Bulk SMS marketing: What is it and how do you get started?

Three hours and fifty minutes. That’s the time people spend, on average, on their mobile devices every day.

So, naturally, one really effective way to reach them is by SMS, which, if you didn’t know, has an amazing open rate of 98% – a lot higher than the average email open rate (25% to 41%).

So, are you making the most of this marketing channel?

What is bulk SMS marketing?

Bulk or mass SMS marketing is a direct marketing strategy where you send promotional or informational messages to customers and/or potential customers via text messages (a.k.a., SMS). It’s a fairly cheap, fast, and engaging way to communicate with people.

It’s no wonder, then, that the SMS marketing industry is forecasted to reach US$9.96bn in revenue by 2030.

You can use bulk SMS to promote your products and services, announce discounts, sales, or offers, send reminders or alerts, share personalized messages, like birthday greetings, and so much more.

Why use mass SMS marketing at all?

A consumer survey from Klaviyo and Recharge (a prepaid and branded payments platform) found that text messages are driving purchases in Europe, with 74% of European shoppers buying a product after receiving a text from a brand.

This survey also found that the top five SMS people want to receive more often are:

Shipment and delivery confirmations (48%)
Coupons or promotional codes (42%)
Order confirmations (37%)
Birthday deals (37%)
Promotion and sales announcements (31%)

So, it’s clear that SMS isn’t going anywhere and, in fact, it’s still a key element of many marketing campaigns.

On top of this, SMS has really high open rates, as we mentioned above, making it a great choice for urgent communications, as well as a wide reach; after all, SMS works even for people who don’t have smartphones or internet access.

If you’re working with a limited marketing budget, opting for SMS marketing is cheaper than, for instance, cost-per-click advertising, which can cost upwards of hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on keywords. With SMS, you’re also reaching thousands of people simultaneously with the same amount of dollars (or cents).

There are many things that impact the cost of mass SMS marketing, such as message type, text length, and number of messages sent.

You can tailor messages to include the recipients’ name, preferences, purchase history, and more, which helps you to deliver a personalized experience – with 71% of consumers expecting personalization and 76% getting frustrated when they don’t get it, this is an obvious must-have.

Additionally, mass SMS marketing often achieves click-through rates (CTR) of 19% or more, indicating high levels of customer engagement.

Another important benefit of SMS marketing is that you can use it for loyalty and referral programs, exclusive deals, or quick updates that’ll keep customers not only engaged but also returning to your business.

SMS also integrates well with other marketing tactics. For example, you can send a text to remind people of an email or direct them to your website.

“[Marketers] have found that it’s a best practice to have their SMS messages work cohesively with the email messages that they are sending out. They are taking this approach to avoid customer confusion and ensure that they aren’t sending out too many messages and annoying their customers. Midsize companies have found that they have had the best outcomes when sending out short, simple, to-the-point call-to-action SMS messages alongside their longer-form emails to their customers.

“Companies are also utilizing technology to help personalize, automate, and craft messages to their customers to save time and make sure that their messages are best positioned to win over their customers.” – Engage, Convert, Repeat: The Winning Formula of SMS and Email Marketing, a Harvard Business Review report

While it can be challenging to track and measure content shared through private channels like instant messaging, you won’t have the same problem with bulk SMS marketing because modern platforms provide delivery and engagement metrics that let you measure how effective the campaign is.

When should you use mass SMS marketing?

SMS marketing is best used when you need to send timely, concise, and highly engaging messages.

The following list, while not comprehensive, can give you an idea of specific scenarios and situations where SMS can be most effective:

Urgent notifications

This speaks for itself; when you have a time-sensitive update or alert, you can use SMS to reach customers and keep them in the loop. For instance:

Flash sales: “50% off for the next 4 hours! Shop now: [link]”
Event updates: “Tonight's concert is moved to [New Venue].”
Delivery notifications: “Your package will arrive today by 3 PM.”

“Emails are best used for very general promotions, while text messages are best used for more urgent information, such as a deal happening that day, because customers are more likely to read it in time. Text messages are also well-suited for communicating with customers about something important, when you already have an established relationship with that customer, such as upcoming appointment reminders.” – Koen Pauwels, Professor of Marketing at Northeastern University in Boston.

Limited-time promotions

This is similar to the above, since it also creates urgency and is meant to drive quick action. For example: “Last chance! 20% off ends tonight at midnight. Shop here: [link]”.

Appointment reminders

If you want to reduce no-shows and ensure your schedule is running smoothly, you might want to send out an SMS like: “Reminder: Your haircut appointment is tomorrow at 10 AM. Reply 'Yes' to confirm.”

Customer loyalty

Boosting engagement and loyalty is essential for any business, as you want to retain as many customers as possible. SMS marketing can help you with that. It can be used to maintain relationships and reward loyalty.

