Know Your Short Codes

From reality TV to FMCG product promotions, everyone is now using short codes and turning them into effective promotional campaigns which help meet their business and marketing needs. Typically, you may have noticed television shows urging you to send out a special SMS to a specific number to vote for your favourite candidate or your favourite bag of chips asking you to SMS a specific code to win tickets to the upcoming game. How do you gauge whether your business needs to jump onto the bandwagon and integrate this coding system into the SMS campaign? Before you chose to employ a short code campaign, make sure you know what it is exactly and the potential is has with respect to your overall business objectives. 1. Types of Short CodesShared:- Basically, there are two types of codes. Shared codes are the ones that are shared with your existing and potential customers and employ keywords to track the traffic of SMS’s that flow in. these are relatively cost-effective and there will be a number of service providers who will be willing to create keyword specific codes that suit your promotional campaign or product. Dedicated:- On the other hand, there are dedicated codes that are a lot more costly and are typically dedicated to only a single customer. Picking a specific short code is like picking out a customized car license place. You need to pay more for a custom code which is closer to your objective at hand. You can also opt for random non-customized codes which cost only half the price of the customized ones. While you opt for dedicated codes remember that you may require more than one of these to be able to entirely execute your SMS strategy. This can get very expensive. So before you book codes, compare prices and research one different vendors and close on one which provides you with the best deal. 2. How to Use Short Codes? How you are allowed you execute your strategy varies from country to country and depends on the telecom norms of where you plan to execute them. Implementing a code strategy is very unlike the internet where you can employ standardized plans due to standardized infrastructures on a global level. Understand the processes from a telecom authority or your service provider before you chose to invest in a short code system. 3. Regulations with Respect to Content Another important consideration is the content that you intend to communicate through this SMS campaign. Most countries and strict laws against marketing political opinion, religious views, explicit content and any other material which suggests illegal business such as gambling, alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. In conclusion, make sure that you employ a good and well known carrier which makes sure that there are no system problems for you as well as your end customers. Test your entire short code system before you roll it out in public. Especially if you are a business such as an emergency system or healthcare delivery system, you don’t want a non-responsive set up to ruin your reputation.