The Best Text Message Marketing Services of 2024

Connecting with your target audience in a way that is memorable and engaging is a challenge all businesses and marketers face. On every marketing channel, there’s so much competition for users’ attention that it can be a challenge to cut through the clutter and deliver your brand message. Text message marketing can be a powerful tool in this regard, offering you a one-to-one connection with your audience with one of the highest open rates of any marketing channel around.

Devising an effective text message marketing campaign means making use of the right tools. We chose the best text message marketing software that gives businesses a competitive advantage when trying to engage customers and leads through the short message service (SMS) channel. We’ve tested some of the biggest names in the text message marketing space to find the best software platforms out there. Check out our best picks below for our recommendations.

The best text message marketing services, such as Textedly, allow administrators and users to access the software on both desktop and mobile devices. Source: Textedly

There are several factors to consider when it comes to text message marketing service costs. The first is your message volume. Most providers offer tiered plans based on how many messages you plan to send and how many keywords you’ll use. Many offer lower rates for extra messages with higher-tier plans. Additionally, most will roll over any unused messages to the next month.

SMS texts — a standard word-based message of up to 160 characters — typically costs one credit, while multimedia messaging service (MMS) texts — a message that contains images or video and up to 1,600 characters — cost two or three. Plans start around $20 monthly and can go up to $3,000 per month depending on the package. However, some providers, such as Textline, don’t include messaging costs in their plans while others, such as TextMagic use a pay-as-you-go pricing structure.

You’ll also have to take into account how you plan to use your messages. If you plan on carrying out frequent two-way conversations with customers, you’ll want to make sure incoming messages are free, something most, but not all, providers offer. A few, such as Podium, allow unlimited one-to-one messaging but can be expensive for sending bulk marketing texts.

The next thing to consider is the number you’ll be texting from. Most platforms set you up with a 10DLC or a toll-free number. You may be able to text-enable your current landline, but that usually comes with a fee. Most platforms offer additional numbers for a small fee, between $5 to $25 per month. Businesses with high-volume messaging needs should consider a dedicated short code, which usually costs about $1,000 per month and might be charged separately or included in the plan price.

There may be additional charges depending on the vendor. Some, such as ProTexting, try to keep costs down by only including basic features in their plans. You’ll have to pay to add advanced tools. Access for additional team members will also come with an extra monthly cost. In general, most services don’t charge for customer support, although sometimes priority customer service is given with higher-tier plans. That being said, some like Thryv, charge for onboarding and you also might need to pay extra for developer support with APIs.

Text message marketing services are more than a way to send text messages. They are full-scale marketing solutions that help you engage with your audience, track results and improve your customer service.

When you’re looking for a text message marketing platform, it can be challenging to know which of the many features you need — and even what they all do. Here are the features we think are the most valuable for businesses to look for in a service, in alphabetical order.

AI Assistance

Many text message marketing services have begun to incorporate AI generation for quick and reliable text generation. AI tools can generate bulk marketing messages in the right tone and many offer multiple options so you can choose the best one. It can also be leveraged to respond to incoming customer questions, create personalized recommendations and maintain security.

Analytics and Reports

A metrics component is a vital part of text message marketing. These numbers tell you which campaigns were successful and which ones were not. Analytics can also provide insight into why specific messages performed the way they did.

Analytics tools, such as those provided by SlickText, can help determine whether your text message marketing efforts are paying off. Source: SlickText

Automation

Automation tools allow you to program messages to send automatically at the same time every day, week or month. You can also create auto-replies for when customers first text or for messages received after hours. Trigger words can be set up to send automatic responses to common questions, such as opening hours or menu options and can even be used to create automated workflows for certain interactions.

Bulk Messages

Bulk messages, also known as mass texting, are at the heart of text message marketing. You can send promotional messages or announcements to your list of opt-in contacts but, unlike with group texts, recipients won’t see other customer numbers and replies will only go to you. Most platforms let you personalize bulk messages by using custom fields.

Compliance

Text message marketing is subject to serious regulations but, thankfully, the best SMS messaging services make compliance a breeze. They will get your numbers registered so you can start sending mass texts and many do it right from the platform. They will also provide you with solid opt-in and opt-out tools. Some even boast HIPAA compliance, which is important if you are texting sensitive health information.

