Let’s face it: text messaging is a familiar tool to almost everyone worldwide, as we increasingly live in a mobile-first era. Because of this, businesses are swiftly utilizing texting as a more personal and alternative means of communicating with their clientele. Making these relationships is now considerably simpler thanks to the introduction of SMS Bulk Messaging. Now, thousands or even millions of clients can receive timely, clear information from businesses cost-effectively and simultaneously. Even if these texts are sent in mass, they can still maintain a remarkable level of personality and urgency.
What is bulk SMS?
Businesses can interact with clients in bulk with bulk SMS messages, often known as text blasts, whether they are requesting feedback or sending off a promotional message. With a 94% average SMS open rate, SMS marketing can help you avoid consumers’ overloaded email inboxes and increase chances that your recipients will read and respond to your message. Moreover, developing an SMS marketing campaign using a one-to-many approach can help you save money, time, and effort without compromising results.
These kinds of bulk SMS messages might assist you in connecting with devoted long-term supporters and reaching new ones. Just keep in mind that in order to maintain your company’s compliance with industry sending requirements, you must obtain the express consent of your recipients before texting them. Additionally, you should explain to your subscribers what they’re getting into, how frequently they can expect to hear from you, and that they are in charge of paying any applicable data and message charges.
What is the benefit of bulk SMS?
By sending SMS messages in bulk, you can interact with and reach a lot of people at once. It can be a fantastic way to publicize a company announcement, a limited-time deal, the launching of a new product or service, and more. It is possible to send the same message to hundreds or thousands of people and still achieve amazing results by employing highly targeted lists (or communications that appeal to a broad audience).
Although SMS can be a useful marketing tool for your company, you should use it carefully because many consumers would rather save their text message inboxes for use by close friends and family. Consider using a double-opt-in confirmation to make sure you are only engaging those on your SMS list and to prevent recipients from unintentionally signing up for your texts.
Further, you should take care to avoid spamming your users. According to our 2024 Global Messaging Engagement Report, there is a noticeable difference in the frequency with which global users would want to receive promotional SMS messages: 29% would rather receive a message once a day, while 29% would prefer to receive one once a week. Just be careful not to stimulate your lists—the most common reason for consumers to become disinterested in receiving advertising SMS/MMS messages is message frequency.
Who is Using Bulk SMS Messaging and Why?
Enterprise businesses, membership-based organizations, media outlets, and financial institutions use bulk messaging, sometimes referred to as mass texting, because they have found that short message service (SMS) messaging can boost customer engagement, effectively promote goods and services, and be utilized to send subscribers time-sensitive alerts and notifications.
Businesses may now engage with clients more directly by using SMS messaging on the devices that they use on a daily basis. With more than 2.4 billion SMS-capable cell phones in use worldwide, bulk SMS messaging has made it possible for almost any organization to access a larger client base.
Mass Texting In-Action
SMS texting provides businesses with numerous unquestionable benefits as a mass communication tool for fast information dissemination. Here are four actual business cases where SMS bulk messaging has been utilized to successfully connect with clients in a clear and concise manner in a single message send, to help you brainstorm instances where it might be a good fit for your needs.
- Xoom: Digital Money Transfer Provider Uses SMS for Real-time Transaction Notifications
A digital money transfer service that assists customers in sending money, paying bills, and reloading prepaid mobile phones for friends and family worldwide is called the Xoom, a part of the PayPal family. By using mass texting, the Xoom can deliver real-time transaction notifications to both the sender and the recipient, relieving them of the need to follow up and giving them peace of mind. Results: Over 1.4 million consumers in 33 countries have received transaction notifications thanks to the efficient usage of bulk messaging.
- Walmart: International Retailer Sends Daily Promotions Directly To Consumers Phones
The largest physical store in the world, Walmart, provides a “Value of the Day” item to each and every one of its customers. For a short period of time, Walmart customers may take advantage of these exclusive savings. Apart from customary promotional techniques like in-store alerts, clients are urged to register to obtain these offers via their mobile devices. Impact: As a fresh incentive for every subscriber to visit their local Walmart store every day, Walmart sends out “Value of the Day” messages via bulk text message.
