Best SMS Marketing Software Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best SMS marketing software that I’ll cover in this article.
With the help of SMS marketing software, you can connect with customers via one of their most personal touch points—their mobile number. You can use SMS marketing software to send offers, announce product launches, send transactional emails, and segment your recipients based on their responses.
In this article, I will talk about the best SMS marketing software on the market, proving general overviews, best use cases, key features, pros and cons, and pricing information.
What Is SMS Marketing Software?
SMS marketing software is a specialized tool designed to facilitate and streamline text message-based marketing campaigns and store customer phone numbers. It provides businesses with the necessary features and functionalities to create, manage, and execute SMS marketing campaigns effectively. This software enables businesses to send bulk SMS messages to their target audience, automate messaging workflows, personalize messages, track campaign performance through analytics, and manage subscriber lists. Text message marketing empowers businesses to leverage the high engagement rates and direct communication of SMS to reach customers, deliver time-sensitive offers, and drive engagement and conversions.
Overviews Of The 10 Best SMS Marketing Software
Here’s a brief description of each SMS marketing app to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the interface.
Textedly
Best for collecting customer reviews
Textedly is a cloud-based SMS marketing platform that helps businesses of all sizes send bulk text messages to their customers. It's designed to make it easy for you to create, manage, and track your text message marketing campaigns, all from a user-friendly dashboard. With Textedly, you can send out promotions, updates, and alerts to your customers.
Why I Picked Textedly: Textedly excels in SMS marketing, particularly when it comes to soliciting business reviews on platforms like Facebook or Google. By utilizing Textedly's SMS campaigns, businesses can send targeted messages to their customers, encouraging them to leave reviews on popular review platforms. The software allows for personalized messages that include specific links to the business's review pages, making it convenient for customers to navigate directly to the desired platform. With Textedly's robust analytics and tracking features, businesses can monitor the effectiveness of their review request campaigns and adjust their strategies accordingly.
Textedly Standout Features & Integrations
Key features include the ability to send to up to 18,000 messages per month on the highest plan, which means you can send dozens or hundreds of campaigns out a year without hitting a limit. You can store and manage unlimited contacts, no matter which plan you are on, and then segment them into targetted lists and send out campaigns accordingly. Another useful feature is the ability to schedule messages in advance, so you can plan your campaigns and ensure your messages go out at the perfect time.
Integrations include Slack, Salesforce, Hubspot, Intercom, Pipedrive, Shopify, Mailchimp, Facebook Lead Ads, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Calendar, WordPress, Zoho CRM, Helpscout, Twitter, and others. You can unlock further integrations using Zapier, but that requires a separate subscription and may incur additional costs.
Pros
- Targeted & personalized messages
- Robust analytics & tracking features
- Opt-in compliance
Cons
- Customers sometimes hesitant to give out phone numbers online
SimpleTexting
Best for messaging automation
SimpleTexting is a versatile text messaging platform that allows businesses to efficiently engage with their customers through SMS marketing and communication.
Why I Picked SimpleTexting: SimpleTexting allows you to do 2-way messaging with your customer with a new toll-free or local number. You can facilitate customer support and filter responses by time-waiting and time-received. You can add notes to a conversation and organize each conversation along with its historical data in a streamlined fashion along with the recipient’s data collected from your CRM. You schedule texts and set up specific dates and times for your messages to go out. This helps you plan your messaging cycle months in advance.
SimpleTexting Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include advanced automation capabilities, enabling businesses to create automated workflows and drip campaigns, saving time and effort by sending targeted messages based on customer behavior or specific triggers.Plus, SimpleTexting provides a seamless two-way messaging system that allows businesses to have real-time conversations with their customers, fostering meaningful interactions and building stronger relationships.
Integrations include Shopify, BigCommerce, Zoho, Mailchimp, and HubSpot. Additional possibilities are possible through Zapier, allowing it to work with 1000+ apps, but this requires a separate sign-up and may incur additional costs.
Pros
- Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Two-way messaging system
- Segmentation and personalization options
Cons
- Limited integration options
- Contact sync and advanced automations cost extra
Omnisend
Best SMS + email marketing packages
Omnisend is an SMS marketing tool for building targeted campaigns, automating customer segmentation, and tracking customer behavior. You can customize SMS messages to target specific groups or even individual customers.
