10 Best SMS Marketing Software Solutions in 2024

SMS marketing softwares has been an extremely successful marketing tool in the market. But do you know why and how? SMS or Short message service is one of the critical ways of communication. A recent report by Forbes has shared that more than seven in ten consumers signed up to receive text messages from businesses within the last year. 

In addition to this, the same study shared that 86% of businesses have already incorporated SMS marketing to reach their existing customers. For the last couple of decades, SMS has proved to be one of the most influential and instant ways of communicating between people on a personal level and for brands and companies to interact with customers and clients.

Moreover, a study by Gartner has found that SMS open rates are 98% higher than email opening rates, which hover at 20%.

This makes SMS one of the most important ways to communicate instantly as it offers a push-based service that includes links to the brand's website, which in turn helps increase the website traffic and thereby increases the sales turnover online. Here, we discuss 10 of the best SMS marketing softwares that are trending in the industry.

Factors to consider while choosing a SMS marketing software

Here are the factors to consider while choosing a SMS marketing software.

1. Inclusion of media and hyperlinks

SMS works as a push based service and can be used to draw attention to the links or details that are attached in the SMS message.

As a brand, marketers can use hyperlinks of a shopping site, special coupon codes or vouchers or a link to the website that offers various services that you want to draw attention to using multimedia images or attachments.

2. Must integrate with other communication tools

SMS marketing software that works in combination with other marketing communication channels is a great way to send more information and better reach.

SMS marketing that works alongside email campaigns or social media campaigns have been known to gather more response and reach.

3. Must work in sync with the marketing platform

SMS marketing as such should be in sync with a marketing platform and with successful integration with other marketing apps such as Slack, zapier, hubspot marketing hub etc.

This way, the results of SMS campaigns can be integrated with the overall marketing efforts for better outcome.

4. Reliability and deliverability

The SMS marketing software must have high deliverability. SMS that come up as spam are hardly opened by customers.

It is imperative that SMS are delivered in the most effective manner and with utmost reliability for better reach.

List of top 10 SMS marketing softwares

1. Twilio

Twilio is one of the most popular phone based marketing applications that runs smoothly for all kinds of business with any kind of mobile based marketing requirement.

No matter if you are a solo entrepreneur and a novice at marketing or a medium scale business with an established marketing team, Twilio is one of the most self-sufficient and seamless programs that works well with other marketing systems you may have in place.

Key features of Twilio:

• Instant 2-way messaging service along with notification feature
• A/B testing feature for content
• Expand into live chat and receive phone calls with monitoring and logging services
• Reporting and analytical services with dashboard
• Seamless integrations with most types of CRM, Sales and email softwares

Twilio is one of the industry leaders in business communication tools and marketing software that helps in effective 2 way communication.

With twilio, you can easily automate not just marketing conversations but also transactional and push based messages over a wide variety of communication platforms.

With AI optimized content and templates, this is one of the perfect SMS marketing platforms you will ever come across.

Pros of Twilio:

• Allows phone calling for direct marketing
• Provides notifications incase of customer related queries or issues which makes customer support easier and more responsive
• Provides functional API with a 99.9 percent uptime for developers to make complete use of the flexible and scalable service
• Traffic optimization service is a brilliant new feature that has been added recently

Cons of Twilio:

• Incoming call issues were noted by some users
• Features are scrambled on the UI which can be quite difficult to get used to in the beginning.

Pricing structure:

• SMS Inbound and Outbound for Long codes, short codes and toll free at 0.0079 USD
• Volume discounts for beyond 150000 messages billed at 0.007 USD and so forth
• MMS plans start at 0.02 USD for outbound and 0.01 for inbound
• Many different plans available based on contact size from 0 to 1 million and above.
• Free trial available

Twilio customer case studies:

• Altibbi is a platform that connects patients and healthcare providers for medical advice by providing unlimited phone access using Twilio masked numbers and with total security for on-call support. They have been able successfully connect 20k doctors with 50k patients within 20 secs.
• Air products, a renowned chemical based company was able to deploy an alert system over a global IT scale to reduce incidents thanks to Twilio SMS alert systems that generated an effective incident preventing alert system.

