Tag: snapcall

Why B2B SMS Marketing is a Must

SMS Marketing is very often associated with B2C or Business to Customer strategies. As marketers, we tend to forget that business clients can sometimes share similar traits with individual customers. While their requirements may differ, let us remember that everybody is quickly accessible via mobile.

Most business professionals use SMSes for business purposes, and messaging is a popular channel of communication in the B2B space with over ninety percent open rates.

Following are some reasons to see how an enterprise can benefit from SMS marketing in the B2B space.

  • Inbound Marketing: Just like your regular customer, a business client would not want to spend their time reading a message that just promotes your product. A B2B client would appreciate your help or suggestions rather than being sold to. Therefore, initiate an inbound SMS marketing campaign for clients on your SMS list by offering free podcasts, e-books, training sessions, and attaching website links and URLs in the messages.
  • SMS List: Compile an SMS list of potential and existing clients and promote the same across social media platforms. This is because, without an updated SMS list, you will be shooting in the dark and would not know who is genuinely interested in receiving your SMSes. With a complete SMS list, you can pitch webinars and online events across your client base.
  • Leverage interactive messaging: While you are utilizing all channels to boost your inbound b2b campaigns, seek feedback from the clients who have signed up for your SMS list. Include short-codes, polls, questionnaires, or URLs to derive a two-way engagement.
  • Monitor your Messages: You also need to keep a regular check on the SMS response rates and ROI. Check out Kirusa Konnect’s Bulk SMS marketing platform offers tools to evaluate the ROI of the bulk SMS campaign.

Apart from boosting SMS marketing and keeping track of success metrics, it aDND filter provided to prevent enterprises from sending promotional SMS to people who have opted out officially.

 

 

SnapCall – Taking Missed Call Marketing to the Next Level

We have previously discussed the benefits of missed call marketing as a unique inbound marketing method. The article explored its effectiveness in leveraging marketing campaigns and its potential to garner a more engaged audience, not to mention its inclusiveness and accessibility.

We also highlighted the importance of utilizing various communication channels to get the most out of a marketing campaign. We saw how Missed call marketing does not work in isolation. It yields maximum ROI only in conjunction with different marketing tools.

As part of this, the article touched upon KirusaKonnect’s inbound tool called SnapCall that helps in leveraging missed call campaigns.

This time, we will demonstrate how SnapCall combines missed call marketing with promotional SMS for inbound campaigns. We will talk about ways to supercharge campaigns over this solution and also unveil its benefits as the perfect success tracker.

How is SnapCall Different?

You are already aware of how a missed call marketing campaign is implemented. If not, don’t bother because you will pretty much figure out as you scroll down further.

Now, we shall delve deeper into how SnapCall can be implemented to boost an entire campaign. As part of the versatile Konnect CPaas platform, it offers considerable leeway to enterprises. You can also avoid the pain of looking for an intermediary or agency to carry out calls.

Let’s explore the significant advantages of SnapCall.

Quickest Campaigns

If you run a small business or have begun a new venture, SnapCall is the most cost-effective and hassle-free medium for a campaign.

It is easy, to begin with.

  • Start by signing up for a free trial account at the Konnect CPaaS portal. You can choose from three types of SnapCall numbers-long number, shortcode and star code-depending upon the nature of your campaign.
  • Configure the campaign duration and active time.
    • Campaign date – The start and end date when the campaign is live
    • Campaign time – Hours during the day when people can dial the number to send a missed call.
  • Following this, advertise the number along with campaign specifics and content across various channels. This is the call-to-action (CTA) that prompts the interested audience to leave you a missed call.
  • Configure a response SMS as an acknowledgment or confirmation of the missed call being received. Thereon, you can follow up with the leads and work towards a robust customer engagement.
Advertising Channel Effectiveness

SnapCall helps you measure advertising channel effectiveness. It has a rich reporting analytics dashboard, which keeps track of the number of responses and incoming calls.

To convey a clearer picture, let’s imagine you have 3 SnapCall numbers that are advertised across different channels – online search ads, social media and marketing flyers/brochures/posters.

