Lately it seems that we’ve been getting a lot of questions recently about SMS messaging. Consumers want to know what text message companies do, and how we can help you reach and market to their customers.

We’ll go through each of your questions, so you can get a full picture of what to expect from your text messaging service provider. We’ll cover some best practices, offer ideas, and talk about costs so you know what you’re getting into when you start sending out texts.

If you have a question about SMS that you’d like us to answer, send us a message through our contact form. We’ll answer as soon as we can.

What is the difference between a text message and a SMS message?

Text messages are messages that get sent out to mobile phones. They contain text without images, but could have links contained within the message.

Text messages can be sent out over SMS, but they are also sent using third party applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram.

The big difference from a user perspective between text messages and SMS is the application that is being used (there are a number of differences in the technology behind the different options). SMS is built into every mobile phone, and can be sent to anyone with a mobile phone. Messages on other applications require the user to download the app into their phone before they can receive or send any messages.

How much does text marketing cost?

Most mobile text marketing companies charge a flat rate per message, which is affected by the country where you are sending the message to. The easiest way to figure out the cost is to look at the published price list and multiply the price by the amount of messages.

For example, MessageWhiz charge $0.007 cents per message in the United States. If you wanted to send 1,000 messages, it will cost $7. To send the same message to 1,000 people in Belgium, where each message costs $0.088 cents per message, it would cost $88.

There are other considerations you should take when planning your text marketing budget. If you are planning on sending a large number of messages, you can talk to your sales representative about volume discounts.

In addition, MessageWhiz offers performance-based models. Under this type of arrangement, you would pay less per message (even nothing depending on the arrangement), but  would be required to pay based on the results of the campaign. That allows companies to create risk-free messaging campaigns, were they only end up paying if their campaign was successful.

Does mobile text marketing work?

As a text messaging service provider, we have seen thousands of companies succeed by sending out text messages. Mobile text marketing works like many other digital marketing technologies. It is highly trackable and easy to figure out your return on investment (ROI).

When sending out text messages, you can use A/B testing to determine the best language to use in your message, which will help you improve results. You can also personalize messages, which will help increase the effectiveness of the message while engendering a sense of connection between you and your customers.

Using measurement tools and tracking URLs, you can easily see a number of key performance indicators, including:

• Sent rate – the number of messages you sent
• Open rate – the number of messages that were opened
• Click through rate – the number of messages where a link was clicked on
• Conversion rate – the number of user who reached your landing page and took the action you wanted them to take.

Conversions can be anything from purchasing a product to signing up for a newsletter. It’s based on your goals.

With those numbers in hand, you can easily measure the success of your text marketing. You can also follow the numbers to identify any snags in your sales flow. For example:

High sent rate, low open rate – Take a look at your contact list. Are you sending out to people who have opted into your list? Are your messages set up correctly, so that the recipient can see who is sending the message? If the answer to these questions are no, you’ll need to fix these problems in order to increase your open rate

Hi open rate, low click through rate – this usually indicates a problem with the messaging. Test different messages to see what resonates best with your audience. See if they respond better to different benefits rather than focusing on price, or vice versa.

High click through rate, low conversion rate – this is usually indicative of a problem with the landing page. Common issues with landing pages are that they aren’t optimized for the campaign, or they aren’t designed for mobile users.

For example, if your text message tells consumers that they should be sitting on a tropical beach drinking margaritas but the landing page is a generic travel-oriented spot, you may be missing the mark. Change your landing page so that it closely matches the offer, so that when recipients come to your site they see people relaxing on a beach, and can easily book their vacation without doing much of a search.

If your page isn’t designed for mobile users, you might also experience some issues. While many sites are mobile responsive, they aren’t always creating a perfect mobile experience. You want to limit the amount of scrolling is needed, which can often be accomplished by removing unnecessary elements from the page.

Got any more marketing text questions?

If you have any questions about using our text marketing software for your next campaign, visit our contact us page and let us know. We would be happy to answer any questions that you have, and offer you guidance for your next mobile SMS marketing campaign. Until then, have a great day!