SMS Info Lines: What Are They & How Can They Change Behavior?

Part of a Special Series Developed in Partnership With MobileActive.org

SMS (text messaging) info lines are one way organizations can reach people with “just-in-time” and highly individualized information. SMS info lines respond to text messages from users with information programmed into the mobile platform’s database. All a user needs to do is send a 160-character message to the short code (info line number) and they receive a text message from a pre-populated database of responses. Users can also sign up to receive alerts and other regular messages.

MobileActive.org cautions that SMS info lines are difficult to maintain. It is also costly to purchase the delivery platform provided by a vendor needed to run the info lines. However, while many organizations worry about costs message recipients incur due their use of info lines, the number of mobile users with unlimited text messaging plans is increasing. For example, according to a report by the Mobile Marketing Association, 41-percent of mobile users have unlimited plans. Despite these challenges, SMS info lines have been used by many organizations to motivate and sustain behavior change.

Several examples of SMS info lines:

FishMS is a project of the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative, World Wildlife Fund of South Africa. Text message users receive point-of-sale information about the environmental impact of seafood they plan to purchase. The user can base their purchase decision on the information they receive. Over a two-year period, FishMS received 30,000 text messages from over 7,000 users.
ClimateCounts responds to text messages with information about a company’s environmental sustainability ratings. Users can find out about the company’s “carbon footprint” index and make purchasing decisions accordingly.
Healthy Toys allows parents to text and receive information on chemical content of children’s toys.
SEX INFO is a mobile line where teenagers in San Francisco can text their sexual health questions and receive responses via mobile.

There still exists debate about whether info lines directly create behavior change. According to MobileActive.org, sharing “just-in-time” messages may “transform consumers into activists.” For example, a study by IBM reported how text messaging greatly influenced shopping behavior for the 2008 holiday shopping season. Over two-thirds of teen shoppers said text messages to friends and family influenced their purchase decisions.

In addition to responding to direct questions and comments, info lines can also help organizations build a mobile list of consumers and constituents. The Barack Obama presidential campaign used the cell numbers it collected to conduct surveys, remind people to vote, remind people to campaign in their area code, and send zip-code specific messages (Click here for more information on the Obama campaign’s use of mobile technology).

Best Practices for Running a SMS Info Line

MobileActive.org has developed a series of best practices for organizatiosn considering deploying SMS info lines. It recommends that organizations must determine whether they have comprehensive and reliable data on how or whether their target popultion uses mobile technologies. Then, they must make sure including a SMS info line into a campaign aligns with its overall goals. Finally, they must consider whether they can afford to initiate and maintain the SMS info lines.

Additional best practices developed by MobileActive.org include:

Design an effective call to action
Make sure the information offered by the service is information that constituents will really use
Have very clear campaign objectives
Hire an appropriate vendor
Purchase a short code
Test the info line
Follow-up with people who texted in (abiding by the Mobile Marketing Code of Conduct) and recruit them to join your mobile campaign
Market the campaign effectively
Integrate the campaign with a website and other media
Write text messages with concise and effective wording
Evaluate the SMS info lines

Additional Resources:

MobileActive.org Article: SMS Info Line – A How-To Guide, October 25, 2008, http://mobileactive.org/howtos/sms-info-line-how-guide
MobileActive.org Article: MobileActive.org, United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Group Foundation, Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends of Mobile Use by NGOs, 2008, http://mobileactive.org/files/MobilizingSocialChange_full.pdf
MobileActive.org Article: How to Set Up an SMS System, October 4, 2009, http://mobileactive.org/howtos/how-set-sms-system
2007 Was the Year of the “Omni Consumer” According to IBM Analysis, December 17, 2007, http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23000.wss
Mobile Marketing Association, 2008 Mobile Attitude and Usage Study – US. Distribution Limited to MMA Members Only, November, 2008.

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