SMS providers in Indonesia and all over the world are now very excited with the rise of the market demand for this technology for the past few years. According to Report Linker, SMS A2P market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% and accounts for USD 62.1B in 2025. In order to meet the customer expectation in the “always on” culture, businesses need to be flexible in adjusting their SMS A2P adaptation with the changing customer behavior. Here is how companies can best fine-tune the use of their SMS A2P technology to answer the market requirements and help them stay competitive.

Reach any type of mobile phone devices, even the most basic ones

According to GSMA Intelligence, there are 5.15 billion unique mobile phone users in the world today, around 66% of the total population, with 2.4 percent growth per year. However, it is important for businesses to understand that even though there is a growing number of people who use mobile phones, not everyone is connected to the internet at all times, with only 3.5 billion people expected to own a smartphone that is connected to the internet in 2020. SMS has proven to be a reliable and simple way to connect and share information with other people, even with those who are not equipped with smartphones, internet, or social media. SMS has a wider reach compared to email or other applications that need the internet to function. Understanding this customer behavior, businesses need to adjust their communication strategy and start using SMS to connect with the wider audience because the end-users can receive SMS seamlessly even when they do not have internet connection.

Offer an additional layer of security to avoid fraud and protect customers

Research by Slick Text predicts that there will be 6 billion people sending and receiving SMS text messages by 2025. With this massive amount of users, it is no wonder that the growth of the SMS scams is also on the horizon. Protecting customers from fraud and scams, as well as establishing proper mechanisms to secure your customers from risks and vulnerabilities should be one of the top priorities for companies, because it is directly correlated with customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty. Two-step authentication via SMS is one of the most used methods by companies today to avoid data theft and protecting customers from fi0cial fraud. Not only that, the use of Online Transaction Password (OTP) is also very popular for additional security layers for SMS companies using SMS A2P technology.

Understand customer pain points and tailor-made your SMS A2P to enhance customer experience

Despite statistics on mobile phones rising, 65% of companies included in the Slick Text study confirm that they still do not have a formal strategy in place for SMS messaging, and only 14% of them have actually connected with their customers through SMS. In a contrast, 71% of the customers say that text messaging to communicate with a business was effective. Understanding this gap due to the change in customer behavior, companies need to use this opportunity to engage more with the customers using SMS A2P technology. There are many aspects of the business that can be optimized using a tailor-made SMS solution, in order to solve the customers pain points, including troubleshooting issues, communicating billing questions or concerns, creating reservations, changing a purchase order, and many more. 

Globally, including A2P SMS in Indonesia, the change of customer behavior is definitely playing an important role on how this technology is adapted by businesses. Paying a close attention of what the market actually wants can help your company to implement SMS A2P technology in a more effective and efficient manner.