Comparison Of Short And Long Codes For SMS Marketing
Many businesses and other organizations, such as national and local authorities and health-care services, are investigating the best ways to use new technologies to market products, to offer better services to their customers, and to establish new sources of revenue. SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging is the most widely used data service in the world, available to nearly all mobile phone customers, and publicity, advertising and promotional campaigns leveraging SMS offer opportunities for many companies. Often organizations will have the choice between using short or long codes for their services, and this article reviews the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
The use of text messaging (SMS) for marketing or for providing services requires that the marketer or service provider should advertise, and offer a phone number, to which the prospective customer or service user must text a reply. Most people will have seen examples of this type of advertising. A typical early example is the provision of ring tones for mobile phones, where customers are encouraged to “Text COOL to 12345 for Cool Ringtone”.
In the example shown the number 12345 is a “short code”. These have the advantage of being easy for the customer to remember and to use, but sometimes “long numbers”, which contain more digits, and are similar in length to a regular telephone number, may be more suitable. Companies and organizations using SMS for marketing, or for providing services, must therefore choose whether to use a long number or a short number for their campaign.
The first consideration is usually the type of campaign. Short codes are limited in number for obvious reasons, and telecoms providers will charge higher rates for a short code. This means that the short code is more suitable for a campaign where the company or organization intends to directly raise revenue. An example of this is telephone voting for TV shows, where viewers can text in a vote for their favorite act, and the SMS message is charged at a premium rate.
An additional benefit of short numbers is that they are easy to remember. This useful for ad campaigns where the number to text only flashes on the screen for a few seconds.
However, there are some disadvantages to short codes. Some of these are associated with the fact that the number of five or six digit numbers available is limited. This means that the telecoms companies need to ration the use of the codes, which they do by charging higher fees, and by sharing them between different organizations.
There can also be a long set-up time to get approval for a new short code, and there are also issues concerning national boundaries – short numbers are issued by national telecoms operators, and are therefore not suitable for international campaigns.
Long codes, or numbers, are similar in length to regular telephone numbers, and they can often be made available in less than 24 hours. As premium rates are not charged they are more suitable for campaigns which are not aimed at directly making revenue. They can also be used in any country, making them suitable for international campaigns. Example uses of long codes might be a number printed on a product package which is available internationally, or a number which is used to register interest in an international event.
Companies wishing to use SMS for marketing, informational or other purposes will often need to make a choice between short and long numbers for their campaign. Generally short codes would be preferred for campaigns intended to directly raise revenue, and limited to one country. Long codes would be better for international campaigns, or campaigns intended for prospective customers simply to register interest in a particular product or event.
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