Originally Published: Wed, 6th Sept 2023
Last updated: Fri, 14th June 2024
Send Yes to 3035 to receive daily marketing updates. Send 3 to 506 to see your bank balance or 4 to cancel.
You may have seen several shortcode messages on your phone, but you are not quite sure what it is or how you can use them to maximize your business’s marketing efforts.
SMS short code is an old and effective technique of SMS marketing where businesses open a two-way conversation and receive feedback from their customers or send personalized product updates to customers via text messaging.
According to research, mobile phone users respond to SMS in less than three(3) seconds, making this method very effective for results.
What are SMS short codes?
SMS short code is an abbreviated 4-6 phone number that is used by businesses to opt-in customers to SMS marketing campaigns & promotions, send product alerts & notifications, enter SMS competitions, or provide updates to customers who opted-in to that service.
These numbers are called shortcodes by convention because they are easy to remember when sending a text message.
SMS shortcode is used together with SMS keywords. SMS Keywords are a string of characters that is used to distinguish which SMS campaign a customer is trying to opt-in to.
Send JOBS to 8623 to subscribe to job alerts. The keyword is JOBS, and the shortcode is 8623.
Once received, the SMS provider routes the specific campaign messages back to the customer’s phone.
What are the types of SMS Shortcode
There are two forms of SMS short code services. They are mobile-originated shortcodes and mobile-terminated shortcodes.
- Mobile Originated shortcodes: means messages are coming from the individual’s handset. For example, in an SMS competition, you Text A(vote for Kofi) to 920 to vote for Kofi. You are charged immediately after sending the SMS. Another time, you can text B(vote for Ama) to 920 to vote for Ama.
- Mobile Terminated conversation: With this, you don’t have control of the messages you receive because you previously opted-in to receive updates from that service. You may opt-out by sending the STOP keyword to the short code. You are been charged for every message you receive.
How can Businesses use shortcodes for their marketing goals?
Shortcodes are a great marketing tool for sending SMS blasts or bulk SMS campaigns. Other common uses are:
- To collect donations from your customers. They send an SMS to your shortcode.
- Open voting competitions and contests for your customers to partake in.
- Use shortcodes to automate appointment reminders by letting customers confirm, cancel, or reschedule meetings in Messages.
- Allow customers to choose/opt-in to product updates with the help of shortcodes.
- Generate customer feedback with shortcodes by letting customers reply with YES or NO.
How to subscribe to shortcode services
Signing up to receive short code message services is easy. You will need to send the Keyword to the number to opt-in to receive updates.
In our example, we can subscribe by sending the Keyword “Pizza” to short code “858585”. Subsequent messages we will receive from this number are alerts or promotional services we agreed to receive.
How to unsubscribe from shortcode message services
If you don’t want to receive updates from shortcodes again, you will reply to the number with STOP.
You will not receive updates from the shortcode again.
Who can use shortcodes?
SMS shortcodes are readily available to all organizations from every industry. In the health and banking sector, businesses can use shortcodes to receive banking or health information feedback from customers.
In the advertisement & entertainment sector, businesses can use SMS shortcodes to send personalized updates concerning upcoming events.
Some companies that use SMS shortcodes in Ghana
SMS short codes cut across businesses of all types. Here is a list of businesses that use SMS shortcodes that you may have come across:
- Twitter uses 40404 to communicate with users via text. This happens when you link your phone number with your Twitter account.
- The NCA uses 400 to notify people of their SIM card registration status.
- Multichoice, GoTV uses 4688 to communicate with its clients.
- MTN uses 1355 to send caller ringback tone campaigns to clients to subscribe or unsubscribe.
- Vodafone used 505 to alert customers about their SOS credit balance.
Why should businesses use Shortcodes?
- Brief and Easy to Remember: Immediately customers see messages from your short code, they can identify who is messaging them.
- Good for brand recognition: Shortcodes are unique to every brand. They are definitely your business number. Customers will be able to distinguish your code from other businesses.
- Send blast messages faster: Messages from short code deliver faster as compared to traditional text messages.
Choose the best SMS shortcode provider in Ghana
With SMS shortcodes, businesses are assured of receiving valuable feedback from their customers. Register with NALO and create SMS shortcodes for your campaigns in Ghana Today.
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