For example, you can send out text messages that read:

“You've earned a $10 reward! Use it on your next purchase: [link]”
“Thank you for being a loyal customer! Here's 15% off just for you: [link]”

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Revenue Marketing AllianceNeha Pujari

Order and delivery updates

Bulk SMS marketing can be used to improve the purchase and post-purchase experience of your customers. So, send them a text of when their order has shipped and where it is at any given time, such as: “Your order #[12345] has been shipped. Track it here: [link]”.

Event reminders

Just like with appointment reminders, reminding people of an event they signed up for can help you to boost attendance. Examples of texts you can send include:

“Reminder: Your webinar on [Topic] starts in 1 hour. Join here: [link]”
“Your RSVP for [Event Name] is confirmed. See you at [Venue] on Dec 9.”

Personalized offers

SMS can be used for this if you want to increase sales through promotions tailored to (and, therefore, targeted at) your customers. For instance:

“Hi [Name], enjoy 10% off your favorite items today only: [link]”
“Exclusive deal for you: Buy 1, Get 1 Free on your next visit!”

Surveys and feedback

If you want to gather insights or improve customer service, what better way than to send out a link to a survey via SMS? Messages can read: “We value your feedback! Please rate your experience with us here: [link]” or “How was your recent visit to [Business Name]? Reply with 1-5 (5 = Excellent)”.

Seasonal campaigns

As the name indicates, SMS can be used during holidays or peak shopping seasons, such as Christmas. Texts like “Holiday special! 30% off sitewide this weekend only: [link]” can go a long way to convince people to make a purchase.

After all, we’ve already seen that SMS can have open rates of 98% and CTRs of 19% or more, meaning people are actually opening the text messages and clicking on the links provided.

Retargeting customers

SMS marketing can be used to help you re-engage lapsed customers or recover abandoned carts, not just email marketing. Here’s an example of a couple of texts you can tweak:

“You left something in your cart! Complete your purchase now: [link]”
“We miss you! Come back and enjoy 15% off your next order: [link]”

Memberships and subscriptions

Keep subscribers easily informed about the status of their subscriptions with SMS. You can send out text messages when people sign-up for a service or when subscriptions are about to run out, which not only improves your customers’ experience, but it can also help you boost renewals.

Upselling and cross-selling

Bulk SMS marketing is also useful when you want to encourage people to try related products or services. For example:

“Love your recent purchase? Get 20% off matching accessories: [link]”
“Try our new [Product Name]! Free trial available now: [link]”

Best practices when using SMS marketing

SMS marketing is a powerful tool for reaching and engaging customers directly. Here are some best practices to help you make the most of it:

Build a high-quality subscriber list

Make sure that people have opted in to receive messages. You can use forms to collect phone numbers legally – a.k.a., complying with GPDR, CAN-SPAM, and others. This will also help you to build trust since you won’t appear as spammy or as a scam.

Personalize messages as much as possible

Sometimes, personalization isn’t easy, but you should always try to, at least, address customers by name and consider past behaviors and preferences when composing your messaging.

This is because personalization helps you to engage people more easily, boost customer experience, and increase conversions.

Keep it short

We all know attention spans have decreased a lot in the past few years, with the average being 8.25 seconds, which isn’t a lot… So, keeping your messages short and concise with a clear call to action (CTA) is essential.

Of course, the standard SMS has a 160-character limit, or “up to 70 if the message contains one or more Unicode characters (such as emoji or Chinese characters)”. Anything over this is automatically split into segments and re-assembled when received, which increases the cost of the messages.

This means that keeping messages short is also the best thing to do if you want to reduce costs.

Time them right

Mid-morning or early-afternoon tend to be more optional times when compared to other times of day. Sending messages out with this in mind helps you to keep people engaged. If you send them too early or late, or on holidays, there’s a chance people will get annoyed.

Provide value

This is obvious but worth repeating. Every text message you send needs to have a purpose, be it to offer an exclusive deal, remind customers of a standing appointment, or keep them updated on a product or service.

People are more likely to stay subscribed if your messages benefit them.

Have clear CTAs

Not only do your messages need to have a point to them, but you should also include clear CTAs that direct people to take specific actions, like clicking a link, replying, or visiting your site.

Monitor message frequency

If you send a lot of text messages, people will be overwhelmed and frustrated, and can even opt-out or complain. So, to avoid this, send about 4 to 6 messages per month max (though this might depend on your industry and audience).

Some use cases for mass SMS marketing

Mass SMS marketing is versatile and not limited to a handful of industries – it can be effectively used across several markets to achieve different goals.

