Tips for Choosing a Text Message Marketing Partner
Make sure your provider owns the short code
Many companies do not own the short code and are sharing or leasing it from the company that owns it. Some even go 2 and 3 levels deep. I discovered companies that do not own the short code and still offer white label sites to other companies to use their platform to send out the text messages. This was way too many hands in the mix for things to go wrong.
Make sure they are not delivering messages with e-mail gateways
It is a fact that all messages sent and received through a provider’s platform cost them money if done properly. I discovered that many providers are using e-mail gateways for outgoing messages so they can get around the cost associated with it. E-mail gateways are not supported by the cell phone carriers. This could result in delayed or undelivered messages. Imagine running a special for your VIP members only to have some come in the day after the special because it was delivered late. These are reasons why you need to select a provider that follows all the best practices for text message marketing.
Does your provider understand the marketing side of using text messaging?
Anyone can get access to the technology with a white label site and go out and sell text message marketing to businesses without any background or experience. Many do not even research who they are selecting as a white label partner and just jump onboard to try and make some money.