3 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself When Picking the Best Bulk Text Marketing Tool

So, you’ve been won over by the promised effectiveness of text message marketing, you’ve read the statistics, seen that 86% of Americans choose to opt-in to SMS messages, and been bowled over by the fact that there are 5 billion active mobile connections in the word… what’s next?

Deciding that text message marketing is the right move for your business is only half the battle, and perhaps the easiest part of the overall decision, based on the incredible effectiveness of SMS campaigns as a modern form of marketing. The difficult part is choosing which bulk SMS marketing tool is going to be the best fit for your unique business.

Despite sharing the same overall concept, the reality is, not all marketing tools are designed in the same way, and they’re certainly not all designed equal. The marketing tool that you choose will determine the effectiveness of your marketing campaign, the kind of results that you can expect, and the potential of the growth of your business… so the pressure is on to choose wisely!

The trouble is determining exactly what you’re going to need from your marketing tool in order to choose ‘wisely’. The tools are so different, and if you’ve never used one before, figuring out what you need to be searching for is no easy task. Thankfully, your search for the perfect text marketing tool can easily be condensed into three essential questions.

Before you commit to a single SMS marketing tool, these are the three questions that you need to be asking yourself…

Do I Think That I Can Use This Tool Successfully?

The best piece of text message marketing software in the world is only going to be the best for your business if you can use it successfully. SMS marketing doesn’t have to be complicated, it should be an easy tool that fits seamlessly into your business marketing strategy, if the tool doesn’t fill you with confidence with its ease of use, then it probably isn’t for you.

Quality SMS marketing tools will have options to try the service before you commit to buying it, allowing you to test out the experience that’s on offer. Getting a feel for the tool is the best way to determine whether it’s going to be a good fit for your business needs.

Always check to see if there is customer support available, a good marketing tool will provide unlimited support for their services, so there is never a reason for your marketing campaign to experience problems.

If you feel that you’re going to be able to use the tool successfully, and make use of all the features on offer, then that’s one essential that you can tick off your list.

What Features Am I Going to Need from My Bulk Text Marketing Tool?

Features are everything when it comes to choosing the best marketing tool for your business, even if you don’t need the full list of features on offer straight away. This is where some of the biggest differences between bulk marketing tools starts to become apparent, put simply, some tools offer the features you need, and some don’t.

As your business grows, which it will do with SMS marketing, then you need the tool that you’re using to grow with it. It may help to make a list of the features that you think your business needs now, and those that your business will need in the future and see how well the tool matches up to your requirements.

Always check for the bulk messaging essentials, like:

• Scheduling for Bulk SMS
• Contest and Poll Support
• Bulk Delivery Stats for SMS
• Campaign Analytics
• Appointment Reminders
• Supported 2-Way Chat
• Autoresponders
• Kiosk/Loyalty SMS Feature
• Web-Based Signup Forms/Widgets

If the tool you’re considering offers all the features you need and more, then there’s a good chance that it’s going to be able to support and enhance your business growth now and in the future. All marketing tools should be scalable so as not to hinder the growth of the businesses that are using them.

Can I See Myself Using This Tool in the Long Term?

Marketing is an ever-changing world, if you take your eye off it for too long then the whole landscape is going to change. A good marketing tool should always be improving to meet the demands of the next great innovative movement. A growing business needs a growing marketing tool that can address the changing needs of consumers straight away, not months or years down the line.

If the tool that you’re considering is updated regularly, offers new features on a regular basis, and evidently has its eye on the ball when it comes to the changing trends in SMS marketing, then you could be setting yourself up for a long-term business relationship.

Getting used to a single marketing tool and organizing your strategies around it takes time and effort, something that you’re not going to be wanting to invest again and again. text marketing is designed to make bulk marketing more efficient, not take up all your time.

If you can see yourself using the same tool after a year or even five years, then you may have just found yourself the best bulk text message marketing tool for your business.

The right marketing tool for one business may not be the right tool for the next business, every business is unique, and so are their marketing needs. Finding the best option for you and your business is a personal decision, based off your requirements and how well you think that the tool is going to work with the design of your business.

If the essentials of the tool are a match for what your business is going to need now and down the line, then it’s certainly worth taking the plunge and signing up to enjoy the benefits on offer as soon as possible.