The Best Text Message Marketing Services of 2020
Updated: May 15, 2020
Update: This page has been updated to include details on the increased use of text message marketing during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Pew Research Center, 92% of adult Americans have a cell phone capable of receiving text messages. As time spent on phones continues to increase, it's no surprise that businesses are looking to implement the occasional text message campaign. There are dozens of quality solutions on the market, but a few stand out, especially for small businesses looking to please subscribers.
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Summary
A standard SMS text message costs one credit, while an MMS message costs three credits. The least expensive plan costs $25 per month and gives businesses 500 credits. The most expensive plan offers 50,000 credits for the price of $625 per month. Additional charges for going over your monthly credit limit apply, and those vary by plan.
The wide range of pricing options makes SimpleTexting a good option for businesses of varying sizes.
February 2020: SimpleTexting's latest platform update now allows users to send messages with over 1,600 characters, as well as MMS-supported rich media, such as photos and video, which can drive up to 25% more clicks. SimpleTexting also added desktop push notifications for incoming messages.
Summary
A user-friendly interface and an assortment of features also make EZ Texting our selection as the best overall text message marketing solution for businesses. Its user interface is intuitive and won't take long to learn, which is an important consideration when deciding on a text message marketing service.
Customization aspects are also a positive, as it's easy to make your recipients feel special by easily sending them personalized messages. EZ Texting makes text message marketing feel more like a genuine interaction compared to other text message marketing services.
March 2020: EZ Texting has introduced two new features: an iOS app that enables users to communicate with customers in real time and direct two-way business text messaging, which allows EZ Texting users to convert their existing phone numbers to send and receive text messages.
April 2020: EZ Texting is offering its services free to municipalities, government organizations and schools to enable them to send COVID-19-related text updates. The use of the service is free to any organization with either a .gov or .edu domain. Qualifying organizations receive 100,000 outgoing messages, one keyword, and the use of a common-use short code.
Summary
Textedly offers eight different pricing tiers for companies of various sizes and service level requirements. It operates on a month-to-month subscription basis, although you can pay annually for access to 20% more text messages per month. Textedly comes with a 14-day free trial during which you can set up one custom keyword. Paid plans start at $25 per month for 2,000 text messages with two custom keywords. The highest tier plan costs $550 per month and includes 50,000 text messages.Textedly is an effective tool with flexible options for any type or size of business.
Summary
The company's website includes videos explaining how to create an account, how to reserve a keyword and how to set up autoreply. These explanations are detailed enough for even the most inexperienced text messaging marketers to understand. They're also readily available if you forget how a function works. Additionally, SlickText does a good job of being available to help answer your questions. You can reach a company representative via their toll-free phone number, email or live chat.
What to Expect in 2020
Expect continued growth for text message marketing, but it's important to understand where the service falls in line with your other marketing channels. Some customers feel more comfortable with email marketing or social media marketing. Those forms of marketing require a potential customer to go somewhere – either to their email inbox or a social media platform. Text messages show up without the customer navigating anywhere, which can be both beneficial and harmful for businesses.
Your business should monitor regulations governing text message marketing and ensure that you only send messages once you receive opt-in approval. With the number of people using their phones in 2020, it's not a stretch to think that text message marketing will continue to increase in popularity, but it still needs to be done properly, and legally, to be effective.
Companies like Ralph Lauren are learning the hard way that poorly run text message marketing campaigns can lead to legal trouble. The company recently wrapped up a dispute for sending a customer 188 texts. The customer claims he consented to six texts per month, but the company would routinely send more messages than he opted into receiving on a monthly basis. He also said that the company failed to send opt-out messages for roughly 80% of the texts they sent. The key takeaway is to have, and follow, specific agreements with a customer. It's one thing to receive an opt-in confirmation for a few messages, it's another to send dozens of texts without the customer's consent.
Companies that provide personalized and genuine text messages are likely to experience success with the marketing channel in coming years. The most successful businesses will also follow legal restrictions regarding text message marketing.
May 2020: New data shows that businesses are seeing a boost in their text message marketing campaigns. The Wall Street Journal reports on data from Attentive Mobile Inc. that shows the average daily number of people signing up for texts from Attentive clients between March 30 and April 12 was 53% higher than the average for both January and February. This could be a trend that continues to hold as in-person interactions are expected to continue to be limited in many states for the foreseeable future.
