How effective is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing is likely the most effective channel. According to research, it boasts a 98%+ open and read rate, nearly a 50% reply rate, and click-through rates of up to 20%. Due to such a high engagement, the return on investment from SMS marketing is tremendous.

Why is SMS message marketing important?

SMS marketing is an underutilized channel that has proven itself to be incredibly effective. Text messages provide instant and engaging content that is delivered to customers in mere moments. The importance of SMS message marketing cannot be understated as it outperforms other channels such as emails or ads. It’s even more effective when combined with other channels commonly used in business communication.

Can small business benefit from text message marketing?

Yes. Text messages have powerful deliverability where you can reliably send a message to any part of the world in mere seconds, including prospects who have no access to the internet. This, combined with high read (95%) and click-through rates (19%), not to mention the low costs of text messaging, ensure that text message marketing can be a very affordable alternative for small businesses, solopreneurs, retail mom & pop stores, and more.

What are the most common strategies surrounding SMS marketing for ecommerce niche?

While robust email marketing will always remain a crucial part of your ecommerce marketing strategy, text message marketing (or SMS marketing as it is more commonly known as) has several high-conversion use case examples as under: Welcome SMS to new subscribers or signups; Promotional SMS to existing subscribers; Abandoned cart SMS reminders; Holiday or seasonal campaign promotional SMS messages. For e.g. Black Friday; Post-purchase thank you messages; Upsell or Downsell SMSes; Product recommendation texts; Feedback request text messages; In case you are wondering if it could get even easier for you to implement the above SMS use cases for your business, we got you covered here with copy-paste SMS templates for ecommerce for the above scenarios. Safe to say, when it comes to using SMS marketing for ecommerce, your imagination is likely to be your only hurdle as text message marketing can complement email message at every point of the sales funnel.

Some vendors have free text marketing, why choose Sender for text messaging for business?

Competition in the marketing technology world is fierce, and a few marketing platforms and companies are likely offering free text marketing to woo your business. In most cases, you are: Limited by the number of SMSes you can send; Crippled by poor deliverability; Presented an option to upgrade to unexpectedly expensive premium plans; Cheap is not always the best for your business. Also, remember that when you are not paying for a product, you end up being the product. As the leading text message marketing trusted by over 180,000 users, we realize that our responsibilities to our subscribers lie much deeper. With Sender, you’ll always get. High quality, business-class SMS deliverability; Fully transparent and cost-effective pricing plans; Ability to purchase SMS credits separately at the best prices; But because we love you, we have a special offer in that if you upgrade to our Professional monthly plan, you get FREE SMS credits equal in amount to your monthly plan amount, every single month. Think of it as paying for email marketing, but you get SMS for free. Tip: If you only just getting started, remember that email marketing is completely FREE to get started with under our FREE FOREVER plan, which allows you to send up to 15,000 emails to a maximum of 2,500 contacts every month, with unlimited automation and segmentation capabilities.

How to send business text messages with a business texting service?

There are plenty of business text messaging services in the market. However, it couldn't be easier to send text message marketing campaigns with Sender. Sending transactional or promotional business text messages is easy with this SMS send service. Step 1: Clearly articulate your campaign goal - What is your desired outcome? Step 2: Determine which segment will receive this bulk text msg. Step 3: Compose your bulk text messages and optimize them with personalization, emojis, etc. Step 4: Load it inside your online SMS sender app and schedule it to go out immediately, on a schedule or set it as part of an automated sequence that will fire based on conditions. You may use one of the many text messaging services for businesses (aka SMS marketing service), but the overall process will look very similar to the above steps.

How to set up text alerts for business?

Setting up text alerts for business is straightforward using our automatic text message sender system. Step 1: Compose your SMS to be sent inside your online SMS sender service tool. Step 2: Pull your text message inside the automation flow after adding any necessary in-between actions (emails, delays, etc.). Step 3: Sit back and watch your prospects and customers receive alerts on complete auto pilot.

How to send automatic text messages?

Whether using our online system or any other message sender tool, sending an automated SMS to mobile doesn’t have to be difficult. Step 1: Select the right trigger for your automation. Sender offers you multiple options such as link clicks, cart abandonments, product purchases, and even APIs calls from other online software. Step 2: Add steps to your automation. Our platform allows simple delays, emails, text messages, complex conditions, and actions as possible steps. Step 3: Test your automation by executing the action that will fire the trigger.

Text messaging service for business

Effortless SMS sender with a simple dashboard

Build, run, monitor, and optimize email and SMS sequences without switching between apps.

