Budgeting your Business Texting in 2023

Finding a balance between cutting costs and maximizing ROI with your tech stack in mind

If you’re a business leader, you’re likely finalizing your planning and budget for the New Year right now. Planning in uncertain economic times can be stressful and knowing where to start can be even harder. Auditing your business texting tech stack is a great place to start as your partners play a big part in hitting your goals.?

With all the changes in the #A2P market this year, knowing that you are getting the best product and service at the most competitive price from your provider can be confusing. We’ve found that many red flags are perceived as ‘the norm’ in the industry, making shopping around or optimizing your process seem impossible or even worse, unnecessary.?

Here is a guide to help you master finding the right #messagingAPI provider for the best price – putting you on your way to cutting costs and boosting your ROI in 2023.?

Are You Aware of the Red Flags with Your Current API Provider?

Messaging API performance that seems to be operating normally is commonly overlooked. To be perfectly clear, if you’ve experienced low deliverability or blockages, paid high pass-through fees due to compliance issues or didn’t receive enough transparency from your API provider this year: your ROI is taking a hit.

It’s fair if you feel like doing a deep dive into your #API provider and messaging performance seems way too difficult and way too complicated to yield any significant results. But the reality is, addressing the red flags you may or may not have recognized with your current API provider will actually save you dividends in time and money in the long run.

If your provider is not offering you answers to the following issues, replacing them should be topic of conversation in your next planning and budgeting meeting:

• Addressing low deliverability or blocked messages – with the right partner, you could be receiving 100% message deliverability, meaning anything below that is subpar. If you've experienced low (or delayed) message deliverability and your provider can't explain why, it’s time to look somewhere else. On the flip side, if they provide you with error codes on their website – why are they just notifying you but aren’t helping to solve the issue?
• Advising you on industry changes – your provider should be advising you on the changing landscape and the benefits of migrating your toll-free or short code traffic to #10DLC as it’s more affordable. 10DLC is much cheaper and just as effective, but not all providers are making their customers aware of this, resulting in businesses missing out on savings due to lack of information and guidance.
• Addressing high pass-through fees - with the ever-changing #a2pmessaging regulations, if you are running 10DLC or local number traffic and your provider hasn’t advised you to register your 10DLC traffic, they do not have your best interest in mind. Sending compliant messaging will reduce your pass through fees by up to 4X, saving your budget in the long run. Unregistered traffic can also lead to heavier filtering and more blockages, yikes.
• Timely customer service – seems obvious but being able to get someone on the phone 1:1 when there is an issue to address quickly is a must. Each minute, hour and day of shutdown is costing you money and throwing off your 2023 plans.
• Simple and easy reporting – does your provider offer easy reporting making sure you are maximizing deliverability? If you’re delivering to numbers that are out of service, turned off or out of cell range, your provider shouldn’t just be cashing in (many charge for sending these undeliverable messages) but helping to address the root cause and help you make adjustments so you aren’t wasting your budget.

Where to Check If These Red Flags Are Happening to You

If messaging is a core part of your business, you should be consistently monitoring these items to ensure you're spending efficiently to boost your #SMS & #MMS ROI:

• Check your bill and review ‘payment per message’ monthly?
• Check for Carrier pass-through fees: if your pass-through fees are above $0.002, you're overpaying likely due to being unregistered.

Expensive SMS & MMS bills without clear deliverability reporting don’t have to be the norm.?

As #A2P10DLC expert and CEO of Telgorithm, Aaron Alter , is here to answer any questions you might have about maximizing your SMS & MMS ROI to balance your budget and tackle your goals in 2023. If your leadership team considers these red flags important enough to make a change, team up with a partner who listens to you and has the knowledge and experience to support your team.?

If you found this article helpful, like and share! If you have any specific questions feel free to comment below or connect with Aaron Alter directly.