Does it really matter which communications platform you use for messaging? Absolutely. Sharita Passariello, Senior CRM Manager for Fluent, joined us to talk about how adding Plivo as one of their cloud communications platforms helped their business meet its messaging goals. You can watch for yourself, or keep reading for a recap.
Plivo Senior Product Marketing Manager Tony Graham started the conversation by having Passariello introduce Fluent, whose business revolves around customer acquisition. The company engages people across a portfolio of online sites and connects them with relevant brand partners.
In her role Passariello oversees all of the company’s CRM strategies and channels, including SMS, which she describes as “one of the most vital channels for us. We use SMS API in multiple geos to build relationships with our customers and connect them with our brands and our partners. Our users give explicit consent to receive our messages, and truly want these updates. They see the value in the content that we’re providing to them.”
Bringing Plivo on board
In the summer of 2021, Fluent turned to Plivo because, Passariello says, in Canada, “I wasn’t seeing great engagement as far as click through rate goes, and I didn’t have any clear line of sight into our deliverability stats … to understand what variables were in play and what I could do to optimize.
“I wanted to better our Canadian SMS program long-term, and I didn’t have months to do that — to wait for the perfect solution.” One of her colleagues who was familiar with Plivo suggested she give it a try.
Passariello says, “I was able to set up a business account on the spot, link a credit card, and begin testing. I was blown away by how easy the initial setup was.
“Over the next four weeks we were able to double our SMS revenue in Canada and increase our revenue per subscriber by over 30%. It was a game-changer.” Passariello says Fluent has since started using Plivo for some of its US SMS traffic.
Not only was Plivo easy for her to use as a manager, it was also easy for Fluent’s technical staff to work with. “Our developers had us up and running with very minimal back and forth. The documentation is clear. Our testing was straightforward. It was one of the most seamless integrations that I’ve been a part of. I think we were running within a day or two of creating an account.”
10DLC emphasizes the importance of a partnership
At around the same time Fluent began working with Plivo, US carriers began implementing 10DLC, an initiative for scaling messaging via long codes. “The shift in the SMS landscape was a confusing time for everybody,” Passariello recalls. “With 10DLC, brands were able to send more traffic via long codes than they previously could, but it introduced so many new things that we weren’t used to doing — registering brands and campaigns and linking phone numbers. I needed some hand holding, and it was wonderful to be able to rely on Plivo to navigate this new landscape.”
Passariello credits the Plivo console with making her job easier. “I really love the fact that everything is very self-service. I have all the control that I would ever want. I can register my brands myself, register campaigns — seriously, start-to-finish setup I’m able to do myself. I don’t need to rely on other teams. I can launch a campaign quickly if I need to.”
Passariello spends a lot of time at the console — cheerfully. “I’m almost embarrassed about how obsessed I am with this console. For me it’s about the level of insights that I have access to. I love that the SMS logs show you how many messages you’re sending and what the status is — was it delivered, was it failed — and, if it was failed, what reason was it failed for. That [information] has been a complete game-changer. There’s no guesswork. And you can filter by geo, by ‘from’ number, campaign — you can drill down on anything that you’re looking to find. It has saved me hours of guesswork. I couldn’t be happier.”
And the Plivo-Fluent partnership goes beyond 10DLC. Passariello says, “I rely on Plivo communications for industry updates. When carriers make changes, I can always count on Plivo — and my personal CSM — to always send out newsletters and updates well in advance of any changes and to navigate through questions with me.”
All wrapped up
Take a look at the video, or, if you prefer a slicker version of the use case, read our customer story on Fluent. Then do what Sharita Passariello did — sign up, visit the console and our documentation, and start exploring everything that Plivo can do.
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