Realizing the Potential from a Simple Monologue to an Interactive Dialogue

This year we have seen some very creative uses of SMS as a marketing and promotional tool. American Express used SMS to create the first interactive billboard across central London train stations, members of the public are invited to send an SMS containing their name to “London’s Insider Tip Generator” to receive a personalised message on a billboard. The message will suggest ways they can make the most of their time in London. It will also be sent to the user in SMS form. The campaign is a part of American Express’s ‘Realise the Potential’ campaign.

SMS marketing provides affordability and quick results for small businesses and with 90% of all SMS messages read immediately it’s the quickest way to communicate directly with your target audience. From a simple monologue to an Interactive dialogue between the customer and the brand.

There are some very creative uses’ of SMS within marketing campaigns, These are generally directing audiences to send a distinct text-message  keyword to a pre-defined 5-digit or 6-digit destination number known as a  short code. After a user does this, the mobile marketing text message campaign is initiated. However, Boomerang’s innovative ‘threading’ technology enables a dialogue to be initiated and an automated dialogue initiated, opposed to the usual monologue or simple 2 way SMS. ‘Threading’ enables multiple inbound messages, matching each response to its specific originating message, providing greater scope for creating interactive SMS campaigns. Why not have multiple on going interactions with a customer all over London for example and the possibilities for this technology is endless.

There are limitations between interaction customer and simple two-way exchanges and whilst such exchanges can be useful, they do not realise the full potential of SMS as a communication medium. The potential to drive down costs and introduce new revenue streams is not the only benefit here and as we have seen this year with some inspiring campaigns developed by some exceptional brands, and I’m looking forward to seeing what original and innovative campaigns will be thought up.