- PayByPhone: Global Payment Service Notifies Consumers of Expiring Parking Meters
Customers in North America and Europe can pay for parking conveniently with PayByPhone, a mobile payments service processor. With the help of PayByPhone’s innovative app, drivers can effortlessly extend their parking time without having to get out of their car and avoid getting a ticket by using SMS Bulk Messaging to send one-way reminders five minutes before their time runs out. Results: By delivering more than two million time-sensitive texts every month, PayByPhone assists users in avoiding parking fees.
How can I send a bulk SMS?
Are you prepared to send your first bulk SMS message but are unsure of where to begin? If you follow this systematic instruction, you’ll be sending lots of text messages in no time.
1. Grow an audience
A contact list of recipients who have given you permission to message them is necessary to get started. Put an opt-in form on your website or encourage potential clients to text a keyword (such as “Join” or your business name) to a mobile number or short code to begin expanding your SMS subscriber list. In order to verify their subscription and make sure you only have interested individuals on your list, you can also send them a double-opt-in mail.
2. Find an SMS service provider
To assist you in sending your bulk message, you must next locate an SMS service provider. You may quickly and easily deliver SMS messages to each subscriber on your list using Msgclub Programmable Messaging API. You may quickly and simply send messages, and you also have access to a comprehensive collection of documentation, example code, and development tools to help you quickly build exactly what you want. In addition, we will take care of carrier and international restrictions, freeing you up to concentrate on connecting with clients and creating the ideal bulk SMS message.
3. Get a short code
Sending more than a few hundred messages a day using long code (or a 10-digit phone number) increases the likelihood that your communications will land in the spam folder. When attempting to send SMS messages in mass, that can be an issue.
You can send and receive bulk SMS/MMS messages more efficiently by using short codes, often known as 5- or 6-digit numbers, which are preapproved by carriers to have a high throughput and aren’t subject to carrier screening. If Msgclub doesn’t have any short codes for your brand, you can easily purchase some or transfer your current numbers to the Msgclub platform to start delivering messages right away. If your monthly send volume exceeds 500,000 to 4.5 million messages, Msgclub additionally provides bulk discounts for SMS and short code SMS messages to ensure your business reaches customers reliably and at a fair price.
4. Craft your message
You’re almost ready to send once you’ve located a bulk SMS service provider and obtained a short code. Selecting the person you want to reach and crafting a draft of your message are the only tasks remaining. Even if it seems easy, take your time with this. To keep your subscribers interested and devoted to your business, every text blast you send should have purpose and offer value. Check out our best practices for writing text blasts in the next area if you need some inspiration to start sending bulk message.
5. Send it
It’s now time to share your message with the entire world. Set the receiver, sender, and content settings using your preferred email service provider. Your sender will be your company’s long or short code, and the individuals who are on your recipient list are the people you are sending to. The entire text message or any media content you wish to add in your SMS/MMS message makes up your SMS content, as you may have guessed. After you’ve prepared all of this data, you may click “Send,” take a seat, and begin monitoring the message’s effectiveness. Here’s a quick example of how to send text or picture messages using programmable SMS to help.
How do I write a bulk SMS message?
It should be rather simple and straightforward to write a mass SMS message, however it may take a little more time and attention than messaging a parent or a friend. Here are some bulk SMS best practices to follow in order to assist you craft text blasts that offer value to your clients and persuade them to become sales.
1. Understand your audience
Choose a message and imagine yourself in the position of your audience before you begin writing. “Will my audience want to receive this message, or should I send it to specific recipients?” is a question you should ask yourself. Will my subscribers find this message useful or intrusive? You can begin writing the bulk text message’s copy as soon as you’ve decided which audience segment to target.
2. Keep it short
You should keep your message brief and sweet because your customers are busy. The 160 GSM-7 character limit on SMS texts is another reason to keep your communications brief. Your bulk SMS service provider will have to divide your text into many messages if you are unable to reduce the length of your copy. Receiving several messages may irritate some of your recipients and cause them to unsubscribe, while this isn’t always a bad thing.
