Imagine there was a marketing channel that your average target audience interacts with countless times per day. One that people usually carry around in their pockets or purses, and that your business could reach directly—creating a notification, buzz, or ding—for just a few pennies.
That’d be a marketing channel worth pursuing, right? It might even be the smartest use of your marketing spend.
You know where we’re going with this—we’re talking about cellphones and SMS marketing.
There are numerous proven benefits of SMS marketing, but it does require a different approach—and a different set of marketing tools. So if you’re looking to enhance your customer engagement, check out these 8 SMS marketing platforms and tools. Note: These platforms were found during our online research while writing this article.
1. Bitly
Bitly is different from the other tools in this list. It’s not a standalone SMS marketing platform—instead, it’s an indispensable tool you’ll need no matter which platform you use.
Bitly is a link shortener, QR Code generator, and link-in-bio creation platform. Short links are a big part of most SMS marketing strategies because you only have a small number of characters to work with. Bitly saves more of those characters for your messaging.
Even more important are Bitly’s link management tools. You can personalize your Bitly links so they look like your brand, and then you can track and capture data from every click and tap.
Team members can access and manage all your links from a user-friendly central dashboard. So there’s never any confusion about which link is which—and no more typos resulting in dead links or 404s.
Bitly also allows you to redirect your links, add UTM parameters, and more.
Key features
- Link management keeps your SMS marketing campaigns organized.
- Metrics and data analytics help you understand traffic sources.
- Link redirects push clicks and taps to the right destination.
- Custom domains and back-halves keep your links trustworthy and on-brand.
Pricing
Bitly offers five pricing plans. The Free plan includes one Link-in-bio page, plus two QR Codes and 10 links per month, and one Link-in-bio. You also get five custom back-halves, PNG & JPEG QR Code download formats, and access to the Bitly UTM Builder.
The $8/month Core plan offers five QR Codes and 100 links per month, one Link-in-bio page, and adds QR Code customizations, link redirects, and 30 days of click/scan data. (Plus everything in the Free plan!)
Bitly’s $29/month Growth plan gives users everything in the Core plan, plus a complimentary custom domain, additional QR Code download formats, four months of click/scan data, and bulk link shortening. Growth plan users also get one Link-in-bio page, and 10 QR Codes and 500 links per month.
With the $199/month Premium plan, things really kick up a notch. Premium users get one Link-in-bio page plus 200 QR Codes and 3,000 links per month. You can also access everything from the Growth plan plus a year of click/scan data, custom campaign-level tracking, city-level and device type click/scan data, and mobile deep linking.
For those needing even more robust solutions, Bitly also offers a custom-priced Enterprise plan with 10,000+ QR Codes and links per month, one Link-in-bio page per group, and multiple additional features, including multiple user seats, group permissions, at-scale link generation, 99.9% SLA uptime, and account manager support.
2. Attentive
Attentive is a wide-ranging SMS marketing platform that prides itself on ongoing support and customer success.
With Attentive, you get an SMS marketing tool that covers promotional messages, transactional text messages, and conversational SMS interaction. So Attentive isn’t just an advertising tool—it’s a customer service platform your brand can use to reach customers how they want to be reached.
Attentive also boasts some of the highest deliverability in the industry and claims its service gets twice the conversion rate of other services. Their campaign builder adds a crucial additional layer as well—an interface where you can craft messages, build sequences, and more.
All in all, Attentive is a robust platform—just be aware that the massive feature set comes with a high price tag.
Key features
- Single platform for sending SMS messages, images, GIFs, audio, and even video.
- AI-powered segmentation tool predicts the best content and the best time of day for sending.
- Powerful interface simplifies crafting, organizing, and scheduling messages.
- Architecture leads to better deliverability (even during peak times).
Pricing
Attentive doesn’t disclose pricing on its site, but some sources report that Attentive starts at $300/month, plus $0.01 per SMS, plus carrier fees that vary per provider. There may be a minimum quarterly cost, and several services require costly upgrades.
3. Klaviyo
Klaviyo is a marketing automation platform that covers email marketing automation, SMS marketing, mobile push (for brands with a standalone app), and review collection. It’s a powerful platform for building campaigns, segmenting your audience, and reaching that audience across multiple channels.
Klaviyo enables behavior-triggered email and SMS notifications with dynamic personalization. It also brings your forms and social targeting into a single platform, if you want to use it that way.
If you want a single platform full of powerful functionality to handle your email marketing campaigns and your SMS marketing campaigns, Klaviyo is an outstanding choice.
Key features
- Real-time segmentation helps you narrow your focus faster.
- Omnichannel data provides clearer insights.
- Behavior-triggered messaging creates higher ROI.
- Pre-built templates simplify campaign creation.
Pricing
Klaviyo’s pricing depends on how many contacts you have and the number of SMS/MMS messages you need per month. A business with 1,000 to 1,500 contacts needing 1,250 monthly messages will pay $60/month. (Note that all SMS plans also include email marketing.)
4. SlickText
If the concept of SMS marketing seems confusing or overly complicated, then SlickText could be the most viable SMS marketing platform for you. It’s simple and straightforward, plus they also provide an on-hand expert that can help you tailor messaging and strategies that fit your brand.
SlickText offers the expected features: a clear dashboard for creating and managing SMS text campaigns, SMS automations, and support for both SMS and MMS. Other standout features include Text to Join and Text to Win modules, SMS autoresponders, and website pop-up sign-up forms.
