SMS for announcements is text message announcements sent by businesses for their customers, employees, or other stakeholders. It’s a great way to ensure your message reaches everyone quickly and accurately while reducing communication costs. SMS is one of the best marketing tools for businesses, with a 98% open rate, making it an excellent way for SMS broadcasts to get out quickly and effectively.
SMS announcements work by sending a text message directly to its intended recipient. It can be sent to one individual or broadcast to multiple people using SMS broadcasting software. A company’s contacts database is uploaded into the system, and a message is composed and sent to the contacts. The contact then receives the broadcast text message on their device within seconds. This article will help us understand more about using SMS for Announcements, its definition, purpose, types, and benefits.
What is SMS for Announcements (SMS Broadcast)?
An SMS Broadcast Text Message is a text message that is sent to a large group of people at the same time. It is commonly used by businesses and organizations to communicate important updates and announcements. It differs from a group text as each person sees only one message in a single thread. Some other names for this type of message are “mass texts” or “bulk texts.”
Sending an SMS Broadcast Text Message involves creating a contact list and using a text messaging service to send the message. The message will reach all contacts on the list at the same time. It is a fast and straightforward way to share important information with many people. Businesses often send SMS messages to communicate with their contacts, customers, and clients. These messages may include updates, promotions, and reminders.
How Does SMS for Announcements Work?
SMS for announcements is designed to make it easy for a business to quickly and effectively broadcast messages to large groups of people. The process begins by creating a contact list that includes the phone numbers of all intended recipients. It can be done manually or uploaded through an online software platform. Once the recipient list is ready, a message can be composed and sent to the entire list with a single click. The messages will reach all contacts on the list simultaneously, making it quick and easy for businesses to communicate with their contacts.
SMS notifications refer to text messages sent out by applications, eCommerce stores, or websites to alert users of certain events. An example would be receiving a security notification from your bank when someone tries to log in to your account.
Many brands and businesses utilize SMS notifications for marketing as people spend much time on their mobile phones. SMS notifications provide high open and click-through rates, making them advantageous to include in your omnichannel marketing plan.
Companies usually choose bulk SMS notification service providers instead of manually sending text messages through various apps or inbuilt software on iOS and Android devices. These providers use an SMS gateway for delivering notifications, ensuring high deliverability.
What is the Purpose of SMS Announcements?
The primary purpose of sending an SMS broadcast is to quickly and effectively share important information with many receivers. Businesses can use SMS marketing to increase their engagement rates. While most companies have previously only sent security and transactional alerts via text message, SMS marketing is becoming more popular due to the high level of engagement it offers as a channel.
For a business to send SMS for announcements, they need a dedicated virtual number, a contact list, unique keywords, and the message content to convey what they intend to announce.
SMS announcements are also used to provide reminders or special offers. Companies can use SMS marketing to send customized messages that include information about sales, discounts, and other deals that could interest customers. They can even add links in the message so customers can easily click through and learn more about their offer.
What are the Types of SMS Announcements?
SMS announcements help businesses promote products or services and provide relevant information that customers will appreciate. Here are some types of text message announcements.
- Promotions and SMS Marketing Campaigns – Many businesses and organizations send broadcasts for promotional purposes. These can be an offer, a welcome message, or a birthday and special occasion campaign.
- Text Alerts and Notifications for Customers or Employees – Businesses can utilize broadcast text alerts for various purposes, such as informing people about dispatches, orders, and shipments. Text messaging is also an effective way of communicating with employees, whether for internal use, “text-to-apply” job recruiting, shift reminders, or notifications and confirmations.
- Appointment Confirmation Broadcast – Texting is a common way for businesses to send appointment reminders and event notifications. Texts are influential because they can encourage customers to confirm and reduce the number of missed appointments.
- Invoice and Payment Collection SMS Announcement – Reminding someone to pay you can be challenging. However, you can simplify this process using text messaging and “text-to-pay” features, enabling automated payment reminders.
