Nov 30, 2022
Learn how SMS helps you communicate with your customers with Nick Lane from Mobilesquared
*Episode summary *
SMS was the first mobile channel, and with so many new communication channels — like WhatsApp and Viber — popping up, some brands are deciding to leave SMS behind.
But SMS is still a powerful way to communicate with customers. In this episode of the CX Education podcast, our host Sunny Dhami welcomes Nick Lane, the chief insight analyst and founder of Mobilesquared. They chat about the power of SMS, rich messaging, and why brands should implement messaging into their omnichannel marketing strategy.
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*Guest-at-a-glance *
*💡 Name: *Nick Lane
*💡 What he does:* He's the chief insight analyst and founder of Mobilesquared.
*💡 Company: *Mobilesquared
*💡 Noteworthy: *Nick is a mobile engagement specialist who analyzes, consults, strategizes, presents, moderates, and judges. His expertise in mobile engagement focuses on business messaging, customer interaction, and conversion. He has worked for over two decades in the mobile sector, providing the platform to meticulously shape market strategy and insights and accurate industry forecasts, whether that is for Mobilesquared's own data portal, for MessageMapIQ, for their 60+ clients, or for industry presentations at events around the world.
*💡 Where to find Nick: *LinkedIn
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*Key insights *
⚡ *There's still nothing quite like SMS.* Despite what some people think, SMS is still very much relevant today. Nick explains, "Our view has always been that it hasn't started yet, and we still have that. We still think this is a platform, but we're only at the tip of the iceberg. So what is happening now is largely because of the pandemic and the way brands have started to think about how they engage with their consumers. And also, maybe the digital journey and transformation that they've undergone in that time have really brought them to realize that actually messaging — SMS, for example — is not sexy, but in terms of effectiveness, there's nothing close to it. In terms of getting that message to the consumer, there's no better channel."
âš¡ *SMS is the most trusted communication channel.* One of the best things about SMS is that consumers trust it the most. Nick says, "I think it's still trying to understand what the engagement is and how to engage with people when you only have a few characters. Because right now, the big thing within SMS is one-time passwords. That's really effective, and there's so much security around any purchase or online activity that I'd say that it's increasing the level of trust that people have in the channel."
âš¡ *Messaging will be the most dominating communication channel.* According to Nick, the future will be dominated by messaging. He explains, "We don't have to reach everyone all the time because that's not how advertising works anyway, which is why people advertise on Sky, BBC, CNN, Star, or wherever, depending on where you are in the world. You've got different audiences that you're trying to reach. So again, it's kind of understanding that. But we think WhatsApp will drive things, and that will then pull and drag along the others for a while, and then, they will start to flourish as well. So, in 10 years, the world we think will be very different, and it will be dominated by messaging."