Evaluating SMS Text Message ROI and Providers for Small Business

March 20, 2017
veronicacannady
Blog
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I want to like SMS or text message marketing…

It’s opt-in or permission-based only, enforceable by Telephone Consumer Protection Act since 2013 (Papa Johns paid a whopping $16 million to resolve unsolicited text campaigns¹).
As high as 97% of subscribers see your message within 15 minutes² .
These two reasons alone should make text message a campaigns a run-away marketing train, compared to 35% open rate considered excellent for an email campaign³.

Yet, these stats don’t share the story of the opt-out rate, and I question Tatango’s (an SMS service provider) low opt out rate for weekday campaigns⁴. How many of us want solicitations to come to our phone?

Any SMS campaign I’ve been incentivized to opt-in for, I’ve also opted out within four weeks.

Text messaging is the last sacred platform where I want to receive interruption-based communication from friends and family – unlike email or social media which I control when I access it.

My only text message alert exception is a doctor appointment confirmation. Yet when provided a choice between email where I can click a link to confirm appointment, or confirming via text, I prefer email.

Example:

I was recently presented with an excellent use for SMS marketing: At a music event, people are drinking and dancing; they aren’t going to visit a website to opt-in with email, so the easiest invitation to follow band event notifications would be to text a keyword (Name of Band) to short code (313131).

Once opted in, A/B test one group for text message notification opt outs and campaign email opt in option to the other group to measure long-term subscriber engagement.

The majority of SMS providers offer a lot of features at a somewhat high monthly investment around $50 per month for 500-1000 recipients. Few offer a free service other than a 14 day trial period.

Small Business Trends observed already 5 of 13 mainstream SMS services are no longer in business⁵. I discovered two enduring services with free or affordable options to test SMS marketing for your business:

EZ Texting: I like the easy to understand interface since support requires a paid service, offers free service option up to 250 messages (no charge for incoming responses) and pay as you go 5 cent option for over 250 messages without committing to the next tier of $50 per month.

Betwext Texting: No free option but $9 per month is approachable to check out the service for any small business. This service allows up to 3 keywords for multiple campaigns and includes online support. I would prefer if the dedicated text number were a short code.

Options and pricing increase from there, OptIt Mobile offers $20 per month including 2 cent messaging (both to send and receive). At this point the savings may not be substantial enough not to compare it to the other $50 per month providers to determine which best fits your needs long term (no one wants to learn how to navigate a new service interface every 6 months).

Have a favorite SMS campaign and want to share?

Please post in comments or on my Facebook page for a chance to win a free expert review of your FB ad campaign or LinkedIn profile.

Sources:

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