- Feedback and Review Requests – Sending SMS text broadcasts is a great way to gather customer feedback and request reviews. Plus, you can use SMS surveys or polls to gain insight into what people think about your business or organization.
- Organizations and School Announcements – Text messages often send important updates to any organization or school. As many people access their phones more frequently than their emails, SMS broadcasts can be a great way to instantly communicate with your members or students.
- Government Announcements and Emergency Notifications – Text messages are the most effective way to provide timely and relevant updates. Governments also use SMS for emergency notifications, such as severe weather warnings or evacuation orders.
What are the Benefits of SMS for Announcements?
SMS broadcasts offer several key advantages that make them a powerful communication tool. Here are some of the most prominent ones.
- Builds Quality Customer Relationships – Sending an SMS broadcast is a highly personalized way of communicating with your customers, which helps you establish and sustain good relationships. You can incorporate dynamic fields into the SMS to personalize it, such as customizing fields like first name, last name, appointment date, time, etc.
- Integrates with Existing Sytems – You can incorporate SMS into your current business applications and workflows using the SMS API. It will enable you to send and receive SMS messages and broadcasts directly from your existing systems. Additionally, you can use SMS marketing features like scheduling, a dedicated virtual SMS number, and advanced reporting tools.
- Quick and Easy to Use – SMS broadcasts can be sent out quickly and easily with just a few clicks. You don’t have to spend a lot of time crafting messages as they do in email marketing, which makes them an efficient communication tool.
- Cost-Effective – If you work in advertising or marketing, consider using SMS broadcast as a cost-effective way to generate leads. SMS can be extremely affordable compared to other mainstream channels like TV, print, radio, and online advertising. You can start seeing a reduction in marketing costs from the first SMS send, especially with prices as low as 6 cents.
What are the Downsides of SMS for Announcements?
SMS broadcasts come with a few drawbacks. Here are the most common ones.
- The Character Limit – Since SMS text messages have limited character counts, you won’t be able to send any lengthy announcements. It means you must be very concise when crafting your message if it needs more than one SMS broadcast. You can use short links or link-shortening services such as bit.ly to provide more information in a single text message.
- Low Response Rates – SMS broadcasts have a lower response rate than other customer engagement channels. It means you must send multiple messages to get the desired result.
- Lack of Multimedia Support – You can’t include images, videos, or GIFs in your SMS broadcast because of the character limit. Also, since most mobile devices have a low screen resolution, it may not be suitable for content that requires high-resolution images or videos to display correctly.
How Can SMS for Announcements be Used as SMS Marketing?
SMS broadcasts are a great way to use SMS marketing for customer engagement. You can target your audience with messages that fit their interests and preferences, increase sales, get feedback, set up appointment notifications and payment reminders, and more. Here are some ways to use SMS for announcements in SMS marketing.
- Recover Abandoned Carts – Increase cart recovery rate by sending automated text messages to people on your SMS list who did not finish their checkout. By taking advantage of Privy’s Shopify integration, you can include a cart link in your text message that directly takes the shoppers back to their abandoned carts with just one click.
- Encourage Two-Way Communication – Include a link to start a customer conversation. Use automated messages that offer personalized experiences and ask them for feedback and reviews, or even open an online chat.
- Send Special Offers – With SMS marketing, you can easily send exclusive offers to target customer segments. Promote discounts, new products, and special events to your customers via SMS.
- Welcome New Subscribers After They Sign Up – Sending a thank-you message to new subscribers is crucial for initiating a strong relationship. When shoppers opt-in to receive your texts, automate text messages to confirm their signup and provide introductory coupons to encourage them to purchase from your store.
Find out more about What is SMS Marketing? Guide and Benefits to understand how to use it for your business.
How to Create an SMS Announcement?
Creating an SMS announcement is a straightforward process. Here are the steps you should follow:
- Choose Your Goal – Start by deciding what outcome you want to achieve with your announcement. Whether gathering feedback, informing people about a new product, or getting customers to take action, define your goal before anything else.
