The Best Text Message Marketing Services of 2022

Pricing for text message marketing services depends on several factors, including the vendor, how many messages you'll send monthly, how many keywords you need, and whether you expect to exceed your monthly limits. Implementation costs and hidden fees beyond what you see in your pricing plan are rare, though some platforms charge extra for certain add-ons.

Most texting plans include a certain number of credits and custom keywords for campaigns. A Short Messaging Service (SMS) text – a standard word-based message – typically costs one credit, while a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) text – a message that contains images or video – costs three. Plans start around $25 and can go up to $2,800 per month, offering more features and keywords at higher price points. For example, most free or low-cost plans offer a few hundred text messages per month and one to three custom keywords, whereas a plan that costs $2,800 per month might allow nearly 250,000 text messages and several dozen keywords.

Some providers also offer pay-as-you-go plans, which allow you to pay only for what you use. Both these and fixed-cost providers typically provide customer service at no extra cost. Some providers, such as EZ Texting, offer hybrid models where you pay an initial flat fee and then more for each message credit beyond your included amount.

Key takeaway: Between subscription-based, pay-as-you-go, and hybrid plans, there are text message marketing plans and pricing models to suit any business's marketing budget.

Text message marketing services are more than a way to send text messages. They are full-scale marketing solutions that help you engage with your audience, track results and improve your customer service.

When you're looking for a text message marketing provider, it can be challenging to know which of the many features you need. Here are the features we think are the most valuable for businesses to look for in a service.

Analytics and Reports

Analytics are a vital part of text message marketing. These numbers tell you which campaigns were successful and which ones were not. Analytics also provide insight into why they performed the way they did.

Automation

Automation tools allow you to program messages to send automatically at the same time every day, week or month.

Contact Management

You can't have a text message marketing campaign without a strong base of subscribers to receive them. The contact management feature keeps your contacts organized, fresh and easy to access.

Customization Personalization goes a long way in customers' engagement with your messages. Some texting solutions capture customer data, such as the person's full name, birthday, and ZIP code, which opens up new possibilities for your marketing campaigns. For example, you could send a customer deals on their birthday or alert them to your sales in their area to show appreciation for them as unique customers. Other customization options extend to your integrations – for example, SimpleTexting can create free custom integrations for you in-house.

Drip Campaigns With this feature, you can send out automated messages based on conditions you set using if-then commands. Each step of the customer journey can trigger its own message, such as a greeting upon opt-in, a confirmation for each purchase, or a request for feedback after a customer service encounter.

Free Incoming Text Messages

The best text message marketing companies offer complimentary incoming text messages. This means you can allow your customers to reply to you without bringing up your costs; you only pay for the messages you send.

Integrations

Some text message companies integrate with other platforms, such as email marketing programs Mailchimp and Constant Contact. These integrations can significantly increase your productivity and capabilities, letting you automatically import and sync data across all your business software. [Learn more about these email marketing solutions in our Mailchimp review and Constant Contact review.]

Link Shortener

SMS messages typically allow no more than 160 characters. This limit can pose challenges when you need to insert links – how can you send a compelling text when half of it is a link? Some text message marketing platforms offer link shorteners that solve this problem, reducing any link to 15 characters at most.

Message Templates

If you send the same text message frequently, look for a solution that lets you create and save templates so you can send messages faster.

Multimedia Messaging (MMS)

Some services allow you to send pictures, videos and audio clips to make your messages stand out.

Mobile Keywords

You can build your contact list with mobile keywords, allowing customers to opt in to your messages by texting you a single word. The best solutions allow you to choose custom keywords and track their usage. Many plans require you to pay extra for more keywords, though.

QR Codes

Small businesses often print QR codes on flyers and other physical materials to automate the customer's text message subscription process. Customers can scan the QR code to load the marketing numbers and keywords into their text messaging apps. This feature is increasingly common but not yet universal among SMS marketing platforms.