Once the missed call marketing campaign goes live via SnapCall, you’ll see which number brings in the most calls throughout the entire campaign. This will help you measure the effectiveness of the advertising channel or medium.

The analytics dashboard also lets you know the most active hour of the days.

Measuring Campaign Effectiveness

You can also measure conversions by assessing the quality of leads generated by each campaign.

For example, you have launched two lead generation campaigns using SnapCall. The call to action (CTA) is – give a missed call to request for a loan with an attractive interest rate.

The first campaign is via online ads.

Now, let’s say this campaign generated40 leads.

Out of 40 leads, you had four conversions which mean that the callers successfully availed this loan. This indicates that the conversion rate of the first campaign is 10%.

The second campaign has been conducted via using the SMS tagging tool. Let’s say this has generated ten leads.

The SMS tagging tool of the Konnect CPaaS portal lets you insert promotional tags in transactional messages. Therefore, this can also be used as an advertisement platform wherein you can add the SnapCall number along with your offer.

In the second campaign, six leads converted out of the total ten leads generated – leading to a conversion rate of 60%.

When we look at this data, it is clear that the leads generated from the SMS tagging campaign have yielded a better outcome.

Therefore, one can say that the combined effect of a missed call and promotional/transactional SMS marketing has garnered the best result.

In conclusion, SnapCall is a cost-effective medium towards boosting a good campaign ROI. It also befits the customer who can express interest by merely leaving a missed call. Enterprises who seek to engage the right audience can cultivate quality leads without being intrusive.

Missed Call Marketing: Unravelling the tale of a Sleeper Hit

Do you know that the idea for missed call marketing originates from a very general practice of ‘leaving missed calls’? A habit that millions of people have acquired ever since mobile became commonplace.

Although we all leave missed calls now and then, emerging markets like India and Africa have invented their unique codes to convey messages via missed calls.

For a significant number of the populace, talk time rates are still unaffordable and leaving missed calls is a recognized mode of communication.

However, little did we know that a purely price conscious practice would become one of the most widely-used inbound marketing tools.

In this article, we will do our best to explain what missed call marketing is, what it isn’t, its unique benefits and ways to leverage campaigns.

Let’s begin!

What is Missed Call Marketing? Understanding its Unique Advantage

Missed call marketing is an inbound marketing solution where the user leaves a missed call on an advertised number to express interest in a product or service.

It is a pull marketing strategy that draws only interested customers.

With the help of missed call marketing tools, brands can create a new inbound channel for their customers to reach out to them.

For example, Kirusa Konnect has an inbound communication tool calledSnapCallthat helps in creating successful campaigns.

As an inbound marketing medium, missed call campaigns can build high quality leads for the sales team. It enables better recognition of one’s target audience and heightens prospects for a productive brand-customer engagement.

Unlike most other channels that directly reach out to assumed buyers, missed call marketing generates interest without being intrusive. It is the ‘buyer’ who signs up for information because they are aware of your product, which is the point where consumers enter the awareness stage of your marketing funnel.

Hence, missed call marketing has the advantage of pulling a relatively more informed and decisive customer.

How does Missed Call Marketing work?

Missed call marketing is a cost-effective mechanism and starting your campaign is not difficult. One has to remember that it is not a typical brand awareness campaign. Following are the steps that you can execute on an inbound marketing platform.

  • Start by purchasing and configuring a set of numbers.

  • Advertise a specific number for people to leave a missed call which is the call-to-action. Remember that the number has to be circulated via other communication channels.

  • Set up a response SMS as an acknowledgment or confirmation of the missed call being received. Some consider this step optional, but it is highly recommended. Also, enable a mandatory feedback SMS from the customer.

  • Following these exchanges, you can measure the number of incoming calls and responses or analytics on your inbound platform. Kirusa Konnect’s SnapCall can help visualize and monitor the progress of campaigns in real-

  • You can use SnapCall as an effective communication platform to supercharge your missed call marketing campaigns. It is a versatile medium to generate awareness of the brand.

However, the utility of missed call campaigns extends beyond general commercial purposes. Following are the various uses cases:

Lead generation – Brands can implement missed call marketing as an efficient way to generate quality leads for their business. Following is a typical example of an insurance agency.

