In general trade markets, simple infrastructure often drives the biggest returns.
In this Telerivet article, we'll cover why savvy brands are choosing orchestrated SMS and messaging channels over expensive app development to drive loyalty and sales.
- When does SMS go up against branded apps?
- The advantages of SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber
- When branded apps work and what to be afraid of
- The FMCG SMS playbook that drove $28m in one campaign
- What is communication orchestration?
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Telerivet: Enterprise Orchestration for Revenue and Operations
When does SMS go up against branded apps?
Businesses have always needed a direct line to their customers.
In the past, this was often solved by mass media advertising, but the landscape has shifted.
Today, the primary challenge for brands, particularly in Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), is establishing a reliable, owned channel of communication. The cost of acquiring customers through ads on Meta or Google has skyrocketed, making paid acquisition an unsustainable strategy for long-term engagement.
Brands are now scrambling to secure first-party data to reduce their reliance on third-party algorithms.
The debate often centers on two distinct paths: building a proprietary branded app or utilizing universal mobile channels like SMS.
Branded apps are frequently pitched as the ultimate solution for customer closeness. Agencies and developers promise immersive experiences and total control over the user interface. On the surface, an app seems like the logical next step for a digital transformation strategy. It offers a dedicated space on a customer’s phone and seemingly infinite functionality.
However, the reality of general trade markets complicates this picture.
In emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, forcing a consumer to download a data-heavy app just to redeem a small reward or enter a contest creates friction.
The barrier to entry is high.
Consumers have limited storage space on their devices and are hesitant to use expensive mobile data for downloads.
In economies like the US & northern Europe the problem is almost the exact opposite: your customers have so many apps on their phones that they have notifications muted or you get lost in the noise. Where once you only had to compete on the shelf, now you have to compete on the screen too.
This is where SMS enters the conversation not as a legacy technology, but as a strategic competitor to the app. It requires no download, works on every device, and offers immediate access to the consumer.
For brands desperate for direct connection and first-party data without the friction, SMS becomes the pragmatic, high-speed alternative.
The advantages of SMS, WhatsApp, and Viber
The primary advantage of SMS is ubiquity.
It is the only channel that comes pre-installed on every mobile phone in existence, regardless of whether it is a smartphone or a feature phone.
This creates an immediate addressable market of effectively 100% of mobile users. There are no gatekeepers in the app store and no compatibility issues to troubleshoot.
When a brand sends an SMS, they know it will land.
This reliability translates into performance metrics that other channels struggle to match. SMS open rates consistently hover in the high 90s.
Unlike email, which often languishes in spam folders, or app notifications that get buried in a cluttered notification center, a text message demands attention. Most consumers keep push notifications for SMS enabled by default because it is the channel used for critical alerts and personal communication.
In markets like the US, it remains a primary communication method, but its utility is even higher in regions where data connectivity can be spotty.
However, modern messaging strategies are rarely about a single channel.
This is where a platform like Telerivet becomes essential.
It allows brands to coordinate campaigns across multiple ecosystems. In geographies where WhatsApp or Viber are the dominant conversational tools, brands can prioritize those channels for richer media and interactive experiences.
The power lies in orchestration.
If a message sent via WhatsApp fails to deliver, perhaps because the user lacks data coverage, Telerivet can automatically failover to SMS. This ensures the message reaches the customer regardless of their connectivity status.
SMS provides a flexible, robust backbone that supports richer channels, guaranteeing that critical engagement loops, such as OTPs or reward codes, are never broken.
When branded apps work and what to be afraid of
There is a time and place for branded apps, but the use case must be undeniable.
Apps are generally best suited for businesses where the functionality extends beyond simple communication or engagement.
If a brand is building a complex e-commerce platform, a utility tool, or a service that requires heavy processing power on the device, an app is likely the right choice. When the investment in development pays off through non-communication activities - such as daily banking, ride-hailing, or streaming - the ongoing maintenance costs are justified by the product's core utility.