Companies using Twilio:

• Cipherhealth
• American Red Cross
• Gojek
• Morgan Stanley
• Chime

G2 rating - 4.3 on 5 with 440+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.5 on 5 with 400+ reviews

2. EZ Texting

EZ Texting is beyond basic messaging. It is built keeping in mind the needs of the modern marketer by enabling them to use images, multimedia and hyperlinks to websites that help push products and product websites to customers.

Using EZ texting, businesses can hope to increase website traffic, market products and services and promote events easily.

With drip campaigns, shutterstock image embedding and list growth tools that come with the suite, businesses can scale up vertically using EZ texting.

Key features of EZ Texting:

• Effectively create and manage drip campaigns
• Dashboard with engagement, activity, keyword tracking services
• Scheduled messaging campaigns with reporting tools
• Templates and poll management for surveys
• API and 3rd party integrations, dedicated short codes

EZ Texting is the best solution for those who are in the retail, banking, insurance, FMCG, events and other related industries who need a push based message service that helps promote products and services.

The new age tools and features of EZ texting offer unique facilities such as managing drip campaigns, list growth and management tools, and improved analytical reporting that helps fine tune campaigns.

Pros of EZ Texting:

• Boost engagement using dedicated shortcodes with 5 to 6 number brand
• Easy segmentation and targeted messaging tools for better reach
• Multimedia and MMS messaging that helps promote products
• Improve opt ins using digital signs, QR codes and other tools

Cons of EZ Texting:

• Customer service is not up to the mark according to some users
• Monthly plans or pay as you go options are unavailable.

Pricing structure:

• Launch plan starts at 20 USD per month for upto 500 contacts
• Boost plan starts at 60 USD per month for upto 2000 contacts
• Scale plan starts at 100 USD per month for upto 50,000 contacts
• Enterprise plan starts at 300 USD per month for above 50k contacts
• Free trial available

EZ Texting customer case studies:

• Domino's franchise near the NC University in Charlotte was able to drive sales from their TV and video ads by means of their SMS campaigns. They were able to promote their first purchase coupons with 350 redemptions, 25 percent redemption from additional offers and a growth of whopping 25,000 customer base
• Mat Faulkner of Think Idea studio in Searcy Arkansans was able to win the Hulu Small business revolution show by monetizing an SMS campaign to win votes for their small town which would receive a 500k USD investment. Using EZ texting, he was able to get more people to vote for him and create a revolution for his town.

Companies using EZ Texting:

• University of Rochester
• Maximus Inc
• DMI
• SEO Org
• Innovecs

G2 rating - 4.5 on 5 with 550+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.3 on 5 with 130+ reviews

3. ClickSend

ClickSend is an easy, no nonsense software that integrates seamlessly with your existing ecosystem and helps create and manage SMS campaigns alongside your other marketing initiatives.

With clicksend, you can directly take charge of your campaigns and SMS blast programs with an interactive dashboard that controls every aspect.

Key features of ClickSend:

• 2 way texts, chat, messaging platform for all devices
• Data import and export features for data sharing
• API and easy integration with other popular programs and apps
• Real time reporting and statistics analytics using dashboard
• Campaign creator, manager with reporting and tracking

Clicksend is extremely easy to use and has a very flexible payment plan that is suitable for all kinds of businesses, small or large.

It works on a robust platform that can integrate well with your other marketing efforts to deliver better results using a 2 way interaction platform providing live chat, support, product push and other marketing communication services.

