Businesses of all shapes and sizes love and trust Textline for their bulk SMS needs. Communicate with customers at scale with the top-rated SMS software on Capterra.
<span class="platform__quote">“Textline has been a major game changer as we migrate from traditional call and email to SMS communications! <span class="platform__quote--blue60">… Kudos to Textline, a definite value add, and an even better investment!</span></q></span>
<span class="platform__quote__author">Addie B.,<span class="platform__quote__author--blue60"> Capterra</span></span>
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A bulk SMS platform enables businesses to send a mass text message to customers, employees, or prospects at the same time. Bulk SMS makes communicating with and marketing to your subscribed contacts easy and efficient.
You can send a bulk text to hundreds or even thousands of customers at the same time. Businesses use bulk texting to send payment alerts, event reminders, marketing messages, and more.
Bulk texting, also called text message marketing, is used by businesses to cut through the noise to get promotional messages to customers at scale. It is a mobile marketing tactic that is highly effective because the average text message is read within three minutes and it reaches customers in their preferred medium – texting! Businesses use SMS marketing to share marketing messages, event promotions, coupons, discounts, announcements, updates, and more.
Try sending a bulk text to your customers and see the results for yourself. Start your 14-day free trial with Textline today. No credit card required.
Don’t waste time sending one message repeatedly. Instead, send a single message to many contacts at once to save time and effort.
Texts have a 98 percent open rate and 45 percent response rate, making them an effective way to engage customers and ensure your messages are seen.
Even though a bulk text is sent to multiple people at the same time, you can still personalize each message with custom fields. This includes items like first name, appointment time, and date.
Bulk text messaging works for all businesses no matter the size, industry, or budget. Texting is a familiar business communication channel that makes it easy to connect with customers.
Each bulk texting platform in the market has different features. However, there are some key ones to keep in mind when deciding what platform will work best for your business. Textline’s robust bulk text messaging platform will ensure you are set up for success with these features.
<div class="platform__mb40">Any bulk texting service should allow customers to easily opt-in and out of messages with terms like “START,” “STOP,” and “UNSUBSCRIBE.” Before selecting a bulk SMS provider, make sure they offer this capability. Without it, you may be illegally texting your contacts.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Any bulk texting service should be familiar with the regulations surrounding SMS. This includes familiarity with the TCPA, The Campaign Registry, opt-in requirements and more. Pick an SMS provider that prioritizes security and compliance.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Given the high response rate to texts, make sure your business SMS platform allows two-way SMS so you can reply back and communicate with customers that respond to your bulk text message. This will increase the likelihood of a positive response to bulk messages and allow you to have personal interactions with your contacts to build longer-lasting relationships.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Find a bulk texting service that allows you to segment your larger contact list into smaller groups and categories. This will drive better results and ensure your messages are relevant to each customer.</div>
This feature allows you to send bulk messages up to 400x faster and send messages from phone numbers matching recipients' area codes.
<div class="platform__mb40">Find a bulk texting service that makes it easy to upload your subscribed contacts. Textline allows you to manually upload contacts, use a CSV file, or access an existing address book. We also have an open application programming interface that allows you to connect other contact sources.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Pick a bulk texting service that allows users to create and store their own message templates. This will streamline communication and help save time and effort when it comes to recurring messages.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Choose a bulk texting service that lets you track message performance with ease. Textline allows users to track stats like replies, opt-outs, delivery errors, and more.</div>
<div class="platform__mb40">Ensure you can send bulk texts at the appropriate time, no matter what your schedule looks like by picking a platform that allows you to both send bulk messages immediately and schedule text messages ahead of time.</div>
A bulk text messaging platform that supports automation can bring with it time-saving possibilities. This will allow you to spend more time on conversations that matter the most. With Textline’s automated texting feature you can set up an automated welcome message, schedule a survey to send a week after a product is purchased, send weekly reminders, and more.
Textline is an industry-leading business texting platform for bulk SMS. With out-of-the-box integrations and top-notch support, Textline enables companies to enhance sales, marketing, customer service, and internal team communication. What makes Textline best-in-class?
Textline is proud of our enterprise-grade security. There’s a reason Textline is the most secure business texting platform in the industry. We follow advanced security protocols, so you will never worry about your company or customer data.
Our top priority is our customers' success and happiness. Textline’s support team is always a text, chat, or email away. Whether you need help with onboarding, SMS compliance, or setting up a particular feature, you can expect fast and practical support.
Textline’s platform is built with team collaboration in mind. Our multi-user platform enables teams to work together to manage text conversations efficiently.
We constantly add new integrations and features based on customer feedback. We strive to be on the cutting edge of the business texting landscape.
Both large and small businesses use bulk SMS platforms for many use cases. Here are just a few examples:
Bulk SMS is often used for text message marketing, such as sending a welcome discount to newly subscribed contacts or promoting a flash sale. With high open rates and response rates, SMS is a great marketing channel to reach the right audience.
