From time to time an industry is optimized by renewed functionality that awakens an already robust environment empowering renewed engagement and driving significant revenue growth.

The explosion of the online gaming sector across multiple digital platforms but predominantly on mobile devices has created an environment rich in communication opportunities and perfectly suited to SMS as a customer engagement and retention tool.

The gaming and betting sector has led the way in digital innovation, creating both challenges and opportunities. Real time in game agile user engagement is as essential as one touch end to end communication. The ability to communicate new markets, promote live betting opportunities or activate a stale customer has all been hugely impacted by SMS technology and the flexible cost efficient channels it consolidates.

As is the case with most marketing challenges being able to enhance the live experience or real time environment of a gamer or of someone placing a bet is valuable as one can manage and coordinate the emotive responses that are driven by the thrill of the game and the position the gamer finds themselves in.

Receiving a text, when your favorite team is winning, or losing, being offered enhanced odds on a market or game the customer has demonstrated an affinity with or simply requesting revised contact or payment details are all now securely delivered and requested via SMS.

With all these communications interactions ensuring a high response level is key. There is a cost to all outgoing messaging and in a value obsessed industry like betting, whether its sports, slots or cards the cost of acquiring a customer, engaging a customer or retaining a customer is measured to the penny. A channel like SMS which offers read and delivery rates of over 98% is a betting companies dream as SMS delivers great value for the spend.

Not only does delivery exceed pretty much all other communications channels but also response and speed of response tops out over email by a considerable margin. Some betting companies claim that SMS delivers transactional activity within two to three minutes of landing. The revenue stream associated with this transactional business is also traceable and measurable providing an opportunity to optimize and enhance the user experience, ironically leaving nothing to chance in a game of chance.

In todays digital and often cashless economy the privacy of our data and the security of our finances are often what will determine whether we decide to sign up, log in, submit or play and it is in this space that SMS technology really comes into its own and delivers a unique level of security that provides the user with the necessary comfort to progress with a transaction.

Today 2FA or Two-factor authentication, as it is better known, is the default security position implemented by betting and gaming companies. Two-factor authentication is a robust mechanism that has now stood the test of time. It is the most widely adopted instrument used in the protection of privacy and data. SMS is really the unrivalled partner in any 2FA process as it is agile, flexible and its immediate response levels allow for expeditious qualification of all personal and financial data.

It becomes clear then, that from both the perspective of the customer and the gaming or betting platform SMS is a robust trustable solution on a number of levels. The end-to-end touch point ability delivered by SMS technology which encapsulates everything from early stage customer acquisition right through to reengagement and data protection is empowering ease of use enjoyable gaming experiences on web and mobile. Betting on the next goal, checking out early from your accumulator or changing your password can now all be undertaken via SMS quickly and efficiently in a secure environment.

It may be an industry that makes it money from those who believe in a little luck or a hunch but betting and gaming operators are turning to SMS to ensure that the experience and interaction of the customer is always positive and based on principles skilled technology and a secure platform. SMS acquires the customer, entertains the customer and most importantly SMS protects the customer.