When it comes to marketing campaigns, it’s hard to find anything that balances efficiency and effectiveness quite as well as SMS. You get to reach a large group of subscribers and give them a lot of new information without breaking the bank. You don’t have a lot of downsides with that system.
There are a lot of ways to take advantage of all of SMS’ features. You can use it for promotional material, to give transaction updates, or to send out discount codes to specific subscribers. Once you start getting creative, the possibilities are endless. It all depends on your marketing goals and what exactly you want to do, so it’s essential that you understand their differences.
If you’re wondering about using bulk SMS features and how they can fit into your own business, wonder no more. Read on to learn more about the topic.
What is Bulk SMS?
Before we get into the types of campaigns you can run, first, we need to understand what a mass text messaging campaign is. Most people know what an SMS is; the technology’s been around for decades, and most people have received at least one text in their lives. Chances are, they’ve even been on the receiving end of one of those bulk messages.
It may be a promotional text for one of your favorite stores informing you that they’re having a sale in 3 days. Maybe you received an SMS informing you that the products you ordered have already been shipped. It may even be a simple one-time pin to help you log in to an online account.
That’s essentially what bulk SMS is: text messages that a business sends out to a large number of people at set intervals. Usually, it’s automated, just for practicality’s sake. After all, it might be difficult to keep your campaign on schedule if you have to have someone manually type out and send the texts one by one. But, with SMS solution providers like CommPeak, you won’t have to worry about that. You can just use the intuitive dashboard to create your campaign and let the computer do the rest.
Of course, not everyone has the tech savviness to set up their own bulk SMS system. And even if you do have the knowledge to do it, you might not have the time or energy for it—running a business is already stressful enough on its own!
This is where providers come in. They’ll handle the setup and maintenance of the entire system, so all you need to do is make a few template messages and set a schedule for when they are sent out. It’s a lot more efficient and it’s several tasks that’s been removed from your checklist.
Types of Bulk SMS
Now that you know the bigger picture of what bulk SMS is, it’s time to get into the more specific details. That way, you can learn more about it and see how it can fit into your business.
Generally, there are three kinds you need to know about: promotional, transactional, and one-time passwords. They work slightly differently from each other, so it’s important to understand the distinction before you figure out where to start in your bulk SMS journey.
Promotional – A promotional message usually comes in the form of marketing texts about sales, discounts, coupons, and the like. You can also use it to talk about new products or services you’re offering.
It’s a great way to attract new customers to your business and engage with existing clients. The main purpose is to get word out about your products and services. You can even include a link in the message leading directly to your online store to make things easier for your customer!
Transactional – Transactional messages tend to be informational. This can come in the form of a message informing clients of updates on the shipping status of the products they ordered, confirmation of a booking, or alerting them of a problem or a delay.
You would mainly use transactional messages to communicate with your existing clientele. Keeping these lines open will let them feel engaged and valued, as well as keeping them in the loop about their purchases or the services they hired.
One-Time Passwords (OTPs) – This type of message is usually sent out for security purposes. It’s used to verify the identity of the person logging in to that specific account. If you use an online portal to offer your products or services, then it’s a good idea to have this setup.
This feature is good for any establishment with an online portal or handles sensitive data. It can be used by schools, healthcare facilities, financial institutions, and so much more.
Why SMS?
SMS has an incredibly high open rate, meaning that it’s very likely that the people you’re sending them out to will be very likely to read them. That’s worth a lot when it comes to the world of marketing and establishing a brand presence.
And text message marketing isn’t just for sending out messages, either. They’re also a great way to facilitate a two-way conversation between yourself and your customer. This can mean they’re replying to your messages, having a dedicated line to answer their inquiries, or including a link in your messages leading to a webpage where clients can leave their feedback.
Whatever form your SMS campaign may take, one thing remains true: they have a great return on investment. Since most phones don’t have spam inboxes, there’s little chance your messages will go entirely unseen. And combined with the low cost of implementation, you really end up with a really sweet deal.
Choosing a Provider
The key to finding the right bulk SMS provider is knowing what you need. Luckily, when you use CommPeak’s SMS platform TextPeak, you don’t have to think about it too hard since we offer all these options, alongside a host of other features and customizations, to ensure your campaign will be as successful and efficient as possible.
If you want to learn more about our SMS solutions, feel free to get in touch with us through our website anytime.