Your Guide to Choosing an SMS Platform [Checklist + Examples] — Blog | Attentive
Your Guide to Choosing an SMS Platform
Find the best SMS provider for your retail or e-commerce brand with our comprehensive selection guide.
Everything you should look for when evaluating an SMS marketing platform to help you scale a list of subscribers, drive revenue, and build loyalty.
A lot of brands struggle to reach their customers with relevant messages across channels. That’s why over 60% of brands are already using SMS marketing, citing strong customer engagement and improved ROI as the primary benefits.
As online shopping in the US continues to expand, brands are increasingly leveraging technology to send more sophisticated SMS messages to drive revenue, build loyalty, and retain customers. One of the ways we’re seeing this come to light is with generative AI. AI is breaking the mold with its never-before-possible ability to send a unique message to every individual subscriber based on their behavior and engagement patterns. Brands should absolutely take AI into consideration when choosing an SMS provider.
Choosing a partner that not only meets your needs today, but can continue to keep pace with you, your tech stack, emerging tools, and regulations is critical. Use this post as your guide before you sign on the dotted line:
What is an SMS marketing platform?
An SMS marketing platform lets you communicate with subscribers via personalized text messages, whether you’re offering a new promotion or reminding someone to return to their abandoned cart.
The benefits of SMS marketing
What makes SMS marketing so great? SMS offers unparalleled immediacy, with messages typically read within minutes of receipt, ensuring timely and effective communication.
- SMS marketing boasts high engagement rates compared to other digital marketing channels, with open rates as high as 98%. This high engagement translates into better conversion rates and more effective campaigns.
- The personal nature of SMS allows for highly targeted and personalized messaging, fostering stronger customer relationships and loyalty.
- There's an unparalleled level of control that comes with SMS marketing. You get to choose how you integrate the channel into the rest of your marketing tech stack, further enhancing your multi-channel marketing strategy.
- SMS marketing is highly regulated. These regulations help ensure responsible and ethical messaging, which can enhance a brand’s reputation.
How AI should impact your decision
The use case for AI in marketing is growing at unprecedented rates. This includes the ability to speak to each customer with a personalized message based on their shopping behaviors and history. When choosing an SMS provider, take a deep dive into their generative AI capabilities.
Top SMS Marketing Platforms
| Platform | What they're known for | Key features | Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best-in-class SMS and email marketing with AI-powered personalization | Industry-leading AI tools; innovating with RCS | Strategic guidance and 24/7 customer support | |
| Enterprise customer engagement platform | Multi-channel; AI for content creation | Self-service help resources | |
| CRM for small to mid-sized e-commerce brands | AI for campaign creation | Self-service focus | |
| Reviews platform with SMS for Shopify | Includes reviews and loyalty tools | Self-service help center |
Choosing an SMS provider: Key considerations
1. Easy set-up and launch
Make sure nothing stands in the way of your ability to grow your subscriber list, send and schedule messages, create targeted segments, and analyze performance.
2. Guidance on compliance
The SMS industry is held to high compliance standards. Ensure your partner can provide guidance and peace of mind.
3. Reliability you can count on
A dependable partner ensures timely and accurate message delivery, crucial for time-sensitive promotions.
4. Integrations that connect with your tech stack
Integrations can enhance your SMS marketing efforts by unifying data and personalizing experiences.
5. List growth tools
Make sure your SMS marketing platform offers a robust suite of list growth tools.
6. Sophisticated campaign message-sending workflows
Your SMS marketing platform should allow you to send revenue-generating campaigns and segment messages effectively.
7. Media options including SMS, MMS, and video
Ensure your SMS partner allows sending a variety of messages, including images and videos.
8. Personalized triggered messages
Triggered messages can help drive revenue based on real-time behavioral data.
9. Real-time, two-way conversations
Ensure the ability to send two-way text messages that invite subscriber replies.
10. AI-powered personalization and targeting tools
Your SMS solution should provide predictive targeting and advanced segmentation capabilities.
11. Reporting and analytics
Set up custom reports that visualize key data to ensure you’re driving the best results.
How to use your SMS marketing tool for maximum success
Define your goals and metrics, develop a plan for list growth, and ensure compliance before you start texting customers. Write effective text messages and A/B test regularly to understand what resonates with your audience.
Ready to give AI a shot? Get started today.