Mass Texting
Reach Audiences of Any Size
Whether you’re sending 50 or 500,000 messages, our mass texting service has you covered. Our send speeds are fastest in the industry and with the best possible delivery rates.
Personalize For Better Engagement
Boost engagement and response rates by personalizing your text messages and segmenting your audiences based on their behavior.
Understand Messaging Performance
Our mass text service offers detailed analytics to help you understand messaging performance. From delivery reports to click tracking, we have it all.
What is Mass Text Messaging?
Mass texting is a communication strategy that allows you to send SMS messages to large groups of people. You can choose to segment those groups to hyper-target people based on certain criteria or simply send to the whole group at once.
People across several industries are using mass texting services to send mobile coupons, emergency alerts, reminders, status updates and more. With our automated text message features you can even schedule your texts in advance and put your SMS strategy on autopilot.
How to Send a Mass Text
Our service makes sending mass texts easy. It can be broken down into 3 simple steps. First you need to create a textword. Then import your contacts or grow a list organically. Lastly, you’ll send or schedule your message. Let’s look at how this works in a bit more detail.
Create a Textword
The first step in sending a mass text is to create a textword. A textword is a word or phrase that people can text to an SMS short code or phone number to opt into your list. A textword represents a list of subscribers and is what you’ll send your text messages to. You can have as many textwords as you’d like.
Grow Your List
The second step is to grow your texting list. You can build it from scratch by having new people opt in or you can import a list of contacts. It’s important to note that you can only send mass text messages to people who have opted into receiving them from you. Not only is it best practice, it’s the law as well.
Send Your Mass Text
Once you have a list, you’ll be at a place where you can start sending mass texts. This part is easy. Simply select which textword list you want to send to, type out your content, and either send it or schedule it to be sent at some point in the future.
The Difference Between Mass Texting Services and Texting Apps
There are a lot of messaging apps out there but they aren’t the same as a mass texting service. They’re actually quite different.
First, texting apps have a limit to how many people you can reach in a single mass text. Typically, this limit is around 10 contacts for most apps. With a mass text messaging service, there’s virtually no limit.
Secondly, with messaging apps, if someone replies to a mass text, everyone else sees it. This is arguably the most annoying thing about group texts. For texting services that offer inboxing functionality, people can reply, but all replies are private. Those inbound texts flow into an inbox where you can manage each conversation separately.
Lastly, it’s important to make it easy for people to opt out of your messages. When using a texting app, there isn’t always great a way for people to do that. They can fumble with settings or mute conversations but that’s a poor experience. All mass texting services are required to process special “opt out keywords” like STOP and CANCEL. People can simply reply with one of those words and be instantly opted out.
Mass Texting Services VS Texting Apps
| TEXTING APPS | MASS TEXTING SERVICES | |
| Contact Limits | 10 | Unlimited |
| Proper Handling of Replies |  |
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| Proper Handling of Opt Outs | |
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| Universal Device Support | |
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If you want to manage things from a mobile device, you should use a mass text app offered by a mass texting service. SlickText has a great mobile app available for iOS and Android and it’s free to download.
Is Mass Texting Legal?
Yes, sending mass texts is perfectly legal. With that said, there are some specific guidelines that you must follow in order to remain on the right side of the law. The most important rule is that you can only send text messages to people who have opted in. This can be done via text to join, web opt-in forms or paper forms. The key is to manage expectations by clearly communicating what people are signing up for.
In addition to having consent, you must always provide a way for people to opt out. The standard protocol for opting out is to reply STOP, CANCEL, END, UNSUBSCRIBE or QUIT. All mass texting services are required to process these special keywords on your behalf. Make sure your service does!
While these two points are the two main legal rules governing mass SMS, there are several other best practices that everyone using SMS should follow.
Mass Texting Best Practices
- All people must have previously opted in
- Provide a way for people to opt out
- Set expectations on message content
- Don’t send mass texts too often
- Text turning normal hours
- Use common language in your text messages
View All The Best Practices
Choosing the Right Mass Texting Service
There’s several mass texting services available today but finding the right one can be a challenge. There’s lots to consider and probably more that you’re unaware of. From deliverability to texting compliance and features, we’ll cover everything you should consider before choosing a service.
The Service Should Be Easy to Use
The first thing you should look for in a mass texting service is how easy it is to use. At the end of the day, if the interface is clunky or hard to work with, it’s less likely that you’ll use it. The interface for sending should be easily accessible and the process for sending and scheduling your texts should feel natural. Most reputable services will offer a free trial so you can vet the experience and all they have to offer.
Additionally, make sure they offer a mobile app to manage your mass texting. Some services refer to their software as an “app” even though they don’t have a mobile app in the app store. If you’re like most people, you’ll want the option to manage your texting from a mobile device so make sure they have a legitimate app to do it with.
Questions to Ask Yourself…
- Is the interface easy to use?
- Do they make sending & scheduling simple?
- Is there a free trial to test with?
- Do they have an Apple and Android App?
Delivery Should be High
Text message delivery is a huge factor in deciding on a mass texting service and one that’s often overlooked. There’s a large range in messaging quality that people don’t realize. Some services use cheap quality “SMS routes” to send. Some don’t maintain strong enough infrastructure to handle sending text broadcasts at larger scale. This can leave a lot of your messages going undelivered.
Know that sending messages to small groups is simple and easy for most texting services. That’s not normally where texts begin to fail. Sending to hundreds or thousands gets more complex and where things can break down. Make sure that you choose a mass text messaging service that can prove their deliverability is high and that has a history of working with larger, more reputable companies that demand quality delivery.