Contact Management

You can’t have a successful text message marketing campaign without a strong base of subscribers to receive them. Contact management features keep your contacts organized, fresh and easy to access. The best services store past interaction history alongside customer data, so you have all the relevant information on hand when communicating.

A high-quality text messaging platform will have robust address book functionality, such as Textline does, for contact management. Source: Textline

Custom Fields

Most texting solutions capture customer data through custom fields, such as the person’s full name, birthday and ZIP code, which opens up new possibilities for your message targeting. By personalizing messages, you can increase engagement. For example, you could send a customer deals on their birthday or alert them to your sales in their area to show your appreciation for their repeat business. Some services allow you to collect unlimited customer data, so you can get specific information that is relevant to your business.

Customer Engagement

Beyond getting your message out to a wide audience, text message marketing can be used to boost customer engagement. Some platforms offer tools to create text-to-win contests, which not only get customers interested, it can also grow your contact list. You can also text out coupons and promos to drive sales and build loyalty. Some even let you request and respond to online reviews.

Drip Campaigns

With this feature, you can send automated messages based on conditions you set using if-then commands. Each step of the customer journey can trigger its own message, such as a greeting upon opt-in, a confirmation for each purchase or a request for feedback after a customer service encounter.

Integrations

Some text message solutions integrate with other platforms, such as email marketing programs, CRM systems and accounting software. These integrations can increase your productivity and capabilities significantly, letting you import and sync data automatically across all your business software. [Learn more about email marketing services in our roundup of the best email marketing software and our Constant Contact review.]

Keywords

You can build your contact list with keywords, allowing customers to opt into your messages by texting you a single word. The best solutions allow you to choose custom keywords and track their usage. Some services offer unlimited keywords. Others, however, are limited and require you to pay more if you want additional keywords.

Link Shortener

SMS messages typically allow no more than 160 characters. This limit can pose challenges when you need to include links — how can you send a compelling message when half of it is a URL? Some text message marketing platforms offer link shorteners that solve this problem, reducing any link to 15 characters at most. Plus, you can get detailed analytics, such as click rate, for each link.

Message Templates

If you send the same text message frequently, look for a solution that lets you create and save templates so you can send messages faster. You may also prefer a platform that comes with ready-made templates.

Mobile App

The benefit of communicating with customers via text is that response times are much quicker and a fully functional mobile app allows your business to provide timely responses even when out of the office. Not all services provide dedicated apps and others only include the ability to conduct one-to-one texts, which might be an issue for small business owners who work on the go.

MMS

Most services allow you to send pictures, videos and audio clips to make your messages stand out and be more engaging. Some provide access to GIF libraries or stock images. Sending MMS messages usually uses three message credits, so if you plan on texting a lot of media, look for a high-volume messaging plan.

Omnichannel Messaging

SMS marketing is successful because people spend a lot of time on their phones. While texting is one of the most effective ways to communicate with customers, many people prefer messaging over other platforms, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Many solutions now include omnichannel messaging, allowing you to reach out to customers in the places they prefer to communicate.

QR Codes

Small businesses often print QR codes on flyers and other physical materials to automate the customer’s text message subscription process. Customers can scan the QR code to load the marketing numbers and keywords into their text messaging apps. This feature is increasingly common but not yet universal among SMS marketing platforms.

Segmentation

An essential part of any marketing campaign is customer segmentation. Most services we reviewed help you segment contacts so you can tailor targeted campaigns to the right audience, whether that’s based on location, engagement history or customer preference. Some platforms only let you segment by keyword, while others also use custom fields or tags to create lists.

Scheduling

Scheduling text messages in advance can increase your productivity because you won’t have to remember to send texts out manually at certain times. The timing of text messages is important, especially if you have customers in various time zones as you only should text during business hours, so it helps to automate this function.

Surveys

You can gather customer feedback with text message surveys and polls. The best solutions make it easy to gather responses and adjust your campaigns or analytics accordingly. Some offer preset net promoter score and customer satisfaction score surveys while others allow you to create your own using ratings or open-ended responses.

Text-to-Landline

A text-to-landline feature lets you send and receive text messages through your business landline phone number with no changes to your voice service. This avoids confusion for customers who already know your number, but only some services will text-enable your landline.

Two-Way Messaging

Only offering one-way communication is an SMS marketing mistake to avoid as consumers want to feel valued by your business. Most services let you carry out two-way conversations easily, so you can answer questions, provide support and make the sale. The best text message marketing companies offer complimentary incoming text messages, allowing your customers to reply to you without increasing your costs.

