SMS vs MMS
SMS vs MMS
You probably send text messages daily, but you still might not be able to answer the question: “What is SMS?” In short, SMS is simply an abbreviation for Short Message Service, or another name for a text message. You might be doubly confused when it comes to understanding the difference between SMS vs MMS. These two terms are used interchangeably but actually refer to different types of messaging. The simplest way to understand the difference is that SMS refers to text messages, while MMS refers to messages with a picture or video. Understanding the breakdown of SMS vs MMS messages and their differences will give you more insight into how to best connect with your customers, as well as which mass text messaging service is best for your business.
What is SMS?
Let’s start with the definition what SMS is. What is the difference between a text message and an SMS message? Well, an SMS is a text message. SMS was developed in the 1980s and is one of the oldest texting technologies. It’s also the most widely used, despite a growing number of alternate ways to communicate. While you might refer to a variety of different message types as simply a “text” in your daily life, however, the difference is that an SMS message contains only text (no pictures or videos) and is limited to 160 characters. For example, technically iMessages aren’t text messages, even though most people usually refer to them as such.
MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. You can think of it as an enhancement to the standard SMS message. You’ve probably guessed it by now, but the main difference between SMS and MMS is that you can send multimedia in your messages. This includes media such as videos, pictures, audio clips and GIFs, and more. Additionally, MMS allows for up to 1600 characters of text in your message — which is a considerable amount more than a standard SMS. MMS vs SMS: A Side-By-Side Comparison By now you’re probably already starting to understand what SMS is, especially since you probably send multiple SMS messages in your daily life. However, it might be easier to see what SMS is visually, especially since two pieces of similar content can look different when using SMS vs MMS messaging as a strategy. Even though the below image is based on an iPhone screen, when comparing SMS vs MMS, Android, iPhone, and other smartphones follow the same pattern.
Should I Use SMS vs MMS?
Now that you’ve answered “What is SMS?” and “What is MMS?” it’s time to decide which type of message is best for you. Choosing between SMS vs MMS requires you to understand what your end users are more likely to engage with and what your use case is. Do you need to communicate a quick message and have people follow a link? If so, SMS vs MMS may be the right choice. If you’re looking to really grab their attention, can afford the additional cost, and need to show them something visually, MMS vs SMS is the way to go. Ultimately, what’s most important is measuring your results and making adjustments to fine-tune your strategy and get the best ROI possible. Most Usms-gh users will send a mix of SMS and MMS messages to balance their costs and engagement.
Customer Service
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Good customer service is often praised as the secret to establishing and maintaining positive relationships between companies and their customers. But, what is the definition of good customer service? Since the system you employ to ensure a positive customer experience can always be improved, and will evolve with technological advances, it seems the quest for the best possible customer service might not ever be complete. Wondering how to improve customer service? We’ve broken down some valuable customer service ideas to help you get started—including ways to improve customer service with text messaging. What is the definition of good customer service? Good customer service will not only satisfy your existing customers but entice others to check out your business due to your positive reviews and reputation. Improving your customer service is impossible without knowing what good customer service means to you and your business. When it comes to customer service, the difference between acceptable and outstanding can be measured by customer satisfaction and is ultimately reflected in your revenue. ways to improve customer service using text messages in 2022 Looking for customer service ideas but unsure of how to implement changes in your business? Here’s what you can start doing right now to improve customer service to kickstart the process of integrating text messaging into your company customer service model.
Reach a larger audience
According to a government study on text messaging, texts are under-utilized by companies despite over 2 trillion texts a year being sent in the United States alone. From health systems to department stores to restaurants, text messaging can be a valuable platform when it comes to communicating with your company’s audience. Accessibility is key to positive customer service experiences. Leveraging a mass texting service could be the best way to maximize your company’s customer service resources, as you’ll have the capability to reach more people with important messages via text than you would by email or phone call. Text messaging allows you to communicate directly with customers to provide shipping updates or troubleshoot issues. It also allows you to text many clients at once to let them know immediately of any product updates or changes they need to be aware of.
