Develop your marketing strategy and run more effective campaigns with the aid of SMS. Keep reading to learn about the best SMS marketing practices ever!

Nothing compares to SMS in the world of marketing. With consistently positive results, it seems to be the best way to connect with leads and convert them into sales.

But you still have to be very intentional about how you proceed, because devising the right plan takes time and a fair bit of trial and error. So let’s read on and see what you should know.

Keep Opt-ins and Opt-outs Simple

Opt-ins and opt-outs refer to subscribing and unsubscribing to your SMS’ respectively. It’s very important to keep both of these straightforward.

This is entirely for the sake of convenience and consent. As you don’t want to discourage anyone that’s eager for updates and you don’t want to hassle anyone whose uninterested.

Most texting services employ a simple keyword trigger for both cases. It could be something as simple as “Yes” and “No” if you so choose.

Texting apps like SMSGatez, allow you to automate this process so the requests go through immediately. Because it shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes to confirm whether someone is subscribed or not.

Incentivize Engagement

An extremely important aspect of your SMS marketing is giving recipients a reason to engage with your texts.

Most businesses capitalize on this idea and regularly send discount codes or updates on sales to achieve this.

No one can resist a good deal and you need to work out what is most attractive to your leads in order to entice them into engaging.

If you’re looking to recruit, this can also be a helpful tool as you can provide a link to an application portal so that you have candidates that can be further shortlisted.

Overall, any links you send in text messages are much more likely to be opened than ones sent over email, or other digital means. So you can use that knowledge to your benefit and create incentives accordingly.

Stay Flexible and Proactive

Marketing is always in a state of rapid change. Between algorithms, personal preferences, and changing sentiments it’s impossible to stay on top of things unless you’re willing to remain dynamic.

This means regularly consulting your analytics reports and conducting other types of market research to figure out which kinds of SMS are getting a better response than others.

You can even determine the ideal time to send out your messages by analyzing the performance metrics.

Your SMS campaigns need to evolve and adapt to any changing conditions, so don’t expect to use the same strategies for each and every one. Or at least, don’t expect them to yield good results, if you do.

Avoid Spam at All Costs

Since we’re talking about a really direct channel for communication between brands and leads, it requires a large amount of restraint.

So you can’t just send out 10 messages a day, or even a week. And you need to be even more diligent about accidentally sending messages to the same people twice.

Every message needs to find its target and that’s it. Sending the same message over and over is the fastest way to alienate potential leads and discourage them from engaging.

Not to mention spam is a great way to compromise your brand’s reputation. Nobody takes a business seriously if it has to rely on over-the-top marketing like that.

Follow Industry Regulations

Industry regulations exist to make sure that businesses operate in ways that benefit the customer. In the case of SMS marketing, the idea is to responsibly conduct campaigns and communicate specific kinds of information in a clear and concise fashion.

Hence, all the messages that you send out need to include the following without fail

• Clearly indicate how frequently they would receive messages 
• Shortened links that lead them to your terms and conditions as well as your privacy policy
• Clear instructions on the commands they have access to 
• State whether message and data rates are applicable

It’s legally required for you to include this information in every text, this way you’re ensuring that there are no legal liabilities on your end.

Advertise Your Accessibility

Raising awareness about your SMS service is very important. There needs to be some exposure so that people are aware you exist.

You can mention this information on social media profiles, and on your website, if you have one. Using email marketing to support your SMS efforts is also a viable option.

Just include a small portion of text (where relevant), stating that you provide updates, alerts, or special offers through SMS along with instructions on how to opt-in.

Get Creative to Maintain Small Word Counts

SMS in and of itself is confined to fairly small word counts, while this can be overcome with some marketing services it’s still an opportunity in its own way.

When you keep your messages short, you’re more likely to get successful results. This is because the average person is quick to lose interest. So stretch those creative muscles and have fun with them.

If your brand or business requires a more playful tone or prefers to engage in a more casual way, then this is ideal for you. As well-written short messages encourage engagement and likely appeal to leads more.

Smaller word counts also make sure that relevant information is front and center. Nobody wants to sift through long (or multiple) messages to find the details that they’re looking for. 

Keep it short and sweet, and make sure that the spotlight is on the value to the customer.

Add a Personal Touch

Last but certainly not least, personalization is the most popular practice. Not only in SMS marketing but in marketing as a whole.