If you don’t need a bunch of ancillary stuff like a CRM or an email marketing solution, SlickText is an attractive and highly effective choice.
Key features
- Text to Join / Text to Win simplifies list-building.
- Automated workflows keep your systems running; no intervention needed.
- SMS Rest API lets you build your own integrations.
- Website pop-ups and email capture keep the list-building going.
Pricing
SlickText Basic (500 texts) is $29/month. Step Up is $49 for 1,000 texts. Prices scale upward from there across six additional plans, topping off with the $1,250/month Monstro plan (50,000 texts).
5. Textmagic
Some brands need all the bells and whistles. Others just need a tool for sending bulk SMS and customizable SMS messages—one that’s reliable, affordable, and easy to use.
If that second option sounds more like your style, then Textmagic could be the answer you’ve been looking for.
Their web-based dashboard is simple and intuitive. You can compose and schedule text messages, access 1:1 chats, use templates, look up customer data, and see your reporting information all from the side menu.
Plus, it’s a prepaid pay-as-you-go service, so you’re never surprised by overages or hidden fees.
Key features
- Web portal enables sending texts online and two-way SMS chat.
- Email to SMS lets you send SMS from anywhere.
- Zapier integration allows you to build the connections you need.
- Bulk text message sender is simple and effective.
- Mail merge custom fields enable enhanced personalization.
Pricing
TextMagic accounts are free, but their services aren’t. A virtual number (required in Canada and the U.S.) is $10/month. U.S. text messages are $0.049 apiece, MMS messages are $0.08, and carrier lookup runs $0.04 per lookup.
6. EZ Texting
EZ Texting is an all-in-one text marketing solution that can handle communications of all kinds—both external and internal.
Customer service teams can use EZ Texting for transactional texts, like managing appointments and sending delivery information. The service also covers two-way texting, helping convert more leads. Marketing and sales teams can do the same, as well as share promotions and loyalty information.
They also provide customer list growth tools, analytics and reporting, templates and design tools, and just about everything else you’ll need to craft an SMS campaign.
Key features
- Contact management keeps your contact list organized and segmented.
- Text messaging tools include group texting, 1:1, MMS, and more.
- Campaigns feature enables drip campaigns, reminders, text automations, and recurring texts.
- Wide-ranging integrations and API access enable connections of all sorts.
Pricing
EZ Texting offers four plans. Launch (for up to 500 contacts) starts at $20/month, while the Boost, Scale, and Enterprise plans add progressively more contacts and features (and costs).
Each plan includes 500 monthly messages, with additional message costs ranging from $0.027 (Launch) to $0.01 (Enterprise).
7. SimpleTexting
SimpleTexting might sound like, well, the simplest solution, but we think the name is deceiving. It’s actually an all-in-one text messaging platform that handles both SMS marketing and 1:1 conversations from a central dashboard, enhancing the customer experience.
SimpleTexting can handle SMS keywords and short codes, and it gives you an easy way to set up an SMS opt-in web form. It integrates with all your favorite apps, including Mailchimp and Zapier, and it supports a wide range of SMS automations.
There’s also support for extended messaging (306 characters instead of the typical 160-character limit) and multimedia messaging.
Key features
- Two-way messaging empowers customer service to interact directly with customers.
- Mass text messaging gets your marketing message out quickly.
- Web forms, short codes, and SMS keywords make opting in a breeze.
- Powerful automations keep your messages timely and relevant.
- Toll-free numbers keep your marketing efforts more cost-effective.
Pricing
SimpleTexting starts at $29/month for 500 credits (SMS messages are one credit; MMS are three credits). Jumping up to 3,000 monthly credits will cost $109, while 50,000 will cost $899.
8. Twilio
Twilio is a customer data and communications platform with numerous standalone products and a wide range of freemium features. These go well beyond just SMS marketing, though messaging is one piece of the Twilio portfolio.
Not only can you send SMS, WhatsApp, and in-mobile app chats with Twilio, the platform is also one of the top SMS integration tools you can use with Bitly.
Twilio can be a lot to learn, so it might not be the best choice if all you need is an SMS platform. But if you’re looking for a wider range of capabilities, Twilio could be perfect for you.
Key features
- WhatsApp support lets you interact on one of the world’s biggest platforms.
- Omnichannel architecture means you’ll reach your audience where they are.
- APIs make Twilo ideal for developers and the companies that employ them.
- Huge catalog of additional tools and features keeps your business on the cutting edge.
Pricing
You can get started with Twilio for free, but you’ll quickly run into their “pay for what you use” pricing, as well as minimums for certain services. Twilio’s SMS service starts at $0.0079 per message sent or received. Other add-ons, like WhatsApp, Conversation, and Verify, add to this cost.
Strengthen your SMS marketing campaigns with Bitly
SMS marketing is a powerful marketing channel. There’s no other marketing channel that the average consumer interacts with 144 times a day—every single day—or that 97% of Americans have constant access to.
We think most brands should use SMS marketing, but doing so effectively does require an SMS marketing platform with the right mix of capabilities, features, and pricing for your business.
No matter which SMS platform you land on, Bitly is the perfect addition. Bitly’s custom short links save valuable character space, and they keep your links looking safe and legit. You can use Bitly to keep people tapping through to your site, and the advanced analytics module gives you deep insights into those customers.
If you’re ready to get started with SMS marketing, now’s the perfect time to get started with Bitly as well. Try Bitly for free today!
