SMS marketing is the next big thing in the digital marketing industry and, as such, already has quite a big number of tools, apps, and software solutions available to you.
SMS tools, however, differ quite a lot, which is why you will need to dive deep into your needs and goals before searching and discovering the right one.
The industry and size of your business also plays a big role when deciding which tool works the best for you.
Enterprises usually need to send out a bigger number of messages via bulk SMSs, whilst small businesses and startups rely more on engagement, personalization, and time/cost-effectiveness.
Let’s start by determining your needs, and then we will dive into the tools themselves.
Answering the Right Questions
When determining what features you would like and need from the potential SMS tool, the first question you should ask yourself is: How big is my campaign going to be and what are my budget limits?
Small campaigns work best with tools that enable you with fast setup and no developer knowledge needed. These tools already have a code in place for every possible scenario you would like to run and you only need to enter your campaign info like contacts, duration, template and you are good to go.
Emitto and MessageBird work very well in this kind of situations.
On the other hand, if the campaign you are planning to run includes over 1000 active leads, has advanced analytics you would like to follow, and includes multiple channels – you are in the need of a more advanced, enterprise-based tool.
Previously mentioned Emitto, as well as Twilio both, have excellent options for bulk SMS marketing, great dashboards and are known to have increased engagement of their clients by a great percentage.
Other questions you may want to ask yourself before deciding on a particular tool are:
- Do you have a developer at your disposal, or you are looking for a platform made for marketeers?
- How many channels would you like to use?
- Do you need a bulk SMS marketing system?
- How much time do you have for a setup?
- Do you need the training to use the platform itself?
- What analytics would you like to see?
- What kind of budget are you operating with?
Now that you have all of your needs neatly listed, we can go over to the second step which is our recommendation of the SMS tools you need and should have to step up your SMS game.
This is by no means an extensive list, it is more of a recommendation which tools to use based on size, customer base, and budget.
No 1. Emitto
Price: You can start sending text message campaigns and automation via Emitto for free. You will not get onboarding and personalization of your texts though. This is why Emitto offers competitive pricing that scales as you grow. Get more information on SMS pricing.
It is interesting to mention here the flexible pricing options Emitto is offering as well as their pricing calculator which enables you to calculate the needed pricing based on your campaign details and preferred channel.
Target audience: Small, medium, and large businesses can take advantage of Emitto’s powerful SMS tools.
Emitto features: 5 minutes set up. With carefully prepared guidelines, you can run your SMS campaign within 5 minutes. Next to this, you will get analytics from all of the channels you are using in one Dashboard. This will help you get insights into how successful your campaign was and what you should do to make it even better next time.
Last thing to mention here, this is a tool made for both developers and marketers. This means that you need no developer knowledge to use Emitto, and zero coding.
Everything is run and adjusted automatically.
Emitto supports SMS, Viber, WebPush, and Messenger.
No 2. Twillio
Price: Pay as you go system is the way Twilio is charging their SMS marketing customers. Unlike Emitto it does not have competitive pricing options, but they do have volume discounts.
Target audience: Nonprofits and enterprise businesses can take into consideration working with Twilio.
Twillio features: Twillio is a big software that can help you with customer service, marketing campaigns, and analytics. It is more user-friendly if you know how to code, but there are specific parts you can use without coding knowledge.
They are proud of the ability to build communications flows for every interaction. Whether it’s a notification, verification, marketing message, or mass alert, they got you back with detailed templates and carefully chosen campaign questions.
Supported channels: SMS, Whatsapp, and chat.
No 3. MessageBird
Price: 3 plans available, starting from free and going all the way to the 4th custom plan. Pricing is based on the number of active contacts from 50 going to over 1500.
They are billed monthly, and support is paid separately.
Target audience: Nonprofits and small businesses can take into consideration working with MessageBird.
MessageBird features: The ability to scale on a global level is the main feature MessageBird is proud of. With more than 240 direct-to-carrier connections, they can ensure fast and flawless delivery of any messaging campaigns or notifications.
It also offers with or without code usage and offers separate support plans for the businesses that send SMSs on a global level.
Free trial is available so dive into those features today.
SMS tools are expanding as the industry grows. Make sure to check all of the features and reviews before making the final decisions. The 3 tools we mentioned here are, in our opinion, the best choices for different types of business, but are in no way the only solutions out there.
Test them out and see which one works best for you.
Good luck!