Pros of Clicksend:

• ClickSend promises a 98 percent SMS open rate using online business SMS domain
• One platform for bulk texts, broadcasts and marketing communication texts
• SMPP API with SDK Library and documentation for precise API extension
• Use for transactional, informational or commercial text messaging as per need

Cons of Clicksend:

• Lack of notifications for replies
• Restrictive features for certain countries

Pricing structure:

• Free inbound messages
• Outbound messages prices start from 0.0177 USD for 2000 contacts
• MMS plans start from 0.02 USD
• Contact list expandable upto 250k on custom pricing
• Free trial available.

ClickSend customer case studies:

• TangerPay is a systematic app that reminds you of your laundry while also allowing you to pay for laundromat services online. Using ClickSend SMS alerts, they were able to keep customers in loop with their laundry updates as and when they are done. Transactional SMS helped pay and track payment when using these services.
• Mobius was able to connect with patients for a post patient feedback and report service with a whopping 99 percent response rate and a 98 percent open rate which is the highest on the industry, thanks to ClickSends SMS links and campaigns.

Companies using ClickSend:

• PepsiCo
• F45
• Specsavers
• GoStudent
• Mobius

G2 rating - 4.4 on 5 from 15+ reviews

Capterra rating - 3.8 on 5 from 30+ reviews

4. SendinBlue

SendinBlue is now Brevo, an all-in-all marketing communication tool that assists marketers and managers to create effective communication and marketing efforts and foster excellent interaction with customers using multiple channels.

The Brevo marketing platform offers an intuitive and engaging SMS campaign tool that helps marketers to target customers and increase sales and send out real time updates to customers.

Key features of SendinBlue/ Brevo:

• Campaign management, analytics, planning and segmentation features
• Link tracking, email tracking, reporting and analytical tools
• Quick templates for custom content along with AI
• Real-time data and contact management for data import and export
• Functional API and easy interaction with so many different marketing and sales tools

Brevo utilizes a simple and effective plan that helps marketers use a comprehensive marketing suite to conduct SMS and email campaigns that complement each other.

Apart from the Brevo marketing platform, marketers can make use of Brevo Conversations, a plan offered by Brevo that helps with a complete communication platform including, Whatsapp, live chat and social media messaging for interactive communication.

Pros of SendinBlue/ Brevo:

• Marketers can purchase the plan as part of the marketing bundle and utilize as per need
• Easy to set up, import contacts and execute SMS campaigns in just minutes
• Campaign performance and analytics is linked with the marketing suite and can be run comprehensively on the whole
• Offers real time and transactional SMS updates for customers apart from marketing campaigns

Cons of SendinBlue/ Brevo:

• Learning curve is high as the software is complex at first

Pricing structure:

• Free basic plan with unlimited contacts
• Starter plan priced at 25 USD per month
• Business plan priced at 65 USD per month
• Brevo Plus at custom pricing for enterprise clients

SendinBlue/ Brevo company case studies:

• Olio Cristafaro is a small olive oil making company in Italy that was able to sell its home grown products using effective SMS campaigns and marketing automation products of Brevo by connecting with customers locally.
• Monisnap is an online money transfer app that helps transfer money with less fees. Using Brevo’s marketing tools and SMS campaigns, the company was able to develop a customer base of 380000 users and retain customer loyalty at 40 percent.

Companies using SendinBlue/ Brevo:

• Michelin
• Sodexo
• Ebay
• Huawei
• Carrefour

G2 rating - 4.5 on 5 with 1600+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.5 on 5 with 1700+ reviews

5. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an all-in-all solution that starts at marketing and comes a full circle by including communication tools, marketing tools, statistical and analytical tools and the best part - they integrate with a whole lot of business ecosystems which make them one of the most universal softwares for SMS communication.

The SMS marketing platform helps communicate using reminders, alerts, notifications and subscription messages.

Key features of ActiveCampaign:

• Click tracking, event trigger options for better results
• Customer database and contact management
• A/B testing for better content along with AI
• Campaign planning and segmentation, automation of SMS blasts
• Easily integrates with multiple apps for multichannel communication

ActiveCampaign helps marketers build a community of subscribers and helps keep brands connected using transactional, informational and promotional messages.