Tip: The next time you print out ads that you'll hand to people at events, include a QR code for your text message marketing list. This way, potential customers can sign up in just a few seconds – and you can keep engaging them thereafter. Learn other ways to use QR codes in marketing.

Scheduling

Scheduling text messages in advance can increase your productivity, because you won't have to remember to send texts out manually at certain times. The timing of text messages is important, especially if you have customers in various time zones, so it helps to automate this function.

Surveys

You can gather customer feedback with polls and surveys. The best solutions make it easy to gather responses and adjust your campaigns or analytics with these tools. Learn how to send your customers an SMS survey.

Text-to-Landline

A text-to-landline feature lets you send and receive text messages through your business landline phone number with no changes to your voice service.

Web Signup Forms

Engaging customers via text can start with getting them to subscribe while they're engaged with your brand in other ways. Web signup forms are a great example. You can embed them on your website or e-commerce store to generate text message marketing leads already interested in your business.

Follow these steps to find the right text message marketing platform for your needs.

1. Think about what you need.

Will you use your text message marketing platform to send customers exclusive offers, or will you use it for appointment reminders? Do you work in an industry with highly specific text message use cases, such as hospitality or healthcare? Answer these questions to give yourself the context you need for determining which text message marketing platforms do and don't work for your business.

2. Identify leading brands (especially for your industry, if applicable).

All of our best picks for text message marketing are leading brands – some of them within certain sectors. Zingle is designed for hospitality use, for instance, and Tatango is ideal for nonprofit and political use. Add any reputable brands that specialize in your industry to your list of possibilities.

3. Consider whether a broad or narrow use case matters more to you.

Is usability in a healthcare setting more important than the ability to expand your texting operations as your business grows? Would you rather have a platform with just the basics or one with advanced tools that are a bit tougher to use? The answers to these questions will further help you determine what to prioritize.

4. Read customer reviews.

Customer reviews can give you some of the truest possible insights on a certain platform. They're a particularly great way to determine what current and past clients think of a brand's customer service. They can also help you determine whether a platform is typically easy to use or a more complicated proposition.

Tip: Always read a brand's customer reviews before signing up for its service. There could be a stark difference between what the brand advertises on its website and what customers actually experience.

5. Sign up for a free trial.

Most text message marketing brands offer a free trial. Take them up on it – this trial is the fastest way to see for yourself whether a platform fits your needs. Keep note of when the trial ends and whether you'll have to start paying the moment it does.

6. Compare your budget with your needs.

Some text message marketing platforms, such as Textedly, offer highly affordable monthly plans. Others, such as EZ Texting and Podium, can be quite expensive, though their advanced features may justify their prices. Others still, such as TextMagic, let you pay as you go for ultimate cost flexibility. Consider whether flexibility or monthly fees are better for your budget, and determine the maximum amount you can afford per month.

7. Complete your signup and begin using your new text message marketing platform.

After you've tried a few brands and compared their prices, you should sign up for one that checks all your boxes, budget included. You can typically reach out to customer support via the live chat tool in your platform's dashboard to start the process.

8. Regularly refine and improve your strategies.

Once you implement your text message marketing platform and start sending messages, you're still not quite done. Every great marketer knows that the key to making the most of your tools is regular audits of your marketing efforts. Your platform's analytics suite should make this easy, especially if your reports include actionable insights. Keep reworking your approach, and chances are you'll keep reaching more customers. [Related article: Text Message Marketing Tips for Small Businesses]

There are many ways you can use text message marketing to benefit your company. It's an easy way to communicate directly with your customers, and you learn more about what your audience wants from you. Here are some things you can do for your business with text message marketing:

• Send exclusive deals and discounts. The promise of special deals and discounts is why many people opt to receive text messages from companies. This makes it easy for your customers to redeem coupon codes and stay up to date with your company's news, and it gives you an easy way to attract new customers.
  