It’s no secret that customers love to feel like they’re getting special treatment. When you build a text list, you’ll be able to offer exclusive deals to your contacts. These services includes reaching out to loyal customers to acknowledge and reward their continued loyalty. By building a list of phone numbers which have opted into text message communication with your company, you’ll have the unique opportunity to offer this list special discounts and “VIP” treatment. Keep customers happy by using text messaging to reward their participation in your text list. Make sure you’re offering valuable discounts when reaching out to consumers via text. If you communicate too much with information that they don’t find useful, they might opt out of your text list—not to mention associating your company with spam messaging. Consider the offers you’re sending to your contacts, and whether or not they’re truly worth their time.
Automated texts to improve efficiencies
Text message-based customer service solutions are a cornerstone of SMS marketing and can answer general questions that human customer service reps would otherwise have to spend time addressing. This helps you maximize your team’s resources. Deploy employees in situations where questions are nuanced and emotions are heightened, but let an automated workflow do the heavy lifting until that point. Agents often spend their time answering general questions which could be answered by an automated text. It’s time to reverse that trend. Our advanced automation solution can detect chat sentiment to deliver appropriate automated responses or flag a chat for follow up by a customer service specialist. Plus, our business texting features allow users to schedule, trigger and drip text messages to provide good service to customers over time or as prompted. With this service you can automate a response to trigger questions, among other useful features.
Auto SMS Sender
Auto SMS Sender
It seems like everywhere you turn, people are talking about marketing automation. Even though it’s easy to tune out common buzzwords, automation is something you need to pay attention to — especially when it comes to SMS. Tools like an auto SMS sender can upgrade your messaging strategy and increase your revenue. Looking for the best auto SMS software? Here’s how to weed out the good from the bad.
If you’re considering an auto SMS sender that doesn’t have a drag and drop interface, be sure to spend time demoing the product so you know just how complicated it will be to alter the texting sequence. We find that the best automatic text messaging strategy involves incorporating data to make constant improvements — whether that be to the flow of the journey or the wording of your messages. If the process to make changes is complicated, chances are you could break the entire journey by making small changes. Or, the amount of time it takes to update your automatic texting journey could discourage you from regularly optimizing it. If you have a drag and drop interface, this isn’t a problem, but if not, don’t settle for a sales person merely showing you how it works. Ask for a demo period of the software so you can get to know it yourself.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when they move to an auto SMS sender is sending out text messages that are too generic. This happens when you don’t segment your text list accurately enough. We like to use the term “segment of one” at Usms-gh, which emphasizes how niche we believe segmentation can get.
In order to maximize the potential of sending automatic SMS messages, you’ll want the platform you choose to integrate directly with the processes you already have in place.
“Collecting information is now totally automated without someone from our team having to be managing that and inputting that data. We get the information we need and save time while doing it,”
Not only do you need the first party data, but your SMS sender should be able to do the work for you when it comes to sending messages to the correct segments. There should be no manual entry involved in sorting your contact list — that’s the work for your auto SMS sender. If you’re in the process of shopping around for an auto SMS sender, this is an important feature to ask about.
For example, do you use Slack to communicate with your sales team? Find an auto SMS sender that integrates with Slack so that you can seamlessly send contacts to the appropriate sales representative for more in depth follow up or conversation.
Choosing an auto SMS sender can be overwhelming. There are a lot of companies that claim to have certain capabilities they don’t necessarily have.
source: slicktext
Spam Text
SPAM TEXT
Do you feel like you’ve been getting more spam texts than usual? Odds are, it’s because you are. Spam texts are unsolicited messages sent by scammers in an attempt to gain personal or financial information. Sometimes, these scammers may use familiar area codes or pretend to be someone you know in order to gain your trust. While carriers are constantly implementing new security measures, spam texting has exploded in popularity across the United States over the past few years. There’s even a new word to describe the phenomenon: smishing. At USMS-GH, we have a zero-tolerance policy for spam texters and smishing attempts, and we go to extensive lengths to keep bad actors from using our SMS marketing services. Keeping up-to-date on the latest spam texting statistics, data, and best safety practices can help you further protect your personal information and identify what a fake message looks like.
