Simple Message Service short codes are the single best way to get customers to text your brand. They’re basically small phone numbers that are much easier to remember than full-length ones. Potential sales leads might even be able to remember one after seeing it only once or twice.
What Makes Short Codes So Simple
Most short codes are just five or six digits long. Consider that a phone number with an area code, a central office exchange and an extension will be 11 digits long when you put in a prefix. That’s more than most people could ever hope to remember. You could put a short code on signs or billboards as part of an exterior marketing campaign and trust that a good cross-section of those who saw them would eventually reply.
Letter mappings also work with short codes, so you could theoretically spell out brief words with the dial pad. Those with a succinct brand name may apply for a short code matching their company’s name. Consider thinking about some kind of feature of the products and services you sell that would make sense for your marketing campaign to embody. Psychologists have even opined that word-based number associations help people to remember who they need to contact.
Nevertheless, there’s much more to running a text campaign than merely getting the information out to your potential clients.
Effective Marketing with Short Codes
Shared SMS codes once allowed multiple businesses to get assigned to the same text messaging outlet, which could be confusing. As of 2021, these services are discontinued, and dedicated text numbers have taken center stage. They’re easier to run an effective campaign with, since you won’t have to worry about anyone associating any other brand with your special number.
Standard message rates apply to these numbers, so you won’t have to worry about errant texts running your organization’s bill up. Since you won’t have to think about this aspect of running a campaign, you can focus on sending outgoing messages at the right time. This can help increase engagement rates from potential buyers. For instance, those companies that use a dedicated SMS short code could offer buyers a reminder right before peak shipping times.
Plan to hold sales and other promotions based on information collected from previous campaigns. Notice whether or not you see patterns in which of your promotions get more of a response from your leads. Certain consumers may only buy products at special times of the year. Once this is worked out, you’ll know when to hold a sale. All that’s left is to get your text marketing numbers squared away.
Signing Up for a Short Code
The most convenient aspect of using SMS short numbers is the fact that services exist to aid marketing agencies in the acquisition of them. That means you won’t have to wrestle with dozens of arcane telephone company regulations just to get the six-digit number you’re looking for. By working with a dedicated text marketing service, you’ll also gain immediate access to a wide variety of additional tools that help when it comes time actually to launch your campaign.
Professional text services will act as a broker that assigns you a number and forwards it to the device you use to check business texts. It’s important to pick out a service that doesn’t tie you to your mobile device. You will want to work from a personal computer that also runs your organization’s customer relationship management database. Each time someone texts your number, you can add them automatically and keep tabs on whether or not your agents are engaging with them properly. The process is quite hassle-free and easygoing.
Once you’ve got everything up and running, a text campaign should be able to run itself. Using short codes is far more cost-effective than trying to manage a toll-free hotline, and it can even lead to greater engagement. Putting a little work into the project now will help to pay big dividends in the future.
