5 helpful features of SMS to save you time and money
There’s a lot more to SMS than meets the eye. Get the low-down on some of the best features of SMS platforms for business messaging.
When you’re flat out running a business, anything you can do to save time and money is a bonus. Double-bonus if it enhances the customer experience, too.
SMS ticks all the boxes here. Customers (and your employees) love it as a quick and easy way to get messages from your business. Behind the scenes, SMS frees up your team’s time and helps lower digital marketing spend.
Even better? When you use an online platform packed with handy features like bulk send, personalisation, two-way chat and scheduling, then SMS truly shines as a simple yet powerful communications channel. Let’s take a look.
1. Save time with bulk send
Sending your text messages in bulk is a brilliant way to get messages out to the masses with a single click. Once you’ve set up your database, it’s simply a matter of writing a message and hitting ‘send’. It’s fast, easy and super affordable.
With SMS Broadcast, you can bulk send up to 100,000 messages in one go. Want more convincing that sending messages in bulk is the way to go? See all the benefits of sending SMS in bulk.
2. Personalise every message with merge fields
Once you’re set up with bulk sending, it’s time to embrace merge fields. Then, you can personalise your messages to make every customer feel special. Simply by adding their first name, you’ll make it seem like you’re only messaging them.
For inspo on how and where to add fields like your customers’ names, product names or discount codes, see these helpful business templates. Don’t forget, to make the most of personalisation, you’ll need to grow your database.
3. Start chatting with a dedicated number
Are you using SMS to send appointment reminders, surveys or customer support messages? Then customers will need the ability to reply to your texts. We call it two-way SMS, and nothing beats it for quick and convenient chats with customers.
To set up two-way SMS, you’ll need a dedicated virtual mobile number. Not only is a dedicated sender ID great for chat, but it means customers will soon start to recognise your business. And, your whole business can use it to send out SMS messages.
4. Set up email to SMS
If your team knows and loves email, but they’re keen to start using SMS to reach customers, why not bring SMS into your email platform? This way, there’s no need to juggle two different tools.
With our email to SMS service, you can send and receive text messages from your favourite email platform, like Outlook or Gmail. The service includes helpful features like auto-forwarding of SMS replies, two-way threaded conversations, and the ability to set SMS credit limits so you don’t blow your budget.
5. Get smart with scheduling
Say you’re holding a flash sale, and a text needs to go out to all customers at 2pm Thursday, precisely. What happens if you’re held up in a meeting and miss the opportunity to hit ‘send’? To lighten your load and lower your stress levels, schedule your SMS campaigns in advance.
Using SMS Broadcast, you can set up your messages at any time, and choose to Send Later. Then, you don’t have to be in front of your computer at that crucial moment you want the text to go out.
Not sure when the best time to send is? Get our tips on timing so you can schedule your SMS campaigns like a pro.
Top tip
To save even more time, why not use an SMS API? It helps you quickly, easily and automatically integrate your SMS marketing platform to other tools you use every day. Learn more about SMS APIs.
With features like these, who wouldn’t want to put the power of an SMS gateway to work? See how easy it is to get started with a free trial of SMS Broadcast.
