These are some other key benefits:. This means that recipients are nearly guaranteed to see your messages. Text message marketing is a generally low-cost way to market your business, with many providers offering low monthly or annual plans and even pay-as-you-go options. One of the key tenets of marketing is to meet your customers where they are, and for most modern consumers, that's on their mobile devices. Text message marketing is a surefire way to reach a majority of your audience. Text messaging doesn't need to be your entire marketing effort; SMS marketing works well in conjunction with other types of marketing.
For instance, you can include links to your social media profiles in your text messages or offer a discount code for recipients to use on your website. Because texting is so personal, customers feel valued and like what they have to say to you matters when they receive texts from you, which increases the chances of them engaging directly with you. Text message marketing services should do much more than just send texts.
They are full-scale marketing solutions that help you engage with your audience, track results and improve your customer service. When you're looking for a text message marketing solution, it's understandable to not know exactly what features you need. Below are the features we think businesses will find most valuable. To get a better sense of what entrepreneurs are looking for in these services, we asked experienced small business owners from our community which text message marketing programs they use and what they like about them.
Here's what they said. You can add different groups of people, [and] it's easy to unsubscribe and easy to communicate with [customers] after the message is sent. It's also easy to personalize and automate messages. However, there can be a steep learning curve for certain advanced features, and customer service is sometimes slow.
The ease of use is our biggest pro, as well as the exceptional customer service. They've been there for me every time, and their responses are super quick. No matter what your background is, you can figure out how to send mass texts and set up autoresponders very quickly. Text message marketing is a highly effective, quick and easy way to reach customers. Text message marketing messages are also effective because they're so easy to personalize, making the customer feel seen and valued, and thus more likely to engage with your business.
Businesses should use text message marketing whenever they have quick, pertinent information to distribute to their audience, such as a new discount code, an update on store hours or information about an event. Try to send them only during normal business hours, between 9 a.
Text message marketing is important because it opens a clear, dedicated line of communication between the customer and your business. It also allows you to customize all the messages you send to your target audience, which can improve customer satisfaction, engagement and your brand reputation. While the precise steps to create a text campaign depend on your provider, the basic steps are the same across most platforms:. It is not necessary to train all your employees in text message marketing. Focus on training the ones who will be responsible for creating and managing the campaigns.
They should understand how to create campaigns, choose contact lists, manage analytics and present the information, and troubleshoot minor issues. The use of text message marketing can show new customers that your business is committed to customer support and a personalized customer experience, since text provides a simple, direct line of communication between your business and your customers at all times.
This can add a sense of credibility and transparency to your business. Your existing customers can benefit from your text messages if you keep them in the loop about deals, opportunities and news from your business. These updates keep your business on their minds and, especially if you offer them special deals for being loyal customers, incentivize them to keep buying from you. The price will also depend on the number of messages and keywords your business requires each month. Today's consumers continue to make more and more purchases using their mobile devices.
It makes sense, then, that the best way to reach consumers who are already shopping on their phones is via text messages sent to the same device. Forrester Research projects a significant increase in the usage of text message marketing services in as brands try to create more direct personal relationships with their customers. Forrester predicts brands will focus their SMS efforts primarily on loyalty programs, retention marketing and digital shopping. These efforts will become especially critical in a post-pandemic world, where consumers expect to be able to carry out all their daily transactions via mobile devices.
Text message marketers will see effects from major companies changing their policies on cookies and data privacy. Cookies track users, inform targeted ads and provide information on ad performance. Google has announced that it will be phasing out support for third-party cookies within the Chrome browser over the next two years, and Apple is rolling out an anti-tracking tool called Intelligent Tracking Prevention for the Safari browser.
Mozilla Firefox has also launched a tool that blocks third-party tracking cookies by default. In , marketers must prepare for an ecosystem without third-party cookies and device identifiers, all while navigating an unpredictable economy and reduced budgets and headcount. Rich communication services, or RCS, is a modern form of traditional SMS texting that provides options and features for richer, more nuanced text communication. RCS offers features such as group chats, video, audio, high-resolution images, read receipts and real-time viewing.
Text message marketing brands will incorporate more RCS features into their products to offer customers a more interactive and immersive texting experience. In , some brands will have a designated channel where customers can reach out directly to speak with a real representative of the company, who responds in a conversational manner that makes the customer feel a stronger connection to the brand. This method of connecting with customers can also provide key information on what questions your customers have, how they shop and how they interact with your business. Artificial intelligence has been steadily growing in use across industries, and text message marketing is no exception.
In , businesses will use AI to respond quickly and effectively to general customer questions, direct them to the proper channels, and collect pertinent data from business audiences. EZ Texting's Holiday Shopping Survey found that texting is a highly effective way for businesses and customers to engage with each other.
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Text messaging provides an easy way for businesses to share important updates and information, and also offers incentives to customers to visit stores or shop online. Savvy brands will leverage SMS marketing to deliver discounts and promotions to customers in , boosting brand loyalty and customer retention. Traditionally, SMS marketing has been used as a stand-alone marketing channel. That will change in More companies will integrate SMS with other marketing channels, such as text newsletters linking to blog posts or other company information, combining email and text promotions and social media and text message marketing campaigns.
February According to a report by Research and Markets, the global SMS marketing software market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of more than This growth is driven primarily by an increase in online shopping, proliferation of marketing automation software, and accessibility of cloud-based software as a service SaaS. The biggest drags on the industry remain the limited messaging capabilities and a relatively low consumer engagement rate, the report reads.
Still, the growth of the software sector of the SMS marketing industry suggests that this channel remains important for brands of all sizes.
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According to the report, North America is expected to be the primary location for text message marketing growth over the next several years. Compare the best text message marketing services and learn how to choose the best service for your company's needs. Best for Growing Businesses. Textedly User-friendly system. Excellent customer service. Visit Site. Read Review. Most Flexible. Eight pricing plans. High customization. Integration via API. Featured Sponsor. Podium All-in-one messaging platform.
Free mobile tracker. Sign up free.
Message via mobile and desktop apps. Autoresponder options. Best Overall. Wide range of features. Intuitive dashboard. Comprehensive analytics. Best Low-Cost Service. SlickText Low-cost solution. Nine flexible pricing plans. How We Decided. Our team spends weeks evaluating dozens of business solutions to identify the best options. To stay current, our research is regularly updated. Textedly offers built-in CTA and mobile carrier compliance. Each plan includes custom keywords and free incoming messages.
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It lacks some key features, like segmentation and surveys. SimpleTexting offers eight different pricing plans. The interface is easy to use. Podium lets you access and respond to all your reviews from one centralized inbox.
The Best Text Message Marketing Services of 2021
As a Podium user, you can communicate with customers and elicit feedback via text message. Podium requires you to sign an annual contract. EZ Texting has flexible pricing packages. It offers a wide selection of customization tools.