Media giant The New York Times is using SMS to directly communicate with readers for the first time, and what an event to trial it on! With the whole world tuned in to Brazil’s largest city for this summer’s Olympic Games, an opportunity for a new way to reach out to readers has presented itself for the paper. Times reporter Sam Manchester will text readers directly from the stadiums at Rio with news and updates directly to their mobile phones. Why? Because almost everyone has the capability to receive SMS, even those without a smartphone. You don’t need internet coverage to receive a text message, merely standard network connection. It has been realised that although old technology, SMS still has far-reaching capabilities.

The idea behind this is to connect with readers on a personal, one-to-one level. If you take a look through your SMS inbox, who are your conversations with? Your mum, your significant other, your best mates. Manchester will use relaxed language and content such as emojis to create that same feeling as texting your friends, thus simulating real involvement. The great thing about this is that readers can text back and drive what kind of updates Manchester will send by letting him know which sports they are interested in and how they are enjoying the games. The technology behind the responses is based all around keywords and being able to categorize people into different audiences depending on their feedback. Once categorized, these readers will then only be sent updates regarding their interests. This is one way to guarantee a happy audience!

We are really interested to see the level of success that this kind of campaign will bring, which we are sure it will be. We can now start looking at how other companies and organisations can introduce this type of communication to drive interaction with customers and clients. For more information regarding the technology used or the possibilities of carrying out a campaign like this for your business, contact us today on 0114 466 4466.