How to Keep Your SMS Marketing Costs in Check

Although SMS (text) marketing is one of the most effective channels for reaching customers—and statistics show that customers overwhelmingly prefer text communications over email or phone calls—many marketers still leave SMS out of their strategy because they think it’s too expensive. 

However, when you examine the flexible pricing, powerful features, and impressive ROI that’s possible with SMS marketing, you’ll realize that it can actually be extremely cost-effective. Here’s an in-depth look at SMS marketing costs, as well as some tips for achieving a better SMS marketing ROI.

How Much Does SMS Marketing Cost?

The exact cost of your SMS marketing service will depend on your provider and how many messages you send per month. Generally, providers will offer several tiers of SMS marketing plans with a fixed number of SMS credits or messages you can send each month. Many providers will decrease the cost per message with higher-volume plans incentivizing you to upgrade as your SMS marketing campaigns grow and avoid overage charges.

Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck With SMS Marketing

No matter how affordable your SMS marketing plan is, you won’t see a satisfactory ROI unless you’re able to achieve real results from your campaign in the form of leads and conversions. Here are some tips for keeping your SMS marketing costs low while increasing your ROI.

Longer Text Messages

Traditionally, text messages have been limited to 160 characters. If you go over that limit by even a single character, you’ll get charged for a second message. However, some SMS marketing providers offer longer messages, with the longest being 240 characters. Choosing a provider that allows you to send longer messages can help you keep your SMS marketing costs in check by preventing unexpected overages.

Audience Segmentation Tools

Any marketing expert will tell you that the most effective campaigns are highly targeted to specific customer groups or demographics. SMS marketing allows you to create contact lists or subscriber groups to segment your audience by keyword usage, location, age, or any other metric you wish to use. 

Most providers limit how many subscriber groups you can create in each of their pricing tiers, or you need to purchase additional groups for an added cost. However, finding an SMS marketing platform that gives you unlimited subscriber groups can ensure that you’re able to create as many audience segments as you want without increasing your monthly costs.

Automated Campaign Messaging

One way to make your SMS marketing more efficient is to automate your campaigns and keyword responses. Your SMS service should give you the ability to schedule campaign messages in advance so you can ensure customers are receiving your texts at the right time. Another key feature to look for is keyword autoresponders, which automatically send messages in response to a customer texting you a specific SMS keyword.

Two-Way Texting

Something you should look out for as you compare SMS providers and plans is whether two-way texting is included in the cost. With two-way texting, customers can respond to your SMS campaigns to ask questions, provide feedback, or otherwise engage with your brand. 

Some SMS marketing plans charge extra for this service or only include a very limited number of incoming texts. If you really want to engage in a conversation with your customers, you should ensure two-way texting is included in your SMS plan.

API Integration

One of the best features of SMS is that it can be easily integrated with marketing platforms, CRM software, and email services. This integration is accomplished through API connectors, which developers use to allow your existing software and services to communicate with the SMS gateway. Developing an API connector from scratch will cost you unnecessary time and resources, which is why you should look for an SMS marketing provider that includes API tools for the integrations you need.

The Right Provider Will Have Options

Ultimately, keeping your SMS marketing costs in check is easy if you choose a provider who gives you access to all the tools you need to maximize your ROI while charging you a fair price. This is where NorthText can help. We offer three affordable tiers of SMS marketing pricing, plus custom quotes for fixed-price or high-volume messaging. We’ll never surprise you with hidden fees or upcharges, and our live support team is available to answer any billing questions you have by phone, text, or email. 

With your NorthText account, you’ll have unlimited subscriber groups, unlimited SMS keywords, and access to a comprehensive library of API tools. Plus, NorthText’s 240 character-limit messages are the longest in the industry, allowing you to get the most out of each SMS message.

Jeff Winaker

Jeff Winaker is the CEO of NorthText. He’s passionate about helping clients reach their customers faster with SMS marketing. He resides in the Bay Area with his family.