Mass Texting

What is a Mass Text?

A mass text is an SMS message used to text a large number of individual contacts or a specific list of contacts at once. In order to send a mass text you’ll need a service like TextSpot.

Mass texts are also commonly referred to as bulk texts or text blasts.

What Are Mass Text Messaging Services?

Mass texting services, also know as bulk text messaging services or text blast services, is software that allows you to an individual SMS text message to a large number of people at once.

Types of Mass Texts

There are different kinds of mass texts you can send with the right SMS software.

Instant

With TextSpot you can instantly send a mass text to a large number of people. If you select to send your mass text “Now” it will start sending your message to ever contact in your list.

Scheduled

With the right software, you can easily schedule unlimited mass texts. Scheduling mass text messages is simple with TextSpot. Just select “Later” under “Send this Message” in the TextSpot app, then select the date and time you’d like the message to be sent.

Recurring

Recurring or repeat mass text messages are a great way to schedule reminders and other marketing messages that happen regularly. With TextSpot you set up recurring mass texts. If you have a list of people that you’d like to send the same message to weekly, monthly, annually, etc. then TextSpot has the solution for you.

Why Mass Text Messaging?

Mass texting is a great solution for quickly communicating with a large number of people. There are endless possibilities for what you can achieve with mass texting. Any organization with a need for better communication or customer engagement will benefit from mass texting.

Mass Texting vs Email Marketing

Both email marketing and mass texting campaigns have their place and should be tailored to the outcomes you are looking for as well as considering the needs and requirements of your target audiences.

Pros:

• The average open rate for an SMS message is 90% while the average open rate of an email is 20%.
• Drafting a bulk SMS campaign is significantly faster to do because you don’t need to design an email.
• SMS offers the opportunity for more conversational, one-to-one marketing.

Cons:

• While SMS software does typically offer flexible pricing for mass texts, text messaging is typically more expensive since telecom carriers pass on costs to software providers for every text message sent.

Mass Texting vs Direct Mail

While direct mail is quite different than mass text message marketing, the motivation behind your marketing campaigns may be similar. Depending on your campaign goals, mass texting may be worth considering in addition to or instead of direct mail.

Pros:

• Mass texting is more cost-effective than direct mail. The cost of sending one SMS message is just a few pennies, compared to the cost of designing, printing, and mailing, which can be closer to a dollar or more per delivery.
• You can initiate conversations with your contacts instantly with SMS.

Cons:

• Sometimes nothing can replace a physical advertisement and getting that into the hands of your target customer.
• Mailing addresses can be purchased and deliverability is often more reliable. You cannot send marketing messages to people that have not opted in to receive your messages and they can easily opt out of receiving your text messages.

Mass Texting vs Social Media

While social media usually serves a different purpose and shouldn’t be considered a replacement for mass texting, it is important to understand that in some cases social media may not be worth the investment.

Pros:

• SMS is better at capturing attention. Social media is a feed of content vying for your customers’ attention and your posts can easily be missed or never seen at all.
• You own your SMS list. You don’t own social media platforms. Social media platforms can change algorithms to the point where your messages are rarely seen even by those that like or follow you.
• SMS is more personal and direct. You can initiate one-to-one conversations via mass texting.

Cons:

• Social media is free to use. You don’t have to pay to post content. Sending SMS messages does cost money.
• Mass texting isn’t “social.” People can’t share your SMS messages with others or comment on them.

Who Should Send Mass Texts?

Dozens of industries can benefit from using mass text messaging to communicate with their audience. Learn more about how you can use SMS the TextSpot mass text messaging service for your industry:

Mass Texting Use Cases

There are unlimited ways to use mass texting to accomplish your organizations communication goals. Mass texting can be used for marketing, transactional, and promotional.

Emergency Alerts

Mass text message emergency alerts are not messages you’d prefer to send, but can be crucial. Public schools and Universities can use emergency mass text alerts in order to alert parents and students of emergency situations.

Marketing

Just like email marketing, you can send mass text messages to specific lists or lists. List texting allows you to create large lists of any size and send a text to the entire list within seconds. SMS marketing provides you with an incredible opportunity to know with confidence that the majority of your messages will be read. With over a 90% open rate, text messages are without a doubt one of the best ways to confidently communicate.

Create Conversations

Mass text messaging allows you to prompt responses from the contacts you are sending text messages to. Starting conversations with mass texts allows your organization to create a natural, easy space for your audience to engage with you where they feel comfortable; behind their phone screen. You can receive messages back from your contacts and even send personalized messages that include your contacts’ name and other information.

Event Mass Texting

Mass text messaging is a must for event marketing. Whether you are trying to effectively market an event venue that hosts events regularly or you are an organization that often puts on events, mass event texting can help you make sure people are aware of your events, sign up for your events, and find out about important changes to your events.

Mass Text Messaging Services

There are dozens of available mass text messaging services available online. Some texting services are simply features of other software products like customer relationship management (CRM) software.