It requires you to customize messages in ways that are specific to the person who receives them. With certain differences between messages to distinguish them. In most scenarios, this is mentioning the name of the recipient acquired through previously provided data.

This promotes engagement for a few different reasons. Chief among them being, relevance. To illustrate this idea, let’s say someone visits your online store and exclusively looks at one department or one kind of product. Based on this pattern, you can send them an SMS offering a discount or coupon for that item(s).

So the recipient will engage because they are receiving a personalized message that is directly relevant to their immediate interest.

Other than that, many customers simply enjoy the extra effort. Since appealing to customers involves making them feel special, personalized SMS’ provides them with that kind of treatment.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, the name of the game is value. If you’re going to conduct an SMS campaign you need to identify and deliver value to every recipient.

Whether this is attentive service, availability, or just a few personal touches; the goal has to revolve around something the recipient will consider a benefit, no matter how small.

And this list of the best SMS marketing practices goes over how you can achieve that as sensibly as possible.

So work with exceptional services like SMSGatez and start developing the ideal text messaging campaign for your brand or business!

For many curious realtors, SMS marketing is a blurry concept. But the smart realtor knows how helpful it is. If you’re looking to boost your visibility and improve lead conversion, then it’s time to learn some SMS marketing tips for real estate!

SMS marketing is an increasingly helpful tool for many industries. Since access to phones is higher than it’s ever been, reaching your leads is a lot easier than relying on digital channels.

The Right Tools for the Trade

What you need most, is an app that supports proper SMS campaign planning and management. This means that you need to be informed on the most important qualities an SMS app needs to have:

• Features that keep messages secure
• Reporting tools that provide helpful data and insights
• The ability to draft unique and personalized texts
• Sending a large volume of texts to catch all possible leads
• Scalability so that your marketing campaigns aren’t stifled by logistical issues

You need to do your due diligence and explore your options. There are many subpar apps that will compromise your productivity. So with the above points in mind, you can look into things as an informed customer.

As a starting point, you can look into SMSGatez, since it provides all the features specified above. In addition to that, it supports surveys and allows for a lot of personalization. Best of all, it has unlimited contacts and keywords which makes it easy to manage any volume of messages.

Identify Your Demographics

Real estate needs to be flexible and adapt to the socioeconomic reality around them. You need to maintain a clear idea of who you want to appeal to and how you can secure their demand.

Some of the most integral details to keep in mind are:

• Age bracket
• Income bracket
• Location priority
• Most likely preferences

To elaborate, if you live in an area with a lot of married senior citizens then it stands to reason that they’ll likely have a decent budget, an older age, prioritizing safe and quiet areas, along with a preference of being near a hospital or doctor.

Things would look different if your area consists of another group or a mix of other groups. So be sure to clearly spot relevant characteristics of whoever lives in your area of operations.

With clear information like this, you can easily design your SMS campaigns in order to cater to the specific demands of your desired clients.

Make Sure Every Text is Replied to

Availability is a huge asset in the world of real estate. Sometimes the only difference between successful and unsuccessful conversion is an agent that fails to reply in a timely fashion.

You should be sure to set up a chatbot or any other kind of auto-response so that the lead is pursued. This is best achieved through the use of keyword triggers, so if you receive any messages that contain the word “rent” then the app can reply on your behalf.

By regularly tweaking your auto-replies, you could efficiently provide quick and helpful responses to everyone that engages with your SMS campaigns. As real estate is a field that heavily relies on CRM, auto-replies will save you a lot of hassle without taking away your time.

While some cases will still require live conversations, you can cut down on a lot of clutter by selectively replying yourself. 

Promotion and Opt-in Keywords

So, as mentioned above you can use keyword triggers to set up automatic replies. Another helpful aspect of this is keeping track of interested parties.

This is where opt-in keywords are a game-changer. For every listing, open house, or tour that you have scheduled, simply set up a keyword that allows people to express interest.

Taking care of two birds with one stone, you get to promote any property you’re working on while also receiving a record of how many people are interested.

This has the added benefit of preventing any conflicting appointments as you have a clear idea of how many people plan on attending and can keep things streamlined.

The convenience factor can’t be overstated as promoting opportunities for potential leads alongside opt-ins keeps your property active.

Mind Your Manners

Since you have to develop good ties with all your leads, it’s very important to personalize the way in which you present yourself.

