While we might only sporadically check emails and instant messages from our WhatsApp groups and other channels, the simplicity and universal nature of SMS means it has a wide array of use cases for businesses.
Although we had MMS - ‘multimedia messaging service’ - as an evolution of SMS, users couldn’t send these messages particularly cheaply, so it didn’t take off in the same way as their online messaging platform successors.
Despite SMS messages having very high open rates - as much as 98% - they therefore can lack the marketing sophistication of other platforms, impacting their engagement rates.
With little scope for experimentation, businesses need an SMS alternative to make such marketing messages more useful, personalized, and engaging.
SMS is still resolutely text-oriented, and held back by various restrictions and a 160-character limit - hence the name ‘short messaging service’.
