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What Is an SMS Gateway Provider?
SMS gateway providers offer APIs (Application Programming Interface) to allow businesses to use, and integrate their software to send SMS messages to mobile devices. SMS service providers are for example used for bulk SMS services, reminders, alerts, logins, and marketing.
Direct Connection vs. SMS Aggregator
When selecting an SMS gateway, it is important to remember that price is a short-term factor. You do not just want to find the cheapest solution for your business, but the best at an affordable price. CM.com is sending SMS worldwide with Direct Operator Connections, but how does this help you exactly?
Sending SMS via Aggregators
Cheap and low quality aggregators lead to a number of problems:
- Status reports vary according to the operator.
- Data reports will therefore differ.
- Prices of these services often fluctuate daily.
- You lose control over how your SMS is sent.
- They create layers of unnecessary operators in the process..
- You do not get precise delivery report statements.
Reports play a central role in monitoring the delivery of SMS and e-mail marketing.
For example, if a campaign involves 1000 SMS that wins a company 50 customers, the Conversion Rate (CVR) is 5%. What is not visible without an accurate delivery report is that only 500 SMS have actually arrived at the receiver, so the CVR increases to 10%, and a customer actually cost double.
It is important to consider the question: Has a sent SMS message actually arrived at the recipient or not? The meaningfulness of the CVR drops considerably without knowledge of the delivery. Therefore, any errors in the delivery report seriously affect the customer and the campaign.
Direct Connection as an Alternative
A direct connection to your customers will provide better results. The speed of the delivery improves drastically, allowing you to send SMS messages for particularly time-critical tasks (one-time passwords for example).
In the long term, the use of an SMS gateway with a direct connection is also significantly cheaper. When comparing, be sure to get the best services offered at the prices you can afford. Do not spend every penny twice - after all, it is the growth of your company that is at stake.
Transparent Analytics for Sending SMS
For SMS gateway comparison, you should only rely on users who also provide comprehensive analysis tools. Free SMS analytics tools create transparency when sending messages:
- How many SMS messages do your customers really reach?
- What about your conversion rates?
- What growth have you achieved in the past weeks or months?
The more information you have, the easier you can plan your mobile marketing in the future. This is possible with a reliable SMS gateway, which is based on direct connections.
The costs are an essential factor when selecting the SMS gateway. There are models for only 3 cents per SMS, but also variants for more than 10 cents.
The price is influenced by the number of SMS messages you wish to send, the frequency of messages, and the transparency and accessibility of the support. To find out more about the reliability and the services of a provider, performing a comparison between differently expensive offers can be useful.
24/7 Monitoring
When you use an SMS Gateway, you'll also want to rely on it that this gateway delivers all messages in time. Also, data protection and high availability play a key role in whether or not you can trust a provider with your business-critical or privacy-sensitive messages. When sending SMS notifications over an SMS gateway, you should be able to rely on 24/7 monitoring and security to handle all messages with care.
Conclusion
Direct Connections are always the cheaper alternative for SMS marketing. It allows you to prevent messages from being delivered incorrectly, and analyze delivery reports and other tracking information. All good providers will clearly label the type of connection they use.