For most FMCG brands and general trade operators, however, the math rarely works out.
Building a high-quality app is expensive, but maintaining it is where the costs truly spiral.
You must account for constant updates to keep pace with iOS and Android operating system changes, security patches, and bug fixes. If an app crashes or fails to load, it creates immediate negative brand perception. A consumer who takes the time to download an app only to find it buggy will likely delete it and never return.
Furthermore, the "push notification" advantage of apps is often overstated.
While effective for power users, the average consumer is increasingly protective of their notification screen. People routinely disable notifications for non-essential apps to reduce digital noise. If a brand relies solely on an app to reach its audience, they are at the mercy of the user’s settings menu.
In contrast, SMS cuts through the noise without requiring the user to opt into a specific software ecosystem.
Unless a brand can guarantee that their app will provide daily, indispensable value, relying on it for communication is a high-risk, high-cost strategy compared to the lean efficiency of mobile messaging.
The FMCG SMS playbook that drove $28m in one campaign
The theory of SMS superiority is best proven by looking at real-world execution.
Telerivet recently supported a global FMCG brand in deploying a campaign that illustrates exactly why this low-friction approach wins. The objective was straightforward: drive sales volume and acquire first-party data in a high-growth market.
Instead of building an app or running a passive billboard ad, the brand launched a "bottle cap" campaign. Customers who purchased the product found a unique code on the packaging, which they could redeem via SMS or WhatsApp for immediate rewards like mobile airtime.
The mechanics were simple for the consumer.
There was no account creation, no download, and no complex registration form - just a simple text message.
Behind the scenes, Telerivet’s platform handled the complexity, validating codes, distributing rewards, and routing messages instantly.
The results were staggering.
The campaign generated over $28.2 million in additional retail sales. By lowering the barrier to entry, the brand achieved an average redemption rate of 86%, a figure that is almost unheard of in digital marketing.
Beyond the immediate revenue, the long-term impact was substantial.
The brand saw a 526% increase in its retailer database, effectively building a massive proprietary audience for future marketing efforts. This direct connection allowed them to bypass third-party ad networks for subsequent launches. The campaign also drove a 5% increase in total market share and reduced their cost per acquisition by 24%.
Perhaps most impressively, this was not a year-long development project.
Because they utilized existing mobile infrastructure rather than custom software development, the team went from concept to launch in just 2 to 4 weeks.
This speed allowed them to capitalize on market conditions immediately, proving that simple, orchestrated messaging flows can outperform complex digital builds.
What is communication orchestration?
The success of the campaign described above was not due to luck; it was the result of communication orchestration.
Sending a single text message is easy, but managing millions of interactions across SMS, WhatsApp, and voice networks without failure is a complex engineering challenge.
Orchestration is the infrastructure layer that makes these disjointed channels work seamlessly together. It turns messaging from a simple utility into a strategic asset capable of driving high ROI.
Communication orchestration is the ability to coordinate an entire enterprise communications strategy through a single hub.
It involves managing the routing of messages based on cost, reliability, and geography. For example, an orchestrated system knows to route a message through a specific local gateway to save costs, or to switch to a backup provider if the primary network goes down.
It handles the logic of two-way communication, ensuring that when a customer replies to a campaign, the system recognizes the context and responds appropriately, whether that’s delivering a reward code or escalating a support query.
This capability is what democratizes mobile engagement. In the past, running a multi-channel campaign required heavy involvement from IT teams and developers.
Orchestration platforms simplify this, providing tools that allow non-technical marketers and operators to build flows, set rules, and view analytics. It bridges the gap between technical complexity and business goals.
By centralizing control, organizations gain visibility into their total spend and performance. Ultimately, communication orchestration is the difference between simply sending messages and running a revenue-generating machine. It gives brands the control to scale their operations globally while maintaining the agility to adapt to local market realities.
Telerivet: Enterprise Orchestration for Revenue and Operations
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