When considering the right mass text messaging service, you should consider a few factors:

• Features – Sending ass text messages is easier and more manageable when your mass texting messaging service includes other important features that make creating and managing mass texting campaigns effective and scalable. You’ll want the ability to schedule messages and create contact lists at a bare minimum.
• Price – Is the mass texting service affordable? Prices range depending on the platform you select and what features you require. Make sure you understand the pricing model and confirm there are no hidden fees. Your text messaging service should be transparent with how you will be charged. Typically, the more texts you send the more you will pay, however, your price per text message usually will go down.
• Support – The software you select for sending text messages should offer support that can help you learn how to make the most of mass texting for your organization.

Keep in mind that text messaging is constantly evolving. New features are being added all the time by text messaging services.

Mass Texting Features

Other text messaging features will make your mass text messaging campaigns more effective. Other features to look for in a text messaging platform include:

• Picture messaging or MMS – MMS (which stands for Multimedia Messaging Service) allows you to send multimedia like pictures and gifs. MMS costs more to service providers to send, so keep in mind that MMS usually is more costly, especially when sending mass MMS texts.
• Keywords – Keywords allow you to create a unique word to provide your audience a way to subscribe to your contact lists or list. For example, “Text KEYWORD to sign up for our awesome deals.” Great mass text services include unlimited keywords.
• 2-way messaging – 2-way messaging allows your contacts to respond to your mass text messages.
• Personal phone number – Your text messaging service should provide you with a toll-free telephone number to send your text messages from. You can also check to see if your current phone number can be ported to your service provider to be used for text messaging.
• Import – You’ll want the ability to upload a list of contacts to the lists you create to send mass texts to. An import feature will allow you to upload a spreadsheet in a CSV file format to bulk-add contact names and phone numbers.
• Mobile app – While it’s not crucial to have. It can be convenient to send, schedule, and manage mass text messages from a mobile app or mobile browser. It helps for sending list texts on the fly.

While these are recommended features that will make your mass texting experience better, it’s best to choose a platform that you are most comfortable with. The user experience, price, and support can often make up for a lack of features.

Mass Texting Ideas

There are dozens of ways you can send mass SMS messages. Here are a few ideas for campaigns to inspire you:

1. Offer Exclusive Discounts – If you sell something, entice your customers to join your SMS list to receive exclusive discounts or promotional codes that no one else gets. Make sure that you don’t abuse your lists or they will unsubscribe. Tell them how often they can expect to receive texts so they aren’t surprised and upset when you send the texts.
2. Newsletters – Everyone and their cousin has an email newsletter, but those email open rates are nowhere near as good as SMS open rates. Get your target audience to subscribe to your text message list and then send them links to your newsletter, website, or blog regularly.
3. Run Contests – Text your entire list and offer a prize for the first person to correctly answer a trivia question.
4. Feedback Requests – Solicit feedback or send links to surveys to your lists.
5. Reminders – Reminders are important for any list of people that have regular or irregular events and meetings. A scheduled or recurring mass text is a great way to make sure no one ever forgets about an important meeting.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mass Texting

Can you schedule a mass text message?

Yes. With SMS software like TextSpot you can easily schedule mass text messages to large lists of people.

Are mass text messages BCC or blind copy text messages?

Yes. Texts sent with a mass texting app like TextSpot send text messages as BCC. Learn more about blind copy text messaging.

How do I make a mass text?

1. Sign or login to your mass text software like TextSpot.
2. Create a list of contacts to send your mass text to.
3. Compose a mass text to your list.
4. Schedule or immediately send your mass text message to your list.

Is mass texting legal?

Yes, it is legal to send mass text messages. However, there are many restrictions set forth by the U.S. government in order to protect consumer privacy. Sending spam text messages is not legal. You should always seek to get your recipients’ permission before sending them a mass text.

How does a mass text work?

Mass texting works a lot like email marketing software. With mass texting software you can send a text message to a large list of phone numbers or contacts that you create within your SMS software.

How much does it cost to send a mass text?

Mass texting services typically offer monthly pricing based on usage. Prices are most often broken down by how many messages you send either per month or annually.

With TextSpot you send 50 mass texts per month for as low as $7 per month. The price per message sent goes down with larger plans. For example, you can send 5,000 messages monthly for only $90 per month.

Who can send mass text messages?

Anyone with a contact list and a mass text messaging service can send a mass text message. Within a matter of minutes and within just a few clicks you can be sending mass text messages.

What is a short code?

A short code is a special telephone number designed for high-throughput, two-way messaging. Short codes are used to send and receive SMS and MMS messages to and from mobile phones.

Mass Texting How To

How to send a mass text.

1. Sign or login to your text messaging software, like TextSpot.
2. Create a list of contacts to send your message to.
3. Compose a text to your list.
4. Schedule or immediately send your mass text message to your list.

How to send mass text individually.

If you want to send a mass individual text all you need is a mass texting service. When you send a mass text with mass texting software each one of your messages are sent individually (much like an email sent with email marketing software). Mass text messages do not create a list or thread where everyone will see who else received the message and can reply to the entire list. To send your mass text simply:

1. Sign up for a texting service like TextSpot.
2. Create a list to send your mass text to.
3. Send your mass text and it will be send a mass text individually to each contact in your list.

Related Resources

How to send a mass text from your computer.