7 Marketing Strategies Using SMS Short Codes

Business uses for SMS short codes

Technology has allowed the relationship between businesses and their clientele to become stronger, easier to preserve and extend the customer life-cycle.

Communicating regularly with your customer base is important to the longevity of the customer and with short codes, businesses increase their chances of reaching their clients and receive feedback faster.

What exactly are short codes?

Short codes are a 5 or 6 digit number and are perfect for sending high-volume messages in the business-to-consumer environment.

You've probably heard it on the radio or seen billboards prompting you to text a keyword to a 5 digit number. That is an example of an SMS short code.

Short codes have the ability to send and receive a large numbers of messages at a reliable rate and at a much higher quantity than long numbers.

For this reason Short codes have become an effective SMS marketing and customer interaction tool, especially for time-sensitive campaigns or critical alerts.

What are Benefits of Short Codes?

The key advantage of using a short code is that it can be easily remembered, making it simple for recipients to reply to your messages forming the basis of any great SMS marketing platform.

With long numbers, you’re only able to send 1 message per second, but short codes can send large numbers of bulk SMS messages at a constant rate with a much higher amount of customers being reached.

Another advantage of short codes is the lines are communication is open and strong. Allowing you the immediate response you need from your consumers, to better your service and strengthen your relationships.

Research has shown that as much as 64% of customers want to be able to engage with companies via two-way messaging and short code messaging enables businesses to do just that.

How to use short codes to achieve business goals

Here are 7 ways businesses can use short codes to their advantage.

1. Surveys

Surveys are one of the best ways to discover how your consumers view your business and service. With a short-code campaign, you will be able to receive the feedback you need immediately, to improve your service.

Short code surveys also allow you understand your customers’ needs, as well as make them feel their opinion matters regarding the service you give them.

2. Lead generation

This is a great way for your customers to receive an instant response regarding a loan or quote on the services you offer, with having the waiting time of a response email or phone call.

3. Call-backs

With short codes, the chances of your message reaching the masses are higher than with long numbers. Using short codes to send out call-backs ensures that they receive it and that you are able to, with a simple 5-6 digit number, reach the quantity you want to return.

4. Customer service

Receiving instantaneous feedback from your customers after you have delivered a service, allows two things. You are able to understand the mind of your consumer, as well as, ensure that your employees are delivery your services to your consumer satisfaction.

5. Branding

Short codes are a great and cost-effective way to brand your business.

You can purchase a dedicated memorable short code, which means you will be the only company that uses it and it will become synonymous with your brand, ensuring brand recognition and consistency. Dedicated short codes have increased functionality and high messaging quantities.

Another way of branding and for a more cost-effective solution, you can register a keyword on a shared short code, which means you will be assigned a unique SMS keyword but you will share the short code with other businesses.

Although this solution might be cost effective, it does lessen the impact and memorability your brand might have if you have your own, unique short code.

6. Competitions

Short codes could be used to hold competitions for your consumers. Its ability to reach a huge amount people will increase the success of your competition. This competition not only allows an increase in communication but also intensifies loyalty.

7. Donations

Short codes could help encourage your consumers to give back to their community or charitable organisation. Short codes could increase the number of people you reach to give a good cause and the feedback and help you receive through it.

Short codes are a reliable solution to increasing customer response rate online, in-store or from any traditional advertising campaigns and can be used for marketing, promotions, call back requests, donations etc.

Short codes enable you to build and nurture a direct relationship with your end-consumer by employing software that facilitates targeting and separation.

The long and short of it

Now that you can see how short codes can be incorporated into a marketing mix will you be considering short codes into your future marketing initiatives?

Let us know in the comments section below