Every message needs to maintain a professional but personable tone. You need to go the extra mile and make sure you always greet the recipient before you get into anything else.

On top of that, when engaged in a 2-way conversation you should always send a meaningful response that attempts to inform or assist the recipient in some way. This of course means that you can’t send a one-word reply or skimp out on proper punctuation.

A good solution for this is to maintain some templates for easy referencing and combine them with the use of an app like SMSGatez so that it can personalize them accordingly.

Space Out Your Messages

While there are reliable results for the effectiveness of SMS marketing for realtors, in particular, you can’t overwhelm potential leads with constant updates.

Define a clear schedule for the messages to roll out, and make sure that you’re not sending one practically every day. Make sure the time is also a convenient one because too early or too late tends to alienate recipients.

So send out your initial message asking people to opt-in for more updates and then message those people around 4 pm with 1 or 2 messages per week. This totals up to 4-5 messages in a month. 

You can experiment with sending larger volumes but that’s only advisable for research purposes and not as a long-term goal or plan.

Monitor Your Data

Since analytics and insights are essential to any kind of marketing, this is one of the main features mentioned in the first tip. So remember, there needs to be robust reporting built into the app you choose.

For the most optimal results, you’ll regularly need to consult that data to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns. 

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, some things can slip our minds which is why this is an important point to make note of.

When you choose a service like SMSGatez, some of the helpful insights you can get are:

• Delivery success rates
• Device detection
• The CTR
• Insights collected in spreadsheet format

Largely the main performance metrics you need to look at are click-through rate (CTR) and delivery success rates.

This provides relevant data for determining how many of your leads are actually receiving the messages and of those who are, to what extent are they engaging with them.

In Summation

To sum things up, SMS marketing provides real estate agents with a great way to grow potential leads. With affordable solutions easily found on the market, there’s no reason to avoid jumping in.

Now that the average person spends most of their time on their phone, it’s arguably the easiest way to bring something to someone’s attention. 

These tips break down the best way to go about developing your real estate SMS campaigns, by focusing on the most useful tips that you can begin working on, even if you’re a complete beginner.

All that’s left now is to get started!

Have you ever wondered what an effective SMS strategy would be for affiliate marketers? Well, keep reading on and sate your curiosity with these SMS marketing tips for affiliate marketers.

As an increasingly popular field, affiliate marketing benefits the brand as well as the marketer in a profound way. Since SMS is such a viable advertising tactic, it makes sense that affiliates can leverage it for increasingly better results. Let’s explore how.

Cast a Wide Net

Since affiliate marketers earn a commission based on how much demand they secure, it’s best to reach a wide audience.

One of the key draws of SMS marketing is that the vast majority of age groups and other demographics can be recipients. This is in stark contrast to other methods which are usually confined by age groups or income. But nowadays there are more affordable phones and even the most basic one will have SMS. 

Take advantage of that and don’t be too selective about who you’re messaging. Depending on the products/services you’re working with, you might find an overlap between largely distinct groups.

For example, if you’re working with a brand that specializes in pet care you’ll be able to find demand from young adults, to relatively senior citizens. So make sure to appeal to a broad base.

Don’t Forget Your Links

Engagement is the goal and it’s the only way you can get your commission to increase. You’ll need to make sure that you have relevant links in every message that you send out.

Note that, relevance is the keyword. Now you should keep in mind that the service you’re providing won’t always depend on selling products or services. You can also incorporate links to social media channels as an alternative.

And there’s definitely a lot of opportunity in promoting the social media pages on their own, since that boosts brand awareness and shows the effectiveness of the messages.

It comes down to your priorities and requirements so try to keep in mind that you need to include some kind of link so that the recipient can further engage.

Use Scheduling to Keep Your Momentum 

You also need to be mindful of maintaining a healthy amount of momentum. So you can’t send messages too frequently but you also can’t send them too rarely.

And as an affiliate marketer there are various responsibilities that you need to address alongside your SMS campaigns. Thankfully we now have apps and services that take the hassle out of the equation and schedule the posts for you.

Many in the field are unsure about how often they should be sending messages. The general consensus among marketers is that roughly 1 text a week is the best way to keep the audience hooked.

Since one can’t account for all their time, the best way to maintain this steady flow of communication is to schedule your messages so that your SMS app can sort things out automatically.

Make Sure Your SMS Software Suits Your Needs

And speaking of SMS apps, you can’t be too careful because you need certain services and features in order to successfully implement SMS marketing.