Connect using bulkSMS, whatsapp or other communication channels to increase message read rate and increase click rates by adding product catalogs, websites and other material.

Pros of ActiveCampaign:

• Integrates with SMS and other forms of chat services using native integration such as whatsapp, twilio and other messaging apps to boost message reach
• Useful for sending out reminders, announcements and alerts to customers using a multi channel approach
• Add subscribe option and collect customer data to create new database and gather more audience for your brand

Cons of ActiveCampaign:

• UI is complicated with jargon that can be tough to get used to at first.
• Upgrading and downgrading plans can be complicated.

Pricing structure:

• Available as a separate add-on upon request
• Not available for Marketing Lite packages
• Marketing plans start at 49 USD per month to 149 USD per month
• Custom enterprise plan available
• Free trial available for marketing plans

ActiveCampaign company case studies:

• Alclaire is a hearing device company that has seen great success in connecting with customers on a one to one basis and using ActiveCampaign, have doubled the number of campaigns they use to connect with customers regularly. This has yielded them 75 percent open rates and 32 percent click rates.
• Form Factory is a wellness and nutrition brand that utilized ActiveCampaigns marketing platform to connect with customers by collecting their information using forms and landing pages, using SMS and email campaigns to connect with them later on and helping drive sales by 36 percent and 20 percent increase in renewals.

Companies using ActiveCampaign:

• Mind Space
• Paperbell
• Cambiati
• Made for Freedom
• Code camp

G2 rating - 4.5 on from 10k+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.6 on 5 from 2500+ reviews

6. TextMagic

Textmagic is one of the most popular SMS and messaging communication apps that helps businesses communicate with each other and with their customers.

This software is especially great for those who do not have a big budget but need an effective tool that helps them communicate with each other.

This software is free and has a pay as you go option and also offers a whole suite of services.

Key features of Textmagic:

• 2 way chat and messaging service for customers
• Client database, contact management, data import and export services
• Functional API with integration facility with a few other apps
• Automated scheduling of bulk SMS and SMS blast
• Push alerts and notifications for SMS communications.

TextMagic is one of the best in the market that offers a range of SMS services for half the market price.

They provide business texting apps that can be used for long text messages, voice calling, unicode messaging, Shortcode and sender ID display and many more such features.

Convert email to texts, segment customer list and automate campaigns on the basis of text type such as alerts, reminders, transactional or promotional.

Pros of Textmagic:

• App for business messaging available on iOS and android
• Virtual number and Sender code ID for messaging
• Voice call forwarding service and voice broadcast feature available
• Prepare distribution lists using list builder and subscription forms for customer data

Cons of Textmagic:

• Customer service is not upto the mark
• It can be a bit slow

Pricing structure:

• Free account with no hidden fees
• Price per SMS starts at 0.049 per SMS in the USA
• Free trial available

Textmagic customer case studies:

• Pete+Lucy used TextMagic to revolutionize their sales of children's clothing as their emails were not giving much results. Using SMS campaign, they were able to boost sales from 10 percent conversion to 30 percent conversion rate
• Nestle was able to communicate with its large employee size using TextMagic which was set up in less than 20 minutes. It helped establish real time and instant communication between the management and employees that reduced connectivity issues.

Companies using Textmagic:

• Nestle
• Patronus
• Cloud data service
• Maxus
• CCTVaware

G2 rating - 4.4 on 5 with 80+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.6 on 5 with 200+ reviews

7. Plivo

Plivo is one of the most popular free voice calling and SMS marketing tools that help businesses to stay in touch with their customers in the most easy and efficient manner.

The HTTP API helps with sending bulk SMS to customers in an effective 2-way chat service.

Plivo offers plenty of tools that help send various kinds of messages including auto responses, surveys or polls, marketing promotional messages or reminder messages.

