Steps to create scheduled SMS to deliver at different dates and times
Step 1
Continuing from step 6 above, click on the green cross icon on the right side of your date and time to create other columns. Following the same procedure, choose the date and time for the other created columns. Here for the secondcolumn I chose June 10th, 2020 at 7:30 am and on the third column I chose June 14th, 2020 at 2:30pm.
Step 2
After that, click on complete schedule to schedule your message.
Sending birthday wishes to people has always been something that’s expected by everyone to do at some point. Whether its sending birthday messages to your family, friends, loved ones, colleagues, clients/customer etc. it’s always hard keeping track of peoples birthday dates with all the hustling and bustling in this present world. Sometimes, you end up forgetting your spouse’s or loved one’s birthday meanwhile he/she was busy waiting for a birthday message from you.
However, with Ozioma you can now automate your birthday messages and be the first to wish your loved ones a happy birthday without even typing or sending it yourself.
Benefits of Birthday Messaging With Ozioma
You can group your birthday contacts (like family, clients etc).
You can select the exact time you want the message to be delivered.
You don’t need to type the message yourself because you can select from our SMS collection templates.
You don’t need to be online before the message is delivered.
On the left of your dashboard you will see a list of options, click on Birthday Messenger. (if you are using a mobile phone, click on the icon to the top left of your dashboard to see the list of options then select the Birthday Messenger).
Step 3
At the bottom of your birthday messenger to the right, click on the pink colored icon.
Step 4
Type the birthday group name and description.
Choose the Time zone. If your recipient(s) is in Nigeria then choose West Africa Standard Time (+1.00). Choose the time zone based on the country in which the phone number(s) is used.
Step 5
Choose the time you want the message to be delivered.
Step 6
Click on Select template group and choose Birthday, then click on create. If you don’t want your messages to be sent from the template group and prefer to compose your own messages then after choosing the time click on create to create your birthday group.
After that, click on the back icon.
Step 7
Click on the name of the birthday group that you just formed.
Step 8
Once in your birthday group, click on the first icon at the top right side of it and click on Add contact. if you want to export it from your files then click on import from files
Step 9
Add the recipient name, phone number and the date of birth then click on add.
Step 10
If you did not choose a collection from the template group and want to compose the messages yourself then click on messages and then click on the first icon on the top right.\
Step 11
Enter the sender name and type your message. After that click on save message.
Note:
If you want to edit, pause, copy or delete a particular contact or message, simply click on the icon at the opposite of the contact or message.
Schedule SMS text messages, this feature is perfect for when you know you will not be at your desk, or knowing you might forget when an SMS message needs to go out. You can schedule your SMS text messages to be sent at a future date and time. Instances for scheduling SMS messages are as follows.
For sending SMS reminders.
For sending motivational messages or encouragements to your employees
For event planning
For sending birthday, new month, New Year messages e.t.c, without typing or sending the messages yourself and so much more.
You can now schedule your messages in various ways with Ozioma app. There are 2 types of scheduled messages in Ozioma, which are
Simple scheduled messages
Advanced scheduled messages
Simple Scheduled Messages
This are scheduled SMS messages that will deliver at a future date and time
On the left of your dashboard you will see a list of options, click on message box. (if you are using a mobile phone, click on the icon to the top left of your dashboard to see the list of options then select the message box).
Step 3
Once in the message box, at the bottom click on the pink colored message icon on the right.
Step 4
Type the sender name, the recipient phone number(s) or select newsletter (if you have a saved contact group) and the message, then click on schedule for later.
Step 5
Choose the Time zone. If your recipient(s) is in Nigeria then choose West Africa Standard Time (+1.00). Choose the time zone based on the country in which the phone number(s) is used.
Step 6
Choose the date and time you want to schedule the message to. Here I chose, May 8th, 2020 at 8:30am.
Step 7
Click on complete schedule to schedule your message.
Composing and sending your bulk SMS on Ozioma is actually quite simple. once your account have been successfully funded, you can start sending your bulk SMS by following this steps:
On the left of your dashboard you will see a list of options, click on message box. (if you are using a mobile phone, click on the icon to the top left of your dashboard to see the list of options then select the message box).
