The Future of A2P SMS

Created by John Waters • 18th January 2024

Research shows that the SMS messaging market is not only growing, but its use is also diversifying.

SMS accounted for 96% of the total business messaging spend in 2022, with 10% more businesses spending on SMS following the disruption around the globe caused in 2020.

It’s important for businesses to understand where A2P SMS is headed. As such, the below will cover the future of A2P SMS, including the market growth as well as how it can be used by businesses and consumers as a messaging channel in the future. 

When trying to understand what the future looks like for the A2P SMS industry, factors to consider include, but are not limited to:

• Market Growth

• Future use of SMS

1. Market Growth

SMS remains superior as a critical messaging channel, and the A2P SMS market continues to grow in Ireland.

In fact, forecasts from within the sector project that the A2P SMS industry is set to grow by 87% between 2019 and 2025, emphasising not only the growth of the A2P SMS market as a whole but also why businesses should be using it.

So, what does this market growth mean for businesses? In short, it means that A2P SMS isn’t just relevant in 2023, but is the future, and a bright future at that, hence why the number of businesses using SMS to communicate with customers (A2P) increased by 9.78% by the end of 2022 compared to the previous year.

The exponential growth of the market and the fact that SMS remains an effective way to quickly communicate with customers, offer personalisation, and create highly targeted experiences for customers, means that buying SMS data has thus never been more valuable.

Implementing SMS into your way of working, then, allows businesses to promote superior customer satisfaction and build strong client relationships as a result.

Future of A2P SMS accounted for 96% of the total business messaging spend in 2022, with 10% more businesses spending on SMS following the disruption around the globe caused in 2020.

2. Future uses of SMS

The future looks bright in terms of the uses of SMS from a business and customer perspective.

Business Perspective

From a business perspective, A2P SMS already has a range of uses that will only increase as technology develops.

From appointment reminders to marketing messages, SMS remains an important part of improving the customer experience and there are a range of advantages of using SMS in business.

Marketing strategies for SMS have evolved and matured over the last few years. With the rise of automation, SMS will continue to make it easier for businesses to focus on customising messages to customers, in turn improving engagement rates and customer satisfaction.

Additionally, businesses will be able to integrate SMS with emails, social media platforms, and even customer relationship management (CRM) software to develop marketing strategies that reach customers wherever they may be.

How you use A2P SMS will depend on your goals as a business, but its flexibility means you can easily tailor it to ensure you’re getting the most out of your marketing efforts.

Customer Perspective

With the increase of wearable technology in the form of watches, jewellery, medical devices, and accessories, it’s never been easier to stay connected even when customers are away from their phones.

We’ve already seen the development of smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, which allows you to send and receive SMS messages if your iPhone is switched on and connected to the network even when you’re out and about away from your smartphone.

This highlights a unique opportunity for businesses to reach customers, even when they’re out of range through wearable technology.

As wearable technology becomes more sophisticated, then, it’s likely SMS will be introduced into various different devices, providing even more opportunities to connect and communicate with customers.

A2P SMS with the increase of wearable technology in the form of watches, jewellery, medical devices, and accessories, it’s never been easier to stay connected even when customers are away from their phones.

To delve further into the benefits of A2P SMS please feel free to reach out to the team in Phonovation sales@phonovation.com  and we would be delighted to discuss how A2P SMS can enhance your customer communication strategy.

Research information provided by mobilesquared.