Why I Picked Omnisend: Omnisend enables you to engage with customers at key points in their customer journey like when they sign up for a list, place an order, or abandon their cart. The software supports all country codes, making it easy to reach customers worldwide. Omnisend's SMS for one-off campaigns eliminates the need to set up a recurring campaign, making it ideal for businesses that want to send time-sensitive messages. It implements an SMS credits subscription system, allowing users to refill or cancel as needed.
Omnisend Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include robust omnichannel marketing automation, allowing businesses to seamlessly integrate and automate their marketing campaigns across multiple channels such as email, SMS, and push notifications, ensuring consistent and personalized messaging across various touchpoints. Omnisend provides advanced segmentation and targeting options, empowering businesses to create highly targeted and relevant campaigns based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history.
Integrations include 29Next, Megento, AfterShip, Shopify, WooCommerce, Alloy Automation, Amazon Advertising, BigCommerce, Cartloop, Easyship, GemPages, Intercom, Involve.me, LiveChat, Shopify, and dozens of other tools for customer support, CRM, workflow automations, and website builders.
Pros
- Multichannel marketing automation
- Free 50 messages/month (250 contacts)
- Great for ecommerce businesses
Cons
- Non-ecomm brands may struggle
- Steeper learning curve
Attentive
Best for designing loyalty programs
Attentive is a text messaging tool that analyzes customer behavior and has features like abandoned cart recovery, page visits, and personalized text messages. Attentive also lets you send transactional messages like order confirmation and shipment notifications.
Why I Picked Attentive: Attentive excels in the realm of SMS marketing and loyalty programs by providing businesses with a comprehensive solution to engage and retain customers effectively. With Attentive, businesses can leverage the power of SMS messaging to deliver personalized and timely messages, including promotional offers, exclusive discounts, and loyalty rewards. The platform's robust targeting and segmentation capabilities enable businesses to tailor their messages based on customer behavior, preferences, and purchase history, ensuring relevant and engaging content. Attentive also offers powerful automation features, allowing businesses to set up automated loyalty program workflows that nurture customer relationships and drive repeat purchases.
Attentive Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include its coupons tool. Attentive lets you upload a CSV file of unique coupons (individualized for each subscriber), create a static coupon (same coupon for all subscribers), or pull unique coupon codes from a third party database. The reporting feature gives real-time analytics so you can conduct A/B tests on what’s working best for your business. Attentive also has rich media support, where you can coordinate a comprehensive text messaging campaign across SMS, MMS, and video.
Integrations include Amperity, Prehook, Daasity, Okendo, LoyaltyLion, Punchh, Malomo, Olo, Gorgias, Ometria, and Recharge. They have over 100 pre-built integrations and offer access to their flexible APIs.
Pros
- 100+ pre-built integrations
- Design loyalty programs and coupons
- A/B testing capabilities
Cons
- Costly for smaller teams
- Need more BI integrations options
Twilio
Best for customer support services
Twilio is a fully programmable cloud communications solution with features like message personalization, customization, and an SMS workflow builder, and more. Twilio provides 2-way communication solutions for customer support via its conversations API.
Why I Picked Twilio: Twilio excels in providing SMS marketing and customer support solutions by offering a robust and scalable platform that enables businesses to seamlessly integrate SMS functionality into their marketing and support workflows. With Twilio, businesses can easily send and receive SMS messages programmatically, leveraging its APIs and developer-friendly tools. This allows for personalized and targeted SMS marketing campaigns, as well as efficient customer support interactions through two-way messaging. Twilio's platform also provides features like message templates, automated responses, and delivery tracking, ensuring reliable message delivery and enhancing the overall customer experience.
Twilio Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include a global carrier network, allowing businesses to reach customers across the globe reliably and efficiently. With its extensive coverage, businesses can engage with their customers on a global scale. Twilio provides a suite of developer-friendly APIs and tools, enabling businesses to easily integrate SMS functionality into their existing applications and systems. Twilio's platform supports a wide range of messaging types beyond standard SMS, including MMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger
Integrations include Microsoft Teams, Emotive, Gladly, Telemarketr, Iterable, Leanplum, Sprinklr, Fastcall, CallTracker, Meya, PagerDuty, PingPilot, VoiceBase, Freshworks, and many other apps. You can access their API for other integration options.