Note that, as an affiliate marketer the features listed below are the ones most important for your work:

• Bulk messaging, to reach a lot of people in one go
• CTR and delivery reports, so you know how many people are receiving the messages and clicking on the links
• Organizing drip campaigns
• Convenient methods to opt in and opt out
• Auto Responses and chatbot functionality for optimal availability

With this information in mind, you’ll find it much easier to identify the ideal solution for you. Since affiliate marketing will require its own toolset and not every service will be able to offer them.

It can be overwhelming to figure out where you need to start, which is why SMSGatez is actually a great one to consider. Since it features tools that are developed with affiliate marketing in mind.

Monitor Your Stats

As mentioned earlier, you need to choose an app that has the ability to collect information and share them in reports.

An affiliate marketer benefits from this immensely, since these kinds of statistics allow you to clearly determine the appeal of your strategies. You can see how many people are opening your messages and further engaging with your links.

If a particular campaign isn’t performing well, then you can refer to these reports for an idea of what needs to be changed. This could be with regard to testing the ideal time or keywords that you need to include.

For example, if you see that people are opening your messages at a certain time then you can adjust your campaigns to focus on that time slot. The same applies to the opposite case where recipients aren’t opening the messages.

It’s also very helpful to know which links actually entice people enough to click on them. More often than not, people are very active when it comes to discounts or coupons as mentioned in an earlier point.

Strategic Campaigns

Drip campaigns are a handy advertising tactic. It’s essentially a multi-layered campaign that only progresses further if you opt-in.

So recipients will receive a message asking them if they want to join in the first place and then the following messages will request them to input a specific code so that they can move on to the next stage.

Although if you want, you can also schedule messages to go out on specific dates. Usually this isn’t the case and most marketers prefer to set up trigger events through keywords.

Drip campaigns can also be a great way to organize a survey, so after answering a question recipients can enter the mentioned keyword to trigger the next one. This allows you to directly receive the feedback and preferences of your leads.

Be Responsive Not Robotic

Now that you know how important it is to schedule the messages, try not to get complacent about it. That means you have to add changes and personal touches along the way.

Most of the time this can include a reference to an upcoming event or mentioning the recipient’s activity on the relevant website (i.e, having an item in their cart but not checking out).

It’s also a popular choice to include the recipient’s name as it feels far more genuine that way. If all the messages you send are very similar, then you can risk losing interest. Which is why it matters to maintain a professional but personable tone.

Coming off robotic is generally a poor course of action because even though it’s easier to send the same message with minor changes, the recipient will instantly feel that lack of effort. And you never want your potential leads to develop such an opinion.

Conclusion

To conclude, affiliate marketers benefit greatly from relying on SMS as one of their channels. It’s a great opportunity for raising brand awareness, lead generation, as well as lead conversion.

Affiliate marketers can easily increase their commission by employing the tips included in this article as they provide a helpful guideline on how to proceed.

But don’t forget, before you can begin implementing these SMS marketing tips for affiliate marketers you need to enlist the aid of an SMS app that will do a lot of the work for you.

SMS marketing has never been easier!

Twilio might be the most popular SMS marketing app, but it’s not the perfect match for every business. Are you looking for a new way to manage your inbound and outbound messages? Then keep reading for the 8 best Twilio alternatives for SMS!

SMS marketing continues to be one of the easiest ways to pursue leads and spread brand awareness. As a result, there are actually a lot of great alternatives to Twilio out on the market. 

While they might not have the same popularity, they are definitely just as useful making them the best Twilio alternatives for SMS.

SMSGatez

As an SMS-centric platform, SMSGatez provides features that go beyond many of its competitors.  

Because it’s been designed with messaging as the main focus, it provides a very in-depth collection of features. All of which are designed to keep your SMS campaigns easy and personalized.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose SMSGatez:

• Keyword triggers for auto-replies
• Highly customizable surveys which can also be multi-level
• Receive analytical insights for your campaigns in spreadsheet format
• SMS SpinTax allows for broader personalization messages
• URL shortening
• You have unlimited keywords

Pros

• Supports bulk messaging
• Easily integrates with other messaging API’s
• Allows you to choose between BYOR (Build Your Own Route) or SimDroid implementation
• Customer support team is very responsive
• Features carry a lot of depth for SMS campaigns

Cons

• In person training isn’t available
• Only runs on Android devices

Pricing: Starting from $49.99

Plivo

With a strong focus on global communication, Plivo allows you to conduct campaigns with recipients from all over the world.

