reasons SMS Messaging is the Best Choice to Contact Everyone on Your List
One of the many benefits of SMS messaging is that it's personal. It can feel like a one on one communication or even conversation. But it's also one of the best ways to reach 10, 100, or even 100,000 people all at once. So even "one to many" communication feels like "one to one" to the receiver.
The benefits of virtual mobile numbers and short code SMS
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.
Using Perfectly Timed SMS Marketing to Engage Customers
One of the greatest advantages of SMS marketing is the ability to be personal. This gives the opportunity to engage customers based on any number of actions such as purchases and registrations. Some people call this kind of marketing "just-in-time" which describes the concept really well.
3 Tips on Making SMS Messaging an Integrated Part of Your Marketing
One of the key takeaways from the Salesforce 2015 State of Marketing Report was that when mobile is integrated into your marketing strategy, everything performed better. That makes sense when you think about it. Mobile is a unique channel that provides you a direct link to your customers.