SMS marketing, or Short Message Service marketing, is a popular form of promoting offers and updates from companies. It utilizes the SMS communication protocol to relay information, a technology that’s already in earlier cellular phones. Moreover, it has been practiced since the late 90s but is still favored by many over newer methods like sending social media DMs. Besides the simplicity and effectiveness, a reason for its continued practice is the availability of SMS marketing services.
SMS marketing services automate tasks and help businesses handle the work involved in the mentioned marketing method. Currently, there are countless SMS marketing services available—and most services follow the steps below to function:
How Do SMS Marketing Services Function?
1. Add subscribers or import a list
In order for an SMS marketing service to send messages, a user will have to populate it with subscribers or contacts. It is important to note that only those who have opted-in would be included—sending promotional messages to those who specifically refused is considered spam.
There are two ways to add subscribers: by importing a list or manually adding entries. A list is a collection of previously added contacts and is typically a CSV file from another SMS marketing or spreadsheet software. On the other hand, manual subscriber enrollment works like filling out a form that asks for the number, personal information, and assigned keyword of a person.
2. Create a campaign (send SMS texts)
After adding subscribers, a user will then have the ability to create campaigns and send SMS texts. As the name suggests, a campaign is an effort to promote a specific product or service within a time frame using a limited number of messages.
In an SMS marketing service, a user will select subscribers or a list of contacts that will receive a particular SMS text. After that, it is time to compose the message from scratch or choose a template. It’s also possible to schedule the time/day to send and save that time/day combination as a template. Lastly, an SMS marketing service will show the remaining messages allowed in a campaign to avoid going beyond the plan.
3. Assign keywords
Keywords are essential for SMS marketing in both the opt-in and opt-out processes. First, a person should send a particular keyword (numbers, letters, or both) for the phone number to be included in a campaign or subscriber list. Keywords can be created in a dedicated section in an SMS marketing service. Typically, it’s a form that asks for the keyword, the number of texts per month for that keyword, and a welcome message to new subscribers.
When it comes to the opt-out process, a person can reply to a promotional message with a given keyword to unsubscribe or stop receiving texts. Opt-out keywords can either be universal and valid for all campaigns of a company or campaign-specific.
4. View reports and summaries
Some of the benefits of using an SMS marketing service are detailed reports and campaign summaries. As such, an SMS marketing service will show daily, monthly, or yearly activity reports for messages sent and keywords used. It’s also possible to view the number of new subscribers and contacts who have opted out and the most subscribed keywords.
Try An SMS Marketing Service Today
Although SMS is a simple technology, handling thousands of contacts and tracking SMS texts can be challenging. Thankfully, there are now various SMS marketing services, like Textedly, which makes all work involved highly manageable. Textedly is an excellent SMS marketing platform that enables effective subscriber lists, campaigns, and keywords management. Learn more or try it for free now!