Traditional SMS and MMS messages all follow the same pathway and deliver very similar outcomes. This is true for 99.9% of the SMS gateway providers in the world. The end result to the contact is a simple SMS or sometimes MMS message, occasionally with a website URL added to the message. Let’s break this down into the component parts to understand the mechanics and both the user experience and result back the business or marketer.  

TRADITIONAL SMS & MMS 

Firstly, your CRM system or similar (e.g. excel spreadsheet) will contain a list of contacts with mobile numbers. For this example, let’s assume you have permission to market. From here, you will generally upload these to your SMS provider or connect via an API of sorts. The SMS Provider then sends the message when instructed. That is the end of their job unless a return message is received.

Once the contact in your list receives their simple SMS message, they can opt out, respond with a text or simply ignore the message. You can of course add a short URL link to a page on your website or a sales page but at this point, once they leave your text message, you have no way of knowing where your visitor has gone from there. Many providers view this simple function of inserting a URL as ‘intelligent automation’. Sadly, it is far from that. If you are directing your contact to a landing page with a form to complete, you can capture more information at this point BUT, the form will not be talking to your SMS provider and thus, you cannot imitate any other automation such as adding them to a follow-up SMS message or directing them to a nurture campaign if the form is not completed.  

Some SMS providers can return a simple response to your CRM system but generally this is very cumbersome and time intensive on the part of your contact. It also costs your prospect or customer an SMS charge for each response which is not ideal. As the ‘marketer’ you are also incurring an additional charge each time a message is sent and received.

Your costs as a marketer also add up. Each time you ask for more information e.g. what is your email address, what is your favorite color, equates to an additional SMS charge from your provider. Above all, it is a very manual process for all parties involved and not a great user experience.

INTERACTIVE MESSAGING (SMS & MMS)

MOBIT developed Interactive messaging technology in mid-2014. Released as a standalone platform, fully integrated to Infusionsoft and now integrated with Zapier, any CRM, Marketing Automation system or third party application can connect to MOBIT. The ‘Interactive’ prefix refers to the way in which MOBIT’s messaging platform wraps intelligence around the SMS & MMS message and delivers unique mobile landing page content to the smartphone. The image below shows an example of this. All of this is created very simply in the MOBIT application.

Unlike typical SMS providers that stand outside your application, MOBIT integrates with your CRM and Marketing System and works in unison with your various marketing campaigns and automation logic. MOBIT can also be used as a standalone mobile marketing automation platform.

Regardless of your integration type, your application tells MOBIT what and when to start your mobile campaign and send to which contact or contact segment. 

Each contact receives their ‘Interactive personalized message’ with a unique automation and tracking link that when clicked, directs them to their ‘Interactive mobile page’. Any information from MOBIT or your CRM system can be merged with content on the page or if unknown, you can use MOBITs own forms to capture detailed contact information. On form submission, this data is immediately available in MOBIT or your CRM system to trigger and initiate other email or mobile campaign nurture sequences via advanced automation rules and logic.

Cost Effective and a Great User Mobile User Experience 

Unlike traditional text providers that require users to respond with multiple messages to receive information back, not only is this difficult to interpret (which message should be merged with which contact field – if you can at all!), the cost to the marketer and user plus the generally crappy user experience makes this a rather poor solution. The traditional message that took five messages (inbound and outbound) at a cost of around 25 cents to receive three (3) pieces of contact information can now be performed with one simple MOBIT message. Not only that, the MOBIT forms and pages are so advanced, they can be used to capture hundreds of different types of contact information and even be used for complex customer surveys, all through one single text message.

KEY BENEFITS OF INTERACTIVE MESSAGING 

• Messages are the same low text charge as other providers
• A fantastic user experience built for the smartphone environment
• High open rates (+98%) and Click through rates (+40%)
• Messages can be sent and received anywhere in the world
• Dynamic marketing contact can be delivered to your audience in seconds without being blocked by spam blockers
• One message can capture unlimited profile information from your lists
• Virtually any media type (MP3/4, YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, iFrame, images, picture galleries etc...) can added to the Interactive Mobile Pages. 
• Rules based automation logic can direct your contacts to various drip campaigns based on their level of interaction with your messages and pages. 
  Working in conjunction with your email campaigns, mobile messaging will dramatically improve your engagement and conversion rates.