Who is Using Bulk SMS Messaging and Why?

Bulk Messaging, also known as Mass Texting, is employed by enterprise firms, member-based organizations, media companies, and financial institutions who have discovered that Short Message Service messaging (SMS Messaging) can increase customer engagement, successfully promote products and services, and be used to deliver time-sensitive alerts and notifications to their subscribers.

SMS messaging provides businesses with a more direct method to communicate with customers on the devices they turn to everyday. With over 2.4 billion SMS-capable smartphones in use around the globe, nearly every business has been given the opportunity to amplify their customer reach through Bulk SMS Messaging.

Mass Texting In-Action

As a mass communication tool, SMS messaging offers businesses looking to disseminate timely information with many definitive advantages. As you consider scenarios in which SMS Bulk Messaging could meet your needs, here are four real world examples of businesses that have successfully used this messaging solution to communicate with customers succinctly and effectively, in one simple send.

Xoom: Digital Money Transfer Provider Uses SMS for Real-time Transaction Notifications

Xoom, a member of the PayPal family, is a digital money transfer provider who helps consumers send money, pay bills, and reload prepaid mobile phones for family and friends around the world. With the use of Mass Texting, Xoom sends both the sender and the recipient a real-time transaction notification which, in turn, provides peace of mind and eliminates the need for follow-up. Results: Bulk Messaging has been used to effectively send transaction notifications to over 1.4 million people in 33 countries.

Walmart: International Retailer Sends Daily Promotions Directly To Consumers Phones

Walmart, the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, offers a “Value of the Day” item to all of its customers. These are special discounts that Walmart shoppers can redeem for a limited time. In addition to traditional marketing methods, such as in-store announcements, customers are encouraged to sign up to receive these deals on their mobile phones. Results: Walmart sends “Value of the Day” notifications via bulk text message to all subscribing customers, providing each with a new incentive to visit their local Walmart store daily.

PayByPhone: Global Payment Service Notifies Consumers of Expiring Parking Meters

PayByPhone is a mobile payments service processor providing customers in Europe and North America with an easy way to a pay for parking. PayByPhone’s unique application uses SMS Bulk Messaging to send one-way notifications to motorists five minutes before their parking time expires, thereby allowing them to conveniently avoid a parking ticket by adding time without the bother of returning to their vehicle. Results: PayByPhone helps customers avoid parking fines by sending 2+ million time-sensitive messages each month.

Sprint: Ad Agency Builds Brand for Telecom Company with Inventive Text Marketing

When Sprint wanted to rebrand themselves with a new “All. Together. Now.” campaign, their advertising agency, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, knew it would be difficult to break through the media and advertising clutter. Their idea was to celebrate what Sprint users do with their mobile devices – talk, text, email, post videos – and encourage even more fun, uplifting social interaction. Sprint used SMS Bulk Text Marketing to ask users to call, text, or email Veatrice Henson, who was celebrating her 100th birthday. Results: Sprint customers from all around the world sent Veatrice over 500,000 calls and text messages wishing her a “Happy Birthday.”

Even though each of these four businesses deployed SMS Bulk Messaging in a different way, they had one thing in common — they chose to use a cloud-based messaging solution.

Bulk SMS Messaging Made Easy With The Cloud

There’s much to consider when integrating a mass notification solution within your customer management software. Augmenting your communications program and platform with mass texting, whether as a customer service enhancement or a marketing tool, requires specialized software. To ensure the best customer experience possible, explore the use of cloud communication APIs to deploy your SMS Messaging solution. Here are four reasons to consider Bulk SMS Messaging activities with a trusted cloud-based service:

1. Extensive Global Reach: A reliable global carrier network is one of the most compelling reasons businesses turn to a cloud provider. Why? Because reputable cloud providers have established relationships with worldwide telecom providers, and have the experience of delivering billions of messages globally, giving them the ability to adjust routes in real-time to avoid delays and delivery issues. Be sure that your provider offers multiple routes to the major carrier networks, and has redundant carrier interconnects for each mobile subscriber. This will help ensure your messages get delivered in the timeframes and timezones you require.

2. Flexible Pricing Model. Before beginning any type of capacity planning or estimation of customer reach, look for a cloud provider that offers a pricing model that can scale as your business needs grow. There are cloud providers that offer simple usage-based models so you that only pay for what you send. In addition to program scalability and pay-as-you-go plans, look for the flexibility to secure volume discounts as you expand your reach and use of the service. If your campaigns could conceivably fluctuate from 1,000 to a million sends, be sure you only pay for the volume you use. Don’t contract for any more than that amount.

3. Robust Software Features: Another great benefit of working with a cloud providers is that they typically provide other communication solutions beyond Bulk SMS Messaging. Instead of sending a word-based text, innovative businesses are sending Multimedia Message Services (MMS) as well. MMS allows you to be a bit more inventive with your mass communications by sending emojis, calendar invites, polls, surveys, and picture messages. Marketers, in particular, are embracing new cloud communication platforms to also seamlessly integrate additional communication apps such as Voice, Chat, Facebook Messenger, and others.

4. Integration Simplicity: Your chosen cloud solution should make it easy to integrate your SMS communication application within your overall communication platform or CRM. By using cloud computing, your developers can leverage pre-built code that’s user-friendly and user-ready, to meet your Bulk SMS Messaging requirements. Look for a global SMS platform with programmable APIs that can be customized to meet your unique needs. If writing code is not part of your organization’s expertise, some providers offer drag and drop features so you can quickly and confidently create a smart SMS communication workflow. With these additional tools, your business can focus on designing the right customer communication experience rather than developing the nuts and bolts of a communication application from scratch.

The Definitive Cloud Communication Platform

As you look to the cloud for your Mass Texting solution, consider the benefits of working with Altmedia’s cloud-based communication platform. Our intelligent cloud software includes a comprehensive suite of developer-friendly APIs, a superior global carrier network, and a robust suite of messaging applications. Best of all, adding new user features is easy: your customer’s experience can be progressively upgraded without the need to invest in more developers, purchase new software, or replace old hardware