Key features of Plivo:

• Bulk SMS program and Instant message blast
• Automated response setting
• Contact management and scheduled messaging for campaigns
• Message templates and personalization service
• Chat transcript and polls or survey data capture

Plivo has a comprehensive messaging plan that ensures a pay as you go payment system that is perfect for all sizes of companies.

Their tools and features are great to achieve better connectivity as they are present in 190 countries for a global reach.

Customized sender ID can be purchased and marketers can use alphanumeric ID, local numbers or toll free numbers to achieve better reach and response.

Pros of Plivo:

• Easy to send long messages without character set restriction or capping
• Smart queuing that helps maintain carrier compliance
• Easy payment option with pay as you go or volume based discount model
• 99.5 percent uptime SLA with top tier reliability and deliverability
• Opt out intent is also available for end users

Cons of Plivo:

• Customer support is not up to the mark as per some users
• Integration options are fewer

Pricing structure:

• Inbound and outbound SMS at 0.0055 USD per SMS for long codes and short codes
• Inbound and outbound SMS for toll free at 0.065 USD per SMS
• MMS messages starts from 0.0180 USD per SMS for inbound and outbound messages

Plivo company case studies:

• Jungleworks Tookan app provides logistics support using applications for businesses and with the help of Plivo, they were able to increase their SMS deliverability by 9 percent with top tier SMS technology for real time customer updates.
• Plivo has helped LAZ parking adopt touchless payments by promoting a short code SMS system to pay for parking by customers. More than 50 percent of the customers in the USA are now using LAZ automated text payment system to pay for their parking.

Companies using Plivo:

• IBM
• Accenture
• Zomato
• Splunk
• Deckers

G2 rating - 4.5 on 5 from 700+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.3 on 5 from 80+ reviews

8. SimpleTexting

Simple texting is one of the conventional SMS based messaging services that can be used within large organizations for HR and other communication or for outside the organization as part of marketing efforts as B2C.

Simpletexting also allows sharing of multimedia messages that enhance user experience and sharing of information.

Key features of Simple texting:

• Customer segmentation and audience targeting with special tools
• Campaign designing, automation and scheduling
• Contact management, data import and export with custom field data
• Design special drip campaigns with contact database management
• Real time reporting and statistical analysis.

Simple texting offers more than just conventional SMS automation and campaigns.

It lets businesses create a unique identity using short codes, landline texting, toll free texting and so forth.

Customers can interact in a 2 way manner using keywords and using simple texting’s forms and data capture tools, create databases on the go that work seamlessly with plenty of native integrations with MailChimp, Zapier, HubSpot, Salesforce etc.

Pros of Simple Texting:

• No limitation of 160 characters with long messaging feature
• Advanced data capture customer segmentation tools using custom field forms
• Apps for easy campaign management from wherever you are with complete analytical reporting on the go
• List growth tools such as survey taking, poll taking, voting systems etc

Cons of Simple texting:

• Opting in is complicated according to some users
• UI is a bit slower than competitor products

Pricing structure:

• Flexible plans from 500 contacts to more than 50,000 contacts
• Starts from 29 USD per month for 500 contacts and upwards
• Build a custom plan based on business needs
• Free trial available

Simple texting customer case studies:

• Whisker Seeker Tackle is a catfish angler company that improved its Megadeals mobile customer engagement program using Simple texting. They were able to achieve conversion rates of 25 percent with over 47 percent click through rates.
• A1 self storage is a professional services company with 50 plus stores in various locations that was able to monetize its customer engagement program using Simple texting’s SMS program that helped send out payment reminders, provide support to customers whenever they needed and customer satisfaction has soared ever since.

Companies using Simple Texting:

• Starbucks
• Cisco
• LegoLand
• Samsung
• Stanford University

G2 rating - 4.7 on 5 with 600+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.7 on 5 with 200+ reviews

9. Tatango

If you have a service based company that needs a routine SMS and text based communication system, then Tatango is the way to go.

Tatango offers a simple, steadfast SMS and texting solution that helps in building communication with better reach and with increased response rates.