Unified Inbox

A key feature of any text message marketing platform is a unified inbox. The best solutions allow you to handle two-way messages and omnichannel communications all from the same place seamlessly. Filters let you manage your inbox by number, department or team member and collaboration tools make it easy for your team to provide the best service.

Web Signup Forms

Engaging customers via text can start with getting them to subscribe while they’re engaged with your brand in other ways. Web signup forms are a great example. You can embed them on your website or e-commerce store to generate text message marketing leads for people already interested in your business.

There are many ways you can use text message marketing to benefit your company. It’s an easy way to communicate directly with your customers and you learn more about what your audience wants from you based on campaign performance.

The inboxes offered by services like EZ Texting keep customer communications organized. Source: EZ Texting

Here are some of the advantages you can enjoy with text message marketing services:

• Send messages that will be seen: Think about it — aren’t you always on your phone and isn’t your email inbox always so clogged you just mass-delete emails? Every platform cites that texts have the highest open rate at around 98%, so when you send a text, you’re pretty much guaranteed customers will see it.
• Build loyalty with exclusive deals and discounts: The promise of special deals and discounts is why many people opt to receive text messages from companies. These texts make customers feel appreciated and incentivize repeat purchases. They also give you an easy way to attract new customers.
• Personalize your communications: Most text messaging services help you collect and organize customer data, letting you access basic information like name and location as well as more granular items related to your business. You can leverage this information easily to segment your messaging and send personalized texts.
• Get information out quickly: Unlike other channels, you can send out bulk texts with lightning speed. Whether you are running a new promotion or need to get out an important announcement, your audience will be sure to receive the message on time. It’s also an efficient way to respond to questions from customers.
• Offer sneak peeks at new products or services: To drum up excitement for a new product or service, you can text sneak peeks or free trials to your subscribers, keeping your business fresh in their minds.
• Target past customers with news updates: If you have customers who haven’t done business with you in a while, texting can be a great way to draw them back in. You can send news about company goings-on or updates on your products and services.
• Send appointment or reservation confirmations: If reservations or appointments are part of your business, this service is a no-brainer. Texting is a faster, easier way to confirm appointments with customers than calling or emailing. It’s also an easy way for customers to reference their appointment information, making them less likely to forget or show up at the wrong time.
• Provide order updates: If a customer orders something from you, you can send notifications or updates by text rather than email to keep them in the loop. These updates also provide buyers with a direct line of communication with your business should anything go wrong with their order.

[Related article: Reasons to Try Text Message Marketing for Your Small Business]

Follow these steps to find the right text message marketing service for your business.

1. Think about what you need.

Do you want to use a text message marketing platform to send customers exclusive offers or will you use it for reminders and fielding inquiries? Do you work in an industry with highly specific text message use cases, such as hospitality or healthcare? How many messages do you expect to send each month and will those volumes fluctuate? How many keywords and custom fields do you need to segment contacts effectively? Answer these questions to give yourself the context you need to determine which text message marketing solutions do and don’t make sense for your business.

Before choosing a text message marketing service, you need to consider which features you want, such as the ability to set up auto-reply messages like ProTexting offers. Source: ProTexting

2. Identify leading brands (especially for your industry, if applicable).

All of our best picks above for text message marketing and additional recommendations below are from leading companies — some of them with solutions tailored to certain sectors. Medallia Concierge is designed for hospitality use, for instance, and Tatango is ideal for nonprofit and political use. Add any reputable brands that specialize in your industry to your list of vendor possibilities.

3. Consider whether a broad or narrow use case matters more to you.

Is usability in a healthcare setting more important to you than the ability to expand your texting operations as your business grows? Would you rather have a platform with just the basics or one with advanced tools that are a bit tougher to use? The answers to these questions will further help you determine what to prioritize.

4. Read customer reviews.

Customer reviews, such as the Trustpilot testimonials featured above, can give you some of the truest possible insights on a certain platform. They’re a particularly great way to determine what current and past clients think of a brand’s customer service. They can also help you determine whether a system typically is easy to use or a more complicated proposition.

5. Evaluate pricing.

Some text message marketing services, such as Textedly, offer highly affordable monthly plans. Others, such as Textline and Podium, can be quite expensive, though their advanced features may justify their prices. While some services, such as TextMagic, let you pay as you go for ultimate cost flexibility. Consider whether flexible pricing or monthly rates are better for your budget and determine the maximum amount you can afford per month. Pay attention to other costs, such as add-on features, extra messages and additional numbers or team members as these can impact the final price.

