A great way to stay in touch with your customers if you run a small business is through SMS. Because people read their messages, texts are more effective than emails for communicating things like order confirmations, appointment reminders, special offers, and updates. A successful strategy for creating enduring relationships with your customers is SMS text message marketing. A Small Business should spend money on SMS text message marketing. SMS marketing goes beyond simply disseminating advertisements to a large audience. Good SMS text message marketing software provides tools to boost the productivity of your SMS campaigns.
Text Message Marketing
SMS marketing, also known as text message marketing, sends commercial messages to consumers’ phones, such as receipts, promotions, and coupons. It starts with an opt-in procedure where individuals consent to receive messages from you. This makes SMS text message marketing consent-based and authorized. SMS marketing software, also known as text message marketing software, uses text messaging to distribute updates, alerts for mobile devices, and promotional messages. To draw your audience in, you can use graphics like pictures, videos, and other visual components. This method enables you to communicate with your target audience while they are on the go, increasing engagement and conversion rates.
Using SMS marketing software, sales, and marketing managers can schedule, segment, and send bulk messages automatically at predetermined intervals. The software also analyzes performance metrics across various channels, including social media and third-party chat programs, and targets pertinent audiences.
Benefits of Text Marketing
#1. Favored by Clients
As long as they have consented to receive them, 75% of mobile users have no problem receiving SMS messages from brands. Receiving texts from companies is acceptable. According to a different survey, 48% of respondents preferred text messages to other methods of communication for brand updates. It is crucial to remember that these texts should not just contain advertisements. They should also provide customer service and important notices.
A small business can use text-based marketing software to send personalized and targeted SMS messages, which raises open rates by increasing the likelihood that recipients will read the messages. SMS software also improves the conversion of potential leads into paying customers by having the capacity to reach large audiences.
#2. Enhance Customer Engagement
A small business can monitor SMS performance in real-time with the aid of an SMS marketing tool to optimize customer engagement and make necessary adjustments. Text marketing software offers thorough analytics so that users can learn important information about the effectiveness of text message campaigns. A small business can use this insight to boost the efficiency of text marketing campaigns for a better user experience and greater engagement.
#3. Improve Brand Recognition
A small business improves recognition by incorporating your company’s logo, background color, images, font style, and other graphic elements into your SMS marketing campaigns that are in keeping with the brand voice. As a result, this can greatly strengthen a company’s identity and branding goals while also ensuring effective communication with current and prospective customers.
#4. Promote Client Loyalty
A small business can promote loyalty by sending tailored messages to their inboxes via an SMS marketing campaign platform. This guarantees that your messages get to the customers promptly, giving them information they can use and creating a fruitful feedback loop between them and your company. An SMS marketing tool can also be used to track individual responses from each contact and use them to gauge customer engagement over time.
#5. Enhance Customer Service
Using SMS marketing, a small business can enhance customer service by giving customers the option to receive updates, notifications, and other critical messages right on their phones. By promptly answering their queries or complaints about goods or services, customers can be reached in real-time using the text message marketing platform. As a result, businesses are better able to respond to customer issues quickly and effectively.
Drawbacks of SMS Marketing
#1. Poor Deliverability
This can cause messages to be sent late or without delivery. As a result, there are fewer opportunities to engage with customers and campaigns are less effective and successful. Furthermore, if a bulk SMS campaign is involved, poor deliverability could lead to higher costs from needless message retries.
#2. Spam Messages
Spam filters may prevent messages from being delivered through the platform, preventing them from reaching their intended recipients. Customers’ engagement and trust may decline as a result, and there may be a loss of revenue from missed chances for promotions or sales. To deliver messages effectively, spam filters must also be continuously updated.
#3. Lack of Compatibility
If the software is not properly compatible, it might not operate correctly with some hardware or operating systems, which would lead to a bad user experience and a smaller customer base. Additionally, compatibility issues may result in data loss or synchronization errors that affect the accuracy of the campaign data collected.
Guidelines for SMS marketing
Segment. Customers enjoy having the impression that a message was written just for them. Segmentation is key to arousing these feelings. Consider the lists you could make based on demographics, engagement with marketing campaigns, and shopping habits. Create messages that are suitable for each. And to further personalize, if you have them, include a first name or other profile details.
Connect to other channels. Knowing how to combine SMS marketing with other channels is necessary if you want to realize all of its potential. You could promote contact list subscriptions using social media, for instance. Additionally, SMS integration into drip email campaigns can create an omnichannel experience.
Text Message Marketing Software
A software program used to draft, schedule, and send SMS messages to your clients’ mobile phones is known as an sms marketing software. A quality SMS marketing tool should have features like bulk SMS messaging, two-way communication, MMS messages, opt-out management, list building, keywords, shortcodes, segmentation, automation, integrations, analytics, and API.
