It has been proven that an effective SMS Marketing campaign drives success for businesses.
A solution can be found using a valued SMS Marketing provider to deliver an SMS campaign that will increase your revenue, traffic, customers and brand loyalty.
Latest update on 26 February 2023.
Many case studies can show anyone the effectiveness of promoting a marketing or communication campaign in a matter of minutes to a very large target audience.
For example, SMS marketing can launch you a mobile loyalty program that can accumulate new subscribers that receive location-specific offers and alerts. Further examples could include the effectiveness of SMS is by sending a link via SMS with the lure of finding out a special discount code or customers signing up for an SMS campaign to receive location-specific offers by texting a shortcode or by signing up and entering a phone number on a website.
A solution can be found using an SMS Marketing provider to set up a campaign that will increase revenue, traffic, customers and brand loyalty.
One of the key features that you need to investigate from an SMS Marketing provider is the ability to build and deliver intelligent, data-driven SMS campaigns directly into their IT platforms. This can be done through a web interface or a fully managed service. It is vital to engage customers or consumers with an SMS campaign that can be delivered directly to their mobile phones.
The integrated SMS distribution into a client’s CRM, e-commerce or business applications which integrate with the API platform is an essential requirement. To be able to integrate your SMS campaign with other marketing channels means that you can feed data back into your systems to view the effectiveness of the campaign.
Remember that over 90% of mobile users read their text messages within three (3) minutes of receiving the message. So you need to have a provider that can deliver SMS to your customers promptly but most providers should be able to send SMS within 15 seconds, via a reliable premium telecommunication gateway network that can handle large volumes of SMS.
There are two types of carrier gateways known as Direct and Hybrid. Direct uses Australian telecommunication carriers such as Telstra, Optus or Vodafone but these are usually more expensive. Hybrid gateway uses overseas telecommunication carriers which are cheaper but less reliable.
Another feature that you need to seek is getting your message or campaign notification out any time of the day using the easiest-to-use platform. It does not matter whether you are sending single or multiple text messages, you need to ensure the SMS Marketing company can build a scalable campaign on your needs.
Equally as important is the need to have access to all the features you will need including Email to SMS, Web SMS, 2-Way SMS, Keyword recognition, as well a detailed reporting system. The privacy option should include an ‘opt-out’ functionality that gives you a good idea of your campaign’s return on investment (RoI).
From an extensive review of major Australian and overseas SMS Marketing providers, it was analysed that ClickSend has all the major features that are required for an effective marketing or communication campaign.
With all the range of features offered, there is a charge for sending out each text message to a customer or consumer. The charges range in expense from 10 to 30% more dependent on the provider. The charges will also be determined by volume size so from a cost-benefit, the large the number of SMS distributed, the cheaper the charge for sending a text message. SMS are charged on an individual basis and a monthly turnover.
From the graph below, it can be seen that ClickSend is considered the best value on a distribution per-month basis. It is competitive for the small and mid-size number of text messages distributed in a month and cheapest for a large volume of SMS sent per month.
It must be noted that ClickSend does charge a monthly fee, unlike a number of their competitors. There is no contract, no setup fees or charges, and no expiry date for SMS credits.
Reliability is an issue that always needs to be asked. You do not want delays and duplicate issues to impair the marketing campaign. One of the issues alerted before is the type of gateway carrier used. Australian telcos are much more reliable and direct connections to one of these carriers will provide better reassurance that the message will be sent.
The reliability of SMS marketing providers can vary depending on a variety of factors, including their infrastructure, technology, customer support, and overall track record of success.
When evaluating an SMS marketing provider, there are several key considerations to keep in mind. These include their infrastructure, updated technology, proper compliance standards, effective customer support and reputation. Overall, it’s important to choose an SMS marketing provider that is reliable, trustworthy, and has a proven track record of success. By taking the time to evaluate potential providers based on these criteria, you can ensure that you’re choosing the best partner for your SMS marketing needs.
Also, the uptime guarantee feature needs to be assessed by the prospective client. You need to see that the provider has at least a 99.95% uptime guarantee and a robust enterprise infrastructure that ensures that their platform is always available when required.
The graph compares the reliability of the major SMS Marketing providers based on the above factors.
It is reassuring to know that the SMS Marketing providers reviewed do offer very reliable customer service with a very good uptime guarantee and Australian support on an ongoing basis. Overall, SMS marketing companies typically provide a range of support services to help their customers succeed with SMS marketing. The specific types of support provided may vary depending on the company and the customer’s specific needs.
Concerning support, the client must be able to work with an SMS Marketing team to assist in understanding the client’s key reasons for the campaign, the challenges that they may encounter and the ways they can add value to the campaign.
For example, ClickSend has the availability of an 1800 number or online software which means that you can get in touch on an ongoing basis. It also offers 24/7 email support. An international phone number is also provided on their contact page.
The other value from a support aspect is the availability of quarterly review reports and catch-up meetings to support the campaign process.
The SMS Comparison Table and site were developed by a group of authors who are experts in SMS, having worked for many years in this field. Now, that they left this field, they decided that an independent assessment of SMS Providers should be available to the public free of charge. This resulted in a thorough review of major SMS providers and the resultant SMS Marketing Comparison Table and associated sites.
While the SMS Australia Comparison Table is free for the public to use, the authors wish to disclose that some affiliate relationships do exist. Such relationships do not impact the rates and fees users of the site will receive from these providers.
As the information comes from the provider’s website and not through an API feed, there is the risk data may become outdated without prior notice. As such, you should note below when the page was last updated. You should also check with the SMS bulk providers’ website account before singing-up.
The information is current but changes can be made by the provider at any time without any notification, so please ensure you look at their websites after reviewing the information on this site provided. Should there be any different information, please notify the authors of this site and changes will be made as soon as possible.
The latest update was on 26 February 2023.