The Rise of Spam Texting in 2021 & 2022
From 2020 to 2021, there was a 58% increase in spam texts sent. In September of 2021, the number of spam texts sent was 1.227 million. By comparison, in August of 2022, 10.89 billion spam texts were sent. In April of 2021, Americans received around 16.9 spam texts a month. In April of 2022, that number skyrocketed to 41 spam texts a month. There’s no shame in getting caught up in a spam attempt. In fact, as of 2021, 1 in 3 Americans had reported falling for a mobile phone scam, and less than 35% of people realize that they’re a target of a scam texting attack. It’s impossible to get a break from spam texts. In fact, in 2021, January and February were the only months with fewer than 6 billion spam messages sent. Spam calls decreased by 50% from April to June of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way society operated. Spam text frequency surpassed spam call frequency for the first time in 2020, with the gap continuing to widen in 2021 and 2022 (87,850,585,036 spam texts sent vs. 72,236,875,541 spam calls placed). Phone Spam & Spam Texting Statistics & Trends Here are the scams and fake messages you should be on the lookout for, as well as the most targeted demographics.
Popular scam texting trends
59.4% of spam recipients in 2021 were male, while 38.3% were female. In 2021, the most targeted age range for phone spam was 35-44 for men and 18-34 for women. The least targeted age range for both genders was 65 and up. More recently, smishers have utilized fake two-factor authentication messages to steal personal information. Hackers also tend to use local area codes like 10DLCs or spoof numbers you might recognize in order to gain trust. How Do You Stop Getting Spam Texts? At their best, spam texts are simply annoying, but at their worst, they can be a gateway to fraud, identity theft, and cyber crimes — all of which can cost you precious time and money. So how do you stop getting spam texts? While there’s no 100% foolproof solution, there are a few things you can do to ensure you only receive the SMS messages you signed up for Block the sender Once you block a number, you won’t receive any calls or texts from them again. On an iPhone, click on the contact that the text came from. When you open the contact card, the Info tab will give you the option to block the number. On an Android, press the three buttons in the top corner of the screen, then select “block and report spam.” There’s no limit to the amount of numbers you can block, so you can do this anytime you get a text.
Notify your carrier If a carrier knows that a number is sending spam, they’ll investigate and block them from sending any more messages. All you have to do is forward the text you received to 7726 — this works for most major cell phone providers, including MTN, Vodafone and AirtelTigo. Reply stop While replying STOP to some spam texts may not work, there’s a chance the spam is from a service you signed up for at one point in time. If that’s the case, then legitimate short codes give you the option to opt-out by simply replying STOP.
USSD GH
USSD
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data popularly known as USSD is a protocol used by GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications ) cellphones to communicate with their service provider’s computers via text messages. To explain this in simple terms, when you dial a number that starts with * and ends with #, you are using USSD. This is known to be currently the best available communications technology to deliver mobile financial services to customers. USSD GH works with codes made up of the characters that are available on a mobile phone. A USSD message, which can be up to 182 characters long, establishes a real-time communication session between the phone and another device (typically, a network or server). It can be used for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browsing, mobile money services, prepaid callback service, menu-based information services, and location-based content services. With USSD, users interact directly from their mobile phones by making selections from various menus. Unlike an SMS message, during a USSD session, a USSD message creates a real-time connection. This means USSD enables two-way communication of information, as long as the communication line stays open. As such, queries and answers are nearly instantaneous.
A typical way of how the USSD works may involve a query from a mobile phone user, such as a request for a bank account balance. Once the user sends the request, the USSD gateway forwards it to the user’s USSD application, which responds to the request. The process is then repeated in reverse, i.e., the response goes back to the ussd gateway, which displays the content of that response on the screen of the user’s mobile phone. Generally, the responses, which contain a maximum of 182 alphanumeric characters, are sent in a format that’s easy to display. The user sends and receives data by dialing a specific short code — which usually, ranges from three (3) to five (5) numbers. USSD apps are instantly available to every subscriber the moment they’re deployed to a network and do not require any installation from the User.
