47. Understanding the Importance of Mobile and SMS in E-Commerce with Osa Gaius, CEO at Founder  

Even More Important Than SMS Open Rates

Osayame Gaius (https://www.linkedin.com/in/osagaius/) is the founder and CEO of Parrot (https://getparrot.com/), an end-to-end payment solution that uses SMS (text) messages to validate charges while building relationships with customers. Osayame joined this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! to talk to host Nate Svoboda about the technology behind his solution and the origin of the brand.

While most brands get excited about the popular statistics on open rates for texts, Osayame explains how understanding the differences between this channel and others like email is crucial. Using SMS technology for payment processing has its roadblocks in the U.S. market, too, but with innovators like Osayame, new possibilities have opened to next-gen brands and manufacturers.

Be sure to listen for:

• This interview starts with Osayame’s personal and professional background. He grew up in Nigeria and then studied computer science and software engineering in the U.S. He traveled back to Nigeria thinking he had loads of cutting-edge knowledge he could share with peers, but instead he discovered how consumers communicated with brands, including processing transactions, through SMS in a way that U.S. consumers were years away from. Listen in to learn all about it.
• How is pay-by-text different from Apple Pay? Osayame dives into this question using tech terms we can all understand.
• Because neither the payment nor the telecommunications infrastructures in the U.S. are ready for pay-by-SMS, third-party companies like Parrot are stepping in. Listen to the interview to learn what the future of this relationship will look like.
• Osayame talks about the overarching SMS regulations in the U.S. and how the opt-in requirements country-to-country factor into a brand’s SMS strategy.
• Have you ever received a blast text that was obviously formatted without personalization? Of course! You probably didn’t like it, or even think it was for you. Parrot not only positions brands to use SMS the way customers want, but educates its clients about translating a brand voice from other channels to the more challenging SMS.
• Osayame spells out what to look out for in SMS marketing agencies, too. Anyone who claims 40X ROI or anything else will first generate multiple discount codes, he says, which will indeed build ROI but will also dilute your brand. Learn what the lasting solution is in the full interview.

➡️ Timestamps:

0:00-0:29 Intro

0:30-2:18 Osayame's relationship with caffeine

2:19-3:29 His story and background

3:30-5:23 What Osa learned about global payment models

5:24-6:51 Comparing text-based payment to Apple Pay

6:52-11:18 Why would someone need a company like Parrot?

11:19-14:29 The core regulations of text messaging

14:30-15:40 What companies need to do differently in texting

15:41-22:34 Who should manage this at companies?

22:35-28:30 KPIs for text messaging campaigns

28:31-32:21 How smaller brands can capitalize on this to compete

32:22-33:20 Tools to use

33:21-34:05 Where to get in touch with Osa

34:06-34:22 Outro

SMS platform recommendations mentioned in the episode:

• https://www.attentive.com/
• https://www.community.com/

Get in touch with Osayame at:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/osagaius/
• https://speakonpodcasts.com/osa-gaius/