Whilst email marketing is still regarded as one of the top ways to communicate with prospects and customers, the huge explosion in the use of mobile phones over the past 20 years, has brought another marketing channel to the fore. We are referring to SMS marketing, and given that people will read 9 out of 10 texts they receive within 3 minutes, it has become a hugely effective means of communicating and building relationships with prospects and customers.
We must point out from the start that what we are talking about here is not you or your marketing team sending SMS messages directly from your mobile phones but instead setting up a proper SMS marketing campaign and managing it through to the point where you can measure its effectiveness. To do so you will need SMS marketing software, and here we are going to highlight 4 of the best SMS marketing tools that are currently available.
Klaviyo
This has a huge advantage over many of the other SMS tools available because you can use it for email marketing as well. Having both types of marketing managed on a single platform streamlines your operation and means that you can use its features to optimise both types of campaigns.
Some of Klaviyo’s most useful features include excellent deliverability of SMS messages, A/B testing, ROI tracking, segmentation of email and SMS subscribers and two-click personalisation of SMS messages. There is a free trial to get started and tiered pricing based on the number of individual email and SMS contacts you have on your subscriber list, and how many messages you plan to send each month.
SimpleTexting
For smaller businesses that do not need all the bells and whistles but want the means to send quick and simple SMS messages, Simpletexting may be the solution. It has a simple user interface that enables access to all its functions from that single screen. It can be used to send bespoke messages to individuals on your contact list, and also marketing SMS messages to the entire list.
Despite its simplicity, SimpleTexting still provides users with analytics for their SMS campaigns with data on which channel they subscribed from, keywords data, unsubscribes and other user behaviour such as responses to SMS messages. The basic package allows for unlimited contacts and 500 texts per month and if you require greater capacity some packages go beyond 50,000 texts per month.
EZ Texting
This was one of the earlier SMS marketing platforms and to this day it remains one of the most popular amongst business users. It is a cloud-based software that offers exceptional text open rates, and the opportunity to create multiple marketing campaigns based on SMS messaging. This can include 1 to 1 messages and broadcast messaging to your entire contact list.
Campaigns can be created via multiple marketing channels and your entire campaign can be measured and analysed within the platform with data such as opt-in rates, engagement levels and ROI all able to be included on a range of reports. EZ Texting has a free trial to allow you to check out its features and thereafter a range of price plans that are charged relating to the number of texts you wish to send.
Text Magic
Text Magic is another well-established SMS marketing tool that has received more than its fair share of positive reviews from its users. One of its primary features is that it allows you to convert an email into an SMS message, and given that engagement with SMS is greater than email, this can provide you with another marketing boost.
For more direct communication with subscribers, it has a two-way text chat facility, and to ensure that your texts arrive at the optimal time, you can schedule your texts, alerts, and notifications to suit. Text Magic differs from many other SMS platforms in that there is no monthly account fee. Instead, texts sent are paid on a pay as you go basis, meaning you are in total control of your spending.