Step3:
Once in the message box, click on single/bulk sms.
Step 4:
This is where you will compose and send your SMS. Here you will input the sender name, country, select newsletter (that is if you had already grouped your contacts) if not, then just type/ paste the phone numbers but separate each with commas or on a new line.
Step 5:
Next is to compose your message. Remember that 1 SMS page consist of 160 characters including space and you will be charged per page and number of recipients. If you want to use corporate route for DND it will cost you 2 units instead of 1 unit per SMS page.
Step 6:
Once all that has been done, make sure you cross check everything to make sure there are no errors.
Once you have successfully created and activated your ozioma account, the next thing you should do is to fund your account by buying units so as to enable you to start making use of our bulk SMS platform.
Steps on How to Fund Your Ozioma Account
Step 1:
Visit our website at https://app.ozioma.net and log in to your account using your username and password, then click on login.
Step 2:
Once you have logged in to your account, you’ll see your dashboard. On the top right corner of your dashboard, you’ll see your profile icon. Click on it and select Ozi Units.
Step 3:
In here you have 2 choices, either to buy online or make bank payment.
To Buy Units Online
If you want to buy your units online, you have to update your profile with your email address and your full name as this details are required for online transactions.
Click on your profile icon and select General Settings.
Fill in your full name and email address and click on update profile. Your profile will be automatically updated.
Once that’s done, click on your profile icon and select Ozi units.
You can now select the amount of units you want to buy ranging from 100 units at N250 to 10000 units at N25000.
After selecting the amount of units you want, you’ll be asked to make payment. Click on make payment.
You’ll need your debit cardnumber and your CVV to complete your payment.
To Make Bank Payments
Click on bank payments. Our account details are there already. Here you have 3 options of making bank payment which are:
Bank Cash Deposit– use your username as depositor name.
Mobile banking app transfer– use your username as transaction description/remark/narration.
ATM/USSD Transfer– send your payment details to 2347034672749 or 2348065766234.
Fill in your details by choosing your username and password, country, phone number, recommender or referrer (this is optional), also choose the type of account you want to create, either personal or corporate account. Once that’s done, click on create account.
STEP 4
An activation code will be sent to you via SMS. Input the activation code and click on activate account.
An SMS short code is a 5-6 digit phone number that is used by businesses to opt-in consumers to their SMS programs, and then used to send text message coupons, offers, promotions, etc. to those customers that had previously opted-in. Short codes are “short” by definition as they are meant to be easily remembered when sending a text.
People opt into SMS marketing programs by texting a word or phrase known as a “keyword” to a short code. They are specifically meant to be shorter than normal phone numbers to make the opt-in process easier. .Additionally, short codes are capable of sending extremely high volumes of text messages in a short period of time. This makes them the optimal choice when looking to reach large amounts of people.
You can get it from companies or sites that offer short code services in Nigeria. You cannot get it directly from MTN, GLO etc. Big Brother Africa, Project Fame are examples of TV programs that use “short code” for SMS voting. It can also be used for SMS competitions, Text 2 Win promotions, Charity SMS donations and can also be used to provide information services eg health tips etc
The way people that text a short code are billed is different from the way they are billed when they text GSM numbers. Short code have the following tariff, N30, N50, N100. The tariff is the airtime value that will be deducted whenever anyone respond to the code.
The Different Types of SMS Short Codes
Shared Short Codes
Shared codes are simply any SMS short code that multiple businesses or brands use. Organizations normally share short codes because of their cost. . Sharing allows companies who aren’t willing to pay the large price tag, or who are new to SMS marketing, the ability to launch an SMS program for a much lower cost.
Because people opt into text messaging programs using keywords, the “pool” of available keywords for any business to use becomes limited as more people share a single number. Most SMS short code services make use of shared codes for all of their users
Dedicated Short Codes
Dedicated codes are ones that are used only by a single business or brand. You typically see dedicated SMS short codes being used by larger companies, ones that have the additional budget, or that need access to any and all possible keywords. Because they are used by one organization only, they’re not sharing the pool of available keywords with anyone else. Additionally, you have full control over what types of text messages are sent through your number.