- Draft Your Message – Now that you have a goal, craft your message. Write down the key points and keep it short and straightforward, with no more than 160 characters. Use dynamic fields to personalize your text messages for better engagement.
- Schedule Your Message – Check your SMS marketing platform for this option to choose whether to send now or schedule for later. If you opt to send it later, set a date and time.
- Choose Your Audience – After drafting and scheduling your Broadcast message, select the audience that will receive this broadcast. You can choose segments or create a new one for this specific broadcast.
- Review Your SMS Broadcast – Once you have created and scheduled your SMS broadcast, review it for grammar, spelling, and accuracy. Make sure to test all links in the message before finalizing your broadcast.
- Send Your Message – All that’s left is to send your SMS broadcast. You can also check the reporting tab for insights on message open rates, click rates, etc.
What are the Best Practices when Creating an SMS Announcement?
You should consider several best practices to ensure successful delivery when creating an SMS announcement. Here are the most important ones:
- Keep It Short and Clear – When sending a text message announcement, prioritize the action that you require the reader to take as the main point of your message. You may provide further information later or add a link to a document or webpage.
- Use URL Shorteners – A URL shortener can help you condense your link and track click behavior. It is beneficial to ensure everyone reads the text like in the example of a school closure announcement mentioned earlier. Shortening your URL allows you to save character space and present a neater package.
- Use Keywords – One effective method to obtain consent from your audience for receiving text announcements is using keywords. These keywords should be simple, brief phrases or words that individuals can text to your number to subscribe to your contact list.
- Introduce Your Business – It’s a good idea to include a brief introduction at the start of your texts so your readers can quickly see who the sender is, even if you have sent them messages.
- Schedule Messages – Scheduling text announcements can save you time and minimize mistakes, especially when busy. You can support your patients without stressing yourself with mental calculations by scheduling follow-up messages to send a few hours or days after your sessions.
- Organize Audiences – To ensure efficient communication during emergencies, keep your contact list well-organized by setting up multiple keywords for different announcements. It will ensure that the correct information goes to the right people. Keep your contact lists labeled and tidy to avoid added stress and confusion.
- Use Templates for SMS Announcements – Templates are another valuable tool for saving time and reducing stress. After sending a text announcement, you may receive numerous follow-up messages asking many of the same questions.
- Give Real-Time Updates – Text messages can keep people updated on the latest news and any new developments. When you send a text announcement, ensure you include websites where they can find more information about what’s happening.
Are SMS Announcements and SMS Notifications the Same?
No. There is a difference between SMS announcements and SMS notifications. An SMS announcement is a one-way message sent to notify large groups of people about an event, product launch, or any other newsworthy item. On the other hand, an SMS notification is a two-way communication between the sender and the recipient. The recipient can reply with their questions or feedback.
Can SMS Announcements be Sent through Toll-Free SMS?
Yes. You can send SMS announcements through toll-free SMS. It is a great way to reach more people, as it has no mobile network restrictions and doesn’t require the user to have a phone plan or credit card. Also, with toll-free SMS, messages are sent in the standard 7-bit text format, making them more reliable and cost-effective.
Can I Use Text Blaster for SMS Announcements?
Yes. You can use an SMS blast service to broadcast text messages to your target audiences. It is one of the most effective methods of communication if you need to get your message across to a large group of receivers. Text messages are read almost immediately, ensuring your message is received and understood. With a dedicated SMS text blast service, you can easily create, schedule, and send messages to your customers in just a few clicks.
What is the Difference Between SMS Announcements and SMS Notifications?
The main difference between SMS announcements and SMS notifications is that the former is sent as a one-way broadcast message, whereas the latter is two-way communication. An SMS announcement informs your audience about an event or product launch, while an SMS notification allows for further discussion and feedback from the recipient. Another difference is that toll-free SMS can be used for announcements, while two-way notifications require a phone plan or credit card. Additionally, SMS announcements are sent in 7-bit text format, while notifications can be sent as multimedia messages (MMS). You can read more about What is SMS Notification: Definition, Examples and Tips to better understand its use cases.