RESOURCES
In today’s mobile-first world, getting your message across can be simple with a personalized text message.
Already have opt-in permission and want to send a transactional message to support your audience along the customer journey? You can now use XMPie to hyper-personalize those batch text messages just as you would do for any other channel, to provide an effortless and immediate continuation of your omnichannel strategy.
SMS communications are cost-efficient, easy to prepare and fast to send. At just 153 characters, each text message can have an immediate effect – most are read within three minutes.
Open rates are not just good for text messages. They’re incredible. Gartner reports SMS open rates to be as high as 98%. That compares to only 20% for transactional emails.
And the power of SMS goes far beyond simply getting someone to read your text message. With XMPie you can use SMS in conjunction with other applications for a higher rate of engagement. For instance, by embedding a Personal URL (PURL) in the message you can drive the customer journey based on the recipient’s interaction. Once on the PURL, all events are tracked so you can track, measure and analyse performance metrics and KPIs.
Previously enabled via an email gateway, now with the latest version of Circle – XMPie’s marketing automation platform, transactional SMS communications can be sent either as a stand alone touchpoint or as part of a wider omnichannel campaign.
The process is now part of the main omnichannel workflow, so you can achieve your goals directly and efficiently; there’s no need for high-level programming support.
Mass transactional SMS communications are relevant for the entire customer journey and across business functions, typical use cases include:
- Welcome messages to new customers
- Payment reminders
- Upselling, such as announcing a new service to existing customers.
- Sending a reminder SMS to those who have already opted in i.e. a doctor’s appointment or conference participation.
Get Started with XMPie SMS Delivery
To get started you need to link your SMS provider with Circle. We’ve teamed up with Vonage to ensure a tight integration. To set up SMS delivery you just need to add your Vonage key and password to your Circle dashboard.
An alternative option is to use any other SMS delivery provider which can receive the messages generated from Circle via a web-hook.
Tips for SMS Newbies
- Avoid jargon or abbreviations, keep your message clear and concise, and always add a human touch. Good SMS etiquette holds that a message should not exceed 153 characters and longer SMS messages will be split into multiple messages.
- Follow privacy best practices, including ensuring explicit opt-in has been received.
- Obey the local laws and regulations governing SMS messaging in your area. Every country has its own regulations, for instance, Canada and the US do not support alphanumeric sender ID and you need to send from an identifiable number. Whereas legislation in France places time limits on brand SMS messages; it is prohibited to send SMS messages early in the morning or late at night.
- When your recipient list has multiple countries, it is recommended that you use separate SMS touchpoints per country, and filter the recipient list according to country.
- Don’t overdo it; space out your messages to give recipients time to digest the information.
Get more information about this release by reading the Release Notes here.
If you’re interested in sending transactional SMS communications as part of your omnichannel communications campaign, get in touch by filling out the form below.
