Advantages of SMPP over SMTP for Mobile Marketing Expresstext	Visited: 1831 5.0/5.0 (1 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Philip Thomas July 27, 2009

The ever-increasing popularity of mobile phones vindicates a good opportunity to attract prospects through mobile marketing. Text messaging is one of the few efficient mobile marketing tools that are adopted by mobile marketers. Mainly, there are two methods to send text messages, Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP) and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). For a mobile marketer it is important to understand which method to adapt to send text messages in mobile marketing.

SMPP Is Better Than SMTP:
There are many advantages of using Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP) over Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Messages through SMPP are secured, reliable in delivery, carrier supported, extended information, and have legal protection unlike SMTP. SMTP messaging is permitted only for personal use, not for business use.

Direct Communication To Carriers And Instant Delivery:
SMPP is a direct connection to carriers and provides instant delivery. SMTP messages have higher rate of failing. Messages sent over SMTP roam around the Internet from server to server before they get delivered. If servers are fully loaded, they can take up to 24-48 hours to get delivered.

Real Time Message Delivery Reports:
SMPP offers status delivery reports. They provide information on successful and failed deliveries. Besides, SMPP provides the reasons for failed deliveries also. On the contrary, SMTP does not provide any delivery reports.

Usage of ‘Short Code’:
SMPP access the advanced solutions by using ‘short code’. This enables the customers to quickly and easily subscribe or unsubscribe themselves from a client’s database just by replying to the clients’ messages. On the contrary, SMTP doesn’t support this feature.

Clients Can Reply:
SMPP offers complete two-way text messaging. Clients can get important feedback by creating a dialogue with their customers. SMPP provides a good communication between a client and his customer. When it comes to SMTP, it is not possible for the customers to reply to message they got.

The cost of sending text messages through SMTP is low compared to SMPP, but it is not worthy to risk your business just for few pennies. A mobile marketer should make a smart choice by using SMPP method to stay ahead of their competitors.