3 super use cases demonstrating the versatility of SMS for global businesses

Marie Bannister2022-10-31

Global coverage, independent of handset or app downloads, keeps the demand for high in many industries. In fact, almost all industries can use SMS in some capacity. With unparalleled open rates of 98%, it’s the channel of choice for coupons, offers, notifications, and of course critical messages and notifications that must be delivered.

We all know the ways in which we can use SMS as a consumer, but what about as a business? In our everyday life, we are more than likely interacting with a business in the form of an SMS.

SMS is highly versatile, from authentication and OTP, notifications, marketing & CRM, and of course customer care, the possibilities of SMS really are endless.

The 3 SMS super use cases are:

Notification SMS use cases

Customer Notifications

The best form of communication a customer receives is the one they would have asked for had you not thought of it first. Reduce customer service enquiries and demonstrate superior customer care by notifying customers in advance. Perhaps their parcel is on its way to them, or an update to an appointment time, even a gate change at an airport. Get ahead of queries with notifications here.

SMS for critical alerts

Does your target audience require immediate responses? The health sector may need to contact patients, colleagues and customers immediately with an appointment change, test result notification, and more. Similarly, across all sectors, extreme weather notifications cannot be missed for business continuity. Another example where critical alerts are employed is for IT monitoring – inform support teams of urgent issues through a simple SMS. With SMS you have a 98% chance that it will be opened and read within 3 minutes, which is why the communication channel is optimal for critical and urgent information. Make sure urgent information gets through here.

SMS for Authentication and OTP

It is now common practice for businesses to digitalize their authentication process. It’s helpful in numerous scenarios to verify user identity with a code sent to them via SMS text message, providing users with the level of security they expect. Authenticate new users, safeguard transactions, protect platforms and systems in a GDPR compliant way, SMS authentication keeps users and businesses protected. Learn how to use SMS, for time-sensitive authentication here.

Customer care SMS use cases

SMS for customer care

With the absence of a junk mail folder, SMS allows GDPR-compliant customer care messages to get through to the user quickly. Imagine you could implement proactive after-sales support to enable customers to ask questions quickly and efficiently or get help without spending time on a call queuing system – SMS can make this a reality. Net Promoter Score surveys, after-sales support and queries, personalized communication; it all gets delivered in a handful of seconds, and you’re safe in the knowledge that the recipient has read your message. Customer care, delivered in seconds, find out more here.

Marketing communications use cases

Coupons and offers delivered directly to mobile phones are in huge demand. In fact, 75% of people surveyed said they would like to receive a text message with special offers . It's easily manageable, quick, and direct to the consumer. Create meaningful marketing, deployed via SMS here.

Globally, the amount of people who send and receive text messages is predicted to rise to 5.9 billion by 2025 ; is the world is moving back to basics? The reliability, predictability, and availability of SMS are the key factors for this. SMS is available on any handset globally, making users able to interact with businesses and access information quickly, without the need for a data connection. Since 2001, LINK has helped over 47,000 global customers engage in meaningful conversations with their audience across multiple channels including SMS.