5 Best Text Messaging Services for Small Business

One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is maintaining consistent and effective communication with their customers. With countless marketing messages consumers receive every day, it can be difficult to capture attention.

Traditional methods like email marketing often see low engagement rates, and social media platforms are competitive.

This is where text messaging services become beneficial. Text messaging has become a powerful tool for small businesses. With the ability to reach customers instantly, it offers a direct line of communication that can boost engagement and drive sales.

This blog post will explore the 5 best text messaging services for small business, covering essential features, top providers, and implementation tips.

Why Small Businesses Need Text Messaging Services

A text messaging service allows businesses to send SMS (Short Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages. These services can be used for various purposes, including marketing campaigns, customer support, and appointment reminders.

Unlike emails, which can be overlooked, text messages have a high open-rate of 98%. This means your message is more likely to be seen by your customers. 

Additionally, text messaging is quick and direct, making it an effective way to communicate important information.

Features of the Best Text Messaging Service for Small Business

Choosing the right text messaging service involves looking for features that meet your business needs. Here are some essential features to consider:

Bulk Messaging

Bulk messaging allows you to simultaneously send a single message to multiple recipients, which is useful for marketing campaigns, announcements, and updates. It saves time and ensures that your message reaches a large audience quickly.

Automation and Scheduling

Automation and scheduling features let you plan messages ahead of time and automate responses. Ensuring your messages are sent optimally can maintain customer communication without constant manual input.

Personalization Options

Personalization features allow you to tailor messages to individual customers. Personalized messages are more engaging and can improve customer satisfaction. This can include using the customer’s name, the company and the manager’s name, mentioning past purchases, or offering customized deals.

Two-Way Communication

Two-way communication features enable customers to reply to your business messages, particularly for customer support, feedback, and building relationships. It makes the communication process interactive and more effective.

Analytics and Reporting

Analytics and reporting tools allow you to monitor the success of your text messaging campaigns. You can see metrics such as open, click-through, and response rates. This data helps you refine your strategy and improve future campaigns.

Integration with Other Tools

Integration with other tools, such as CRM systems and email marketing platforms, allows you to streamline your communication efforts and even trigger many of your messages automatically. It ensures that all your customer data is synchronized, and you can manage all your marketing efforts from a single platform.

Compliance with Regulations

Compliance with TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) regulations is crucial. The text messaging service should help you adhere to these regulations to avoid legal issues.

5 Best Text Messaging Services for Small Business

Given the numerous options available, choosing the best text messaging service for your small business can be daunting. Here, we have compiled a list of 5 top providers, highlighting their key features and pricing

1. Textellent

Textellent is a robust text messaging service tailored for small businesses so it is ready to use right away – no development needed. It offers comprehensive features designed to improve customer communication and simplify marketing efforts.

Key Features:

• Drip campaigns: Automate messages to keep your audience engaged over time.
• List growth tools: Allow customers to subscribe by texting in a keyword.
• Robust scheduling app: Enable customers to book appointments or make reservations easily.
• Management tools: Filter communications by name, tag, incoming, outgoing, and more.
• Automated reminders: Reduce no-shows with automated reminders.
• Bulk messaging: Simplify sending messages to large groups using shortcodes.
• Two-way communications: Free incoming messages
• MMS supported by media library: Add images and access a collection of text and image templates.
• Ease of integration: Connect seamlessly with other apps through Zapier, direct APIs, etc.
• Text-enabling of land or VOIP lines available for all speeds
• Unlimited tagging: Segment your audience with unlimited tags.
• Automatic replies: Set up auto-responders for sales and customer queries.

Textellent offers various pricing plans based on your industry, the number of messages you need, and the features you require. They provide flexible options suitable for small businesses.

2. TextMagic

TextMagic is a text messaging service that enables small and medium-sized businesses to engage with customers globally. It provides two-way SMS, online texts, email to SMS gateway, desktop software, and SMS distribution lists. 

Pros

• Expand reach with SMS, email, and voice
• Contact thousands with one click
• Build lists with smart import
• Instant solutions to customer inquiries

Cons

• May require some technical knowledge for advanced integrations
• Nurturing drip campaigns are unavailable

TextMagic offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, with rates starting at $0.02 per text message. This allows businesses to purchase credits as needed without any monthly fees.

3. SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting is a user-friendly SMS marketing tool that simplifies sending texts and having conversations with your customers. 

Pros

• Engage in bidirectional communication
• No charge for incoming messages
• Costs 3 credits per message.
• Create texts using AI

Cons

• Fewer advanced features compared to some competitors
• Limited web/embed integrations
• Nurturing drip campaigns are unavailable
• Hi-Volume lines may not be available

SimpleTexting provides a range of monthly plans, starting at $39 per month for 500 credits and scaling up to custom enterprise solutions for high-volume users.

4. EZ Texting

EZ Texting offers an SMS marketing platform complete with design tools and a collection of MMS templates to make your messages engaging.

Pros

• Easily trigger personalized texts
• Track performance effortlessly with EZ Texting’s reporting features
• Instantly deliver information with automated texts
• Handle unlimited contacts for large-scale texting
• Hi-Volume lines available

Cons

• Higher costs for larger message volumes
• Limited advanced features in lower-priced plans

EZ Texting offers tiered monthly plans beginning at $20 per month for 500 texts, with additional options for larger packages and a customizable plan for extensive texting needs.

5. ClickSend

ClickSend is a versatile business communication platform that enables you to connect with customers and staff through SMS, rich media, email and direct mail. 

Pros

• Multimedia messaging capabilities
• Advanced content options with rich messaging capabilities
• Audio communication features
• Digital to fax solutions

Cons

• Length of the text is short for its price
• Basic reporting tools

ClickSend features a pay-as-you-go pricing structure, starting at $0.02 per text message. Volume discounts are available for businesses that send a large number of messages.

