Brian Heikes, the Vice President of Product at 3Cinteractive, knows that “brands, marketers and merchants are continuously looking for ways to engage their customers through the use of apps.”
Heikes also knows that conversion rates remain low and that many consumers “feel annoyed when a push notification pops up on their mobile device and feel it’s too intrusive.”
“This is due to the large number of applications sending push notifications – with the notifications ranging from games (“Your corn is ready to harvest.”) to music (“You listened to Taylor Swift last week at this time, you should tune in again!”) to news headlines (“You won’t believe who Donald Trump fired today…”).
What works better? SMS, which is experiencing somewhat of a rebirth.
A combination of leveraging SMS coupled with the in app push experience may be the ticket.
“SMS, or text messaging, is in a period of renaissance currently,” Heikes writes. “In fact, a recent SAP global study conducted across 12 countries found that 70 percent of consumers feel SMS is a good way for a company to get their attention and 64 percent believe organizations should use SMS-type engagement more frequently.”
There are other benefits, too — besides the onus to “not be irritating.”
“SMS is also highly effective as a promotional vehicle for introducing customers to a brand’s mobile application,” he advises. “Since SMS is delivered on the mobile device, it can create a timely opportunity to engage a customer and drive application adoption. By utilizing this tactic, brands avoid the challenge of having customers find their application in the heavily saturated app stores.”
There’s a lot more to read about SMS in Heikes’ essay. Just click here.
