Engage your audience

Last year, 2.3 trillion texts were reportedly sent worldwide. Within Australia, more than 10 billion SMS messages are estimated to be sent in 2008 and 85% of all mobile phone users identified as regular SMS users. It is the number one way to engage with your target audience.

How can it be used?

In its simplest form, the respondent sends an SMS to request information about a product or service in a two-step process (message in, message out). An example of the method described here could be a request for information to be mailed out, where the respondent sends the keyword and their address to a specific number, which is recorded and acted upon. SMS ‘conversations’ can also take place where the respondent sends the initiating SMS and receives a reply which requires them to send another message and so on if required. This scenario may take place, for instance, where the aim of the campaign is to refer the respondent to further services after some qualifying data has first been captured that determine which service to refer them to.

Campaign reporting

In all campaigns, data is recorded and can be reported upon during the campaign, which can give valuable information relating to which keywords are being used at which time of day. A keyword is a word advertised on the creative that, if sent as an SMS to a specific number, initiates a specific response. This enables the advertiser to fine-tune a campaign based on these results and gives a greater degree of accountability. Different keywords may be used on different media or in different locations, for example, to assess the effectiveness of various aspects of the campaign.

Phone naming

Phone naming is the practice of using the alphanumeric system to display a phone number, for example, 0458 GAMBLE. Evidence shows that you are 14 times more likely to remember a phone name than a pone number. 94% of the Australian population aged 14-55 years are aware of the alphanumeric concept and how to dial them and the usage of phone names has doubled in Australia from 2006 to 2008.