Your business has a lot of options when it comes to the type of number for text messaging—toll-free numbers, local numbers with 10DLC, short codes, messenger pigeons (?). Ok, maybe not that last one.
The point is, that picking the right type of number can seem a little overwhelming, which is why I’m here to lay out the 7 benefits of short codes for your business messaging. Let’s get into it!
Benefits of short codes for your business
1. High-volume, high-throughput messaging
Need to send lots of text messages at once? It’s what short codes were designed for. Text messaging continues to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to reach your audience, with more than 98% of text messages being opened. Short codes enable you to reach a wider audience than almost any other form of communication.
2. Mobile-friendly marketing
When was the last time you actually used your mobile device to make a call? We use our mobile devices for shopping, paying bills, and sending an almost constant stream of text messages. With short codes, you can send timely marketing messages to your customers where they’re most likely to see and respond to them.
3. Easy to remember
I’ll be honest, there are only four phone numbers that I remember: mine, my wife’s, my mother’s cell phone, and my parent’s home phone, mostly because none of those numbers have changed in nearly 20 years. Short codes are only 5 to 6 digits long, making them easy for customers to remember and associate with your brand.
4. Secure customer information
We’re all concerned about the security of our online information. Securing your customers’ information, whether it’s login credentials or account information, with two-factor authentication is a good way to not only protect your customers, but to show them you take their security seriously. Short codes enable you to easily send an authentication code to mobile devices at scale, protecting your customers.
5. Short codes are scalable
Speaking of performing at scale, the defining feature of short codes is their ability to scale. Need to reach out to 100 customers? Done. 100,000 customers? Easy enough to do. Short codes’ ability to scale to your needed reach makes them ideal for critical, time-sensitive customer outreach.
6. Better consumer engagement
Not only do customers open text messages at higher rates, they also engage with them. Short codes can be used to send follow-up surveys, rewards for doing business with your company, or helpful reminders about upcoming events or deals that they may be interested in.
7. Inspire consumer confidence
Your customers may be inundated with calls and emails that are, or appear to be, fraudulent. That’s led to a decrease in trust for these channels. But, the steps required for a business to acquire a short code, and the fact that customers have to opt-in to receive messages, gives them the confidence that the messages they receive from you are legitimate.
Connect with your customers better
There are certainly other reasons that short codes are a great text messaging option for your business, not the least of which is that they’ve been around for a while and people are familiar with them. That being said, it’s important to remember to follow the CTIA guidelines around opt-ins, and to use a dedicated short code to mitigate the risk of your traffic getting blocked. Send high-throughput SMS messages with powerful, easy-to-use short codes from Bandwidth.
