Text Blasts

Quickly reach your audience with text message blasts

Use text message blasts to reach your contacts where they are: their mobile phones. Businesses can send text messages to many contacts simultaneously to save time and inform at scale. Sign up for a 14-day free trial today.

Textline’s SMS blast service is trusted by thousands of customers

Small businesses and large businesses love and trust Textline’s text blast service.

<span class="platform__quote"><q>I love the ease of using it for mass texting as well as two-way texting. <span class="platform__quote--blue60">In the transportation recruiting business, texting is what captures the attention of drivers. Especially with all of the SPAM/SCAM calls drivers are more apt to respond to a text vs a call.</span></q></span>

<span class="platform__quote__author">Tonya F.,<span class="platform__quote__author--blue60"> Capterra</span></span>

A screenshot of a text message

What are text blasts?

A text blast is a 160-character text message sent to multiple contacts simultaneously. SMS blasts allow businesses to broadcast messages to customers, employees, and leads at scale.

Text blasts, also known as mass texts, are used by businesses across industries. Some common use cases are sending exclusive offers, appointment reminders, emergency alerts, and more. 

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Why businesses should use text message blasts

High open rates

Text messages have an average open rate of 98 percent, nearly four times the average open rate of emails. This means your message will be seen by your target audience.

They are straight to the point

SMS messages are 160 characters, making a text blast short and to the point. Since the average human attention span is just 8.25 seconds, short messages are easier to absorb.

Reach contacts quickly 

The average text is read within three minutes. This means you can get your mass text messages to customers quickly.

Save time and effort 

You can blast one consistent message to many contacts at the same time. This allows you to cut out the manual copy and paste to save time and effort.

Textline's powerful text blast features

Each text blast service provider has different features. Below we share a few key features a text blast provider should have.

Texting templates 

<div class="platform__mb40">Don’t type the same messages over and over. Pick an SMS provider that allows you to create and save text templates.</div>

SMS scheduling

<div class="platform__mb40">Ensure your message is sent at the right time. Ensure you can schedule text blast messages ahead of time.</div>

Seamless opt-ins and opt-outs

<div class="platform__mb40">Make it easy for your contacts to opt in and opt out.</div>

Contact segmentation

<div class="platform__mb40">Find a mass texting service that allows you to sort your contact list into smaller groups. This will allow you to tailor messages effectively.</div>

Easy contact upload

<div class="platform__mb40">You want it to be easy to upload your contacts. Pick an SMS service that makes this process seamless.</div>

Personalization

<div class="platform__mb40">Personalized messages go a long way. Pick a provider that allows you to keep your text blasts personalized with first name, job title, date, time, and more.</div>

MMS messaging

<div class="platform__mb40">A picture is worth a thousand words. This is especially true when it comes to text message marketing. Pick one that supports multimedia messages like photos, GIFs, or links. This will help you improve your engagement rate.</div>

Compliance guidelines

<div class="platform__mb40">Don’t get blocked when sending text blasts. Instead, make sure your SMS provider complies with key texting laws and requirements.</div>

Smart SMS

<div class="platform__mb40">Smart SMS is a feature that automatically sends your text blast messages from numbers that match the area code of the message recipient.</div>

Two-way texting

<div class="platform__mb40">Engage in conversations with your contacts with a provider that enables two-way texting. This will let you respond to any text blast reply.</div>

Performance tracking

<div class="platform__mb40">Find a texting service that allows you to track text blast and team performance. Seeing these metrics will allow you to improve your next SMS blast.</div>

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How businesses use SMS blasts

Businesses across the globe use text blasts. A few common examples:

Appointment reminders

Cut down on no-shows with text blast reminders.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125! Your appointment with &#123&#123doctor.name&#125&#125 is scheduled for &#123&#123date&#125&#125 at &#123&#123time&#125&#125. To reschedule, click this link: &#123&#123link&#125&#125.</span></span>

Text blast marketing

Use a text blast campaign to send coupons, exclusive offers, or special discounts to customers. 

