SMS marketing is the channel businesses reach for when a message cannot wait. This is what it is used for, why its open rates hold up where email’s do not, and how three of the best-known tools compared on features and on the prices they advertised in July 2021.
What SMS marketing is
Short message service marketing is a strategy that lets a business talk to its customers by text. The aim is to advertise special offers, updates and other important messages in a way that creates urgency.
With mass SMS campaigns you can send to a large audience at any time and in any place. That makes it an effective complement to a multichannel marketing strategy rather than a replacement for one.
What businesses actually use it for
Companies generally use SMS to increase brand awareness, boost engagement and generate sales through time-sensitive offers. Four uses come up repeatedly.
Temporary promotions for retail and e-commerce. Rolling out an offer drives people to a store or a website, and SMS is the right channel for a limited-time sale because it reaches people who are not at a desk.
Order updates and high-priority events. Text messaging keeps customers current on changes, cancellations and general updates, with better engagement than email or other channels.
Appointment reminders. Reminder texts stop clients arriving late or missing an appointment altogether, which is the cheapest scheduling fix there is.
Internal alerts. Some urgent messages need to be read on time, and email is not reliable for that because not everyone checks it regularly. A text does not depend on the habit.
- Temporary promotions reach customers away from a desk while an offer is still timely
- Order changes, cancellations and high-priority events need a fast update path
- Appointment reminders put a time-sensitive prompt close to the event
- Internal alerts reach staff who may not be checking email regularly
What SMS marketing has going for it
- A low-cost alternative to most other channels.
- Effective, in the sense that the message is read.
- Easy to track statistics on.
- Low cancellation rates.
- Easy to set up.
Why it works alongside other channels
SMS marketing is a good complement to other kinds of marketing automation. If you have sent a series of automated emails about an event you are launching, a text is what makes sure the message is actually seen.
Mobile marketing is fast and reliable, because delivery is immediate, and you can schedule custom automated messages around a time-limited promotion such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
Open and response rates are also higher: as research reported here without a named source, customers in America prefer receiving texts to other forms of communication. Social media is full of daily notifications and people have learned to skip them; a text still gets attention.
Sendinblue
Sendinblue is simple, trustworthy, intuitive and affordable, with complementary features that take a business further than SMS alone.
What makes it stand out is that all plans come with unlimited contact storage, so a growing contact list does not itself raise the bill.
The free plan gives you SMS marketing, the workflow editor, page tracking, transactional emails and SMS, and real-time reporting. As the business grows you can move up a plan without the jump in price other companies charge.
As of the pricing described here in July 2021, the Lite plan cost $25 and added A/B testing and advanced statistics, while Premium cost $65 a month and added marketing automation, Facebook ads, multi-user access and telephone support. An Enterprise plan sat above both for corporate marketers. Those are 2021 prices, quoted as published and not rechecked since.
Optinmonster
Optinmonster is a solid alternative, and its standout feature is a drag-and-drop builder that produces good-looking opt-in forms in minutes. If designing a form is the part you struggle with, this is the tool that solves it.
The form designs could be refreshed more often, and the interface is less intuitive than it should be, so it is not the first choice for a beginner — expect to spend time learning it.
On price, as of July 2021, Optinmonster had no free plan: the Basic plan started at $9 and the Growth plan reached $49. Some users reported significant billing problems, saying Optinmonster charged for features competitors give away and that they ended up paying more than the agreed amount because of company errors. Those are 2021 prices and 2021 complaints, reported as published.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is one of the strongest marketing automation tools available, and it will set up more or less any automation you can describe — flash sale notifications, appointment reminders, triggered campaigns.
It also reports on areas others do not, including geo-tracking and page visits.
It is not a beginner’s tool, and it takes time to learn. As of July 2021 there was no free plan, and the most popular tier, Professional, cost around $129 a month — which means cheaper options exist if what you want is something simple. Again, a 2021 figure, not rechecked.
Which one to choose
All three of these tools work well and each has features worth having for talking to customers properly.
In our view Sendinblue is the best choice, and not only for its feature set: it combines an easy interface with good support, available even on the basic free account, and it lets a customer round out the strategy with email marketing, chat and inbox messages. You get tools large companies use at a reasonable price.
The free plan lacks some professional features, which is exactly why it suits someone starting out — you can find out whether the tool meets your expectations before buying a higher plan. Our comparison of the best email marketing tools covers the neighbouring decision, and our services page says what we do with them.
Frequently asked questions
What is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing, or short message service marketing, is a strategy for reaching customers by text, usually to advertise a special offer, an update or another message where urgency matters. Because a campaign can go to a large audience anywhere at any time, it works best as a complement to a multichannel strategy rather than on its own.
What do businesses use SMS marketing for?
Four uses come up most often: temporary promotions for retail and e-commerce, order updates and high-priority events, appointment reminders, and internal alerts to staff. The common thread is time sensitivity, which is the one thing a text does better than an email.
Why does SMS get better open rates than email?
Delivery is immediate and, as this 2021 article reports without naming the research, customers in America prefer receiving texts to other forms of communication. Social feeds are full of notifications people have learned to ignore, and a text has not yet been diluted the same way.
What did Sendinblue offer?
Sendinblue was the pick of the three here: simple, intuitive and affordable, with unlimited contact storage on every plan, so growing a contact list did not itself raise the bill. The free plan included SMS marketing, the workflow editor, page tracking, transactional email and SMS, and real-time reporting.
What did these tools cost in July 2021?
As of the pricing described in this article in July 2021, Sendinblue Lite was 25 US dollars and Premium 65 US dollars a month, with an Enterprise tier above them; Optinmonster started at 9 US dollars for Basic and rose to 49 US dollars for Growth, with no free plan; and ActiveCampaign Professional, its most popular plan, was around 129 US dollars a month. Those are 2021 prices, quoted as published here and not rechecked.
Which of the three suits a beginner?
Sendinblue, on the argument this article makes, because it combines an easy interface with support that is available even on the free account, and because the free plan is enough to find out whether the tool fits before paying. Optinmonster and ActiveCampaign both take time to learn and neither offered a free plan.
