What is A2P SMS and how do businesses use it?

by DIDWW Team

Businesses across most industries can take advantage of A2P text messaging, which serves as a cost-efficient way to interact with customers and increase their engagement. This communication technique enables companies of all sizes to send brief, often personalized messages that have high open and click-through rates, making these texts an effective and profitable contact medium.

The efficiency of a text messaging service compared to any other channels is proven by various studies, which show that SMS open rates reach as high as 98 percent, response rates exceed 40 percent, while 95 percent of all SMS texts are opened and read within three minutes of delivery.

What is A2P SMS?

Known as Enterprise Messaging or Business SMS, A2P (application-to-person) text messaging is the process of sending mobile messages from a business application to a mobile user.

This technology is widely used by diverse sectors including banking, financial institutions, e-commerce, healthcare, entertainment and media to enable one-way or two-way communications with their customers. In addition, A2P text messaging is also extensively utilized to verify a user’s identity: businesses can send a verification code or link to a customer's mobile device for further validation.

How to benefit from A2P SMS?

A2P messaging has numerous advantages, but one of the most important features is the delivery of an enhanced customer experience. Companies gain a competitive edge by increasing customer engagement and satisfaction using one of the quickest and most convenient communication methods – A2P SMS.

To further expand on the benefits of A2P text messaging, this method allows you to:

  • Automate the messaging process, with an easy method of contacting customers
  • Reach a large number of customers quickly and reliably
  • Increase brand awareness with a relatively low financial investment
  • Convert more users to paying customers with efficient message deliverability
  • Increase sales from returning visitors
  • Track click-through rates to measure content relevance

How is A2P messaging used?

A2P SMS is a useful tool in commercial communications that simplifies and streamlines business-to-customer interactions. The A2P SMS market is segmented by application into:

  • Customer Relationship Management Services
  • Interactive Services
  • Advertising Campaigns
  • Pushed Content Services
  • Inquiry-Related Services

Some examples of how A2P SMS can be used include:

  • Mobile marketing campaigns for VIP memberships, exclusive deals, promotional messages, ticketing, automated updates and event-based reminders.
  • Authentication services for two-factor authentication (2FA), one-time passwords (OTPs) or PIN codes, critical alerts and notifications.
  • Banking notifications for transaction details, balance statements, anti-fraud alerts and payment reminders.
  • Travel updates for automated booking confirmations, seasonal offers, last-minute deals, travel alerts, interactive reservations and service notifications.
  • Healthcare facilities for appointment confirmations and reminders, medication refills, emergency notifications, blood donations and ready-for-pickup notifications.

A2P SMS is a simple yet powerful communications methodology with huge potential as the only universal messaging platform. Messages can be sent to any mobile device without requiring the use of cellular data. Leading telecom service providers can offer effective A2P SMS partnership models for almost any business use case.

DIDWW offers inbound and outbound SMS trunk services, delivered via our high-capacity, global platform, directly peered with a range of selected incumbent local exchange carriers. Configuration, management, and monitoring of A2P and P2P SMS trunks is fully self-service through the DIDWW online User Panel, with constantly expanding functionality for supporting the widest range of carrier requirements and business applications.