This operational philosophy is further supported by the ability to use character sets for any language.

You also have the ability to redact any information that’s considered too sensitive to be included.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose Plivo

• Support for any character set
• Allows you to queue messages
• Delivery notifications for the messages you send
• Automated triggers for opt-out commands

Pros

• Can easily accommodate different languages
• You can redact sensitive data for inbound and outbound messages
• Only pay for features that you use

Cons

• Notifications are a bit overwhelming
• Requires coding knowledge (Node.js)

Pricing: Starting from $ 0.0050/SMS

Vonage

Vonage, formerly Nexon, is a suite of various business communication tools. While they aim to provide all manner of customer support, they also have a specific SMS app.

While it tends to lag, it offers convenience through its global compliance engine that prevents any regulatory conflicts.

For companies managing international recipients, this would be one of the best alternatives to Twilio for SMS.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose Vonage

• Adaptive routing helps your messages arrive where they’re meant to
• Supports local number ID’s
• Gives you the tools to secure a pool of local sender ID’s
• Unicode support will translate emojis between different phones

Pros

• Allows you to connect with a global audience without any hassle from regulations
• You can set up secondary accounts
• Assign permissions to protect sensitive information

Cons

• UI has a tendency to lag, especially on older devices
• Doesn’t support images
• Navigation can be confusing

Pricing: $53.49 per month

Telnyx

Telnyx is a fairly simple SMS marketing tool, but it has certain features that provide instant value. So the whole app might seem fairly standard, these specific offerings make it stand out.

Geo-matching in particular makes it very easy to send messages to people with the right area code. Or using the same number for SMS and MMS texts, making it quicker to send out different kinds of messages.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose Telnyx

• 2 Factor Authentication
• Send out SMS texts from a toll-free number
• You can send SMS and MMS texts from the same number
• Use Geomatch to send messages that share area codes with the recipients
• Distinguish landline and mobile numbers from one another

Pros

• Customer support team has 24/7 availability
• Easily navigate through contacts
• Security notifications when suspicious activity is detected
• Performance is quick, so lag isn’t an issue
• Fairly flexible features

Cons

• Not enough reporting features
• Could be more user-friendly
• Charges can quickly pile up until you set up another IP address
• Server outages can be an issue

Pricing: Starting from $0.0025 per SMS

MessageBird

MessageBird is a great one to consider because of its scalable nature. This matters because most other apps are primarily designed with a specific clientele in mind, such as small businesses or large-scale enterprises.

This app allows you to keep your SMS campaigns manageable at every level, so you always have the resources you need to sustain your growth.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose MessageBird

• Rest API enables the use of multiple virtual numbers
• Create alerts and notifications
• Message scheduling
• Every message has a unique ID making it easy to track

Pros

• Extremely scalable with the needs of your business
• Coding knowledge isn’t required
• In depth screening and testing to ensure numbers are functioning as required
• Email to SMS link

Cons

• SMS content is limited by their provider
• To determine your costs you need to calculate manually
• On occasion SMS delivery is glitched

Pricing: Starting from $0.006 / message

InfoBip

For those who enjoy coding APIs with flexibility, Infobip gives you the room to program your preferred integrations with any programming language of your choice.

This allows you to set up all sorts of cool functions for your SMS campaigns.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose InfoBip

• Coverage ensures messages are delivered quickly
• Autoencoding ensures long messages are sent easily
• Customizable SMS drafting
• Support for local numbers in 90 countries

Pros

• Visually pleasing User Interface
• Intuitively designed 
• Supports global messaging

Cons

• Naming system is clunky and confusing
• Pricing isn’t competitive
• Top up payments are inconvenient
• Without coding knowledge you can’t fully make use of it

Pricing: Starting from €0.009 per SMS

Braze SMS

Designed for customer engagement, Braze is primarily focused on personalization. While it’s not entirely focused on SMS marketing, it still has some interesting features you can take advantage of.