A USSD application may be used for several reasons, such as the following : Mobile banking. Unlike banking apps that need internet access and smartphone functionality, USSD banking can work on any mobile device, including feature phones. Order confirmations. Food delivery providers can use USSD to enable two-way communication between customers placing orders and the vendors to alert customers when their orders are on the way. Marketing surveys. USSD can be used for mobile marketing. For example, organizations can send basic marketing surveys that users can respond to immediately, enabling companies to get customer feedback in real-time. Network configuration and requests. USSD is used to configure a user’s mobile device on the network. It also provides a menu of service options a user can choose from for such things as buying airtime or requesting account balances. Callback services. Service organizations, such as insurance providers and financial services companies, can use USSD to determine customers’ interests by enabling them to request callbacks after they present their offers. Coupons and vouchers. Retailers can use USSD to communicate special offers to customers, as well as send coupons and vouchers. Customer update requests. USSD can integrate with enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to request updated customer information.
Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH Messaging
Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH Messaging
Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging is an excellent tool for businesses to stay in touch with their customers. It allows you to send mass text messages to all your customers simultaneously. According to a recent study, seven(7) out of every ten(10) people own a smartphone in 2020, making it easy to reach at least seven(7) out of ten(10) customers you have. Another research conducted also stated that 90% of customers you send text messages to read in less than 3 seconds. Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging channel also has a read rate of 98%. Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging is redefining how businesses interact with their customers these days. It is helping Businesses send product updates and promotional messages to their customers directly on their mobile phones. Over the years, the Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging channel has become a central communication tool for businesses around the globe. SMS Marketing is reliable and easy to use. It helps businesses capture the attention of their clients from all over the world with just a simple click of a button. The data above confirms why sending Bulk SMS-GH messaging? is the preferred choice by businesses in reaching their customers rather than the other forms of marketing. works well for both B2B and B2C environments.
Here are some ways in which you can use Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging for your business: Customer communication Why do businesses need Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging is a great way to communicate with customers. You can send customers an update about new products or promotions you are running, or give them important information like account details or product delivery updates. Event notifications If your company organizes events like seminars, conferences, or product launches, you may use Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging to notify people about the event’s location, time, and date so they don’t miss it. This will also help you in getting more attendees for your event as people will know exactly when and where the event is happening.
Sending reminders People often forget about things like paying bills on time or completing tasks by a certain date. In such cases, if you send them a reminder through, Why do businesses need Bulk SMS-GH messaging right before their deadline arrives, they are more likely to remember what they need to do and complete their task on time without any hassle. source: nalosolutions
Email Marketing For Crypto Projects
Email Marketing For Crypto Projects
Email marketing for Crypto Projects has remained a bedrock for several businesses in the last decade. Companies use emails to send personalized content to their subscribers, give updates on how the business is faring, and get commitments that lead to action. Email is the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences, per data from email list. Email Marketing For Crypto Projects are turning their attention to this communication medium as email marketing is becoming a primary means to nurture leads and engage customers is becoming a primary means to nurture leads and engage customers However, several regulatory actions have beset the crypto space, with a few world governments taking particular interest in ostracizing all crypto-related activities. One of such is Asian giant China, which unanimously banned cryptocurrencies and crypto mining in its regions. Tech giants like Google, Facebook, and even video sharing platform YouTube have introduced new policies restricting crypto ads on their platforms. Email Marketing For Crypto Projects has enjoyed remarkable adoption globally, with crypto bellwether Bitcoin becoming a legal tender in El Salvador. Other key sub-sectors like decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and rising star play-to-earn (P2E) ecosystems have boomed, making it one of the fastest-growing ecosystems.
The growing interest in crypto makes email marketing an effective channel to publicize your crypto project despite regulatory hurdles. Combining Email Marketing For Crypto Projects with other marketing channels will turbo-charge your crypto project and give you the needed leverage to scale even faster. We provide a few successful tips you can use to achieve your end-of-the-year target.