How to Choose the Best Text Messaging Service for Your Small Business

Selecting the right text messaging service for your small business involves considering several factors to ensure it meets your needs and budget. Here are some key steps to help you make an informed decision.

Assessing Your Business Needs

Start by understanding what you need from a text messaging service. Consider the following questions:

• What is the primary purpose of using text messaging? (e.g., marketing, customer support, appointment reminders)
• How many messages do you plan to send each month?
• Do you need features like automation, personalization, or two-way communication?

Budget Considerations

Evaluate your budget and compare the pricing plans of different providers. SMS services often offer tiered pricing based on the number of messages or features included. Ensure that your service offers good value for money without compromising on essential features.

Trial and Evaluation

Some SMS marketing services offer free trials or demo accounts. Use these opportunities to test the platforms and see how they fit your business operations. During the trial period, pay attention to ease of use, feature availability, and customer support.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Research customer reviews and testimonials to gain insights into the experiences of other small businesses. Look for feedback on reliability, ease of use, customer service, and overall satisfaction. Reviews can provide valuable information about potential issues and benefits of SMS apps.

Best Practices for Implementing Business Texting Services

Implementing a text messaging service requires a strategic approach to maximize its benefits while providing value to your customers. Here are some best practices to follow.

Building Your Subscriber List

Growing a strong SMS subscriber list is the foundation of any successful text messaging campaign. Encourage your customers to opt in to receive messages by offering incentives such as discounts, exclusive offers, or valuable content.

Crafting Effective Messages

Creating engaging and effective messages is crucial to keeping your audience interested. Keep messages concise, clear, and action-oriented. Personalize messages whenever possible to make your customers feel valued.

Timing and Frequency

The timing and frequency of your messages can impact their effectiveness. Send messages at times when your customers are most likely to read them, and avoid sending too many messages to prevent irritation.

For example, a restaurant might find that sending promotional messages on Friday afternoons increases response rates as customers plan their weekend activities.

Monitoring and Adjusting Campaigns

Use analytics and reporting tools to monitor the performance of your text messaging campaigns regularly. Track metrics such as open, click-through, and response rates to understand what works and what doesn’t. Use this data to adjust your strategy and improve future campaigns.

How to Seamlessly Integrate Textellent into Your Business

If you want to boost your text message marketing and customer engagement strategy, you should choose Textellent. How to get started?

Step 1: Sign up for Textellent

First, create your account on Textellent. You’ll need to provide your business details and select a subscription plan that aligns with your business needs.

Textellent offers tailored pricing plans for various industries. Use the ‘Select Industry’ feature to explore the options available for your sector. Accounting and tax professionals can even try a unique cost calculator that can accurately estimate expenses.

Textellent Pricing Plans

• Lite plan: $29/month for one user and 250 SMS credits.
• Essentials plan: $49/month for one user and 750 SMS credits.
• Standard plan: $99/month for two users and 2,000 SMS credits.
• Premium Custom plan: Customizable user options, SMS credits, and additional features tailored to your business requirements.

Step 2: Consider Integration Options

Decide if you want to integrate Textellent directly with your website or CRM system. You can find API documentation on Textellent’s website or contact their support team for assistance if you choose to integrate. 

This integration can seamlessly sync customer data and automate actions, such as sending SMS messages when a customer performs a specific task on your site.

Step 3: Compose Your Text Message

Access your Textellent dashboard and navigate to the message creation tool. Create your message carefully, considering character limits and your marketing objectives. Use personalization features and add images to tailor messages directly to your audience.

Step 4: Select Your Audience

Choose who will receive your message. You can segment your audience based on previous interactions and tags or manually select contacts. Tags can be used to  represent a wide range of things such as,  events attended, products purchased, preferences and more. 

To comply with legal regulations, always ensure that recipients have given their consent to receive SMS messages.

Step 5: Schedule Messages

Decide when to send SMS messages. Textellent’s scheduling feature allows you to send messages immediately or set them for a future time. Consider your audience’s time zone and the relevance of your message’s timing.

Step 6: Track and Optimize

Once your message is sent, monitor its performance closely. Look at delivery rates, open rates, and any responses or actions that result from the message. Use this feedback to tweak your approach, refine your messages, and improve the effectiveness of future marketing campaigns.

Upgrade Your SMS Marketing with Textellent

Ready to boost your small business’s customer engagement? Textellent simplifies SMS marketing with user-friendly features, competitive pricing, and reliable support.

Simplify your SMS campaigns and drive meaningful engagement. Start with Textellent today—sign up for a free trial or schedule a demo to see how we can simplify your marketing strategies.

FAQs About Text Messaging Services for Small Business

How do I handle opt-outs or unsubscribes?

Text messaging services provide SMS marketing tools to manage opt-outs and ensure regulation compliance. Typically, customers can unsubscribe by replying with a keyword like “STOP,” and the service will automatically handle the opt-out process.

Can I send multimedia messages (MMS) as well as SMS? 

Many text messaging services support MMS, allowing you to send images, videos, and other multimedia content.

Textellent offers a rich media library where you can choose from high-quality images and videos to upgrade your messages. This feature makes it easy to create visually engaging content that captures your audience’s attention and drives higher engagement rates.

Are there any hidden costs associated with text messaging services?

Be sure to review the pricing details of any text messaging service to understand all costs involved. Some services may charge extra for features like MMS, high-volume messaging, or premium support. Always check for any additional fees beyond the base subscription or message rate.

Are there text messaging services for small businesses that offer free incoming SMS messages?

Yes, several SMS services designed for small businesses include free incoming SMS messages, like Textellent,  as part of their features, but it is important to verify that. This allows businesses to receive texts from customers without incurring extra costs.