However, Braze has no official pricing plans and all costs have to be privately negotiated with their sales team.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose Braze SMS

• Provides statistics for all messages sent
• Setup custom keywords
• Easy campaign management

Pros

• Highly customizable
• Optimizes the potential of smaller teams
• Segmenting users is very convenient
• Allows you to define the metrics of your success

Cons

• Not as cost effective as competitors
• Lacks support for cloud based reporting
• Data it collects is very poorly organized
• Very limited features overall

Pricing: All prices need to be negotiated with the sales team

Avaya OneCloud 

Avaya offers many solutions under its umbrella, but for SMS campaigns we’re looking at their OneCloud CPaaS option.

Definitely among the more affordable options, which is what helps it stand out on this list.

Features

You can benefit from these services when you choose Avaya OneCloud’s CPaaS services

• Easily automate reminders and other notifications
• Only pay for outbound messages
• Customize your sender ID
• SMS and MMS support

Pros

• Densely packed with features
• Ideal for smaller businesses
• Mobile app is well optimized
• Cost effective

Cons

• You can’t redact sensitive information recorded in your logs
• The available integrations are limited
• Doesn’t support WhatsApp
• You can’t set up sub-users under a single account

Pricing: Starting from $0.0085 per SMS

Summing It Up

Since it isn’t able to suit the needs of every business, it becomes important to look at the best Twilio alternatives for SMS.

The goal of this list is to explore different alternatives capable of supporting companies of all sizes. In this way, they can fill a gap that Twilio can’t.

Whether you’re an expert looking for a change or a beginner looking to learn, you’ll want to check out the best SMS marketing tools and services on the market. Read on for more details.

As SMS marketing continues to perform extremely well, it generates higher click-through rates when compared to digital methods, and it’s more affordable.

Identify your needs as a company and look through this list to determine how you can benefit from the best SMS marketing tools and services.

TextMagic

TextMagic is a great service because of how accessible it is. Not only does it offer an affordable solution for SMS marketing, it also doesn’t require in-depth coding knowledge.

And while those are exciting qualities, it’s difficult to stay scalable with your plans so TextMagic is better suited for smaller businesses or freelancers.

This is further supported by their price models, as you don’t have to purchase a specific plan. It’s designed to be “pay-as-you-go” so you’re only charged for features that you’re actually using.

Features

To get an idea of what you’ll work with, here is a list of its main features:

• API integrations through Zapier
• Use your email for inbound and outbound messages
• You can send a variety of notifications and alerts through SMS
• Maintain subscriber lists

Pros

• Coding knowledge isn’t a necessity
• You only pay for the features you need
• Importing contacts is really simple

Cons

• Not suitable for bulk messaging
• Scalability is fairly limited
• Customer service isn’t very active

Pricing: Starting from $0.04/message

SMSGatez

SMSGatez is a tool entirely built around SMS marketing. This allows its features to carry the depth that its competitors lack because many of them are generally communication platforms. But because SMSGatez is so focused on its approach, you’ll always have an easy time rolling out your campaigns.

It simplifies everything for you, from conducting surveys to setting up triggers for auto-responses. One of the greatest qualities it has, however, is unlimited keywords. Meaning you have full control over how your auto-replies work.

Though you need to keep in mind that it’s not compatible with Apple devices, so that limits the potential a little. There’s also a visible lack of training webinars, but this is easily overcome with the other onboarding resources they provide.

Features

To get an idea of what you’ll work with, here is a list of its main features:

• Unlimited custom keywords, contacts and templates
• You can manage auto-replies as well as set up an SMS chatbot
• Personalize messages for more effective lead conversion
• Provides analytical data that keeps you informed on your CTR
• Carry out frictionless surveys
• Easily engage leads with coupons and other exciting offers

Pros

• Supports bulk messaging
• BYOR (Bring Your Own Route) implementation as well as Simdroid
• Intuitively designed user interface

Cons

• Not compatible with Apple devices
• Training webinars aren’t available

Pricing: Starting from $49.98

Textedly

Textedly is pretty robust, though it leaves you wanting a little bit more. This would be a great service to work with for beginners, who have just begun to invest in SMS marketing campaigns..

It’s definitely nice that all messages received are free, as it can help cut down costs significantly. But the reporting features are extremely limited so make note of that if it’s a big priority for your operations.

Smaller businesses are most likely to feel comfortable working with Textedly because it offers utility without becoming too overwhelming.