Collect Email Marketing For Crypto Projects Addresses Of Potential Clients/Players The first step will be to get the email addresses of those interested in your crypto project, which is quite easy to accomplish. Attach a subscription form to your landing page and state clearly what a potential subscriber will benefit from signing up for your content. This information can include a potential timeline or roadmap on how the crypto project is faring and other useful information. This way, you can build a more sustainable relationship with your subscribers and even convert them to your loudest cheerleaders. Email Marketing For Crypto Project Segment Your Subscriber List The next area of focus is to categorize your subscribers into different lists. To help with this task, ensure you provide on the subscription form an option for your subscribers to choose the preferred language they want to receive your emails.
Another method would be to create a multilingual landing page that offers a language-specific signup form for each subscriber. When this information gets to you, curate every subscriber according to their language preference. This approach will help you pitch your crypto project in a language your subscriber understands. Email Marketing For Crypto Projects information Getting their email addresses is one battle won. However, you still have to give them regular updates about how your crypto project is faring. This stage is no time to leave your subscribers assuming what is going on with the project. Provide monthly, quarterly, or even bi-weekly updates and likely changes on the company’s mission and vision. If there is a need to revisit the whitepaper, make sure your community of loyal subscribers are informed. Inform them through email if you feel the company should head in a new direction so they don’t get sidelined. This way, your subscribers will be carried along as the Email Marketing For Crypto Projects unfolds.
SMS API: A Quick Start Guide
SMS API: A Quick Start Guide
SMS API: A Quick Start Guide, it's simpler than ever to start sending text messages to your consumers. Rapidly integrate our SMS API: A Quick Start Guide into your applications and start sending messages to customers right away. Reach your customers whenever you want, wherever they are, in multiple markets across the world. Our intuitive, low code SMS API: A Quick Start Guide integration is all you need to start sending messages to customers today. When you have questions, our SMS API: A Quick Start Guide developer hub has detailed examples and tutorials to help you get started and answer your questions. Let’s dig into the usms-gh SMS API: A Quick Start Guide with a few examples and code samples. First, the basics of SMS API.
SMS API standards are simple
The usms-gh SMS API: A Quick Start Guide handles different mobile network operators (MNOs) and country-specific requirements so you only have to worry about writing code. Here is the most basic example of sending a message through the API
Sending Social Invites and App Links
The SMS API: A Quick Start Guide allows you to integrate Social Invites and app sharing. The sample below would send the link and also allow you track the link through the usms-gh Portal. Social Invites are powerful and easy ways to drive app downloads and user engagement. Fully-Featured Messages The fully featured text messaging options built into the SMS API: A Quick Start Guide let you specify additional parameters that will make your campaigns more compelling—and easier to track for reporting and analysis.
Flash SMS
We recommend OAuth 2.0 authentication. To use OAuth, please generate a new token with selected scopes in the OAuth Tokens section of the Customer Portal. Authorization header will be necessary in request to our Bulk SMS API. If your environment doesn't support headers modification, please add the access_token parameter with its value to request. Please note that this is not a recommended authorization alternative and it has an adverse effect on security..
Basic Reporting
A bank detects possible fraud. An airline makes a last-minute gate change. When your customers need to see urgent messages, Flash SMS messages skip their mobile inbox and appear right on your customer’s home screen. Just one additional line of code enables Flash SMS messages in your application through the SMS API. Every message you send generates a response code, which will be delivered to you through the SMS API: A Quick Start Guide. 200 OK means the message went through, if something went wrong, the SMS API will let you know. The response code tells you what the problem was and our documentation and developer resources will help you determine the cause and how to fix the problem. Now that you’ve got the basics of using the usms-gh SMS API: A Quick Start Guide, you can use it to generate, track, and optimize international text message campaigns quickly and easily. When you’re ready for your app to do more, the SMS API: A Quick Start Guide can handle Number Lookup, two-factor authentication, and messaging across additional platforms (email, voice, and chat/OTT). All of these advanced functions are available using the same SMS API: A Quick Start Guide, and can reuse much of the same code you developed for your initial campaigns. Start connecting your apps to SMS with the usms-gh SMS API: A Quick Start Guide and help your company reach billions of people around the world.
