Driving Customer Engagement With A2P SMS

Driving Customer Engagement With A2P SMS

If at any point you have received a bank transaction alert, notification SMS, promotions SMS, One Time Password (OTP codes), 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) SMS, Advert SMS, etc. you have had an A2P SMS experience. A2P SMS are text messages sent from an Application to a person(s). It is interesting to note that SMS remains the choice of communication between businesses and their customers despite the increasing usage of Over The Top (OTT) applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, etc.

Although Person-to-Person (P2P) SMS usage has dropped greatly due to the introduction of these OTT applications, Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS has consistently been on the rise. While individuals are adopting OTT applications, brands and businesses are adopting A2P SMS as the most effective means of engaging and communicating with their customers.

Source: Statista

According to Statista, the A2P SMS market has experienced outstanding growth and adoption in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue for the next couple of years.

Why You should Integrate A2P SMS into your Customer Engagement

Reach and Engagement

According to research, SMS marketing facts show that while not everyone has a smart phone with internet access, 5 billion people in the world (about 65% of the current population) can send and receive SMS.

As at January 2020, there were 169.2 million mobile connections in Nigeria. This implied a 12 million (+7.7%) increase between January 2019 and January 2020.

Research also has it that the open rate of SMS marketing campaigns is 98% compared to open rate for email marketing campaigns which is 20%. Also, 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes compared to 20% for emails.

 Measuring Customer Satisfaction

According to a report from Cellit, “With eight times the response rate of email, mobile marketing is too powerful to pass up,” said David Wachs, senior vice president of mobile and general manager at Cellit Chicago. As a result, retailers are successfully using A2P SMS through campaigns to retain loyal customers, drives sales and grow their existing database.

Cost Effectiveness

A2P messaging is not just cost-effective; it also has a broad reach, enabling companies to interact with consumers anytime, anywhere in the world. Given the high open rate of SMS, A2P offers an excellent opportunity for businesses to achieve a healthy return on their marketing investments.

Features and Benefits of A2P SMS

Customer Engagement

With A2P SMS, you deliver timely notifications to customers while offering the ability for SMS real-time response. Keeping your customers engaged via text drives satisfaction and minimizes lost revenue.

Effective Mobile Marketing

You can easily combine bulk SMS with your existing email marketing. SMS is amazingly effective for customer retention.

Real-Time Support

Support your users on-the-go. Allow your customers to create and respond to issues via SMS, for faster and more efficient issue resolution.

Payment Notifications

Send real-time financial and transaction notifications to customers. Prevent fraud and increase confidence in your service.

Authentication

Add a layer of security to your two-factor sign up and password recovery processes.

Discount Vouchers and Coupons

Send valuable discount coupons, vouchers and offers to your customers which can be redeemed in-store or online.

With the increasing relevance of A2P SMS in driving engagement, enterprises and businesses planning to effectively engage and enhance communication with their customers must integrate A2P SMS to ensure effective engagement and communication with their customers as the need arises.

Using platforms and APIs for USSD, SMS, and Voice, HollaTags helps businesses engage with all types of customers on mobile phones.