Combined with the multimedia messaging service, businesses can engage interactively with customers and recipients of the messages.

Key features of Tatango:

• Campaign automation for bulk sms and MMS messages
• Personalization with custom content laid with media
• Customer segmentation and targeting helps with better reach
• Conduct polls and votes and surveys easily and capture data
• Save automated responses and build better response rate

Tatango offers a 99 percent open rate and has raised over 400 million in donations across the USA. Tatango clients have had over 500 percent ROI on their marketing investment.

It helps businesses to create databases from scratch using integrated apps that help collect customer information and lets you create campaigns and set it on auto pilot mode.

Pros of Tatango:

• One of the best deliverability rates in the industry at 99 percent
• Raise donations easily using customer database imported directly using integrated apps
• Help raise donations for various causes using multiple campaigns and manage them effectively using Tatango
• Users have sent more than 6 million messages using this platform so far.

Cons of Tatango:

• No notification for answered messages / replies from customers
• Pricing is noted to be on the higher end.

Pricing structure:

• Pricing is based on business needs
• Contact support for demo

Tatango company case studies:

• An undisclosed political party utilized the power of Tatango SMS platform to bring in 5 USD revenue on every one dollar spent on marketing. With integrations that tie up with donation platforms such as WinRed, ActBlue etc, Democrat and Republican parties are able to collect donations using Tatango SMS platform.
• NGOs such as Red Cross and Pew are able to leverage the SMS marketing platform to raise awareness about animal issues and raise donations using KEYWORD interaction which helped them with 4.5x CTR and with 99 percent open rates.

Companies using Tatango:

• Feed the children
• Holt International
• USO
• International Medical Corps
• World hope international

G2 rating - 4.5 on 5 with 160+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.5 on 5 with 60+ reviews

10. Textedly

One of the fastest growing message services, this SMS tool helps in steady and engaging communication with a wide variety of messaging tools like MMS and SMS messaging using easy contact list formation and bulk SMS sending feature.

With a simple and small fee payment, you can transform the way you interact with customers.

Key features of Textedly:

• Simple interface that allows capture of data and quick send
• Ability to send 300 messages per second with better reach
• Campaign management and automation tools for SMS/MMS
• Multimedia messaging with links for interactive messaging
• Real time data and real time reporting for better penetration each time.

Textedly gives an amazing suite of features that helps with 2 way interaction with customers that boosts engagement.

With real time analytics and dashboard features, marketers are able to design and execute SMS campaigns with ease.

With real time notifications, it becomes super easy to fine tune campaigns and analyze the success.

Pros of Textedly:

• Shortcode texting with branded code for easy recollection with customers
• Create and manage drip campaigns and utilize mass marketing tools
• Two way interaction along with autoresponders
• Easy to collect user data using custom fields and forms

Cons of Textedly:

• Lack of clarity of functions and tools for beginners
• Uploading contacts and details on the app is cumbersome.

Pricing structure:

• Free basic plan for upto 50 messages
• Basic plan at 26 USD for 500 messages per month
• Bronze plan at 38 USD for 1000 messages per month and so on till 200k messages
• Enterprise custom pricing plan available based on business requirements

Companies using Textedly:

• eBay
• Kroger
• UPS
• Aflac
• New England Institute of technology

G2 rating - 4.7 on 5 with 350+ reviews

Capterra rating - 4.6 on 5 with 340+ reviews

Conclusion

In the dynamic landscape of SMS marketing in 2024, these ten software solutions stand out as leaders in facilitating effective and efficient communication with customers.

Each of them offers unique features and capabilities tailored to meet diverse business needs. Whether you prioritize automation, personalization, or analytics, there's a tool on this list that can help you achieve your SMS marketing goals.

As businesses continue to adapt to the evolving marketing landscape, investing in the right SMS marketing software is a crucial step towards staying competitive and building lasting customer relationships in the digital age.