  
• Offer sneak peeks at new products or services. To drum up excitement for a new product or service, you can text out sneak peeks or free trials to your subscribers, keeping your business fresh in their minds.
  
  
• Target past customers with news updates. If you have customers who haven't done business with you in a while, texting can be a great way to draw them back in. You could send news about company goings-on or updates on your products and services.
  
  
• Send appointment or reservation confirmations. If reservations or appointments are part of your business, this is a no-brainer. Texting is a faster, easier way to confirm appointments with customers than calling or emailing. It's also an easy way for customers to reference the appointment information, making them less likely to forget or show up at the wrong time.
  
  
• Provide order updates. If a customer orders something from you, you can send order notifications or updates by text rather than email to keep them in the loop. These updates also provide buyers a direct line of communication to your business should anything go wrong with their order.
  
  
• Reach customers on the platform they use. Think about it – aren't you always on your phone, and isn't your inbox always so clogged you just mass-delete emails? Text message marketing gives you a much more direct path to your customers. [Related article: 9 Reasons to Try Text Message Marketing for Your Small Business]

Why should businesses use text message marketing?

Text message marketing is a great way to connect with your customers personally and provide custom messaging. Texting is also faster than other communication methods, allowing you to resolve issues and connect with customers without making them wait long.

When should businesses use text message marketing?

Business owners and text message marketers should abide by standard business communications etiquette. Limit your messaging to business hours (i.e., weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Be mindful of different time zones where your subscribers live, and avoid sending too many messages at once. For the best results, follow these do's and don'ts for text message marketing.

What industries benefit the most from text message marketing?

Any business that needs or wants to communicate directly with customers can benefit from text message marketing. It's a great way to connect with your consumer base, adding a personal touch to your business communications and customer support. Some specific types of companies that often need to text customers are those in the hospitality and service industries, appointment-based businesses, and retailers that run frequent sales and special deals.

Is text message marketing effective?

Yes, text message marketing can be a highly effective way to reach your customers and connect with them on a personal level, because most people check their text messages far more often than their email. It is also cost-effective, allowing you to reach a large number of customers for a generally low monthly or annual fee.

How can you send bulk text messages?

While the exact method for sending bulk text messages varies by provider, you must generally import the list of contacts you want to message. Then, you would draft a bulk text message to be sent to this contact list and schedule it for the appropriate time.

Is it legal to send marketing messages via text?

Businesses can legally send marketing text messages to customers if they follow practices outlined in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the CAN-SPAM Act. Enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, these laws prevent businesses from sending marketing messages to consumers who don't want to receive them. Businesses can be fined up to $1,500 per willful violation if they don't adhere to laws like TCPA. [Related article: How to Avoid Sending Spam Text Messages to Customers]

How do you get consent to send text messages to your customers?

The TCPA requires companies to get express written consent to send SMS marketing messages to any customer. The best way to obtain consent is by spelling out your communication terms in a clear and conspicuous manner on a form or advertisement. With this type of language, the customer can then provide their phone number (either directly on the form or by texting a number listed on your ad) with the intention of giving permission to be contacted by your company.

How many people open text messages?

The answer may be more than you'd expect! Generally speaking, 98% of SMS messages are opened, according to SlickText. This is great news for small businesses' text message marketing strategies, as this data predicts a high success rate. Even better, Podium found that 74% of consumers prefer text message marketing offers to online ads.

What is the best way to track the results of text message marketing campaigns?

Tracking your text message marketing campaigns is an important step in the process. It's important to know whether your potential customers are engaging with the content you're sending. To track your campaign and see its success rate, start by confirming that your messages are delivered. Some text message marketing services, including TextMagic, track this for you. Then, look at how many people engaged with the content you sent, leading them to your site. These two steps are simple ways to see how your campaign is being received. [Related article: How to Run a Successful Text Message Marketing Campaign]

Kiely Kuligowski contributed to the writing and research in this guide.