Things to Remember…
- Not all services have great message delivery
- Not all services are capable of sending scale
- Ask to prove the messaging quality
The Service Must Be Compliant With Laws
Compliance in the world of SMS is a big deal. The laws that govern unwanted text messages are much stricter than email. Fines for spam texts can be as high as $500 per text per person. This is why choosing a mass text service that follows SMS best practices is huge. What does this mean for you? Make sure that your text service provides a clear way for people to opt out. This means supporting key “stop words” that people can reply with to remove themselves. Some of these words include STOP, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE.
Additionally, the texting service that you choose should have strict opt out management. If someone opts out of your list, the app should prevent them from being re-added via any other method besides a “text to join.” Accidentally sending texts to people after they’ve opted out could be a costly mistake.
What You Should Know…
- Sending spam text messages can get expensive
- You mass text service should support opt out keywords
- A good service will not allow you to upload numbers without asking more questions first
- A good service will have safeguards in place to prevent accidental opt ins
How’s the Services’ Reputation?
As with any purchase decision, it’s important to understand the company’s reputation. What are others saying about their mass texting service? What are people saying about their messaging quality? Are there real people behind the scenes? Do a little research to make yourself feel comfortable. What does their “About Us” page look like? What do 3rd party review sites say about their service? It’s important to do your homework.
What to Look For…
- 3rd party reviews on their service
- What people are saying about their message quality
- An about us page on their website
How is the Service Priced?
Price is a very interesting topic when evaluating mass text services. As mentioned above, there are cheap ways and quality ways to send texts. There’s also cheap software and quality software. It’s important to understand the concept of “you get what you pay for”. You should seek out a texting service with competitive pricing but also be wary of ones with abnormally low costs. Most who choose low cost texting services find that when they scale, need support, features or help, they made the wrong decision.
Also be weary of hidden fees. They can represent a large, unexpected component of what you’ll be paying. Ask specifically if carrier pass-through fees and taxes are included or in addition to advertised pricing.
Things to Remember…
- You get what you pay for
- Seek competitive but not abnormally low pricing
- Most cheap services provide no scale or support
- Does the service have additional hidden fees?
NEEDED FEATURES
Features to Look For in a Mass Texting Service
All mass text services have different features, bells and whistles. While some may be “shinier” than others, we believe there is a core set of features that are table stakes for any solid service.
Text Message Scheduling
It’s almost a guarantee that some of your messages will need to be sent at times when you’re not available. That’s why you should choose a mass text service that supports the ability to schedule your messages ahead of time. Any good service should support scheduling. Extra points for the ones that allow you to schedule recurring texts to put some of those regular messages on autopilot.
Multiple Opt-In Methods
There’s no point in using a mass text messaging service if you’ve got no one to send to. Make sure the service you choose supports several different ways for people to subscribe. Some of the common ways include text to join, web-form options, and uploading of contacts. List growth tools are a big part of growing a mass texting list so make sure your services offers several.
Two-Way Texting
People are going to respond to your messages. You need to have a way to manage those responses. Make sure your service supports the ability to have 2-way, private, text conversations with people that reply. You’d be surprised how many don’t have that.
Clear Analytics
It’s important to understand the performance of your texting efforts. The best text services have solid analytics that give you a clear view into things like opt-ins, opt-outs, click throughs in your messages etc. The app should present all of the data in an easy to understand format for quick reference.
SMS Automations
The best services for mass texting offer several different options for sending automated text messages. Automation is typically found with higher quality services as the cheaper ones usually do the bare minimum. Look for features like drip messages, birthday messages, recurring texts and automated workflows.
iOS & Android Support
As mentioned above, some text messaging services refer to themselves as apps but they don’t actually have a mobile app. This means you have to visit their website every time you want to send a message. Make sure the service you decide on offers a mass texting app in both the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Common Mass Texting FAQs
Whether you’re shopping around for a mass text messaging service or just here to learn, chances are you might have a question or two. While the world of mass texting is fairly simple and straightforward, some things aren’t. Here we’ll answer the most common FAQs regarding sending SMS at scale. If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
WHY CHOOSE US
Why Choose SlickText as Your Mass Text Messaging Service?
There are several mass texting services out there, but we think we’re the best. Sure, we might be biased, but there’s a lot that sets us apart. here are just a handful of reasons why our service is the best for you…
Get Started For Free
Interested in testing the waters? You can try our mass texting service for free with no strings attached. Our trial gives you 50 free texts which is more than enough to get a feel for everything.
Easy to Use On-the-Go
Not only is our software great on desktop, it’s just as awesome on mobile. Download our free mobile app to manage 100% of your mass texting efforts on the go. You might never use the desktop version again.
Manage Multiple Lists & Segments
Create as many lists and segments as you’d like. Our contact management tools are outstanding. You can even give account access to colleages so they can manage and message the lists they have permission to view.
Automate Your Text Messaging
Put some or all of your messaging on autopilot so that you can get back to focusing on what’s most important. Our mass text service makes automating your SMS messages extremely simple and straightforward.
Engage 2-Way
People can respond privately to your mass texts without the rest of the group being involved. All responses funnel into an easy-to-manage, threaded inbox where you can manage your chat messages and text back and forth individually.
Schedule Your Messages
You can use our mass texting service to schedule your messages ahead of time. Sometimes the right time to send isn’t when you’re available. Simply provide a date and time when creating your group text message and we’ll handle the rest!
Top Tier Deliverability
If your messages aren’t getting delivered it can seriously harm the effectiveness of your strategy. We’re committed to using the best messaging routes so that you can trust what you send gets delivered.
Superior Customer Support
We’re always here for one-on-one support if you need it. Schedule a call with us at any time, or send us a message and we can walk you through any questions that arise. Our success is yours.
200+ Other Features
Our mass text messaging service has been developed and refined over almost a decade. We’ve got so many helpful tools and features it would be almost impossible to list them all here. You’ll have everything you need.