SMS marketing is acceptable as long as you abide by the rules and laws. Before sending promotional messages, you must obtain customers’ written consent following the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Short message service (SMS) marketing software enables companies to text their customers on their mobile devices. The program assists users in developing and managing mobile SMS campaigns, monitoring customer feedback, and evaluating the efficacy of various marketing tactics.
Components of a Good SMS Marketing Software
#1. Bulk Messaging
Sending a message to a lot of phones is known as bulk messaging or mass texting. It is SMS marketing at its most basic. The most popular feature of sms marketing software, it can be safely said, is bulk text messaging. You have a list of phone numbers that you can call to spread the word about your products via mass texts.
#2. Two-Way Conversation
Beyond bulk messaging, you also require a way for your contacts to reply to your SMS messages. You must communicate with your customers in both directions. With the help of this function, you can send and receive feedback from your clients. It is a crucial component of offering a fantastic customer experience.
#3. MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service is what MMS stands for. Multimedia files (images, videos, and audio) can be sent via MMS, in contrast to SMS. Text-only content lacks the engagement of multimedia. Therefore, it is crucial to spend money on an SMS marketing solution that enables the delivery of multimedia messages.
#4. Opt-Out Management
Your SMS list subscribers should be able to cancel their subscriptions with ease. Contacts can remove themselves from your list using links or specific keywords when using sms marketing software.
#5. Keywords and Shortcodes
When someone wants to join your list, they can text a keyword to a phone number. It is simple for people to sign up thanks to a keyword’s shortness and individuality. Shortcodes are compact (5 or 6-digit) phone numbers that support SMS and MMS. Shortcodes are simpler to remember than standard 10-digit numbers.
Inevitably, a list-building campaign will include keywords and shortcodes. A business can ask its customers to send the keyword “BEAUTY” to the shortcode 67896. After that, clients receive their most recent promo codes.
#6. Segmentation
Sending SMS messages with specific contact information is a breeze with segmentation. The best SMS marketing software enables you to divide your contacts into groups according to various factors (such as gender, date/method of subscription, etc.). You can communicate with each of your segments individually via text message.
#7. Automation
Text campaign productivity can be greatly improved by using automated messages. Autoresponders are excellent for sending messages at a later time (delayed coupons, tricks, tips, exclusive sales, etc.) and for confirming a person’s subscription to your list.
Automating messages like reminders is a great idea. Inform your contacts of appointments, abandoned shopping carts, events, and flash sale promotions.
#8. Integrations
Integrations with other relevant platforms are the only way to achieve true SMS marketing automation. Integrating your SMS messaging app and email marketing platform is a wise move. After that, you can sync your email list or use text messages to gather emails.
Best SMS Marketing Software
#1. TextMagic
TextMagic is the best option for you if you are looking for an all-in-one sms marketing software with a transparent pricing structure that allows you to send SMS messages internationally. You can send group messages using TextMagic’s web app. Their web app is intriguing because it makes it simple to create templates with personalized information (first name, last name, company name, phone, email, and appointment time).
It sends your contacts your emails as text after conversion. It is possible to convert all incoming texts to emails, which would then appear in your inbox. You can easily identify the wrong phone numbers or email addresses using their validation service and API. By doing this, you will increase delivery and cut expenses. For testing all the features, TextMagic provides a 30-day free trial. You will then be charged for the messages you send.
#2. SimpleTexting
The text message marketing platform SimpleTexting is all-inclusive. Every one of their plans includes unlimited keywords. Additionally, they include all other common SMS marketing features. As a result, they represent an excellent option for a platform for text message marketing. Having multiple keywords for your phone numbers is completely free when using SimpleTexting.
Usually, the base plans of other platforms have a limit on this number. automatically send promotional messages to new subscribers on your list. This lowers drop-off rates. It sends out a pre-written message whenever a certain keyword is texted to your number. A 14-day trial period with 50 outgoing texts is provided by SimpleTexting. According to the number of texts you can send, their paid plans vary. Except for the $145/month plan and higher, all plans include access to the SMS gateway API and Zapier integration.
#3. SlickText
A platform for SMS marketing that offers all-in-one functionality is called SlickText. Within your dashboard, you can configure surveys and quizzes. Additionally, to entice customers to use them, you can give them keywords and shortcodes. For surveys, SlickText provides analytics and reports. so that you can evaluate customer feedback. It is an essential step for delivering excellent customer service.
They provide incredible features for workflow. You can create computerized message chains that entice and screen potential clients. It sends a steady stream of messages in response to timers or other events. It is wonderful to make timely, individualized offers. They ensure that messages are delivered. They continue to comply with CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) regulations and cellular carriers. Thus, you will not need to be concerned about legal matters.
