Text message alerts best practice guide
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 4:39 am
Do you think spammers get misty-eyed at the memory of the 1990’s when they were free to deluge our inboxes with offers that were irrelevant and unwanted? Or when they went mobile in the 2000’s, and branched out into SMS? (1.5 billion spam text messages received in the US in 2008 alone according to Ferris Research.)
Thankfully, the golden generation for spammers is over. We have wrested back control of our email and SMS inboxes thanks to legislation like GDPR in Europe, A2P 10DLC in the United States, and many other initiatives worldwide.
There will always be rogue traders trying to sell little blue pills to whatever email or phone number they can harvest, but for reputable businesses, the penny has dropped that sending unsolicited messages will do more damage than good in the long term.
However, there is definitely still a place for useful, timely and well-crafted text alerts that people actually want to receive.
Read on as we spill the beans on how to create and send text message alerts that are always welcome.
What are text alerts?
Text alerts are a mass communication tool for delivering timely and useful information straight to people’s mobile phones, usually by SMS. They are used by both businesses and government agencies to transmit specific information that is relevant to citizens, or subscribers who have opted in to receiving them.
They are not a way to broadcast a generic mass marketing message. That sort of behavior will get you blacklisted by most network operators before you can say ‘Alexander Graham Bell’.
Text alerts come under the umbrella of A2P (application to person) messaging. In most countries, if you want to send A2P traffic you will need to register with the network operators and agree to abide by their fair usage policies. Break the rules and they will use filtering technology to protect their subscribers from unwanted messages.
How to send SMS alerts during a digital revolution
What are the top use cases for text alerts?
Delivery notifications by text
For many people during lockdown, a knock on the door from an Amazon delivery person was the highlight of their day. We went online in our droves and ordered all sorts of products and produce to make life in isolation more bearable.
Even as restrictions have lifted, people are still shopping online just as much and the excitement of having something to unwrap has not diminished. Tap into this happy experience with hyper-accurate delivery tracking text alerts – and let the anticipation mount!
Customer service
Apart from front-line medical workers, the group of people overseas chinese in usa data that have had to work harder than ever during the pandemic has been customer service agents. The well documented explosion in home shopping and huge investment in digital services has led to a lot more work for contact center staff.
Text alerts can be a huge asset in the customer service industry. If something is going to be delayed, or circumstances change at the last moment, then let your customers know about it as soon as you can to minimize the impact on them. Text alerts are quick to create and deploy, and are the most likely to be seen.
Fraud prevention
If someone is using your credit card details to buy a Bugatti in Barcelona, then you probably want to know about it as soon as possible. You will be very happy that your credit card company sends you a warning message immediately, so that you can block the transaction.
Financial alerts like bank statement notifications, overdraft alerts, and many more – these are all useful messages that we are happy to receive.
Text alerts as part of two-factor authentication (2FA) is another use case that has proven to be very popular as it is just about instantaneous and doesn’t rely on a data or Wi-Fi signal.
Emergency text alerts
The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 was so devastating because people in most of the affected countries around the Indian Ocean just didn’t know that it was coming, even though authorities in many places did have some advanced warning. There was just no mechanism for getting the message out immediately, reliably, and en masse.
With advances in technology and more extensive mobile phone ownership, these communities are now much better protected should the unthinkable happen again.
With the effects of climate change, we are unfortunately all in for more extreme weather events. Text alerts are the best way to get warned of imminent storms, floods, and other life-threatening events.
Text alerts in APAC via almost 100% network coverage
6 top tips for crafting excellent text alerts
1. Get the format right
By their very nature, text alerts are short and factual. SMS is the best format as it is the most cost effective and efficient to send in high volumes. MMS is best reserved for creative messages or promotions that benefit from enhanced graphics, video, or audio content, or when you want to include coupons or QR codes.
“But that only gives me 160 characters!” I hear you say.
Warning – Hurricane Amber is due to make landfall 80 miles north of Tampa at approximately 14h00 on Weds 14th Sept. Wind speeds in excess of 120mph expected. [158 characters]
Vodnjan Bank Fraud Alert: Did you just use your credit card at Primo Luxury Car Sales, Calle Sola, Barcelona? Reply 1 for YES. Reply 2 for STOP TRANSACTION. [156 characters]
See? You can still convey a lot of important information with limited characters.
One last point on message formats. You might be tempted to use Flash SMS for your text alerts. These are a type of SMS that appears immediately on the recipient’s mobile screen, without them having to open their message inbox, and then disappears for good once they dismiss it.