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125! Hiking Apparel Co. has a special offer for you. Get 15% off any new pair of hiking shoes. Offer valid through 10/10 🔥</span></span>

Abandoned cart reminders

Another text marketing message that could be sent as a text blast is abandoned cart nudges.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">ABC Retail: &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125, it looks like you left a few items in your cart! Get them before they’re gone: &#123&#123link&#125&#125.</span></span>

Payment reminders

Send your SMS list a text to remind them about an upcoming payment.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Wood Partners Rental: Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125. Your October rent is due in a few days. To make a payment head to this link: &#123&#123link&#125&#125.</span></span>

Emergency alerts

Get emergency text blast notifications to contacts quickly.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Oklahoma University: Classes will be cancelled for the remainder of the day due to a tornado warning. Stay safe.</span></span>

Event reminders

Promote or remind attendees of an upcoming event.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Tomorrow is the day! We can’t wait to see you at SaaS Co.’s 4th Annual Conference. Hear from the experts about improving marketing efforts with tools and technology.</span></span>

Event management with staff

Make sure employees are in the know while on-site at an event.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi team. We have an AV issue in Room 208. Can anyone help us troubleshoot?</span></span>

Engage a group of potential customers

Send a text blast to a group of leads at once to schedule a phone call or demo.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125. This is Maria from Primary Insurance Company. Thanks for your inquiry about switching your insurance. What day/time are you free for a quick call? </span></span>

Share real estate listings

Realtors can use text blasts to promote new listings to potential buyers. 

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125. This is Rita from Realtors Inc. We found 3 new houses you may like. Here's more information about them: &#123&#123link&#125&#125.</span></span>

Send surveys

Improve your customer service by sending satisfaction surveys to many people. 

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125. Thanks for choosing us for your auto repair! How would you rate your recent service on a scale from 0-5? 5 being very satisfied and 0 being very unsatisfied.</span></span>

Recruitment

Recruiters can use a text blast to schedule a screening call with multiple candidates at once.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi &#123&#123contact.name&#125&#125! This is Fey from Trucking Everywhere. We reviewed your resume for the &#123&#123open.job&#125&#125 and would love to discuss your experiences in greater detail. Please schedule a 15-minute call on my calendar: &#123&#123calendar.link&#125&#125</span></span>

Internal team memos

Let your team know about an important update or memo.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi team! Please take the mandatory training course by 12pm Friday.</span></span>

Urgent staffing requests

Send a text blast to staff to request to fill a last-minute open shift.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi team! We had a last-minute home health shift open for tomorrow from 3pm to 11pm. $100 bonus. Is anyone interested?</span></span>

Account management

Check-in with a group of customers to see how their service went or schedule their next service appointment.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi Addison. This is Serena from HVAC 123. It looks like you haven’t scheduled a HVAC check-up in a while. Are you interested in scheduling a service today?</span></span>

Thank you for your business messages

Send a thank you note to a group of contacts.

<span class="chat-bubble"><span class="chat-bubble__text">Hi Marshall. This is Joey from Monty Hotels. Thank you for being a loyal customer 😊 </span></span>

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Text blast frequently asked questions

Is sending text blasts legal?

Yes! Sending text blasts is legal. But businesses will need to comply with SMS regulations, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Under the TCPA, you need to get an opt-in from contacts, allow unsubscribes, and provide clear instructions about what people are opting into. TCPA requires businesses to get written or verbal opt-ins from contacts. Getting this opt-in will help you build your SMS subscriber list. Read more on collecting opt-ins and check out our eight-step compliance checklist.

Can I send text blasts to anyone?

You can send SMS blasts to anyone who consents to receive text messages from you.

How do I send a text blast?

Sending a mass SMS, or text blast, on Textline is easy. You will use our Announcements feature. We break down the five steps below.

  1. Create a Textline account
  2. Go to the Textline dashboard and create a new Announcement
  3. Compose your message
  4. Add the contacts you want to send the blast to
  5. Schedule your message or send it immediately with a single click

Who can send text blasts?

All Textline users can send text blasts to their SMS contacts.

How much does it cost to send an SMS blast?

Pricing will vary based on your SMS service provider. Textline offers three pricing plans. All pricing plans start with a 14-day free trial.

Can I personalize SMS blasts?

Yes! With Textline, you can use custom fields to pull specific contact information into your SMS message. This includes items like name, company, date, time, and more.

When will my text blasts be sent?

Your text notifications are sent when you want on Textline. You can schedule messages to send ahead of time or send them right away.

Can you send photos, links, PDFs, or other multimedia in text blasts?

Yes! Adding these items to a text blast would make the message a multimedia messaging service, also known as an MMS. 

Empower your text blasts with integrations

Reach more customers with personalized text message blasts at the right time by integrating Textline and your favorite business tools. In a few clicks you can connect with dozens of pre-built integrations, or use our brilliantly simple API to build an integration fit for your business.

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