6. Sign up for a free trial.

Based on the business needs you identified, the customer reviews you read and the price points you evaluated, narrow down the platforms you’re considering and pick a few to test. Most text message marketing providers offer a free trial, which is the fastest way to see for yourself whether a platform fits your needs. Due to regulations, you’ll only be allowed to text yourself, but you can get a feel for the platform and start setting up features and uploading contacts. Keep note of when the trial ends and whether you’ll have to start paying the moment it does.

7. Compare your options and sign up for your chosen service.

After your free trials, compare your experience with each software you tried. Then, sign up for one that checks all your boxes, budget included. You can typically reach out to customer support via the live chat tool in the platform’s dashboard to start the formal purchase and implementation process.

Our recommended services above aren’t the only worthwhile text message marketing platforms on the market. We also researched and evaluated the vendors listed below, all of which have attractive features and tools.

Twilio

Twilio is designed for developers to build a custom messaging solution that includes everything you need customized to your business. With extensive APIs, you can use any feature in Twilio’s platform or build it into your own custom app. Plus, unlike other services, there are no flat monthly fees. You only pay for what you use, but that includes all incoming and outgoing messages. We especially love that Twilio lets you provide a complete customer communications platform, with tools for flexible analytics, omnichannel communications, including voice, email and social media and excellent CRM features. Get all the details in our full Twilio review.

SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting sets itself apart from its peers by offering a flexible solution that can adapt to your messaging needs. With unlimited keywords and custom fields, something not all rivals offer, you can segment your customers as you like and it’s easy to change the lists contacts are associated with. AI marketing text generation lets you create compelling copy that fits your brand with a click. The unified inbox is a standout feature to help your team manage customer communications better and you get three seats with all plans. We especially love that you can do everything just as easily from the mobile app. See pricing in our comprehensive SimpleTexting review.

Thryv

Thryv’s Business Center lets businesses communicate effectively in the office and on the go, which is why it is our choice for service providers. Its straightforward yet dynamic platform is capable of automating workflows while driving business growth. An uncomplicated interface puts all of your inbound and outbound messages in one place, integrating across services such as Instagram and Facebook. Beyond messaging, you can use the platform to create and send invoices, schedule appointments and manage customer relationships. We were impressed that you can even request payments through Thryv’s bill pay portal and that the platform doubles as an online reputation management service thanks to automatic review requests and new comment notifications on over 40 listing sites. Find out more in our review of Thryv.

Podium

Podium is a robust omnichannel communication platform for improving customer engagement and driving conversions that provides excellent tools for text message marketing and staying in contact with your customers via text message. AI tools generate responses to customers automatically, reducing wait times and can be used to request text-based payments. From the inbox, you can text customers links to leave reviews, bolstering your online reputation. Podium is extremely easy to use and learn, so it takes minimal training to get your team up and running. It’s best for small businesses that want straightforward tools for CRM. Our review of Podium breaks down the three plan options.

TextMarks

TextMarks recently rebranded itself as an SMS solution focused solely on transit agencies and companies. While the service won’t be the right choice for most businesses, it does offer businesses in the transportation industry a great way to communicate with riders while keeping costs down. TextMarks employs a single short code but allows you to create unique keywords for your company. When riders text in your keyword, they get instant information like schedules and notifications. You can also broadcast alerts, such as schedule changes or service interruptions, to anyone who has opted in via your website or text.

Tatango

Tatango is one of the best text message marketing services for high-volume messaging, thanks to its impressive performance with mass messages. The vendor offers impactful, real-time text messaging designed to help nonprofits and political campaigns reach their audience and solicit donations. The software’s straightforward interface facilitates two-way messaging, advanced workflows, A/B testing, message analytics and segmentation for effective engagement. Tatango provides a short code and handles your compliance setup, all from a secure platform with a SOC 2 certification. We also appreciate that the platform integrates with major political and donation platforms as well as some of the best CRM providers, making it simple to share contacts and communicate across platforms.

Medallia Concierge

Medallia Concierge, formally known as Zingle, is a stellar text message marketing platform geared towards the hospitality and travel industries. It offers a brand-differentiated messaging portal meant to boost your client satisfaction and online reputation. Powerful AI tools can generate personalized promotions and send automated responses to guest queries. Soliciting feedback is simple over text or other channels. Plus, robust analytics help you leverage customer data to improve segmentation. You can work to retain current customers and reach new audiences in one easy-to-use interface.