It might sound flashy, but we wouldn’t recommend it – they are not very secure, and just because a person dismisses a message it doesn’t mean they have actually read it, and by then it is too late.
Thankfully, the golden generation for spammers is over. We have wrested back control of our email and SMS inboxes thanks to legislation like GDPR in Europe, A2P 10DLC in the United States, and many other initiatives worldwide.
There will always be rogue traders trying to sell little blue pills to whatever email or phone number they can harvest, but for reputable businesses, the penny has dropped that sending unsolicited messages will do more damage than good in the long term.
However, there is definitely still a place for useful, timely and well-crafted text alerts that people actually want to receive.
Read on as we spill the beans on how to create and send text message alerts that are always welcome.
What are text alerts?
Text alerts are a mass communication tool for delivering timely and useful information straight to people’s mobile phones, usually by SMS. They are used by both businesses and government agencies to transmit specific information that is relevant to citizens, or subscribers who have opted in to receiving them.
They are not a way to broadcast a generic mass marketing message. That sort of behavior will get you blacklisted by most network operators before you can say ‘Alexander Graham Bell’.
Text alerts come under the umbrella of A2P (application to person) messaging. In most countries, if you want to send A2P traffic you will need to register with the network operators and agree to abide by their fair usage policies. Break the rules and they will use filtering technology to protect their subscribers from unwanted messages.
How to send SMS alerts during a digital revolution
What are the top use cases for text alerts?
Delivery notifications by text
For many people during lockdown, a knock on the door from an Amazon delivery person was the highlight of their day. We went online in our droves and ordered all sorts of products and produce to make life in isolation more bearable.
Even as restrictions have lifted, people are still shopping online just as much and the excitement of having something to unwrap has not diminished. Tap into this happy experience with hyper-accurate delivery tracking text alerts – and let the anticipation mount!
Customer service
Apart from front-line medical workers, the group of people overseas chinese in usa data that have had to work harder than ever during the pandemic has been customer service agents. The well documented explosion in home shopping and huge investment in digital services has led to a lot more work for contact center staff.
Text alerts can be a huge asset in the customer service industry. If something is going to be delayed, or circumstances change at the last moment, then let your customers know about it as soon as you can to minimize the impact on them. Text alerts are quick to create and deploy, and are the most likely to be seen.
Fraud prevention
If someone is using your credit card details to buy a Bugatti in Barcelona, then you probably want to know about it as soon as possible. You will be very happy that your credit card company sends you a warning message immediately, so that you can block the transaction.
Financial alerts like bank statement notifications, overdraft alerts, and many more – these are all useful messages that we are happy to receive.
Text alerts as part of two-factor authentication (2FA) is another use case that has proven to be very popular as it is just about instantaneous and doesn’t rely on a data or Wi-Fi signal.
Emergency text alerts
The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 was so devastating because people in most of the affected countries around the Indian Ocean just didn’t know that it was coming, even though authorities in many places did have some advanced warning. There was just no mechanism for getting the message out immediately, reliably, and en masse.
With advances in technology and more extensive mobile phone ownership, these communities are now much better protected should the unthinkable happen again.
With the effects of climate change, we are unfortunately all in for more extreme weather events. Text alerts are the best way to get warned of imminent storms, floods, and other life-threatening events.
Text alerts in APAC via almost 100% network coverage
6 top tips for crafting excellent text alerts
1. Get the format right
By their very nature, text alerts are short and factual. SMS is the best format as it is the most cost effective and efficient to send in high volumes. MMS is best reserved for creative messages or promotions that benefit from enhanced graphics, video, or audio content, or when you want to include coupons or QR codes.
“But that only gives me 160 characters!” I hear you say.
Warning – Hurricane Amber is due to make landfall 80 miles north of Tampa at approximately 14h00 on Weds 14th Sept. Wind speeds in excess of 120mph expected. [158 characters]
Vodnjan Bank Fraud Alert: Did you just use your credit card at Primo Luxury Car Sales, Calle Sola, Barcelona? Reply 1 for YES. Reply 2 for STOP TRANSACTION. [156 characters]
See? You can still convey a lot of important information with limited characters.
One last point on message formats. You might be tempted to use Flash SMS for your text alerts. These are a type of SMS that appears immediately on the recipient’s mobile screen, without them having to open their message inbox, and then disappears for good once they dismiss it.
It might sound flashy, but we wouldn’t recommend it – they are not very secure, and just because a person dismisses a message it doesn’t mean they have actually read it, and by then it is too late.