There are two types of dedicated short codes which are,
Random short codes– When you apply for a new code, you have no control over what the number will be. A random 5 or 6 digit text number is assigned to you.
Vanity short codes– this gives you the option of choosing what your number will be. You can choose between a 5 or 6 digit number as well.
Benefits of a Dedicated SMS Short Code
Choose your own number
No keyword restriction
Control your messaging
Dedicated throughput
How To Get Started
To get started, please do the following; 1. You MUST have registered Business Name 2. You MUST be able to show the Proof of Business Ownership 3. You must provide a Documentation about usage of the short code 4. Copyright issue on the idea and bank statements/guarantee might be requested too depending on what you want to use the short code for.
How To Make Money From SMS Short Code Services in Nigeria
Acquire your own SMS short code
Get people to respond to your short code. The more people that know and respond to your short code, the more money you make
Promote your SMS short code via bulk SMS marketing
How much you make from a short code depends on the agreed sharing percentage between you and the issuing company. On a neutral ground, the issuing company gets 50% while you get 50% too.
Once a GSM user responds to your GSM short code, lets say with an MTN number, MTN will deduct their own money immediately. The remainder is now what you and the issuing company will share based on your agreement during the set up process.
SMS (short message service) as we all know is so popular now because its one of the cheapest and fastest ways of pass information, be it for personal use or for business purpose.
SMS billing models are the various methods in which people are charged for sending SMS. Many bulk SMS platforms use SMS billing to regulate their costs, monitor clients’ payment status and enhance profitability rate. Bulk SMS messages are charged according to the following.
Text message length
Number of recipients
Text message destination
One SMS Page contains 160 characters including spaces. So the longer the message, the longer the cost. There are 2 major SMS billing models that SMS providers use, and these are,
SMS Billing using Local currency
In this case, the SMS is charged using the local currency of that country. This means that, each time you fund you bulk SMS account, it will be credited with the same amount as the currency you paid and you would be charged in your currency. For example, a bulk SMS provider could charge N3 per SMS and when funding you could pay N1000, your bulk SMS account will be credited with N1000 and you will be charged N3 for every SMS you send from that account.
SMS Unit Billing
In this case, the SMS is charged using units and not your local currency. This means that even after making payment to fund you bulk SMS account, once it is credited it will be converted to units and your SMS will be charged from it. For example, if a bulk SMS provider charges N2 per unit for SMS and you make a payment of N1000 to fund your account, you will be credited with 500 units and not N1000 and each SMS you send will be charge per unit.
Bulk SMS units can be a little bit confusing if not well understood. Many SMS providers today claim they offer the cheapest bulk SMS service in Nigeria. Most of these providers may sell their SMS for as low as 0.90 kobo per unit but go ahead and charge 2.7 units per SMS to a single recipient. The implication here is that a customer may be happy buying SMS units for 0.90 kobo unknown to him that he is invariably paying N2.43 for per SMS.
A good SMS provider charges 1 unit per SMS to 1 recipient. That’s why in Ozioma Messaging and Communications Platform, we sell SMS units for as low as N2.50 per unit and charge 1 unit per SMS. The bulk SMS units does not expire on Ozioma, so you can use your remaining units any time until you exhaust it.
SMS has an important part to play in business communications. However, in terms of the character limit, there are some challenges with SMS. Limiting your message to 160 characters can be tricky at times, especially if you have much to say. Some organizations view it as a challenge, others view it not quite so favorably. So what happens if you simply cannot squeeze your message into 160 characters? You use concatenated SMS!!
What does concatenated SMS mean?
Concatenated SMS messages allow a phone to send messages longer than 160 characters. The sender composes a message normally, however, behind the scenes, the phone detects the message length. If the message is less than or equal to 160 characters, the phone sends a one standard SMS message. However, if the message is greater than 160 characters, the phone automatically divides the longer message into multiple, shorter SMS messages which are then transmitted to the recipient separately.
The recipient’s phone takes these multiple, shorter SMS messages and recombines them into the original message which was sent. Because the individual segments of the complete message need to be recombined in this way, this is referred to as ‘concatenated SMS’. The recipient’s phone will collect and reassemble those messages into the same order you sent it to recreate the message.
