SMS (Short Message Service) is a simple but powerful medium that deserves a prominent place in your marketing scenarios. By integrating it judiciously with other channels, you can maximize its impact and significantly enhance your marketing campaigns to promote a new product or service, increase sales, or subtly trigger the act of purchasing.
But did you know that Transactional SMS (appointment confirmations/reminders, access codes, notifications, payment confirmations, delivery notifications) accounted for 60% of SMS messages sent in 2024, or more than 8 billion messages, while promotional SMS (advertising, direct marketing, drive-to-store, etc.) accounted for 5.3 billion messages, or 40% of the total volume? 1 ? There has been significant growth in the "public services and health" sector, which now accounts for 8% of messages sent. Widely used, transactional SMS messages play a crucial role in the security of online transactions by verifying user identity and communicating sensitive data. For companies/brands, they establish a close connection when a delivery, appointment, consultation, or vacation arrival is approaching. What are the criteria for finding a reliable and secure SMS platform?
Transactional SMS at the heart of customer relations
Many companies still underestimate the impact and effectiveness of SMS messaging. However, more and more consumers prefer to receive information from their favorite companies and brands via this channel. If you mainly use email to communicate with your customers, SMS and push notifications are ideal ways to strengthen the relationship of trust you have with your customers. And that is precisely the purpose of transactional SMS. If you're not convinced, here are a few arguments that should give you food for thought:
- Wide reach : With an open rate of nearly 100%, SMS ensures immediate communication with your customers, no matter where they are, in the US or elsewhere in the world.
- Frequent checking of messages : Unlike email, which may not be checked regularly or may end up in spam folders, information contained in a text message is unlikely to be lost or buried among other messages.
- High memorization rate : Marketing/transactional SMS messages have a memorization rate of 60%, which is much higher than traditional media such as television or radio, which only offer a rate of 14 to 15%.
- Ease of execution : SMS marketing campaigns are easy to set up and manage via specialized platforms. What's more, there's no need to install an app or create an account to receive an SMS. This channel is compatible with all types of smartphones and mobile operators, which simplifies implementation and saves marketing teams time.
- Improving the customer experience : By guiding the user through each key stage of their purchasing journey, you strengthen their trust in your brand and improve their experience.
- Excellent cost-effectiveness : Compared to other forms of media, SMS marketing/transactional messaging generally offers a very advantageous cost-effectiveness ratio.
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PSMS platform: what criteria should you use to make the right choice?
To choose the right SMS platform, several essential criteria must be taken into account. Above all, a reliable and secure platform must guarantee the easy integration of SMS communication into your existing systems (software, websites, business applications). It must also offer a wide range of features to meet your specific needs, such as managing unsubscriptions via the "STOP" feature, managing blacklists, and SMS replies.
Another key feature is customization, whether for the sender or the content of messages, in order to maintain consistent and tailored communication. A reliable platform enables accurate tracking through comprehensive statistics, such as the detection of incorrect numbers and duplicates, as well as tracking of URL openings and geolocation.
Performance and security must also be decisive criteria, as this is what professionals expect when sending transactional SMS messages that may contain sensitive information—especially healthcare professionals. This means that the SMS sending platform must guarantee maximum deliverability through constant monitoring and rigorous technical oversight.
Sending transactional SMS messages: security first
Transactional SMS has become a valuable tool for ensuring the security of online transactions. For example, during a transaction, a user may receive an SMS containing a verification code to enter to confirm their identity. This additional validation process enhances security by limiting unauthorized access and reducing the risk of fraud. Here are the two main advantages of transactional SMS:
- Two-step verification : Transactional SMS facilitates the implementation of two-step verification by sending a unique code to the user during an online transaction, thereby confirming their identity. This simple but effective mechanism provides an additional layer of security, making unauthorized access to an account more difficult.
To combat cybercrime, companies are adopting two-step verification, but also using two-factor authentication (2FA). If the login is a two-step process, it is referred to as two-step verification (2SV), whereas if the process uses two different authentication factors, it is a 2FA login. - Fraud prevention : By asking users to enter a code sent by text message before finalizing a transaction, the risk of fraud is greatly reduced. Even if a password is compromised, the transactional text message prevents fraudsters from acting without access to the legitimate person's phone. Nowadays, many financial institutions alert their customers by text message in the event of a suspicious login attempt or unusual activity on their account.
Why choose the Docoon SMS sending platform?
Docoon, a leading French publisher in the development of digital trust services, offers a digital platform capable of delivering transactional messages, critical alerts and feeds, certified messages, and managing communication campaigns across all distribution channels, including SMS.
When it comes to SMS, the platform includes a range of features—including all of the criteria mentioned above—that enable businesses to integrate native, effective communication into their software, websites, and business applications in order to digitize part of their customer relations.
Many companies now rely on the Docoon platform to manage bulk SMS messaging. This is the case for Financière Connectt, a holding company operating under the name Groupe Connectt, which brings together three entities: Connect, Bref Service, and MyConnect.
Connectt is a network of 25 multi-specialist temporary employment agencies based throughout France, operating in a wide variety of sectors. For Xavier Jamois, Organization Manager for La Financière Connectt, who oversees several HR, management, and organizational departments (quality, CSR, security, and GDPR) as well as all "tool support" activities:
Our concern at the time was to find a solution that could connect to our ERP system to manage large volumes of SMS messages.
Connectt Financial chose to use Docoon – Odyssey Messaging atthe time¹ – which offered a solution capable of managing bulk SMS messaging. According to Xavier Jamois:
Thanks to Docoon's mailing solution, we can instantly reach out to our pool of candidates/temporary workers and get maximum responses in a short period of time, enabling us to meet the priority and highly urgent needs of some of our clients.
(…) We wanted a tool that could easily connect to our ERP software, which is the case with Docoon. Today, we can train an employee to use the tool very quickly. I must say that before we had the Docoon solution, sending bulk messages to candidates was a real headache! The solution is easy to configure.
Docoon positions itself as the specialist in sensitive and transactional data flows. Choosing an SMS sending platform such as Docoon, which combines performance, security, and customization, guarantees successful SMS communication that complies with best market practices.
Would you like to learn more about our SMS messaging solution? https://docoon.com/solutions/sms/
Submit your request to be put in touch with an expert: https://docoon.com/contact/#form
See also: All about RCS: the modern messaging revolution that surpasses SMS and MMS
(1) Source: French Association for the Development of Multi-operator Multimedia Services and Uses (af2m), SMS marketing barometer 2024.