Pros
- Holistic marketing solution
- Volume discounts for SMS
- Tons of integrations options
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Convoluted trial and pricing structure
Kimoby
Best for service bookings and reminders
Kimoby is an SMS marketing solution that helps your frontline staff communicate and build relationships with your customers via texting and MMS. With Kimoby, businesses can create targeted SMS marketing campaigns, delivering relevant offers and promotions to drive customer engagement and conversions.
Why I Picked Kimoby: Kimoby is a great choice for service providers. With Kimby, you can automate important but repetitive customer interaction tasks, like service updates, order confirmations, follow-ups, and appointment reminders. Customers can easily confirm or reschedule appointments directly through text messages, improving efficiency and reducing no-show rates. They offer two-way texting, appointment reminders, recall and maintenance notifications, and upselling tools. You can also get paid directly from the app with Kemoby Pay.
Kimoby Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include two-way sync with your customer management system. You can pull contact information right from your CRM and use it for SMS marketing campaigns. Kimby also has a translation system, which lets you translate incoming messages from customers in the language of your choosing. It translates the message directly in the conversation interface (no hopping in and out to another window).
Integrations include CDK Global, Auto/Mate, Dealertrack, Protractor, Autosoft, PBS Systems, Lightspeed Retail POS, HopDrop, and STorm Kiosks, among others.
Pros
- Great choice for service-based brands
- Bookings and maintenance reminders
- Review management capabilities
Cons
- Heavy focus on automotive integrations
- Lean reporting and analytics features
Klaviyo
Best customer segmentation features
Klaviyo is an SMS marketing platform that enables you to deliver personalized experiences across SMS, email, in-app notifications, and web. Klaviyo serves clients like ColourPop, Chubbies, and Huckberry.
Why I Picked Klaviyo: Klaviyo lets you segment contacts based on advanced targeting criteria like demographics, purchase history, browsing behavior, and engagement level. As Klaviyo’s segment management is dynamic, it automatically syncs and updates changes to your segment lists. With SMS retargeting, you can trigger sending an SMS to people who did not open an email. Likewise, if someone opens an email, you can retarget them by email or SMS. Another feature I like is its SMS A/B testing. It allows users to run and test different variations of SMS campaigns and optimize their performance. You can test the SMS content, time of sending, and image inclusion.
Klaviyo Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include the ability to leverage customer data to create dynamic and personalized SMS campaigns. Through dynamic variables and liquid templating, businesses can insert personalized customer information, such as names, locations, or purchase history, directly into their SMS messages. Klaviyo also enables businesses to set up behavior-based triggers to automatically send SMS messages at key moments in the customer journey. Businesses can define triggers based on specific actions or events, such as website visits, email interactions, or specific purchase behaviors.
Integrations include Klevu, Triple Whale, Lexer, Gorgias, Gatsby, 1o, 29Next, 3dcart, Trust Radius, Octane AI, ShipStation, Loop, Jebbit, AfterShip, Typeform, Reviews.io, Rebuy, and many others with a focus on ecommerce, customer service, and product reviews.
Pros
- Extensive list of integrations
- Comprehensive data analytics
- Powerful automation and workflows
Cons
- Limited SMS-only focus (more multichannel)
- Steep learning curve
Trumpia
Best for tailor-made customer journeys
Trumpia is a cloud-based text automation software with multi-channel messaging (SMS, email, and voice) used by the likes of 7-11, Volvo, Costco, and Goodwill. Trumpia lets you collect actionable insights from your mass text messaging campaigns using shortcodes.
Why I Picked Trumpia: Trumpia is a comprehensive SMS marketing platform that enables businesses to create tailor-made customer journeys. With Trumpia, businesses can create personalized SMS campaigns based on customer preferences and behaviors, allowing them to deliver targeted messages at the right time and through the right channels. The platform provides tools for segmentation, automation, and customization. Trumpia also lets you personalize your mass text campaigns based on the data shared by the recipient (for example, name of the recipient) and their interaction with your CRM. Trumpia uses conversation threading to log marketing communications, which creates a detailed conversation path of all communications with customers.
Trumpia Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include the ability to have your customers respond to SMS campaigns using predetermined keywords to automatically segment them into lists for future communications. You can send messages to your contact lists directly from your phone via its mobile app, allowing you to set campaigns on the go. You can also launch SMS surveys to engage your subscribers (and non-subscribers) and funnel them into different segments based on their responses.