Salesmsg

Offering simple and scalable two-way messaging, calling and text marketing for companies across industries, Salesmsg — one of the few texting platforms we’ve reviewed with built-in voice calling — helps you put your customers first. The cloud-based platform allows you to manage messages and calls from both a web interface and a mobile app, ideal for remote teams on the go. Besides offering essential messaging features like AI assistance and unlimited keywords, Salesmsg is unique in offering both shared and private inboxes and for only charging two credits for MMS messages. Salesmsg is a fantastic pick for businesses looking to text and call from the same number, providing reliable results in real time.

TextMagic

TextMagic is one of the most trusted text message marketing providers on our list. Because this solution offers mass messaging, two-way texting, segmentation and automation, it’s well-suited for businesses of all types that want a simple yet effective communication tool. We love that the recent interface redesign makes using TextMagic easier than ever. With voice calling and the email-to-text feature, the platform lets you handle omnichannel communications. Subaccounts allow entire teams to access and manage messaging and you can reach clients in over 200 countries, making this service ideal for multinational organizations in particular. Similar to Twilio, TextMagic has a pay-as-you-go structure, making it a budget-friendly service.

At Business News Daily, our team of small business marketing experts has been researching and testing text message marketing services for years, comparing some of the leading solutions across more than 25 key metrics. We considered 24 text message marketing solutions to start and closely reviewed and tested 18 of them before selecting our five best picks above.

Below are the factors we examined when deciding our top recommendations. Each is weighted according to how much the criteria typically influences business owners’ buying decisions.

• Pricing (30%): To determine which vendor provides the most value per dollar, we analyzed not just the base costs of the software used in each text message marketing service but also the number of pricing plans available, amounts of text messages, agents and keywords allowed, and whether there were high fees for additional phone numbers and shortcodes or services like onboarding and API access.
  
• Features (25%): In particular, we evaluated and tested each system’s message composers, automated workflows, bulk messaging, customer segmentation and inbox tools. We also looked at the integrations available for connecting each program to other popular business software, such as email marketing services.
  
• Usability (20%): We paid close attention to the ease with which the service could be set up, how intuitive we found the platform’s navigation and use of key features, and the training and informational resources available to new users. We also investigated whether the system could be customized and had a fully functional mobile app.
• Customer Support (15%): We examined the different ways customers could contact the vendor’s customer service team if in need of help. We also reviewed customer feedback to assess how well each company’s customer support representatives meet the needs of existing customers.
• Expert Insight (10%): Our product reviews are conducted by software and industry experts who are deeply familiar with text message marketing services. Given their institutional knowledge of different solutions and firsthand experiences using this technology, we took their personal judgment into account when choosing our best picks.

In addition to evaluating each text message marketing service based on these criteria, we also determined the best use-case scenarios for each. No two businesses are exactly alike, so we put ourselves in the shoes of different types of small business owners to identify the best text message marketing solutions for a variety of needs.

To learn more about how we review and test sales technology products and services for small businesses, read about our editorial process. 

As text message marketing continues to grow in 2024, it’s more important than ever for businesses to take advantage of this effective form of marketing and the ways in which it is evolving as technology advances.

With AI in the spotlight this year, we expect an increasing number of businesses to add AI-driven automation and personalization tools into their marketing plans in 2024. We suggest companies leverage AI by adopting the automation features that many text message marketing vendors like EZ Texting are now providing. These tools can make messaging tasks more efficient, meeting business demands to do more faster. We also expect to see AI leveraged to conduct interactive messaging, responding to customer messages in real time.

As people increasingly use additional platforms to message from their phones, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram, we expect to see more platforms expand their service to include additional messaging channels. While some providers, such as Textedly, already include additional types of messaging, we expect it will become the norm. From a unified inbox, businesses will be able to message customers in the places they are more likely to use.

To streamline operations further, we also predict an increase in interoperability. We expect more vendors to invest in native integrations that can connect business software seamlessly. That way, companies can sync their related services, such as text message marketing, email marketing software and POS systems. This connectivity will give business owners and leaders greater insights into company performance and fuel strategic decisions regarding modern digital marketing.

Max Freedman contributed to this article.