No credit card is required for the 14-day free trial from SlickText, which includes 50 free texts. Their paid plans vary depending on how many messages you can send each month and how many keywords you require.
Therefore, their Basic plan ($29/month) includes two keywords and 500 messages. Simply upgrade to the following plan if you hit your limit. It seems that all of their plans include access to all of their features, making it fairly simple.
#4. Textedly
Another well-liked text message marketing platform with several useful features is Textedly. It appears to provide more value for the cost when compared to other SMS platforms mentioned so far. Similar features to Textedly are available on all of the top sms marketing software. They have a fantastic Instagram integration. Your Instagram profile can include a “text us” button. By clicking that button, your followers will be able to text you.
They provide seamless integrations with well-known marketing and sales platforms. Additionally, Zapier can be used to connect to more outside applications. There is a 14-day free trial available, which includes 50 texts and one custom keyword. The quantity of text and the quantity of keywords are the deciding factors in their premium plans.
With their Bronze plan ($24/month), they provide 1,200 messages per month and 1 unique Keyword. If you require more, you should subscribe to the Plus plan ($39/month), which provides 2,400 messages and 2 unique Keywords.
#5. PostScript
The top text message marketing applications for Shopify stores are Postscript and Postscript Pro. This indicates that you are only able to use them if you own a Shopify store. Additionally, it indicates that Shopify is tightly integrated with them. It is possible to manually import an existing list into Postscript.
Alternatively, you can expand your list using pop-up windows, keywords, opt-in forms, QR codes, or checkout collections. They follow US TCPA regulations while automating compliance in the background. so legal risks will not be a concern. You can see message performance information. This is for automated responses, customer responses, keyword responses, and confirmed opt-in messages. On a subscriber-by-subscriber basis, you can view behavior data and details about sources of opt-in data. A 30-day free trial of Postscript comes with two keywords and unlimited messages.
Depending on how many messages you send each month, they have different plans. Your cost per message decreases as you send more messages each month. The cheapest plan costs $25 per month for 2500 messages per month.
#6. SMSBump
Designed specifically for online stores, SMSBump is yet another SMS marketing software platform. This platform integrates not only with Shopify and Shopify Plus but also with Bigcommerce. You can conduct A/B tests on messages before deciding to use them in your campaign to ensure that they are appropriate. The A/B Testing feature is only available to users on their Powerhouse plans and above. Send SMS messages to the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and France.
MMS messages are only supported in the US. For each of their plans, there are set monthly costs. Nevertheless, you must make a separate payment (pay as you go) for your messages. The only difference between their plans is the features they provide. For instance, their free plan includes their fundamental features, but sending an SMS within the US costs $0.0149. They charge $19/month (Growth), $59/month (Prime), and $199/month (Powerhouse) for their premium plans, which come with more features.
What Is a Text Message Marketing?
Sending promotional texts to customers is a key component of text message marketing. Text message marketing might be a good option if you are looking for a marketing approach to try that is affordable. Text message marketing is the practice of sending advertisements and other content via Short Message Service (SMS) messages to mobile phones. It is one of the most affordable strategies for brands to interact with their mobile customers.
How Do You Market Through Text Messages?
Text messages are a convenient way for businesses and their clients to communicate. Users can get in touch with businesses to ask about their products or services, make appointments, or ask about billing. Text message marketing depends on a database that contains your customers’ names, mobile phone numbers, and other details (geographic area, customer categories, customer interests) that allow you to follow the sales process.
How To Do SMS Marketing
- Make use of CTAs (calls to action)
- Send a text message introducing yourself.
- Recognize your audience
- Make the text messages unique.
- Write brief, concise messages.
- Utilize tools and services for SMS marketing
- Strategically time your texting
- Request approval
How Do I Set Up Text Marketing?
- Create a subscriber list that is opt-in only.
- Create a plan for the entire customer experience.
- Create unique content.
- Improve your marketing efforts.
- Measure and report.
What Is Whatsapp Marketing?
The act of promoting a brand via WhatsApp is referred to as WhatsApp marketing. This channel aids businesses in expanding their customer base, strengthening existing ones, and boosting revenue. WhatsApp marketing enables you to stay in touch with your customers because more than half of users check the app daily.
Conclusion
The sms marketing software you employ has a significant impact on the outcome of your text marketing campaigns. Poor features and delayed delivery could waste your entire effort. Numerous different sms marketing software is available because SMS marketing is a significant global industry. The majority of them, though, are not suitable for small businesses. It is quick and practical as a communication channel that enables you to connect with billions of users.
It is more cost-effective and engaging than other marketing channels, such as emails and social media, and has a higher open and response rate. You might be able to gain an advantage over your rivals with the help of a well-planned, strategic SMS marketing campaign.
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- TOP BEST BUSINESS TEXT MESSAGING SERVICES FOR 2023
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