Integrations include native options like Salesforce, Typeform, and HubSpot; access to their API, which lets you build your own connectors; and hundreds more options via Zapier, though that requires a separate plan and may incur additional costs.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop customer journey workflow builder
- SMS surveys available
- Omnichannel platform
Cons
- API access costs extra
- Many features and services cost extra
CallTrackingMetrics (CTM)
Best for digital agencies
CallTrackingMetrics is a powerful software platform that enables businesses to track, manage, and analyze their phone calls and SMS, providing valuable insights and enhancing their marketing and customer service strategies.
Why I Picked CallTrackingMetrics: CallTrackingMetrics is a valuable tool for SMS marketing, particularly for digital agencies, as it allows them to effectively track and manage phone calls generated by their SMS campaigns. By utilizing unique tracking numbers and integrating with SMS platforms, digital agencies can attribute phone calls to specific SMS messages, campaigns, or keywords, gaining visibility into the effectiveness of their SMS marketing efforts. This enables them to accurately measure conversion rates, optimize messaging strategies, and allocate resources accordingly.
CallTrackingMetrics Standout Features and Integrations
Key features include keyword-level tracking enables marketers to attribute phone calls to specific keywords used in SMS campaigns, providing granular insights into which keywords are driving engagement and conversions. This level of visibility allows for data-driven optimization of SMS messaging strategies. CallTrackingMetrics also offers SMS automation capabilities, allowing marketers to automate personalized SMS interactions based on triggers or specific customer behaviors, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.
Integrations include over 40 apps likeGoogle Analytics Google Ads, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zendesk.
Pros
- Omnichannel marketing campaigns
- Robust call tracking and transcription capabilities
- CRM and customer service integrations
Cons
- SMS tangential to call marketing
- Too complex for basic needs
Ovation
Best for customer feedback
Ovation SMS marketing platform is a powerful and intuitive solution that helps businesses engage with their audience through personalized text messaging campaigns. They have a heady focus on customer feedback, issue resolution, and review management.
Why I Picked Ovation: Ovation excels in SMS marketing by incorporating customer feedback features that enhance engagement and drive results. Through its platform, businesses can gather valuable feedback from customers via SMS surveys, polls, and reviews, enabling them to understand customer preferences, measure satisfaction, and make data-driven decisions. Ovation's intuitive interface allows for easy customization and automation of feedback campaigns, ensuring timely and targeted interactions with customers. The platform also provides robust analytics and reporting tools, empowering businesses to analyze customer feedback data, identify trends, and optimize their marketing strategies.
Ovationstandout Features and Integrations
Key features include personalized SMS campaigns based on customer behaviors, allowing businesses to create tailored messages that resonate with their audience. Ovation provides automated two-way messaging, enabling businesses to engage in real-time conversations with customers and address their queries or concerns promptly.
Integrations are available via Ovation's API and webhooks or by using features that import and export HL7 messages.
Pros
- 2-question, SMS-based surveys
- Company review management
- Includes customer chat platform
Cons
- Mostly for feedback solicitation
- Few native integrations
The 10 Best SMS Marketing Software Summary
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Textedly Best for collecting customer reviews | 14-day trial (50 msg free) | $26/month (500 msg) | Visit Website |
2 | SimpleTexting Best for messaging automation | 14-day free trial | From $45/month | Visit Website |
3 | Omnisend Best SMS + email marketing packages | Free plan available | From $16/month | Visit Website |
4 | Attentive Best for designing loyalty programs | 60-day free trial | $300/month + 0.02/SMS | Visit Website |
5 | Twilio Best for customer support services | 5000 free active hours | $1/user/hour or $150/user/month | Visit Website |
6 | Kimoby Best for service bookings and reminders | Free demo | From $349/month | Visit Website |
7 | Klaviyo Best customer segmentation features | Free plan available | From $20/month | Visit Website |
8 | Trumpia Best for tailor-made customer journeys | 14-day free trial | From $94/month | Visit Website |
9 | CallTrackingMetrics (CTM) Best for digital agencies | 30-day free trial | From $39/month | Visit Website |
10 | Ovation Best for customer feedback | Free demo | From $149/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list.
