If you run a local business, then you may want to look into mobile marketing for your business.
According to research from The State of SMS, 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of receiving them and an estimated 48.7 million consumers will opt in to receive SMS messages from businesses by 2020.
Comparatively, according to a Hubspot study of over 25 million emails, the average email open rate is 37%. Other studies show that average email open rates may be as low as 20%.
Furthermore, SMS produces an average of 6-8 times more engagement for retailers than email marketing. They can also get customers to your business and result in an average of over 30-50% redemption rate for coupons.
So how can you get started with SMS marketing?
There a lots of software solutions for SMS marketing. Here are some that you may want to look into if you want to get started with mobile marketing.
1. Avochato
Website: https://www.avochato.com/
Cost: Starting at $49 / month (billed annually)
Avochato is a text messaging management system that allows businesses to manage texting communications with customers. Users can text with multiple customers at the same time. The system seems well suited for businesses with multiple clients that require personalized one-to-one communication.
2. EZ Texting
Website: https://www.eztexting.com/
Cost: Starting at $49 / month, but some pay as you go options for lower volume use
EZ Texting allows customers to opt into a business’s SMS marketing list by texting a code to a number after which they can receive offers, coupons and other promos. It also allows businesses to offer customer support through text messaging. Other features include birthday and appointment reminders, picture messaging, polls, analytics, integrations with other support / email marketing platforms and more. They even have a white label option for agencies.
3. Text Magic
Website: https://www.textmagic.com/
Cost: $0.04 per text which must be prepaid (additional fees dedicated virtual numbers in other countries)
Text Magic allows you to inform customers via text when their orders are ready as well as send coupons, time sensitive offers, contests, and more. You can provide customer support with 2-way SMS chat and schedule texts in advanced. Businesses like restaurants, schools and service businesses can benefit from this tool.
4. Qwikon
Website: http://www.qwikon.com/
Cost: $299 / month, 14 day free trial
Qwikon allows restaurants and retailers to send promotions to their SMS list with ease. Businesses can just enter some data and Qwikon will generate a text message from a template.
5. Whatsapp Business
Website: https://www.whatsapp.com/
Cost: Free
Whatsapp allows you to add people into groups of 256 at a time, but you can have as many groups as you want. Segmentation can allow you to send targeted messages to different groups of people.
6. Loyal Patron
Website: https://loyalpatron.com
Cost: Starting at $99 / month
Loyal Patron is a marketing automation suite designed for restaurants and local retailers that allows vendors to manage their mobile marketing, email marketing and loyalty program in one place. They even have a feature where you can collect emails by offering free WiFi.
7. Textedly
Website: https://www.textedly.com
Cost: Starting at $25 / month, Free 14-day trial version for up to 300 messages
Textedly is an easy to use SMS platform for local businesses. It allows you to send appointment reminders, offers and even has analytics so that you can view your open rates.
8. Call Loop
Website: https://www.callloop.com
Cost: Basic version starting at $29 / month, Pay as you go version available for free (additional charges for per message sent and per keyword per month)
Call Loop combines bulk SMS text messaging, voice broadcasting and high volume voicemail into one service. It also integrates with popular email service providers like Get Response, Mailchimp and Hubspot. Other features include SMS contests, SMS coupons, SMS autoresponders, analytics and more.
9. Slick Text
Website: https://www.slicktext.com/
Cost: Basic version starting at $29 / month. Free version available with 50 texts per month
Slick Text allows local businesses to sign up by texting a custom keyword to a number to get people on your marketing list where they can receive offers, appointment reminders and other SMS messages. Some other features include automated replies, birthday messaging, 2-way SMS communication, text to win contests and adding images to text messages.
10. Send Pulse
Website: https://sendpulse.com/
Cost: Free for up to 2,500 email subscribers. Paid plans start at $7.88 per month. Additional fees for SMS and web push services.
Send Pulse is a multi-channel marketing platform that allows businesses to do email marketing, web push notifications, Facebook chatbots, Viber and SMS text marketing from one place. The service also includes a drag and drop editor for easy creation of emails, form builder, automation tools and analytics.
11. Active Trail
Website: https://www.activetrail.com/sms_marketing_software/
Cost: Starting at $7 per month for up to 500 contacts
Another email marketing platform that has SMS capabilities integrated is Active Trail. You can combine email and SMS campaigns and create personalized messages from your computer.
12. Mailigen
Website: https://www.mailigen.com/features/sms-marketing
Cost: Starting at $8 per month for up to 500 contacts
Mailigen is an email marketing platform that also allows users to send SMS messages to subscribers. It integrates with Google Analytics and shows link clicks and other delivery statistics. You can also use automation rules to send SMS messages if people open an email or click on links in your email.
13. Trumpia
Website: https://trumpia.com
Cost: Starting at $99 / month
Trumpia allows you to collect and send SMS messages to your customers. They also have Smart Targeting, which allows you to segment your list based on customer interests and send relevant messages to groups within your list. A few other features include event tracking (you can send messages based on what links people clicked), text bots to automate replies to popular queries and lead scoring to automatically assign scores to your best leads based on actions they take.
About Brian Liang
I love Avochato so much! The categories are very specific to what I’m looking for. The reviews are helpful and it’s a great way to explore new products.
Thanks Jo Ann – glad you enjoyed the article!
Little bit surprised after watching a name “whatsapp” but on a next movement, i feel normal.
Because I realize that most of small businessmen use whatsapp to share business information like photos, brochures, documents, etc.
Thanks for helping small businessowners!
Hello Brian,
That’s a super amazing piece.
Mobile marketing is taking over.
Businesses that aren’t doing anything about about using including phone number as a part of lead generating requirement will be left behind.
Customers want to hear from businesses they love and patronize and the easier way to reach them on the go is through sms marketing.
Thanks a lot for the recommendations you made.
– Emmanuel
Hello Brian Liang,
This article provides a valuable insight into the power of SMS marketing for local businesses. The statistics comparing SMS to email open rates and the potential for engagement and coupon redemption rates make a compelling case for businesses to explore this avenue.
Among the listed software solutions, I’m particularly interested in Avochato’s ability to handle personalized one-to-one communication, as well as EZ Texting’s versatile features, including customer support and white-label options. It’s clear that these tools can greatly enhance customer engagement and support.
My question is, are there any success stories or case studies highlighted in the article that showcase how these SMS marketing solutions have positively impacted local businesses? I’d love to learn more about real-world examples of businesses benefiting from these tools.
Thank you
Satish Ithamsetty