Features

To get an idea of what you’ll work with, here is a list of its main features:

• Implement custom keywords
• Schedule texts for all your campaigns
• Create opt-in keywords
• Easily integrates your current subscribers so you can send messages quickly

Pros

• Incoming messages are free of charge 
• Extremely attentive customer support
• Supports multiple users 
• Allows you to set up auto-replies so you don’t lose any leads

Cons

• Features are pretty limited
• Doesn’t have a mobile app
• Notifications are limited to one email address unless you purchase more expensive plans

Pricing: Starting from $24/month

Podium

Podium focuses on consolidating all customer engagement. So you can manage your SMS marketing alongside your other platforms. It’s also unique in the sense that it allows you to easily issue payment requests and invoices over text.

But some might be hesitant to take the leap because Podium requires a 12-month contract to avail their services and that’s not a practical commitment that some folks can make. This is further complicated by the lack of transparency regarding prices. So the service itself has a lot to offer but it’s best suited to larger companies.

Features

To get an idea of what you’ll work with, here is a list of its main features:

• Customizable templates
• Centralized dashboard for all inbound texts
• Provides insight into performance
• Feedback feature quickly creates SMS surveys
• Pay-to-text allows you to send messages that can collect payments via link

Pros

• It’s easy to navigate the UI
• Mobile app is optimized
• Organizes your texts alongside your social media notifications to ensure nothing is missed out

Cons

• Requires a formal contract of 12 month
• Its pricing plans aren’t shared publicly

Pricing: A custom quote needs to be requested through their website

ClickSend

With an emphasis on business communication, ClickSend has a lot to offer. If you’re looking to manage SMS campaigns alongside other channels, then this tool makes it really simple to pull it off. Not to mention it has a really attractive refund policy, which is appealing for many reasons.

There’s also a bit of added security with this app as you need all campaigns to be approved by a relevant person before they can be rolled out. This does however pose some complications for campaigns where time is an important factor.

Also worth noting is that the character limits with ClickSend can be a rough ride if you plan on sending long-form texts. But if you plan to send shorter messages, then there’s no cause for concern.

Features

To get an idea of what you’ll work with, here is a list of its main features:

• Send, receive and track messages on a global scale
• Supports SMS and MMS texts
• Personalize your approach to pursuing SMS leads
• Conduct SMS campaigns through ClickSend and monitor their progress with Google Analytics
• Send bills and invoices directly to customers

Pros

• Refund policy is reasonable and convenient
• Supported by most (if not all) carrier options
• Delivers messages without any real hold up

Cons

• In-app reporting is very barebones
• Character limits are very restrictive
• Time sensitive campaigns are easily disrupted by the approval requirement 
• Some issues with saving templates

Pricing: Starting from $0.0801/message

In Conclusion

As the best SMS marketing tools and services, these are the options to strongly consider if you want to fully benefit from this method of advertising.

While it’s true that there are pros and cons for each one, it’s important to keep in mind that a dealbreaker for one company won’t be the same case for another.

If your goal is to find a dedicated resource for campaigns and analytics you would prefer SMSGatez. If you’re looking to experiment and test the waters, ClickSend’s refund policy will strike a chord with you. 

So ultimately, it’s relative and you shouldn’t have any problems if your company’s priorities are clear

 

What is Affiliate Marketing and how can I do it too?

 

Affiliate marketing is now the most popular form of internet marketing and is responsible for many of the websites with the most traffic being driven by search engines. Affiliate marketing is essentially a kind of performance-based advertising in which a company rewards one or more affiliates per visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates marketing efforts. For example, if you are an affiliate, and are running a campaign to sell x number of copies of a particular book, movie or software, then you can run your affiliate marketing campaign by rewarding yourself a commission, or a payout, for every product that is sold. However, it is important to understand that what you will be cashing in on is not a direct sale from the company. The compensation is simply an amount that the affiliate receives for the performance of their marketing.

It is best to understand the whole picture of affiliate marketing before getting into the purchase process. This includes understanding how the commissions are calculated. Most of us only see the commission structure and do not delve into how this is calculated or how the affiliates actually make money from the marketing.

Affiliates will receive a certain portion of the CPA (cost per click) that they are able to capture through the links that they place on their websites. The merchants (stores/commerce websites) pay the affiliates a specific amount of money for each individual sale that occurs through the site’s links. When we refer to CPA, this is referring to the cost per action, meaning that you will only get commissions, when an action like clicking on a link happens.

