A Guide To The Future Of A2P SMS

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. Rainbow Traffic 

Until now, it has been the industry standard for A2P SMS traffic to be split into white and grey traffic. At Mobilesquared, we believe this is a somewhat reductive way to look at traffic, and are adopting a new approach to view it through a more comprehensive lens: rainbow traffic.

We’ve adopted rainbow traffic to emphasise the impact different traffic types have, not only on the mobile operator but also on businesses and consumers.

White route SMS traffic has been recognised as official traffic in the industry, but according to the Mobilesquared A2P SMS global forecasts, grey route traffic still accounted for about 25% of total traffic in 2022 and continues to increase.

Although grey route traffic has historically been associated with fraudulent traffic, not all grey traffic is fraudulent, so this becomes a reductive descriptor. As such, this will now be referred to as “harmless grey traffic” by us at Mobilesquared.

Our rainbow traffic model is simple. Orange traffic is “SMS traffic that is potentially harmful to the consumer”, while red traffic is “SMS traffic that poses a potential or real threat to the consumer and potentially damages the sender business’ brand reputation”, making it harmful. 

Both Artificially Generated Traffic (AGT) and Trashing are considered to be white route traffic fraud. To differentiate these practices from white route traffic, then, Mobilesquared has labelled this traffic to be blue.

We’ve applied a rainbow of colours to A2P SMS traffic that better reflects how certain traffic types can impact the business sending the SMS and the consumer receiving the message. However, we don’t expect the whole of the messaging industry to adopt or embrace our approach to traffic types. 

That said, this revised approach is important to consider when looking toward the future of A2P SMS as a whole, as it can help to bring greater clarity to what is occurring in the industry whilst reflecting what that traffic actually indicates.

Until now, it has been the industry standard for A2P SMS traffic to be split into white and grey traffic. At Mobilesquared, we believe this is a somewhat reductive way to look at traffic, and are adopting a new approach to view it through a more comprehensive lens: rainbow traffic.

3. 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 benefits of using SMS.

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.

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.

Hopefully this guide has given you a wider perspective of the future of A2P SMS.

We are Mobilesquared: mobile engagement specialists delivering the very best independent mobile market intelligence to our clients. We are the established #1 global authority on business messaging and CPaaS, with our data shaping business plans, strategy, and customer engagement modelling, for some of the world’s leading brands, mobile operators, and messaging providers.

To learn more about our services, including the Messageverse, be sure to get in touch via telephone (01182149 777) or email (info@mobilesquared.co.uk) to find out about what we do and discover how we can help your business. Written by Jemima, for Mobilesquared.