Here are some examples:

Retail and e-commerce: SMS can increase sales, encourage people to buy more than once, and improve customer experience. E.g., flash sales, cart abandonment reminders, and order updates.
Healthcare: Keeps no-shows to a minimum, improves patient care, and increases engagement levels. E.g., appointment reminders, health tips, and prescription refill reminders.
Hospitality and travel: It enhances customer experience and can lead to higher loyalty rates. E.g., booking confirmations and updates, travel alerts, and exclusive offers.
Real estate: SMS can speed up communication and help you to capture more leads. E.g., open house reminders, new property alerts, and follow-ups with people who are interested in specific properties.
Restaurants and food delivery: It can help you keep the same customers and, more importantly, keep them coming back. E.g., order confirmations, exclusive deals, and table reservation updates.
Charity orgs: SMS can encourage donations and help nonprofits build a sense of community. E.g., donation appeals, event reminders, and calls for volunteering.
Banking and financial services: Text messages can be used to improve security. E.g., transaction alerts, payment reminders, and fraud notifications.

Nordstrom: real-life example of SMS marketing

A leader in SMS marketing – in fact, even back in 2015, Nordstrom, a fashion retailer, already allowed customers to shop by text.

This platform, called TextStyle, enabled customers to buy directly through text messages and allowed personal stylists and associates to send product recommendations, including images and descriptions, via SMS. People could then buy the items by replying with the word “BUY” and a unique code. The transaction was charged to their Nordstrom account.

By doing this, Nordstrom improved the shopping experience of their customers. This, in turn, led to higher levels of retention/loyalty.

How to get started with bulk SMS marketing

1. Define your goals

A very important first step. Without it, how do you know what you’re looking to achieve? Be it driving sales, increasing attendance at an event, or improving customer engagement, it’s crucial that you know the end goal of your SMS campaign.

You should also be aware of who your target audience is, which will inform your messaging.

2. Choose your SMS platform

There are many SMS platforms out there, but it’s important you choose the one that best suits you. Look for features like bulk message scheduling, personalization options, analytics for tracking performance, and compliance with regulations.

Examples include Twilio, EZ Texting, and ClickSend.

3. Ready your contact list

You can build one or import existing data, as long as people have opted-in to receiving text messages. You must always obtain explicit permission before sending marketing messages.

4. Segment your audience

Splitting your customers with different personas in mind is crucial because it ensures your messages are relevant and targeted. So, divide your customers into groups based on demographics, behaviors, interests, etc.

5. Create your message

As we mentioned above, your SMS should be clear and concise, include a strong CTA (e.g., “shop now” or “book your slot”), be personalized and tailored to your customers, and add a sense of urgency, such as “offer ends tonight”.

6. Schedule the messages

Again, choose optimal times for your SMS campaign by avoiding sending messages too early or too late. Test with a smaller group before scaling to your full audience if you want to see whether the message performs.

7. Analyze and optimize

Just like other marketing campaigns, bulk SMS marketing should be tweaked and improved often. What works one day may not work another, so make sure you monitor metrics like delivery rates, open rates, and conversions.

Adjust your timing and text copy based on the insights and patterns you gather.

Track and measure bulk SMS marketing

Okay, so you’ve sent out text messages – what next? How do you know whether they’re actually performing well?

Use UTM parameters

You should add UTM tracking codes to the links included in your SMS messages for you to track who’s clicking in analytics platforms like GA4. Use tools like Google’s Campaign URL Builder to generate UTM-tagged links.

Track CTR

You’ll also want to measure how many people clicked on the link in your SMS, as this provides insights into how engaged people are with your messages. Use URL shorteners with tracking capabilities, such as Bitly or Rebrandly.

Track conversions

Make sure to track actions taken after clicking the link (e.g., purchases, form submissions) as well. After all, this lets you see whether your SMS campaigns are actually generating revenue or leads. Implement tracking pixels or event tracking on your website or app.

Keep an eye on delivery and open rates

Measure how many messages were delivered and read, since this ensures your messages are reaching your audience and being noticed. For this, you should choose an SMS platform with reporting capabilities.

Track replies and opt-outs

Monitoring responses and opt-out requests allows you to both understand user sentiment and maintain compliance with regulations like GDPR. You can use SMS platforms with two-way communication tracking and the ability for people to unsubscribe.

Use unique codes

By assigning unique promo codes or keywords for each SMS campaign, you can correctly attribute responses or sales back to them. Encourage people to use the code when interacting with your business.

Analyze engagement metrics

This is because reviewing metrics like time spent on page, bounce rates, and user behavior post-clicks allows you to gain insights into your customers’ journeys (and the impact of your mass SMS marketing campaign).

You can integrate SMS campaign data with your CRM or analytics tools.

In short

Mass SMS marketing allows you to connect directly with your customers in a personal, immediate, and effective way. With mobile usage showing no signs of slowing, the companies and marketers who can leverage SMS marketing are able to cut through the noise and deliver value straight to their audiences.

Knowing whether your SMS marketing campaign is driving traffic or sales is crucial. To do this, you must be aware of the channels that are actually performing.

What better way to understand this than with our Marketing Attribution ebook, which is backed by industry experts and full of actionable insights – and designed to give you a clear view of what’s working?