What is mobile originating?
Mobile originating (MO) indicates a message was sent from someone’s personal mobile device to an SMS marketing platform. MO messages are typically delivered using the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol, which allows brands to interact with their audience via text.
In mobile marketing, an MO SMS message is any inbound text from a customer. For example, the MO message can be a person opting in via a keyword, chatting with your customer support team, or texting you their preferences.
How do MO messages work?
Here’s an example of an MO message in practice:
- Your brand sends a promotional message instructing SMS subscribers to reply with a certain word to trigger an action.
Example: “Send DISCOUNT to 12345 for a 30% discount on all sweaters! Offer valid today only.”
- Subscribers send an MO message that contains the keyword DISCOUNT to short code 12345.
- Subscribers receive an SMS reply from your brand confirming the discount.
Example: “Use discount code WARM30 to redeem your 30% discount on your next sweater order. Stay warm!”
In the example above, the second step in the sequence is an MO message sent to a brand’s registered short code.
What’s the difference between mobile originating and mobile terminating messaging?
Mobile terminating (MT) refers to a message sent from an application or a brand that is delivered (terminates) to a subscriber’s mobile device. It can be a standalone message or part of a message sequence as a response to an earlier MO message.
In the example above, the first and third step are MT messages.
Ready to create two-way communication between your brand and your audience? Sign up for Klaviyo and use short codes, custom keywords, and automated flows to grow revenue with SMS today.