An affiliate management system helps to provide merchants with a platform in which to manage the relationships between affiliates and merchants. The program is built around a standardized set of modules. These modules include things like sales tax management, link building, ad buying and affiliate management. Merchants may specify a certain amount of affiliate fees that they want to pay out. The third-party network (like Voluum and Avidi) handles the rest of the work for both parties. This gives merchants and affiliates a level playing field and keeps the system running smoothly.

Marketing programs that provide a sales commission for each sale are becoming more popular. These programs offer affiliate income in addition to cash payments from customers. For example, if a customer buys a product you have an affiliate account with, then you can promote that product using the same affiliate link as the product. This is the easiest way to receive commissions on sales.

Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative if you follow the right steps to get started. Following these 4 steps will put you on your way to getting your first affiliate commissions. It really is as simple as that!

**SPECIAL OFFER**  Sign up for a FREE ACCOUNT (No credit card needed) to receive 500 FREE CREDITS to test out our service.  Thats 500 FREE TEXTS to get you started on your way. 

We also have a very lucratuve afiliate program that puts cash in your pocket for marketing for us.  REGISTER NOW

SMS Business Texting Best Practices TCPA Compliance should always be your primary concern.

It’s Black Friday 2020
It is that time again…Getting ready for the Super Dealz, Big Thanksgiving Dinner, and Football.

[sales_countdown_timer id=”salescountdowntimer”]

I am not even sure that we even put the focus on the meaning of Thanksgiving anymore.  It is all about shopping.  Black Friday advertising started very early this year.  Kinda reminded me of how we see Valentine’s candy out on the shelf the day after Christmas.

The US seems to be on the path to another lockdown, with more limitations to dining and gatherings being put back in place.  I have the countdown ticking off the minutes to Black Friday, but can you imagine social distancing when you cannot even find parking spots during primetime. This could be a real breeding ground for new Rona cases.

With the biggest buying day of the year coming up in less than 2 weeks, you may be feeling some pressure to get the word out on those special deals you got going on.  At SMS Gatez, we have been putting our heads together to bring you the best tools and deals to get you started.  BLACK FRIDAY IS COMING!

FREE100 Coupon Sign Up for a Free Simdroid Account on our platform to receive 100 Free Credits.  That breaks down to 100 messages. One message consists of 160 characters.  Please be sure to come on Live Chat and speak with our support team to receive your free credits and mention the coupon code.

INTEGRATE50 Coupon Sign Up for a 50% off coupon to be used on your next Bring Your Own Route Integration.  We have a total of 12 routes that can be integrated currently on our platform.  Open an account on or before November 30, 2020 using any of the following route integrations and receive 50% off the total price of the route integration (normally priced at $399.99)

SMS Gorilla	Telnyx	YTEL
Nexmo	Signal Wire	Fractel
Twilio	ThinQ	7G

SMS Gatez has now integrated with Zapier.  Great News for those that want extra API functionality.  This is by Invitation Only since it is in Beta, but click on the chat button in the lower right corner and the support team will get you started.

Sign Up for a FREE account and receive a complimentary 100 credits to see what everyone is talking about.

Market Strategies 101 says that there are just a few steps to successful marketing.

Who are you? What do you do?

Its already November and we have just had a historic Presidential election which has ended with many controversies and upsets.  I believe that this is the kind of change that will give a jump start to the failing US economy.  Many of us would have never dreamed of a global catastrophe that would cripple the world.  I do not want to dwell on the doom and gloom that the pandemic has brought to many doorsteps, but to remind us all that we can pick up the pieces (no matter how many) and get creative to get back on track.

Whether you are just starting out in the business world or are a seasoned professional you already know the ABCs of Marketing.

Friday the 13th for the Superstitious.  Are you already working from home?

We have helped many businesses become more automated in these unpredictable times. There is fear that the states are once more going to be mandating restrictions on business. Some of the most common comments I have heard are how the Rona Virus can tell time. How can Rona know its 9AM or 9PM, but we restrict the business hours. Enough of the sad and dismal realities that we are feeling daily when we watch or read the news feed.

So let’s talk about how SMS Gatez can help your business.

We are not like any other typical SMS texting service. We want you to succeed so we want to work with you to know your business needs. We walk you through the platform and help set up the system.

Our best value is Simdroid. You need to have your own Android SIM phone with your own subscription from a carrier. After you have activated your phone you are ready to install our small APK and sync your phone to the cloud. From there you will import your data, type a message and send it. Couldn’t be easier. Get your free account now.