  • Agency advertises a new insurance policy across various media channels, along with a phone number (this is called the CTA or Call-To-Action).
  • People who view the advertisement can give a missed call to the number to express interest in the insurance policy.
  • As soon as the missed call is received, the insurance agency captures the phone number of the caller, which is how a lead is generated.
  • The agency sales team then reaches out to these leads to turn them into customers.
  • Examples of brands using lead generation include insurance companies (life insurance, health insurance, home, vehicle, electronics, ), loans, etc.
Contests and voting
  • During contests or elections, people can leave missed calls on a given number to vote and make their votes count.
  • Typical examples include voting for your favorite participants on a reality show.
  • Governments and regulatory bodies can use missed call marketing to gather votes, support and public opinion for socio-economic or environmental causes.
  • Simply put, missed call marketing can be used for multiple purposes-from extending support to an individual to advocating a particular cause.
App downloads
  • Brands can increase their app adoption by employing this classical marketing technique. One can leave a missed call he/she wishes to download an app, and will be sent an SMS containing a link.
Service requests
  • Customers also leave missed calls if they require some service. For example, users frequently request checkbooks from their bank by first leaving a missed call on a given number. This is usually followed by a callback in a defined period or an SMS message.
On-demand information
  • Bank balance, shipment status, flight details, personalized information, are some of the details that can be gathered via missed calls.
General Awareness

Missed call campaigns can also be applied to generate awareness campaigns against epidemics and natural disasters. Users can leave a missed call and indicate interest if they want further information. For instance, Kirusa Konnect has played a role in facilitating the Ebola Education Campaign to educate Ghanaians on the Ebola epidemic.

What does Missed Call Marketing not Mean?

Conceptualizing a missed call marketing campaign is only half the job done because the exercise is not an end in itself. One must explore and utilize various media/communication channels to generate a robust campaign, including print and electronic media.

Let’s take the example of uniBank which is offering a zero percent payment plan for a comprehensive policy on motor insurance. This message is advertised in print, electronic or social media, TV radio, billboards, etc. A SnapCall number is also popularized with the content to encourage interested customers.

Through the Konnect SnapCall portal, the customer service team of uniBank can access the database of interested people. The team calls back customers to sign them up for the motor insurance policy and other UniBank bank assurance services.

Once the leads are generated, brands become aware of their audience. This is the point where one needs to watch out for conversions and ensure constant communication along with impeccable customer service.

Successful implementation of missed call marketing campaign also requires a regular tracking of metrics and the demography of users. The results can be further used to discover other channels of communication and reach out to newer prospects.

In conclusion, we have learned that missed call marketing is a unique method that assists other forms of advertising for strong marketing ROI. It is an empowering mechanism that makes use of very general practice by letting users reach out at no cost.

The combined effect of auditory/visual communication like Radio and TV with missed call campaigns can inform and educate the buyer. Consumers with limited access to data/internet can make better decisions and understand their needs.

To top it all, the possibilities are limitless, and one can discover innovative ways to further utilize the power of mobile.

Democratize your campaign with Missed Call Marketing

This article will elaborate on the advantages of utilizing missed call marketing solutions for voting/ election campaigns.

We are already aware that missed call marketing is the most viable and cost-effective inbound marketing medium. It offers numerous use-cases and makes an entire campaign easier for both the enterprise and its audience.

Its ability to generate interest amongst buyers without being intrusive is remarkable. Similarly, one can prompt interested people to cast their vote via missed call marketing.

Unlike other voting channels like SMS or online polls, missed calls are more accessible and less time-consuming. Anybody with a mobile can easily participate in the campaign by just leaving a missed call.

Overcoming Disadvantages of Alternate Mediums

Before we explore missed call marketing as a favorable voting channel, let’s understand the challenges of alternative voting mediums- like SMS.

SMS has long been a favorite voting tool, and numerous campaigns have encouraged voters to use the same. However, it’s a long drawn process that takes out the zeal.

