Guest post written by Dani Ganick, manager at Total SMS. Reach out to her at dani [at] total-sms.com

Today, I wanted to tell you a bit more about how offering phone billing can help you convert more users and create new and stable revenue streams.

Phone payments always have always had a bit of a reputation of only being billable at small one-off amounts only, which is not the case as phone payments have evolved a lot, especially in the last decade, and are able to process subscriptions as well as the billing of trials in most countries around the globe.

Converting users to buyers

With a majority of content consumed on a mobile device these days, it is more important than ever to offer quick, secure and extremely user-friendly billing solutions to try and convert as many visitors as possible.

In addition to this, there are still many territories globally where credit and debit cards are not as abundant and the demand for any kind of alternative billing solution is very high. Looking back over the last few years we have especially seen significant growth in Asian, African and South American markets.

Here at Total SMS, a Mediatel company, we specialise in sourcing this kind of alternative solution globally, in order to offer content providers additional options to convert more users and tap into new and previously unexplored markets.

Working closely with a range of experienced and reliable partners including a range of Mobile Network Operators, Total SMS can offer connectivity in almost 100 countries for Premium rate billing services and global coverage for standard rate solutions. No matter if your users are mainly based in Europe or the Americas, Africa or Asia, Total SMS can help you find the best workable solution to fit your billing needs.

With innovative solutions based on charging consumers via various SMS or Voice methods, you can truly enable 100 per cent of visitors to your sites with a way to pay as they will only need to either make a call or send an SMS to pay.

Quick and anonymous

On top of being user-friendly, it also offers consumers a quick and anonymous way to pay. There is no need to fill in lengthy forms and disclose personal or financial information. A simple SMS or a voice call to start the charging process is all it takes for a consumer to opt-in and have the charge added to their phone bill or deducted from their pre-paid balance.

Additionally, phone billing can not only be used for offering consumers an alternative to credit or debit card billing, it can also be used to opt-in consumers for competitions and voting. This type of traffic can also be monetised.

Aside from the well-known carrier billing and premium SMS solutions that most people have likely heard of at some point, Total SMS has also developed a very simple plug and play Standard SMS billing method that only requires the consumer to send in one single text message at the cost of an international SMS.

It’s likely one of the quickest solutions to get set up and running with a same-day turnaround. This solution is especially suitable for monetising voting or competition entries but also simple opt-ins to access low-value mobile content.

It is available globally and does not need to be set up for individual countries. We have been closely working with a range of Mobile Network Operators globally to try and provide the best possible solutions at competitive payouts in the market.

By offering Standard SMS, you can enable anyone in the world to opt into your services no matter where they are – as long as they have a phone that can send an SMS they can interact and connect with your services.

There is no setup cost, monthly fee, or any charge whatsoever to get access to this specific solution. All it takes is for one dedicated account manager to set up an account, assign some test numbers from a wide range of international SMS number ranges to you and off you go.

Engage and connect

In addition to trying to help our clients convert more consumers by offering innovative and global billing solutions, we also try to always find new ways for our clients to be able to engage and connect with their consumers more and build long-lasting relationships.

The latest addition in our ‘engage & connect’ mission is to now also offer solutions to promote your services to your consumers by utilising SMS broadcasts.

With extremely competitive rates, we can offer an additional way to reach your consumers and get your message out to them. No matter if you want to push the latest promotion, a special offer, or inform them about your latest news – using SMS is a sure way to reach them every time!

If you are not sure whether phone billing or SMS marketing is for you and how you could potentially benefit from it, why don’t we set up a call and have chat to see how we could help you monetise, engage and connect with your consumers more.

Our dedicated account managers are always happy to have an in-depth conversation and help answer all of your questions.