AI Issue 4 2017

Acquisition International - April 2017 57 Incoming Message Customer feedback The feedback from the firm’s customer base varies, depending on the product they use and the industry they are in and the reason they have for choosing SMS as a communications channel. Samantha then goes on to develop this interesting point. “We have various products through which our customers can send SMS messages. We have our Web platform, which our customers can access from any internet enabled device. This is our flagship product, and still the most used for the sending of adhoc SMS messages. Our customers enjoy the simplicity of being able to send their SMS messages from where ever they are from a stable and reliable platform. “Our SMS API is (according to our customers) very easy to implement and gives them the ability to SMS enable their website or application. We are currently upgrading the APIs and integrations we have available, for example, we have recently released the BulkSMS Gateway for Marketo, and are busy working on a SalesForce integration. “Our desktop products (the BulkSMS Text Messenger), are very easy to install and use, and our customers enjoy testing any new features we might add. The extended personalisation offered on these products is one of the key features used and appreciated by our customers. According to Yvonne Turner, Communications Director of The Castle Triathlon Series (the UK’s largest triathlon series with events taking place at a selection of iconic castles across the UK, Ireland and France), the competitors rely hugely on the personalised SMS messages containing their race details. She says that, “not only do the text messages contain vital race information but they also ensure that the registration process is quick and hassle free.” She goes on to comment that, “taking part in a triathlon is a big personal achievement and one worth celebrating. We are told the text message post-race which includes a competitor’s race results listed and a congratulations is kept for a long time as they enjoy the post-race exhilaration. The results are widely available online and shared within email, but we like the personal touch and immediacy SMS delivers to our community.” Sarah Waries, project manager at Shark Spotters, a unique beach safety and shark conservation programme running in Cape Town, South Africa, says that “with BulkSMS we can ensure the message gets directly to the people we need it to, notifying them on their phones instantly rather than relying on them to check social media or email accounts.” An important attribute when escalating emergency protocols quickly and efficiently in response to a shark threat or shark attack. The future of instant messaging applications As recently as 5 years ago, industry experts predicted that A2P SMS would follow the decline in P2P messaging due to the rise in instant messaging apps. They couldn’t have been more wrong. According to recent reports on Mobile Marketing Watch, industry analysts are suggesting that SMS is set to grow from a $55.49 billion to $71.60 billion industry by 2021. Samantha elaborates on this. “We at BulkSMS.com are confident that A2P SMS will continue to grow despite the increased use of instant messaging applications. SMS messaging has become an increasingly popular tool for business communication, particularly for business to consumer (B2C) communication”. “Despite the popularity of instant messaging (IM) applications (like WhatsApp, Facebook messenger or Viber), it is not suited for B2C communication. Most consumers prefer to use IM applications purely for social purposes. SMS is such a useful tool because it has more reach than an online message, is not reliant on Internet connectivity or ‘credit’ to be received, and therefore has considerably higher ‘opening’ and ‘sale conversion’ rates than Email or IM marketing. A2P experiences greater success than online alternatives as, unlike ‘spam’ emails, the service requires an individual customer to opt in” Samantha explains. “If we look at the Instant Messaging space, it is constantly changing, and in 5 years might look very different to today. We believe that SMS, on the other hand, will remain a reliable and stable platform for years to come - it has been around for almost 25 years, a veteran in the technical space.” A question BulkSMS.com has been asked is, how does SMS remain so relevant despite the ever-changing use of communication platforms? They believe that firstly, SMS has a lower risk of spam due to its relatively high cost. The low cost of instant messaging increases the risk of spam and the measures taken by IM providers to combat spam, inadvertently blocks most types of messages that businesses are likely to send. Some of these measures include: • Not providing an API for A2P messaging; • Limiting message group sizes; • Limiting communication to those initiated by consumers and; • Limiting the number of people that can be messaged that do not have the senders contact number in their own contact list. Samantha adds that, “Another reason we believe SMS will stay relevant for business communications is that SMS doesn’t rely on data coverage or internet access while IM applications do. SMS is also supported on all mobile phones where the IM space is very fragmented with a wider variety of IM applications available. SMS is ubiquitous, while no single IM application is.” “SMS is accessible, it eliminates the need for redundant apps and it’s familiar and available on every single mobile phone. Most importantly, the stable nature of SMS as a technology justifies the integration of SMS into third party applications”. “SMS continues to grow globally as more industries adopt SMS messaging as a stable and reliable messaging tool. One example of a growing industry adopting SMS messaging is the ‘sharing industry’. This industry was put on the map by services such as Uber and Airbnb. This proliferation of global ‘sharing’ services across multiple industries, are already benefitting from an SMS messaging component.”