  • To begin with, SMS involves multiple steps – opening a message from the campaigners, trying to understand the process, figuring out the short-codes, typing, dialing the correct number.
  • It costs money and hence, a lot of people refrain from participating.
  • There are significant chances of sending the wrong code and voting for the unintended candidate altogether.
Advantages of Missed Call Marketing for Voting and Elections

On the other hand, users face none of these with missed calls. Following are the advantages:

  • The user is not charged an ounce for leaving a missed call
  • One merely dials the number and rest is upon the organization
  • The organizer automatically sends an acknowledgment SMS to the caller. An acknowledgment SMS after a Missed Call is highly recommended and is recorded by the system. SnapCall from KirusaKonnectCPaaS makes this step mandatory.

Considering that missed calls rarely pose any barriers, enabling them during an election is the best way to encourage voters. This is the best method to initiate a direct-call-to-action (CTA).

How to launch a Missed Call Marketing Campaign for Voting?

You can quickly launch a missed call campaign during contests or elections using SnapCall from KonnectCPaaS. The steps are as follows-

  1. Signup for a trial on the Snapcall portal of KonnectCPaaS.
  2. Pick a number – long or short number – for each candidate, depending on your campaign requirements.
  3. Follow by advertising your campaign message and the number across various platforms.
  4. Setup the automated SMS message that is sent to the user, as an acknowledgment of the missed call.
  5. Configure the active hours of the campaign. You can choose to keep the voting lines open 24 hours a day, or restrict it from 6am to 9pm. This feature allows numerous customizations and adds value to your campaign. Votes registered only during business hours are counted/registered.
  6. Configure the duration of the campaign – for e.g.-valid from 1-15 Aug 2018.
  7. Visualize the number of votes in real time from the reports dashboard.

Alternately, you can also download the campaign reports in PDF format from the KonnectCPaaS dashboard.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, anybody seeking to leverage their campaign can count on SnapCall. One has to remember that missed call marketing does not entail a hundred percent success rate unless we advertise across other channels. For the best ROI, utilize every possible means of communication.

Having elaborated the advantages of Snapcall as a campaign booster, let’s remind you that this is only one bit of what it does. Snapcall is an efficient missed call marketing tool that offers many other use cases. If you are still wondering, sign up for a 30-day free trial and find out!

How to Win Big in the CPaaS Companies?

What is CPaaS?

By definition, Communication Platform as a Service or CPaaS is a cloud-based delivery model that allows organizations to add real-time capabilities such as voice, VoIP video, APIs, business data services, etc. Following are the ten reasons as to why businesses need CPaaS.

The best organizations are those who prioritize their internal and external communication, conveying strategic vision and messages to the last bit of execution.

Hence, in today’s highly competitive industry, how do you make it big in the cloud communication platform market? Following are a few things to consider.

  • Customer Service: Growing transactions across sectors such as IoT, mobile payments, banking, marketing activities, etc. are driving trends in customer loyalty and retention. While we know that enterprises are ramping up cloud communication platforms, your ability to make a difference relies heavily on the customer service. No amount of chatbots or omnichannel experience will help if you do not offer direct communication.
  • More Leeway for Development and Innovation: Enterprises need to regularly stay updated with the latest in communication applications to retain and pull customers. Consumers are increasingly comfortable with switching over to a different service or provider if their demands are not met. Therefore, CPaaS users require platforms that allow them to integrate the latest developments in the cpaas market.
  • Cloud Infrastructure: A logical network along with robust cloud infrastructure is a must. CPaaS providers with enough network carriers so that it is easier to carry out inbound and outbound communications. For example, Kirusa’s Konnect CPaaS Portal which offers a comprehensive suite of inbound and outbound communication tools enables you to connect with the target audience via mobile phones through its partnership with several network carriers.
  • Wide Variety of APIs: Assess the scalability of your Its length, breadth, and depth should be able to accommodate your organization’s evolving needs. For example, if you have to include touch-to-video-chat features to a customer-facing smartphone app within a year, you don’t want your client consulting another vendor.
  • Secure communication has become a significant concern because accessing CPaaS vendor APIs requires the use of credentials. If not handled with care, exposed credentials allow third-parties to access the company’s infrastructure.

The CPaaS space is a fast-moving market, and opportunities are numerous. It is also a battleground for cpaas companies to keep up with existing trends and engage in the best possible manner with customers.