Tekstiviesti goes strong!
Text messaging, the mother of all messaging apps! Yes, you read that right, text messaging is a messaging app (or application) on your smartphone, just like WhatsApp, for example. The only difference is that it is installed as standard on all phones and phone subscriptions sold on the market, meaning it is always ready to use.
It has long been rumored that text messaging would disappear. In practice, the situation is that there is no such standard method of communication now, and at least not in the foreseeable future. Of course, consumer behavior has changed so that most have switched to instant messaging applications, such as the Whatsapp application. In fact, this change has opened up an even stronger position for text messaging as a communication channel for companies, communities and public administrations when the message needs to be delivered to the recipient with certainty, provenness and with the highest possible attention value.
One sign of the resurgence of text messaging is that its use in the United States has increased since 2015. Gary Vaynerchuk, who also spoke at the Nordic Business Forum, highlights SMS marketing as one of the key marketing channels for companies.
Marketing automation – not just separate software
Various marketing automation software is being implemented in more and more organizations, both private and public. The software offers many opportunities to enhance customer communication and customer experience. Commonly used software include Hubspot, Salesforce Pardot, Eloqua and Marketo. In addition, there are slightly lighter and therefore more affordable software on the market.
Marketing automation is a bit misleading as a term, because automation can be used to do much more than just marketing, for example, it is extremely useful in sales and customer service. Marketing automation does not always mean only separate software intended for this purpose, but automation can also be used to implement a single sales or customer service process.
SMS service as part of marketing automation
At its simplest, automation can be a text message service. An SMS service can be integrated into an enterprise resource planning system, where it acts as a channel for internal or external operational management to handle a specific issue.
A good example is the customer satisfaction surveys of car dealership chains on the functionality of service. In these, text messages are integrated into the service resource planning system. In this case, a text message service does not just mean an interface solution where a text message is sent and received if necessary, but there can also be a lot of logic or automation behind it for phasing the sending of messages, returning responses, and forming multiple question-answer pairs.
The best solution is to connect a Finnish text message service to the marketing automation software, which will ensure reliable communication quality, data protection and contractual matters. Global communication is also usually possible through a Finnish operator, meaning that sending messages abroad or to foreign phone numbers is not a problem.
Basic features include an alphanumeric sender (the text message will be sent to the consumer as, for example, “YritysOy”), 2-way text messages, keywords for directing responses, attaching a fee to the response (max. €50) and accurate reporting on the delivery of messages and delivery confirmations.
Building integration
There are two main ways to integrate marketing automation into a production control or CRM system. The fastest and most universal way is a Webhook, where an event in the automation system causes an http call to the SMS system’s API interface. In a Webhook integration, it is important that at least the recipient’s phone number is included in the call. More flexibility is gained if the message content is also included. Configuring webhook calls can be challenging. Especially with character encoding, situations can arise where the headers do not work correctly, the reason for this may be using the wrong source character set or double encoding of the string. From the user’s perspective, a direct integration, or “Plugin”. In Plugar, the hard work of integration has been done and the text message can be utilized directly.
There is also a third option: using an integration service. Integration services include Zapier, IFTTT, Microsoft Flow. The idea behind these is that the integration has been made into several systems and enabled by configuring them. For example, a CRM system event “New customer added” can result in a welcome message being sent to the new customer via email or text message through an integration service. The developers of the integration services have spent time and money creating the integrations, so there is usually a charge for using them.