Our Methodology
To determine the top text message marketing solutions, we spent dozens of hours researching the options. Here is an explanation of our selection process.
Locating the Best Services
We started with over 20 reputable companies offering text message marketing services. We found these companies based on detailed internet research and online customer reviews.
Choosing the Best Services
We eliminated vendors that didn't offer drip campaigns, automation and customization. We also eliminated companies with old websites or user dashboards that we believed would be overly confusing for businesses, especially smaller firms. We looked for businesses that could deliver effective text campaigns for businesses in different industries.
Researching Each Service
Once we narrowed our list, we took a deep dive into the features, customer reviews and pricing of each service. It was imperative that the platform's interface was user friendly and that the service offered flexible pricing so that small business can take advantage of text message marketing. We signed up for free trials and contacted a few of the top companies on our list, posing as small business owners. This gave us a more authentic feel for the customer service teams of each business.
Analyzing Each Service
We selected EZ Texting, SlickText and SimpleTexting as the best text messaging services available to small businesses. We analyzed key features, pricing and customer service when making our best pick selections.
Full List of Services
The following services are some of the best text message marketing solutions that are available.
Avochato - Avochato is a comprehensive text message marketing service that offers a variety of tools to help businesses send successful text message campaigns. https://www.avochato.com
Cheapest Texting - Cheapest Texting lets you get the word out about your business to clients, customers and others via SMS messages. The company offers four pricing plans, including its Starter plan that allows you to test out the service for 14 days (sending up to 100 messages) free of charge. https://www.cheapesttexting.com
EZ Texting - EZ Texting is an excellent service to help you control your text message marketing campaigns. Its many tools and resources are easy to find and use in the software's dashboard. It's our choice for best text message marketing service overall – it has flexible packages, an easy-to-use dashboard and a variety of advanced tools. https://www.eztexting.com
Gleantap - Features of Gleantap's text message marketing services include automated text campaigns, autoreplies, personalized messages, link tracking and more. https://gleantap.com
Heymarket - Heymarket is a mobile and web-based application designed to help businesses create and carry out marketing campaigns through SMS and MMS (iOS and Android) and Facebook Messenger. Each subscription includes a shared inbox (text and Facebook); templates; integration with G Suite, Facebook, and Slack; and website widgets that text-enable your business's website. It offers a 15-day free trial. https://www.heymarket.com
Mobile Text Alerts - Mobile Text Alerts allows your business to craft and deliver text messages in as little as 30 seconds. The control panel used to manage subscribers is reasonably user friendly. The variety of pricing plans is one of the best perks of using this service. The company offers over seven different plans. https://mobile-text-alerts.com
Mobiniti - Mobiniti is a text message marketing service to help you build two-way communication with your customers with a simple and affordable platform. http://www.mobiniti.com
Mozeo - Mozeo is a good choice for businesses that need basic text message marketing capabilities for a low price on an easy-to-use platform. https://www.mozeo.com/services-pricing.php
ProTexting - ProTexting lets you run automated campaigns and send multimedia SMS messages to connect with customers. https://www.protexting.com
SimpleTexting - SimpleTexting is a straightforward SMS service that connects you to your customers. It offers helpful tools, an easy-to-use dashboard and flexible plans. https://simpletexting.com
SlickText - SlickText offers multiple options for your text message marketing campaigns. It establishes two-way communication with your consumers and offers packages to meet the needs of small business owners. https://www.slicktext.com
SUMOTEXT - SUMOTEXT is a top text message marketing service that performs well in many types of campaigns. http://sumotext.com
Text Magic - TextMagic is a bulk SMS text message marketing service. Pricing varies substantially based on which country the texts are being sent in. https://www.textmagic.com
Textedly - Textedly offers text messages services with an assortment of features like scheduled messages, mass group texting, built-in link sharing and automatic text replies. Pricing varies depending on the package you select, but the starter package provides a free, 14-day trial. https://www.textedly.com
Trumpia - Trumpia is an SMS marketing and mass text messaging service. With Trumpia, you can send messages by SMS, MMS, email, social media and voice through one convenient platform. https://trumpia.com
TXT 180 - TXT180 is a straightforward SMS marketing platform with good texting service. https://www.txt180.com
Wire2Air - Wire2Air lets you add unlimited contacts and groups in its online texting platform. http://wire2air.com/sms_messaging.asp
Services
Textedly
SimpleTexting
EZ Texting
SlickText
