With a delivery rate of 98%, SMS is one of the most reliable forms of communication. Here’s everything you need to know about text message reliability and how to measure it.
With an average open rate of 98%, SMS is one of the most reliable forms of communication. Here’s everything you need to know about text message reliability, and how to measure it.
If you’re looking for a reliable method of communication, text messaging’s 98% average open rate tells you everything you need to know.
This is an impressive statistic. However, your 98% open rate might not sound so good if it’s paired with a 45% delivery rate.
That’s why text message reliability matters. If you’re using SMS as a marketing channel, you need to know what percentage of customers receive your messages in the first place.
The more people you send messages to from your cell phone, the lower your delivery rate is likely to be. Most of us have run into that ‘failed to send’ message.
The good news is, business texting services are built for mass messaging. This means you don’t need to worry about a backlog or long delivery waits each time you hit ‘send’ on your new SMS marketing campaign.
In this article, we’ll fill you in on everything you need to know about text message reliability..
Text message reliability is made up of two metrics:
If 99% of your text messages are delivered, yet only 20% are opened, we wouldn’t expect you to consider SMS a reliable communication channel. The same can be said if 99% of text messages were opened, but only 20% were delivered.
Instead, an overall reliability metric can be determined by text message deliverability and open rate.
To state the obvious, the more people who receive and open your text messages, the higher your return on investment (ROI).
However, it’s also important to consider that businesses pay per message sent out, whether it’s in a pay-per-message system, or a credit-based price plan.
If you’re spending $29 per month to send out 500 messages, your ROI is dependent on how many people receive and open them.
To match texting’s 98% open rate, over 98% of text messages are delivered, so the chances are you don’t need to worry too much.
Problems mostly arise when businesses attempt to send out mass messages without the right system in place. When you need to send a broadcast to hundreds (or thousands) of customers, using your cell phone just won’t cut it.
Let’s talk about this in more detail and take a look at what else prevents text message reliability.
If you’ve ever attempted to send multiple messages one after the other, you’ll have experienced the backlog issue.
One text message waits to be delivered, then the next one joins the queue and suddenly your carrier is overwhelmed and each text message fails to deliver.
It makes sense, then, that sending a message to a large contact list may also run into deliverability issues. That is, if you use the texting app native to your phone.
If you have a high number of contacts, you’ll need to invest in a service designed to send out mass messages.
Business texting services such as SimpleTexting are built to ensure messages reach the contacts as quickly and smoothly as possible, no matter how many you send at once.
Of course, there are some elements of deliverability outside of even a texting service’s control:
By approaching each metric with the following tips, you should be able to increase your text message reliability.
To make the most of your contact list, you need it to be current and up-to-date. Spring clean the numbers that no longer work or send out a mass message asking if contacts would like to stay on the list.
While this might sound like a big task, it doesn’t have to be. We know refreshing and updating your contact list is rule number one when it comes to improving your text message reliability. That’s why we offer a self-cleaning list feature, so dead numbers can be automatically detected.
Not everybody needs to receive every message. By segmenting your audience, your contacts only receive texts from you that contain relevant information.
An audience that receives only engaging content will be far less likely to unsubscribe.
You don’t need to keep your text messaging content a big mystery. If sign-ups know what they’re receiving they’re even more likely to open their messages.
As a customer, if you know you’ve signed up for discounts and exclusive offers you’re more likely to open messages you receive. If there’s no context to the messages subscribers receive, you may soon lose interest or unsubscribe from the contact list.
Your text messages don’t need to be a wall of text. You can add images, GIFS and video links with multimedia message services (MMS).
Keep your texts on-brand with your logos and color pallette, or just send a GIF to remind customers you’re thinking of them. Whichever you choose, you don’t need to rely on ordinary SMS to keep your customers engaged.
The reliability of text messaging is just one of the reasons it’s so popular. As a business or marketer, you need to cut through the noise – the SMS open and delivery rates show why it’s the most effective marketing channel to do this.
Ensure your recipients aren’t missing out on text messages by using a business texting service.
New SimpleTexting customers receive a 14-day free trial. It’s risk-free, no credit card required and you have a full two weeks to see the magic of 98% delivery and open rates before paying.
Alice is a copywriter at SimpleTexting. When not teaching the world about the benefits of business texting, you can find her feeding family, friends and strangers with her latest baking experiment.
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