In order to achieve this seamless delivery, additional information is added to each individual concatenated SMS message. This additional information, referred to as the user data header (UDH), provides identification and ordering information. For example, the UDH could relate the three individual concatenated SMS messages to each other, and indicate the order for recombination.
Generally, telephone companies count individual concatenated SMS text messages separately even though they are being recombined at the phone into a single message. This means a message containing 180 characters could potentially invoke a charge for two SMS text messages, even if the sender/recipient only sees a single message. Note that if you send a message with more characters than the threshold limit, your message will be cut off. For example, if you send a message with more than 459 characters, but only allow up to 2 concatenated messages, your message will be cut off at 306 characters and the recipient will not receive the entire message.
SMS Concatenation with Ozioma Messaging and Communications Platform
To ensure that your messages are delivered Ozioma supports concatenated SMS with a default setting of 3 message parts. As with every mobile provider, each message part is charged as 1 SMS. To ensure your messages are being delivered as you intended, sign up for a free Ozioma account athttps://app.ozioma.net
In this age businesses have to face so many obstacles to survive like competition in the market, new technology, globalization etc. To meet these hurdles Bulk SMS Messaging is an innovative technology/strategy for businesses.
I see small business owners making the same mistakes over and over again when trying to send bulk SMS messages to their customers. These mistakes are obviously hurting their ability to connect with customers and prospects! Yet, they keep making these mistakes over and over again.
Seven Major Mistakes Business Owners Make When Trying to Send BulkSMS Messages
Mistake #1 – Not using bulk SMS messages for marketing.
It puzzles me how most small business owners only use “word of mouth” for marketing and think that only big companies should use bulk SMS. How do you reach out to new prospects and customers, and get them to engage with your company? How do you get a prospect to buy for the first time? How do you get a current customer to buy again? One of the most effective ways I’ve found is with mobile marketing… specifically by sending bulk SMS messages.
Mistake #2 – Not using a professional SMS texting platform to send text messages
This is a huge mistake many business owners make when first getting started with sending bulk SMS texts. They want to save a little money… so they start collecting phone numbers from customers and prospects. Then they start texting from their own phones! Apart from the fact that it will even cost more, your phone could be stolen and all your contacts will be lost.
If you’re going to send bulk SMS messages, sign up for a professional bulk SMS platform. I’m partial to my company Ozioma Messaging and Communications Platform, we have a great SMS marketing platform.
Mistake #3 – Sending uninteresting and unorganized Bulk SMS messages
When sending Bulk SMS messages please keep in mind that the message should be in an organized manner. The message should be organized according to the information. The objective/idea of the message should be simple and effective. Most people don’t think about the message they are going to send and they end up sending the same messages again and again making it uninteresting.
Mistake #4 – Not including a call to action in every SMS message
This is a huge mistake many business owners make. CTA (call to action) is one of the most effective part in bulk SMS which gives the customer the reason to take action. Customers can know why they received the messages in the first place. The main purpose to sending an SMS is to ask the customer to do or buy something. If that is missing, Bulk SMS will not be very effective. So there should be a proper CTA (Call to action).
Mistake #5– Sending lengthy messages
Due to the changing times, everyone is in hurry to reach somewhere, so everybody expects concise, to the point and informative content. Nobody has time to read 500-word story as an advertisement, few smart words in a line should be enough to influence the customer positively. There is 3Cs technique to create quality content –Clear, Concise and Call to Action. A long message appears to be broken up, confusing and unprofessional in nature.
Mistake #6– Not using professional language
Not everyone can understand business terms or slang terms, therefore you should create content according to customers. The content of the message should be clear, simple and easy to understand in nature. In order to enhance your brand credibility, use professional language (free from acronyms and slangs)
Mistake #7– Lacking personal essence in the SMS
The way you present your advertisement is a salient feature. The quality of the content should be such that it makes the customer feel special, meet their needs and should contain brief information about your product. In order to make them feel special, address them by their name, keep them updated with latest trends in the markets, provide them with special discounts etc.
