Improve Customer Engagement With Intelligent Fallback Messaging

There’s a gap between what end customers expect and what’s being delivered. Regardless of the channel, an end customer always wants to receive the right message at the right time. Learn how SMS fallback can help you stay connected.

Customers’ communication demands have intensified as we navigate through the new pandemic landscape. Siloed approaches tied to a single communication channel are no longer acceptable as customers expect expedience and relevance in delivery, with elements such as:

• Interaction in real time: Send timely, relevant communications to interact with your customers.
• Customer loyalty: Without fail, notify customers at the right time about special promotions, such as loyalty program benefits, member-exclusive offers etc.
• Better brand image: Create, manage and analyze your cross-channel mobile communication to engage with your customers in an effective and efficient manner, which will provide higher conversion and brand image.

Using SMS as a fallback communication channel for customers who are not subscribed to app notifications can help you reach a larger portion of your audience while respecting their communication preferences.

What is SMS Fallback?

Apps can send push notifications to mobile devices use wi-fi or mobile data (more commonly referred to as 4G, 5G, etc.). When your customers are away from a wi-fi router, have mobile data turned off, or are somewhere remote with poor service, SMS fallback lets you continue to send those notifications in real time. By “falling back” to SMS, a channel that isn’t reliant on internet connection, you can maximize your reach and be there for your customers with shipping alerts, login PIN codes, and other time-sensitive information.

Set Up SMS Fallback with a CPaaS Solution

Syniverse CPaaS Concierge ensures an additional level of deliverability for enterprise critical messages by providing another communication channel as backup option. When customer communication is sent using any app or other CPaaS channels, if the message is not delivered due to the customer not having mobile data at that particular time, a since-deleted app, or some other disruption, these messages will be automatically resent via SMS and delivered successfully to the customer.

Other features include:

• Automatically send the same communication on SMS to all customers who didn’t receive the primary notification within a defined timeframe.
• Define a timeframe by which a primary notification message expiry will trigger SMS backup.
• Specify SMS fallback attributes with a single initial API.
• Communicate with those customers using SMS protocol, even if they do not have your app installed on a smartphone or for customers using feature phone.

For example, a food delivery company may use mobile app notifications to let customers know when their order is ready for pickup. To deliver a seamless customer experience for all customers, food delivery company can set up SMS as a fallback communication channel if a customer is not subscribed to app notifications or has deleted the app. Doing so will ensure that more customers receive order pickup alerts and creates a more inclusive and customer-centric brand experience. 

Also, since many food delivery companies are global, when customers turn off their mobile data while roaming internationally, if the brand has our fallback SMS feature, then customers will be able to receive all notifications via SMS rather than app notifications.

Connect with us today to explore your options with our experts. We’d love to share our experience with you, and what use cases our customers are using for SMS fallback in their regions.