SMS is an incredibly powerful marketing platform, but SMS marketing is also becoming intensely competitive. Contemporary marketers need to leverage all the available tools to stay ahead of the competition and consistently move leads through the sales cycle.
In this article, we’ll cover ten of the top SMS marketing tools to consider using in 2021. Each platform comes with its own unique pros and cons, so it’s critical to find one that matches your marketing priorities. Keep in mind that SMS marketing is more effective when combined with email, social media, push notifications, and a variety of other channels.
Omnisend is a great option for SMS, but it also offers a deep set of features for email marketing automation, push notifications, Facebook, Google, and more. Managing all your marketing channels in a single application will make your workflow significantly more efficient.
Furthermore, Omnisend gives marketers the tools they need to develop finely-tuned audience segments. Combine that with Omnisend’s easy-to-use automation workflows (which are SMS-friendly) and you’ve got a marketing powerhouse. It’s also compatible with a number of ecommerce platforms including WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce.
In contrast to Omnisend, Postscript is narrowly focused on SMS marketing. With that in mind, it’s a good option for smaller businesses or those that already have workflows set up for their other channels.
One of Postscript’s standout features is the ability to ask customers to opt-in for text notifications during the checkout process. This is an incredibly effective way to stay engaged with your leads and turn first-time buyers into loyal customers.
As the name implies, SMS Bump is more of an SMS tool than a holistic marketing platform. SMS Bump is built for Shopify vendors, and it’s currently the most popular SMS app in the Shopify ecosystem.
With SMS Bump, you can quickly set up cart abandonment reminders that will automatically identify the products in a user’s cart. You can also create coupons that only work for a limited time, adding a sense of urgency and helping you drive more sales.
EZ Texting goes beyond the features you would expect from a typical SMS platform in several ways. You can get started with 1000 monthly SMS credits for just $49 per month.
Along with conventional tools like segmentation and analytics, it also supports a variety of text messages including surveys, polls, and contests. These give you more control over your SMS campaigns and make it easy to engage with your audience in new ways.
Octane is a marketing tool that focuses on SMS and Facebook Messenger communications for Shopify businesses. It offers some helpful social media tools, including a bot that will automatically respond to user comments in order to drive subscriptions.
With Octane, you’ll be able to set up sophisticated Messenger workflows covering everything from welcome sequences and abandoned carts to follow-up and customer retention notifications. It’s one of the best platforms for companies that focus on Messenger and SMS marketing.
Zipwhip is an innovative solution that allows subscribers to convert their existing phone line into a business SMS tool. It’s compatible with landlines, smartphones, computers, tablets, toll-free numbers, and more. Zipwhip starts at $19 per month for up to 500 messages, and larger subscriptions are also available along with custom pricing for larger enterprises.
Furthermore, Zipwhip facilitates helpful workflows such as automatic responses, keyword-based replies, easy-to-use message templates, and the ability to schedule future messages. It’s an excellent all-in-one solution for managing your company’s SMS campaigns.
Attentive is well-known for its unique two-tap sign-up process that enables users to subscribe extremely quickly. Generating an immediate response is crucial in the SMS space, giving Attentive a notable competitive advantage if you’re looking to improve your subscription numbers.
Unfortunately, Attentive doesn’t provide much helpful information in terms of pricing. You’ll need to contact them directly for a custom quote, which indicates that they’re hoping to work with larger enterprises rather than smaller businesses.
Privy works with email, SMS, and Messenger—while it isn’t quite as flexible as Omnisend and other omnichannel platforms, it still covers three critical channels. It’s also notable for offering a deep set of integrations with other third-party platforms, making it easy to implement without having to adjust any of your existing practices.
Furthermore, Privy provides excellent sign-up form templates along with convenient customization tools. You can quickly drag and drop elements to the desired location and ensure that they’re compatible with desktop, smartphone, and tablet browsers.
Unlike most other marketing services, Tobi bills customers based on the sales they generate through the platform. This unique pricing scheme ensures that you’ll always pay a fair price based on the income the tool helps you earn, but it may make the subscription more expensive in certain cases.
Tobi’s main goal is to help you push leads through the successive stages of the customer journey. That starts with a comprehensive set of workflows for specific instances including welcoming new leads, promoting flash sales, following up after cart abandonment, and winning back inactive leads. Tobi also supports countdown notifications, which can be a highly effective way to build hype for an upcoming event or product launch.
Similar to Omnisend, Sendinblue supports SMS marketing plus email, live chat, segmentation, and CRM tools. Users can buy prepaid SMS credits, removing the need to commit to an ongoing subscription. Sendinblue currently charges one euro to send 100 messages within the United States.
Like other SMS tools, Sendinblue provides helpful features including message scheduling, SMS personalization, and powerful analytics. You’ll have all the tools you need to develop sophisticated workflows and evaluate past results to make more informed decisions in future campaigns.
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Effective SMS marketing requires ongoing engagement, time-sensitive messages, fine-tuned personalization, and consistent analysis, especially at large scales. These platforms will help you upgrade your approach to SMS campaigns and generate more traffic and sales for your business over the long term.
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