What do you know about premium text message services? Do you have premium SMS numbers in a place that you use? Are you adept in how to use premium text message services? Don’t worry if your answer is no. This article will detail premium texting and why you need it for your brand.
First, we want to look at what premium text messaging is. Some consumers choose to invest in premium SMS messages. But it’s more often businesses who do. If you send out copious promotions to consumers, the premium text message charges may be well worth the investment. We’ll delve deeper into that later in this article.
What Is Premium Text Messaging for Consumers?
Premium text messaging refers to a special kind of text message program. In many cases, premium text message programs are used to get horoscopes, daily trivia, jokes, screensavers, and ringtones. These typically require a fee to subscribe and use them. The fees might be charged to a phone bill for consumers.
There’s one catch on this. However, many consumers need to learn about the charges associated with these services. Because of that, in December 2013, wireless carriers essentially removed premium text messaging. The numerous consumer complaints were a massive part of what drove this change. For consumers, premium text messaging is a relic of the past.
There are some forms of premium text messages today, but they are much different from that of years ago. The way consumers are billed for these services is also unique. For example, a non-profit or political organization seeking donations can add fees to a cell phone bill assuming the consumer agrees to donate to the cause. However, consent must be provided.
What About Premium Text Messaging for Businesses?
For businesses, premium text messaging is a bit of a different beast. Consider first that more than four billion people right now have cell phones. Of those four billion, half of them have a smartphone. Those numbers can give you insight into why mobile marketing is necessary for a business.
This is also why premium SMS services are available. They’re made to take your text messaging and make it better and brighter. When you send a customer an SMS, they receive premium content. Tie this into the fact that one-quarter of consumers would get a text message rather than a phone call from a brand, and you have a reason to invest in this technology.
A final statistic to be aware of before we go further is that 98% of SMS messages are opened. When you look at emails, that number is 20%. Text message marketing is easy to use and intelligent to implement. You must use premium text message services to get the most out of your campaigns.
With a premium SMS solution, you can offer customer services and products using text messages. They can click through to make purchases on your online store or use a code to go into a brick-and-mortar location and buy something. This is a great way to boost your sales.
If you’re ready to get started on the process, there are a few things you’ll need to do.
Acquire a Short Code
If you need to get more familiar with shortcodes, these are five or six-digit phone numbers. Businesses often use them to send out text messages to their customers. When you send out your text message promotions, this number will appear on your customers’ phones. If the shortcode you want is available, you can choose it.
After you get your short code, you can send promotions, coupons, offers, and more. From there, you can get creative in creating suitable campaigns that resonate with your customers.
Make Sure Consumers Opt-In
Having a short code is goal number one. However, it will only do you a lot of good if you have people opting in to get all your fantastic text messages. So you’ll need to get people to sign up for the texts before you move forward.
The main thing to be aware of here is that you must include terms and conditions explaining how your service works. Go into what kind of texts you’ll send and how frequently they will be received. You want to be honest, or it could cause your customers to get upset and unsubscribe.
Advertise Your Short Code
You have the code, and you’ve written up information about your service so you can move forward. This is the right time to ensure that code is put in the hands of prospects and customers who might choose to use it. The good news is that there are several ways to do this.
Wherever your customers are, make sure you promote your brand there. For instance, you can have the code on your website or in a physical store for customers. Add it to social media or advertisements in newspapers, radio, and television commercials.
While the number is essential to get out there, there are other things you want to share. Include the keywords for your current campaigns, so you know what a customer wants to get information about. Once that’s done, you can enjoy the benefits of using premium text message services.
The Top Reasons to Choose Esendex for Your Premium SMS Services
At this point, you know about premium SMS services and how useful they can be for a business. You may find that Esendex offers premium text message services that surpass the competitors in many ways. All that’s left is choosing one that meets your brand needs.
What are we known for? We offer flexible and reliable SMS APIs, voice broadcasting, phone number and address verification APIs, an SMS reseller program, and other services made to scale and integrate with your business.
Esendex is a trusted partner of many of the most significant healthcare and finance brands. We’ve been offering our services since 1999 and offer experience working with those in various industries and sectors. Our software and APIs are available to support all your marketing channels.
Our SMS Notify! API is designed to send and receive mass text messages globally. It’s fully programmable to meet any of your needs. We offer short code texting, an MMS API to send gifs, emojis, photos, audio, and two-way SMS for powerful customer conversations.
Of course, many brands offer the use of premium text message services. However, many of them need to provide a host of online support channels you can access. At Esendex, we provide around-the-clock emergency support for our text API service. You can expect quick troubleshooting through chat, email, or phone.
We also ensure your security at all times. Our API is 256-bit encrypted, just like militaries and governments. It’s SOC2 Type 2 Certified and HITRUST Certified. Our SMS servers are located across the United States, and all are owned and operated solely by Esendex.
If you want to use premium text message services, you can’t do much better than Esendex. We’ll set up the service to meet your needs so you can quickly take advantage of a full-featured SMS marketing campaign. We’re happy to give you more information or set up a conversation with our sales team.