Email Marketing Automation
Email Marketing Automation
Usms-gh is an email marketing automation tool that particularly shines because of its huge library of templates, layouts, and styles. These readymade templates can be used to create compelling emails that best suit your business. Combine these templates with usmsgh intuitive email marketing automation, and you have a tool that is guaranteed to help you gather and nurture solid leads. Usms-gh also allows you to send personalized email marketing automation based on contact segmentation. Usms-gh automatically segments your contact list on the basis of industry, personal, and behavior info, thus allowing you to target prospects that are most likely to respond to your emails. The level of email marketing automation that Active Campaign facilitates when it comes to email marketing, definitely makes it one of the best bulk email marketing tools on the market today. You can easily create tons of customized messages, which you can then set up to be sent automatically to the intended contact in your list. Depending on the email marketing automation you set, you can send one-time email campaigns to single or multiple contacts in a matter of seconds. You can also set triggers to send emails automatically in direct response to your audiences’ actions on your website.
Features:
Send targeted and personalized email marketing automation based on automatic contact segmentation Tons of ready-made templates, layouts, and styles to choose from Get real-time insight into your email marketing campaign’s performance with the help of visual analytical dashboards. A/B testing to assess which email will be more effective before sending emails in bulk. Verdict: When it comes to pure email marketing, usmsgh is often counted among the best. Its library of templates and ability to help you send personalized emails makes usmsgh one of the best email marketing automation tools to generate solid leads today.
Usms-gh has an email marketing automation/marketing tool that arms you with all the tools you’ll need to launch a successful email marketing campaign. Thanks to a comprehensive drag-and-drop builder, tons of pre-made templates, and a plethora of free stock images, you can design emails that serve a variety of purposes within minutes. Its email marketing automation, segmentation, and tagging features make sending emails in bulk very convenient. The tool allows you to schedule messages in order to send emails automatically at a time and date you set.
With email marketing automation, you can target your emails more effectively, making sure they reach only those individuals who are likely to be interested in the message.
EMAIL MARKETING TIPS
EMAIL MARKETING TIPS
Email marketing offers a cost-effective way for small and large businesses to connect with existing customers and leads. When you send emails, you can grow your business from the comfort of your home or corner office. And while it may be tempting to go straight for Facebook or Twitter in the social media age, most people still use email daily. More than 304 billion emails are sent and received on any given day, and there’s no no postage necessary. This is why strategic email marketing campaigns offer a significant return on investment if you use them effectively. So, let’s look at some email marketing tips for incorporating email into your marketing so you can grow your business.
Define your target audience
With email marketing, customers expect personalized offers that provide solutions to their specific problems. Many customers are pressed for time, so this means that they don’t want to engage with generic emails that won’t help them make informed buying decisions. Defining your target audience can help you create email marketing tips that appeal to your specific customers. Quite simply, your target audience is the people who are likely to buy or need your products or services. In order to define your target audience, you must take time to explore the interests, motivations, pain points and preferences of your customers.
Increasing sales is an important goal for any business. But this doesn’t mean that your email marketing tips should be focused on creating revenue at the expense of providing value. There is no shortage of companies who show up in a customer’s inbox each day. On average, people receive 121 email marketing every day. Unfortunately, many of the email marketing tips have low conversion rates because the content doesn’t provide value to the recipient. Email marketing tips is a popular and effective way to reach customers around the world. It may take time for you to learn the best strategies to engage your customers, but once you master your email marketing tips, your company will surely reap the rewards. Start applying these tips today to maximize your influence and visibility as a business. The best way to add value through your email marketing is by providing high-quality content tailored to your audience. Strong email marketing content should tell a story and show how your company can solve the reader’s problems. It should also use catchy subject lines, be free from clutter, and avoid industry jargon that the average reader doesn’t understand.