Bulk texts can come in handy for sending appointment reminders and other transactional SMS messages. Instead of sending individual text messages to each customer, a business could send every client on the books for the week a text reminder at the same time.
Another use case for bulk SMS is sending payment reminders, such as a text blast to residents announcing rent is due tomorrow.
Use bulk SMS to check in with multiple customers at once about a recent purchase, how satisfied a customer is with a recent service, or to schedule their next annual service appointment.
Customers at Textline use bulk messaging to send their employees important memos and reminders. SMS particularly comes in handy for customers who have teams that are not behind a computer to check email.
Another use case is sending important must-read updates or mobile text alerts to a group of customers or employees. This can include alerts about road closures, office closures, weather reminders, and more.
Another way customers use bulk texting is by following up with sales leads. You can send a bulk message to a batch of leads to remind them about an upcoming demo, schedule an initial call, or check in to see if they made any decisions.
Another use case for bulk texting is for recruiters to reach out to a list of candidates about scheduling an interview for a particular job.
Thank a group of customers for their business or send a holiday text message to your entire contact list with bulk texting.
Try Textline for free for 14 days. No credit card required.
Absolutely! It is legal to bulk text subscribed contacts. But before sending your first text, businesses should keep several rules in mind. In particular, businesses should comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. One main aspect of the TCPA is to get written or verbal consent to text any contact. This consent is called an opt-in. There are many ways to collect opt-ins. Learn key strategies to obtain opt-ins here.
Additionally, to comply with text message regulations, you must also ensure contacts can opt out or unsubscribe from messages at any time. One way to ensure you comply with this aspect of the law is to pick an SMS provider that automatically unsubscribes contacts when they reply with words like STOP, END, or QUIT.
Learn more about compliance in this blog.
If you want to send true bulk text messages from your cellphone, you should use a mobile app from a bulk texting service. That’s because mobile messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage and Android’s Messages do not support compliant business bulk texting. That's because native texting apps pose compliance risks as they don't make it easy for customers to opt-out with keywords.
You can send bulk texts to contacts who’ve consented. Make sure that when customers opt in, they understand what types of messages they will receive from you.
Here are a few best practices for sending bulk texts.
To get more bulk texting best practices, check out this blog.
There are three phone number types available for bulk texting. These are 10-digit long codes, dedicated short codes, or toll-free numbers. 10DLC numbers are local long-code numbers and are commonly used for two-way SMS. Dedicated short codes are five or six-digit numbers commonly used for one-way text blasts by businesses or for events. They’re often placed on text advertisements. A third number type is a toll-free number, also known as an 800 number.
There are pros and cons to each number type. One thing to keep in mind is the registration process. If you want to use a 10DLC, or local number, you must register before you can send messages. The registration and approval process takes about two to three weeks. Once you're registered and approved, you can start bulk texting. If you need a more immediate texting service, a toll-free number is a great alternative. While you must also register this number, you can start texting while waiting for approval. Short codes also need to be registered, which can take six to ten weeks.
Yes! With Textline, you can use variable fields to pull specific customer information, such as name, company, job title, date, time, and more into your bulk texts.
The cost will depend on your bulk SMS service provider and the number of messages you send. Textline offers customers three different pricing plans based on their business needs. You can also fill out our Enterprise Form if you have special requests. We’ll work together to figure out the best plan for you.
No matter which pricing plan you choose, all of them start with a 14-day free trial.
There are many reasons companies and business owners turn to bulk messaging. Here are some use cases, broken up by common business departments.
Sales and marketing
Customer support
Recruiting
Operations
There are many benefits to using SMS marketing. Here are a few to note:
Absolutely! Textline allows you to send photos, links, PDFs, and more in bulk texts. Attaching these items would make the message a multimedia message, or MMS. While MMS costs more to send, research shows they can be more engaging!
Definitely! Textline allows users to send emojis in mass texts.
You don’t! If you get any replies to your bulk text message, you have the option to reply or not. Textline recommends getting a plan in place to handle any replies. If you choose not to reply, you may want to set up an automated message that lets customers know a better way to contact you. You can also opt to reply to anyone directly.
You can send an unlimited number of bulk SMS messages and bulk SMS campaigns with Textline. But, make sure you don’t send customers too many text blasts or you’ll likely increase your unsubscribe rate.
Typically regulations limit it to one SMS each second. But, Textline has a Smart SMS feature that helps speed up the sending process.
Most likely! The Textline team can help your business understand how you can use bulk text messaging to reach your customers, team members, or leads at scale. Sign up for a free demo here or text us with questions at +1 415-849-4349.
Absolutely. Textline can help you schedule your first bulk text message campaign. You can text us at +1 415-849-4349 and get help in minutes.
Improve communication with your contacts by integrating Textline’s bulk SMS platform with your existing business tools. It just takes a few clicks to connect Textline to popular CRM, help desk, and marketing software. Use these integrations to provide a seamless, well-timed, and helpful customer communication experience.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial today. No credit card required.
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