- Blueshift
Best for data-driven companies
How I Selected The Best SMS Marketing Software
Selecting the 10 best SMS marketing software involves a comprehensive and meticulous process to ensure that the chosen tools meet the needs of marketers and provide accurate and actionable insights. The first step is to define the criteria for evaluation. The criteria often include factors such as data collection and integration capabilities, data visualization and reporting features, predictive analytics capabilities, ease of use, scalability, customer support, pricing, and overall value for money.
Once the criteria are established, the next step is to conduct thorough research and analysis of the available SMS marketing software in the market. This process involves evaluating vendor websites, reading product reviews, comparing feature lists, and considering feedback from industry experts and users. The software's reputation, track record, and customer testimonials also play a crucial role in the selection process.
Core Funtionality
All SMS marketing software must have the following two core functionalities:
- Ability to send SMS messages to a targeted audience, including both bulk and individual messaging
- Provide tools to manage subscriber lists, allowing businesses to collect and organize customer contact information
Key Features
SMS marketing software typically offers a range of key features designed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of SMS marketing campaigns. Some key features include:
- Bulk Text Messaging: The ability to send SMS messages to a large number of recipients simultaneously, streamlining the process of reaching a wide audience with promotional messages, updates, or alerts.
- Automated Messaging: Automation features allow businesses to set up triggers and workflows that automatically send SMS messages based on specific customer actions or events, such as abandoned carts, birthdays, or order confirmations. This saves time and ensures timely communication with customers.
- Subscriber Management and Segmentation: Tools for managing and organizing subscriber lists, allowing businesses to collect and store customer contact information. Segmentation capabilities enable businesses to segment subscribers based on specific criteria, enabling targeted messaging to specific customer segments.
- Personalization: The ability to personalize SMS messages by dynamically inserting customer data, such as names or purchase history, to create more personalized and engaging content. Personalization helps businesses build stronger connections with customers and improve campaign performance.
- Analytics and Reporting: Comprehensive analytics and reporting features provide insights into the performance of SMS campaigns. Businesses can track metrics like delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to assess campaign effectiveness and make data-driven decisions.
- Two-Way Messaging: Interactive communication capabilities that allow businesses to engage in two-way conversations with customers via SMS. This feature enables customers to respond to messages, ask questions, or provide feedback, fostering engagement and strengthening customer relationships.
- Compliance and Opt-Out Management: SMS marketing software typically includes features to ensure compliance with regulations, such as obtaining proper consent from subscribers and managing opt-outs or unsubscribe requests.
- Contact Management: Practice of organizing and maintaining a database of contacts or business relationships. It involves capturing, updating, and organizing contact information such as names, mobile phone numbers, and email addresses.
- Autoresponders: Automated systems that send pre-set messages as responses to incoming text messages. They are commonly used for various purposes, such as acknowledging message receipt, providing information, or managing customer interactions.
These key features collectively enable businesses to execute effective SMS marketing campaigns, reach their target audience, and optimize customer engagement and conversions.
Usability
A user-friendly interface, easy onboarding for team members, and intuitive workflows ensure that businesses can quickly set up campaigns, manage subscriber lists, and analyze results. Drag-and-drop workflows, easy mass messaging, a mobile app, and reporting templates are a few examples of quality-of-life tools I look for.
Customizability
Customizability is essential when selecting an SMS marketing tool as it allows businesses to tailor their messaging to specific audiences, increasing relevance and engagement. With the ability to customize SMS campaigns based on factors such as demographics, behaviors, or preferences, businesses can create personalized experiences that resonate with their customers.
Software Integations
Integration with other marketing tools, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, ad management systems, BI tools, or ecommerce platforms enables businesses to leverage existing data and streamline workflows for seamless SMS marketing.
People Also Ask
Here are a few questions I wanted to cover to complement this list.
What Are The Benefits Of SMS Marketing Software?
How Do You Use SMS Marketing?
How much does SMS marketing software cost?
The Takeaway
When it comes to choosing the best SMS marketing software for your business, there are several exceptional options available. These top SMS marketing software solutions offer unique features and functionalities that cater to different business needs. Whether you prioritize automation, personalization, analytics, or integration capabilities, these software options provide a solid foundation for executing effective SMS marketing campaigns. By leveraging the power of SMS, businesses can engage with their audience, drive conversions, and achieve marketing success in today's mobile-centric world.