Why use web SMS?

SMS messages are a great tool. They let you send a message to someone in such a way that the other person will know it has arrived but needn’t be interrupted by it. They can simply finish whatever it is they are doing before picking up the message. In addition to this, the cell phone doesn’t even have to be switched on in order to receive the message. Well, it does, but if it isn’t, the message isn’t lost forever. It is simply stored for up to three days, and will be automatically sent to the cell phone when it is switched on. This means that even if the other person isn’t around right then or they are out of signal range, they will get the message as soon as their cell phone is able to receive it.

Web SMS is also a great tool. Not only does it allow you to take advantage of all the usual benefits listed above, but it can also offer you a couple more. Firstly, there is price. It is often a lot cheaper, if not completely free, to send a web SMS message rather than from a cell phone and with certain software programs you can send multiple messages, even thousands, simultaneously for a very low cost.

This aspect of web SMS messaging really comes into its own for businesses running marketing campaigns. Using web SMS allows you to send the same promotional SMS message simultaneously to thousands of cell phones. This means that you can offer promotions and discounts for very short periods of time, because you know that the message has been received. Unlike email you won’t have to allow a certain amount of time for people to check their email when considering what deadline to put on your offer. With web SMS you can tell someone that the offer expires in half an hour and still have an excellent chance that they will respond within that timeframe.

And how will you know that they received the message? Delivery reports. Many people have these on their cell phones for when they send text messages, and they can be used with web SMS as well. Through delivery reports you can know who received your message and when, which means you can analyze the success of your marketing efforts much more accurately than would otherwise be possible. Web SMS also allows you to keep track of who has responded to the message and who hasn’t, as when they call or text in, that cell phone number will be recorded and can be correlated to the message that was originally sent. And if it doesn’t match any of the numbers you sent your original web SMS message to, you will know that you are benefitting from a viral marketing effect, caused when someone forwards the message you sent to someone else who they think will be interested in it. These people will actually do your marketing for you beyond the initial effort on your part, and they will pay for it too!

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