Viber + SMS: combo strategy for reaching 100% customer coverage

Viber is installed on 98% of Ukrainian phones, but some people use the messenger sparingly—mainly for communicating with relatives and checking neighborhood or school chats. Up to 50% of recipients view promotional messages in the app or on the website, and only a few businesses can boast an 80% result.

At the same time, Viber is a proven channel for businesses to communicate with their real customers. A cascading strategy—“SMS after Viber”—helps strengthen this connection and increase the open rate of messages. How it works and what it offers—read on.

Why are cascading messages beneficial?

The essence of this “combo” is simple: the message is first sent via Viber, but if it remains unread for a certain time (from an hour to several days), the subscriber receives a plain SMS—95% of users read it within minutes of receiving.

Thanks to this:

• Clients are guaranteed to receive a promotional reminder. That’s 1.5 times more than with standard Viber delivery;
• The likelihood increases that people will be interested in the offer and purchase your product or service;
• The sender saves money: one SMS costs from 95 kopecks, while Viber messages cost from 46 kopecks. The price depends on the message type and the volume sent per month. Since we’re talking about hundreds or thousands of numbers, the savings are usually significant.

How to implement the strategy from a technical perspective?

Setting up cascading notifications can be done quickly and independently. The most difficult step is to determine which marketing approach suits you better: sending identical texts to both channels or “playing” with triggers—that’s also possible.

Eight steps

1. Register on a trusted SMS delivery service—if you haven’t already—and log in to your account;
2. Upload a list of numbers for the campaigns into the service. This list must be in Excel or CSV format;
3. Choose the type of campaign: combined Viber + SMS. You can also choose separately—only Viber or only SMS;
4. Write a message in the “for Viber” field. You can technically “attach” an image and a call-to-action button. Whether to use an image is a matter of taste and your offer’s specifics. But a button for instant contact is a significant advantage;
5. Write a message in the “for SMS” field—it will be sent to subscribers who didn’t receive the Viber message;
6. Set the “message lifespan”, e.g., “send after 48 minutes”;
7. Tick the box “send via SMS”;
8. Choose the sending time—“tomorrow at 09:00” or send immediately.

Two options for a combined scenario

You can send “cascading” messages of any format—from service messages about order status to trigger ones, such as requests to leave a review about a product.

This tandem can work in two ways:

• Identical texts on two channels—this is not only easier, in some cases it is even more necessary.
  Example: “Reminder: your subscription expires in two days. Don’t forget to make a payment for the next period”.—if the person didn’t read it on Viber, they will most likely read it via SMS.
  Another example is when Viber’s task is to present the offer impressively using visuals, while SMS aims to “push” the person or catch the attention of those who missed the first message: “20% off Sony electronics, offer valid until the end of August”.
  Different texts on two channels—this is a bit more complex, but sometimes it’s the most effective marketing solution.
  For example, via Viber: “Dear customer, there are Sony headphones in your cart, for payment assistance please call this number”. Whether the client responds is unknown. After 24 hours, you can send an SMS like: “Promotion on Sony electronics, 1+1 = 3, details on the website”.

When is a combined scenario most effective?

• Limited-time offers. These are primarily discounts and sales with strict time frames—they push users to make purchase decisions.
  This parameter in SMS marketing should be realistic: if the offer is not cheap, only those who planned such a purchase will use the discount within two hours of receiving it.
  This is where it makes sense to combine different trigger messages on Viber and SMS. In any case, the focus should be on:
  —value (size of the discount);
  —time limit (until what date the offer is valid).
• Mass notifications. This includes info about delivery, schedule changes, inventory updates, etc.
  Messages can be identical—for Viber, it’s worth adding an attractive image. The time gap between messages is up to the sender—from a few hours to several days.
• Payment or appointment reminders. These are strictly identical messages. Since these are business or organizational topics, you shouldn’t wait too long for a response. So, scheduling SMS to be sent 1-3 hours after Viber is reasonable.

Who benefits most from the combined strategy?

The best results come from businesses in the service sector: private clinics, beauty salons, gyms, etc. The Viber+SMS combo is used to confirm bookings or remind clients of pending payments.

“Sending reminders via both Viber and SMS was a breakthrough for us. It started when clients began asking not to call them with info or clearly showed that phone calls were inconvenient. Viber is cheaper for us, but not everyone reads it—even though over 80% of our clients indicate they use the app during contract signing. Sending messages manually is possible, but we don’t have just ten people per day, so it was easier and more reliable to automate”,—says Andrii, a marketer at one of the fitness center chains.

There are also positive examples in retail. One clothing store ran a Viber+SMS promotion as a test. As a result, website clicks increased by 1.5× compared to a traditional SMS campaign.

Instead of conclusions:

The Viber+SMS cascading strategy combines the technical advantages of each of these channels. On the one hand—almost 100% SMS reach and its conciseness, which has become a competitive advantage today. On the other—the visual appeal provided by Viber. It’s this combination of channels that allows you to “catch” the customer where it’s most convenient for them at that very moment.

According to SMS Club analytics, conversion when using the technical tandem increases by more than 60% on average compared to using a single channel. They increase the frequency of contact but do not overload people with excessive attention from your business. At the same time, you get better results for the same effort.

With the help of our service, you’ll achieve the same. Moreover, we offer the opportunity to try out the Viber+SMS combination for free for 1,000 of your clients.