Benefits of SMS over Royal Mail

As we see Royal Mail appearing in the headlines again, for all the wrong reasons, is the time right to think about alternatives to what is fast becoming an uncertain and outdated form of correspondence with your customers? What are the benefits of SMS over Royal Mail?

As new and emerging technologies integrate seamlessly and conveniently with our lives, why should we rely on an increasingly unreliable service to conduct our businesses?

What was once our only form of written communication has seen a raft of competition present itself to the stamp-and-envelope method of delivering content and communication.

A business or organisation with infrastructure, such as Royal Mail, has proportionate overheads to match. With profit for its shareholders a priority and under increasing pressure to perform, we need to ask: Is their performance based on you, the customer, and the service you receive, or on the profit it generates for those holding shares?

‘In the financial year ending March 2022, the company generated a profit of £758 million, representing a slight decrease compared to the previous year’.

After a price increase in April (2022), next January’s scheduled increase has been brought forward to November (2022).

‘In light of unforeseen inflationary pressures and increasing costs, we have brought our tariff timetable forward from January 2023 to ensure the Universal Service (and, in turn, our Access services) can continue to be delivered in a financially sustainable way.’

The new prices and the high-level increases that Royal Mail has announced include:

• 18% increase on Business Mail Letters
• 10% increase on Business Mail Large Letters
• 5% increase across the board on Advertising Mail

As the cost of using Royal Mail as a service provider has increased and will undoubtedly continue to increase again, unrest between the union and the company bosses grows, and so many factors are now at play regarding the value of service, let’s look at an alternative method of communication with your customers.

Benefits of SMS over Royal Mail

As we pick the promotional letters and flyers up off the doormat, we give anything unofficial a cursory glance before depositing it in the recycling bin. Things of no interest to us, something we have not asked for, and things that have no relevance to us.

When we receive a communication or promotion via SMS, it is something we have subscribed to and asked to receive. It is something that is of interest to us and is governed by a strict set of laws regarding communicating directly with us in this way. We have ‘opted-in’ to receive information from that company or business contacting us.

Communicating with your customers via SMS has a number of benefits over the traditional stamp and envelope method.

• 97% of marketing/communication text messages are opened.
• 90% of these texts are read within three minutes.
• Time and date stamps recorded when the message was received, security passed or failed and when the content is opened and read.
• The use of SMS communication is growing.
• 58% of people say they prefer companies to contact them by SMS

This is where Saascoms can help you scale to new markets, achieve more significant volume thresholds, or new communication channels, including Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

Saascoms was the first to market with a solution for sending your standard ‘print and post’ communications by SMS, with a secure identity verification function to ensure the correct person is viewing the information.

Why did we develop this service?

There were several factors. The marketplace required a communication solution which was dependable and accessible to every business to communicate with their client base effectively. Many of our clients were sending high volumes of letters by the traditional print and post method.
This caused a few issues.

• Cost – The cost to send a second-class letter is currently 68p and has become prohibitive due to rising costs.
• Time – It can take between 3-8 days for the letter to be received.
• Resource planning – If all the letters are sent and received by their customers within a day of each other, it can cause resource planning issues within the customer call centre.
• Environmental – CO2e footprint is considerably higher when sending a letter than an email or SMS.
• Complete lack of knowledge about user engagement.

Here’s the solution – Secure SMS is a method of including information or confidential documentation with your SMS message.

Embedded in the outbound SMS is a unique URL which takes the recipient to a security page where they confirm their identity.
Once security is approved, the recipient can read or save the letter. Hyperlinks to websites or telephone numbers can be active within the letter to direct the reader to a call to action on your website or to call your call centre.

Why use this? And what are the advantages:

Security – You can send any information, including promotional, marketing, confidential or financial documentation, to a recipient’s phone, knowing that the wrong person can’t open it due to layers of verification security required before opening.

Cost – It is circa 90% cheaper than sending a single-page printed letter and even more so when compared to multi-page statements.

Tracking – Our time and date stamps recorded when the message was received, security passed or failed and when the letter was opened and read.

Speed – Sent letters are received on the same day of sending, meaning response times are significantly improved over traditional mail.

Performance – Tracking and analytics show that digital mail performs better than print and post. As acceptance of digital engagement increases, the balance will continue to improve in favour of digital engagement.

Personal – SMS is personal. It is delivered directly to your customer’s mobile phone. The average mobile phone user checks their handset 63 times a day. Choosing an SMS partner that can provide campaigns for personalisation allows SMS communication to grab your audience’s attention.

Better results and value for money – Analytics and tracking show how effective this method of communication is compared to traditional mail.

In addition to the above, as a direct comparison against Royal Mail – Inflation proof – strike proof – fixed costs – not liable to go missing or get lost – guaranteed delivery – 

Make contact, and let’s discuss how we can help you improve your customer communications far more effectively.