3. Have a clear CTA
Every email you send should have a single, distinct objective for your company as well as a single desired response from the recipient. Don’t, for instance, urge them to check out your new product release and respond to an event. To avoid confusing your audience and improving the meaning of your message, stick to just one question. You might ask recipients to reply with a keyword in addition to giving them a link to your website so they can learn more about you.
4. Identify your brand
The majority of consumers are cautious when they open links or receive texts from unknown numbers. Add your company name or initials to your communications to make them instantly recognizable and reliable. You should also make sure the tone and visuals (if you use an image or GIF) are consistent with your brand. In this approach, your clients will be more inclined to interact with the message because they will recognize that it is from your company.
5. Track your results
Like any smart marketer, you should monitor the effectiveness of your bulk SMS messages to determine what kinds of content appeal to your target demographic. To repeatedly duplicate and improve these outcomes, you can find out what offers and messaging your clients prefer to receive. In order to determine what proportion of your communications are accepted, delivered, received, and more, you should also monitor the delivery status.
Bulk SMS Messaging Made Easy With The Cloud
When incorporating a mass notification system into your customer management software, there are numerous factors to take into account. Whether you want to use mass texting as a marketing tool or to improve customer service, adding mass texting functionality to your communications program and platform requires specific software. Investigate deploying your SMS messaging solution via cloud communication APIs to provide the most possible customer experience. Here are four good reasons to think about using a reliable cloud-based provider for bulk SMS messaging:
1. Extensive Global Reach:
One of the main arguments in favor of cloud providers among corporations is a dependable worldwide carrier network. Why? Reputable cloud providers are able to modify routes in real-time to prevent delays and delivery problems since they have built relationships with international telecom carriers and have delivered billions of messages internationally. Make sure that each mobile subscriber has redundant carrier interconnects and that your provider has several routes to the major carrier networks. This will make it more likely that your messages will arrive in the time zones and timeframes that you need.
2. Flexible Pricing Model:
Before starting any kind of capacity planning or customer reach estimation, find a cloud provider with a price structure that can expand to meet your company’s needs. Certain cloud service providers allow you to pay only for the data you send, with their straightforward usage-based models. As your reach and usage of the service grows, look for the potential to get bulk savings in addition to program scalability and pay-as-you-go plans. Make sure you are only charged for the volume you actually use if your campaigns have the potential to transmit anywhere from 1,000 to a million times. Never enter into a contract for more than that sum.
3. Robust Software Features:
Working with cloud providers has several advantages, not the least of which is the fact that they frequently provide more communication options than just bulk SMS messaging. Creative companies are also delivering Multimedia Message Services (MMS) in place of word-based texts. Through the use of MMS, you can send photo messages, polls, surveys, calendar invites, emojis, and surveys in addition to other creative mass communications. With the aim of seamlessly integrating various communication tools like Facebook Messenger, voice, chat, and others, marketers in particular are adopting new cloud communication platforms.
4. Integration Simplicity:
The cloud solution that you have selected should facilitate the seamless integration of your SMS communication application with your CRM or overall communication platform. To fulfill your needs for Bulk SMS Messaging, your developers can employ user-friendly, user-ready pre-built code by utilizing cloud computing. Seek for an international SMS platform with customizable, programmable APIs to suit your specific requirements. If your company lacks the skills to write code, some providers offer drag and drop functionality, which enables you to easily and securely establish an intelligent workflow for SMS communication. With these extra capabilities, your company won’t have to worry about starting from scratch to develop the intricacies of a communication application; instead, it can concentrate on creating the ideal customer communication experience.
The Definitive Cloud Communication Platform
While searching for a cloud-based mass texting solution, take into account the advantages of utilizing the Msgclub cloud-based communication platform. Our sophisticated messaging applications, an excellent worldwide carrier network, and an extensive suite of developer-friendly APIs are all part of our intelligent cloud software. The best part is that it’s simple to add new user features. You can gradually improve your customers’ experience without having to hire more developers, buy new software, or replace outdated hardware.