Bulk SMS services vary due to their features, the businesses they aim to serve, pricing packages, scalability options, and other factors. However, if you’ve decided that your company needs a robust system to support your messaging campaign, you probably want to understand better how such services work.
This section will reveal the most common ways to make the most out of a bulk text message app. Of course, everything will depend on your business type and goals. However, there are certain typical milestones we will explain, along with tips on how to take advantage of an SMS marketing service.
Select a Service that Meets Your Goals
First of all, you should clearly outline your business goals and requirements. Each SMS marketing company has its pros and cons. Price comparisons alone may not be enough. So when making your decision, you need to be sure that the chosen service perfectly matches your individual needs.
Here are a few things to look out for when picking a texting app.
Features’ relevance
Ensure your SMS marketing provider can offer all you need for your texting campaigns. The tool you opt for should address all your requirements and prevent potential pain points.
Therefore, you should be especially careful when checking which features the service offers. Prioritize a platform that covers all aspects related to SMS communication. Thus, you won’t have to pay for additional services from another provider.
Support system
Adequate customer support is one of the keys to an excellent user experience. Even though most texting platforms are intuitive and easy to use, you may need certain assistance to complete more complex tasks or use sophisticated features. A system with a responsive 24/7 support team ensures you won’t be left alone with the potential challenges.
Convenience
Remember about intuitiveness? It’s quite an influential factor when choosing the best text blast service for your needs. With good UX and frictionless onboarding
experiences, you shouldn’t find it challenging to learn the application’s specifics and quickly understand how to use it.
It’s also great if you can test an app before subscribing. Thus, you will know if the system is convenient enough before paying for the service.
Pricing packages
Of course, the pricing options will define whether the SMS platform suits your business. Look for reliable agencies that offer several packages for different needs. A pay-as-you-go model will also be an advantage if you need text marketing services for a limited period. Finally, pay attention to the hidden fees and limitations that may affect the app’s final price.
CRM integrations
As mentioned above,
Step 1. Use Your Contacts Database
Once you’ve picked a service that meets your business requirements and goals, you should prepare the phone numbers of the recipients of your messages. In most cases, you can integrate your existing database by importing it to the system through an API.
It will take just a few clicks to connect this data to the system. Then, you can sync it with phone numbers from your lists.
Also, depending on the type of your business and the recipients’ location, the phone number used by the service provider may vary. Here are the most common types of these codes:
- Short code consists of five to six digits. It’s generally used for a single country and has the highest delivery rate. A dedicated short code feature can make this number belong solely to your company.
- Long code can be used internationally and is tied to a single company. It has a relatively low delivery rate.
- Toll-free long code can also be used for different countries yet have a higher delivery rate than a long code number.
Step 2. Create Your Messages
The success of your campaign depends on numerous factors. However, the texts themselves play the most significant role. The point is to create messages that will engage your audience and deliver them the required information. At the same time, it’s essential not to overwhelm or confuse your users.
Here are several important rules to follow when creating your texts, regardless of their purpose and nature.
- Be brief and precise. As you probably know, a text message is limited to 160 words. And sometimes, it’s better to make your texts even shorter. An engaging and informative notification will hold the reader’s attention. On top of that, ensure the recipients understand the text’s essence and purpose.
- Offer to opt-out. Due to telecommunication regulations, enabling your customers to stop receiving your texts is mandatory. You’re supposed to offer the recipients this choice in the first message.
- Personalize your texts. Call the recipients by name and provide them with the information they’re likely interested in. Personalizing your messages will engage your customers and encourage them to respond.
- Strive for conciseness. The notification should be clear and polite. However, try not to make it too formal. Stick to a friendly tone of voice.
Step 3. Divide Recipients into Specific Groups
Valuable features like text to vote polls will enable segmentation of your audience into specific lists. It will make your texts more personalized and thus, help you engage more users.
In a nutshell, SMS polling is the easiest way to collect your customers’ feedback, understand their expectations, and improve your campaign. In other words, this survey allows you to learn some valuable insights about opt-in users from the list.
Sending text-to-vote messages can enhance a custom approach to your SMS marketing. It’s especially applicable if your audience is large and diverse. Such a method will enable understanding the specifics and needs of different target users.
Therefore, you will form corresponding groups in your contact lists and send more relevant and result-driven texts.
Step 4. Set the Texting Schedule
Proper scheduling is vital when you start using an SMS platform. Sending messages too often (or too seldom) is one of the most common issues leading to high unsubscribe rates. Thus, plan your texting campaign wisely and set the right timing if you want to prevent such an outcome.
Luckily, a good SMS marketing provider will help you set up an effective messaging schedule. Most of these solutions allow for an automated approach, where you set the exact time to schedule the recurring texts. You can also define the intervals between the messages sent to your customers.
For example, we at Smarter Contact offer to keep using features like calendar management or appointment tools with
Step 5. Monitor the Key Metrics
The system you use should provide you with at-a-glance access to all essential metrics, data reports, and KPIs. In addition, it will help you conduct more efficient SMS campaigns by controlling the outcomes and optimizing specific processes.
Texting software usually offers the users a quick and convenient overview of this information on a web or mobile app interface dashboard. This feature will guarantee you won’t miss any crucial, urgent reports. Thus, you will have a complete picture of your texting campaign’s progress.
To be more precise, an analytical tab in your messaging platform can inform you about the number of new customers, the most result-driven keywords, unsubscribe statistics, response rates, etc. A good custom dashboard isn’t overwhelming yet enables drilling down into particular details if required.