TCPA compliant

Full TCPA compliance for subscribers to opt-out. Pick your own keyword for subscribers to stop campaigns instantly.

Toll-free number

Get complimentary toll-free phone numbers for text messaging with a simple setup.

Extended text messages

Send messages with up to 306 characters and an automated link shortener.

Multichannel communication

Use omnichannel strategies to reach never-seen-before engagement rates. Deliver regular email newsletter campaigns and more.

Efficient URL link shortening

Maximize your message space with URL shortening and monitor click-through rates with trackable links.

Time zone optimization

Ensure your mass SMS messages reach recipients at the optimal time with time zone optimization.

International text message service

Sender delivers geo-targeted text alerts to anyone anywhere in the world quickly and reliably.

Multichannel communication

Use omnichannel strategies to reach never-seen-before engagement rates. Deliver regular email newsletter campaigns and more.

Mass text message service for everyone

Take advantage of the most effective text message advertisement and communication platform. Use text blast service for your business to engage your audience in unique ways.

Retail

Send flash sales announcements, share rewards for customer loyalty, and re-engage previous customers.

Nonprofits

Run donation or charity campaigns, ask for support and connect on the go using SMS marketing.

Real estate

Send property listing information, best offers, seasonal deals, or send updates about open house events.

Restaurants

Send order updates, special offers, exclusive invites, and table reservation confirmations using SMS marketing for restaurants.

Schools

Deliver relevant updates and important changes in real time to guardians and parents.

Sales

Run promotions, follow-up, send appointment confirmations, and more.

Business text messaging FAQs

What is SMS message marketing?

SMS message marketing, by definition, is the process of sending TXT messages to specific contacts through a carrier for promotional purposes. Personal or mass texts can be notifications, alerts, discounts, follow-ups, and numerous other text messages.

Due to competitive SMS marketing services pricing, SMS campaigns have the benefit of being incredibly cost-efficient both as a standalone channel and as one that supports others. Text marketing, as such, has numerous benefits. It can be implemented in various business models and doesn’t require a dedicated app or customized software solutions.

How much does SMS advertising cost?

The SMS marketing pricing differs between countries, however, they are nearly always extremely low. You can expect to pay as little as $0.015 per text message in the US, bringing into focus the low cost of text advertisements for businesses who choose advertising by SMS.

Additionally, SMS platforms usually have text marketing plans that include free messages. As such, the pricing of SMS marketing services might be even lower than the costs outlined above, making it accessible to small businesses to enterprises.

How to collect phone numbers for text message marketing?

Companies can build an SMS list by using sign-up forms and pop-ups that can be added to websites. They are lead generation forms created specifically for acquiring new subscribers and allowing customers to give their consent through an opt-in.

SMS marketing platform providers add features that allow customers to create free signup and pop-up forms. These can generally be added to nearly any website in a few simple clicks.

What numbers can I use for business text messaging?

Many different numbers can be used for business text messaging, which is completely up to the company's discretion. They can use toll-free numbers, dedicated numbers, and even use the business name as a “number”.

What is the SMS character limit?

While most SMS service providers cap text messages to 160 chars or less, our text message marketing platform allows up to 306 characters.

Moreover, to ensure that your links don’t exceed most of this limit, we automatically shorten them for you.

What’s the difference between MMS and SMS?

MMS stands for ‘Multimedia Messaging Service’ while SMS is an abbreviation for ‘Short Message Service’.

While SMS can only carry up to 160 chars (in the case of Sender, up to 306 chars) of text and links, an MMS is more media-rich, allowing pictures, GIFs, and even video.

If the SMS vs MMS debate is raging in your mind, go with plain text SMS messages, which are easier on the eyes apart from coming across as more trusted by subscribers.

What are SMS notifications?

SMS notifications are a way to inform, educate or alert your subscriber about something relevant and/or important.

For instance, as soon as you set your sales flash campaign LIVE and announce the same over email, it would be great to intimate your opted-in SMS subscribers about it, so they don’t miss the sale.

You can use SMS notifications to alert your monthly SaaS users about the need to renew their subscriptions.

The possibilities are truly limitless when using the right text messaging system.

How to send free SMS?

While there are SMS platforms that offer a free trial to send SMS, they aren't always the best option due to limitations like low message delivery rates and lack of features. The best thing you can do is to find the right mass texting service with good options. For example, Sender provides you with free SMS credits when you choose their Professional and Enterprise plans, giving you a chance to test the service before fully committing. This allows you to evaluate the platform's capabilities and ensure it meets your needs.

Text messaging service - your way to success

Text message service for instant engagement

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Everything you need to start text marketing