SNS vs Pinpoint for Order Status Update

Question

I'm looking to build a solution to deliver online order status updates via SMS to customers, looking at about 1 million msgs per year. Additionally, the solution will also be expected to be used for occasional marketing communication.

I'm struggling to find any documentation weighing the pros and cons of the two services against each other. Any thoughts/suggestions on which service is better suited to the need at hand?

Answer

AWS provides two services that support SMS messaging: Amazon SNS and Amazon Pinpoint. Here are some factors to consider when deciding which service is the best fit for your needs:

Amazon SNS (Simple Notification Service): Originally designed for machine-to-machine communications, it is suitable for organizations that primarily send transactional messages without the need for marketing messages. If you only require SMS messaging and don't plan to use other channels like email or voice, and if advanced messaging and engagement analytics are not a significant requirement, then Amazon SNS may be a suitable choice.

Amazon Pinpoint: This multi-channel customer engagement service is specifically designed for application-to-person (A2P) communications. It supports SMS, email, push notifications, voice, and custom channels such as messenger apps and chat widgets. If you have a diverse range of communication needs, including bulk, transactional, and marketing communications, and if you require advanced features like campaigns, journeys, segmentation, analytics, and personalization, Amazon Pinpoint is a recommended choice.

One crucial distinction is the self-managed opt-out feature, which is available in Amazon Pinpoint but not in Amazon SNS. With self-managed opt-outs, you have the ability to handle opt-outs in a granular manner. For example, when a customer texts "STOP," instead of opting out globally, you can provide them with options to choose which message types they want to unsubscribe from. This flexibility allows you to avoid a scenario where a customer blocks all subsequent messages. Without self-managed opt-outs, using Amazon SNS, replying with "STOP" would lead to a global opt-out for all messages.

Consider your specific messaging requirements, future scalability, and the need for granular opt-out management when evaluating Amazon SNS and Amazon Pinpoint

Source: https://repost.aws/questions/QUQdwjl67UQv-OI_uT-FV_lQ/any-benefit-of-using-pinpoint-vs-sns-vice-versa-for-transactional-push-notifications

SNS vs Pinpoint for Order Status Update

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