What Is Bulk Text Messaging?
Bulk messaging uses SMS technology to send out mass messages to their audience quickly and efficiently.
It requires the organization to have a database of contacts who have permission to be contacted by text.
Once you have a database of opted-in contacts, you can upload it to a bulk text messaging software provider, like EZ Texting. These bulk texting platforms will hold your contacts and allow you to send bulk SMS. Within seconds, your contacts will receive your message on their mobile device.
What makes it powerful is its immediacy and personal touch. The average for our customers is that 98% of their contacts read their text within 5 minutes of hitting send.
With the rise of mobile usage, bulk texting has become essential for businesses looking to connect with their customers in a fast-paced world.
It’s alternatively referred to as Application-to-Person (A2P) or mass text messaging. Any texting categorized as regular Person-to-Person (P2P) interaction falls under the umbrella of bulk text messaging.
What happens when a customer responds? Your business or organization effortlessly continues the conversation while EZ Texting records delivery rates, open rates, spikes in engagement, and other vital performance metrics.
The CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) distinguishes typical P2P activity by outlining specific thresholds:
- Up to 15-60 messages per minute
- Up to 1,000 messages per day
- Up to 100 unique recipients
- 1:1 ratio of outgoing to incoming messages (with some latitude in either direction)
Importance of Bulk SMS in Business Communication
Bulk text messaging offers an effortless and secure way to reach large audiences of opted-in contacts. It’s a critically important tool in marketing communication strategies today.
Whether for promotional campaigns, internal announcements, or customer engagement, its scalability and directness offer effective information distribution and help you drive authentic engagement at scale.
Evolution & Adoption of Bulk Text Messaging Solutions
Bulk text messaging has become essential for businesses like yours to communicate with supporters, customers, volunteers, donors, or other members of any given target audience.
It started off as just a simple way to send lots of messages at once, but now it’s much more. These days, it’s all about sending personalized messages to the right people, at the right time.
With so many people using smartphones, businesses have seen the value in using bulk text messaging to get their message out there quickly, cost-effectively, and with little to no effort.
Now, businesses can use automation and smart tools to send bulk texts automatically and analyze how contacts respond.
As these tools get smarter, they’ll change the way we communicate even more, making things faster and more efficient for everyone involved.
Benefits of Bulk Texting
Bulk messaging uses SMS technology to send out mass messages to their audience quickly and efficiently.
It requires that the organization has a database of contacts who have given their permission to be contacted by text.
Once you have a database of opted-in contacts, you can upload it to a bulk text messaging software provider, like EZ Texting. This software will hold your contacts and allow you to send bulk SMS. Within seconds, your contacts will receive your message on their mobile device.
What makes it powerful is its immediacy and personal touch. The average for our customers is that 98% of their contacts read their text within 5 minutes of hitting send.
Cost-Effective Marketing & Promotions
With low per-message costs and high response rates, bulk text messaging offers a high return on investment for businesses of all sizes.
High Open Rates
Bulk texting has exceptionally high open rates, often exceeding 95%. This means that the vast majority of contacts will see your message.
Increased Customer Engagement & Loyalty
Text messages are more likely to be read and responded to by contacts and customers, making them an ideal channel for engaging with the right people at the right time.
No Hidden Fees
EZ Texting transparently discloses the costs related to A2P 10DLC registration, and our plans are crafted to streamline the process, minimizing any inconvenience.
Instant and Direct Delivery
Bulk texts are typically delivered instantly, ensuring that your message reaches recipients promptly.
Examples: The Best Bulk Text Messaging
Bulk SMS is an intimate communication channel businesses use to increase promotional reach, create greater brand awareness, develop customer loyalty, and achieve phenomenal response rates. Companies have used mass text messaging to boost retail ROI in some of the following ways:
- Entice customers to return to the store with exclusive mobile coupons
- Notify customers about new products and services with text alerts
- Let customers know when their product is available with custom text notifications
- Announce sales events with a text blast
- Bulk SMS has concrete applications in nearly every industry, as both customer support and communication channels
Retail
Retail businesses leverage bulk text messaging to quickly communicate important updates, enhance customer engagement, and drive sales by sending targeted promotions, discounts, and event notifications directly to customer’s mobile devices. By personalizing messages based on customer preferences and purchase history, you can foster stronger relationships with your audience and increase brand loyalty.
- Personalized recommendations
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Flash sales & limited-time offers
- Restock alerts
Healthcare
Healthcare organizations utilize bulk text messaging to improve patient communication and engagement. For example, they can send appointment reminders, medication alerts, and health tips directly to patients’ phones. Additionally, these messages can effortlessly share important healthcare information, such as updates on disease outbreaks, vaccination campaigns, or changes in healthcare policies.
Politics
Political bulk text messaging empowers organizations to mobilize supporters, quickly share campaign updates, and considerately solicit donations or volunteers effectively. By sending targeted messages to segmented audiences based on demographics, interests, or geographic location, political entities can engage voters on pertinent issues and encourage participation in events such as rallies, debates, or voting drives.
- Direct donor outreach
- Cause awareness
- Volunteer management
- Event reminders
Real Estate
Real estate agents are using bulk texting in some very creative ways. Imagine you’re driving by a house you’re interested in, and there’s a sign with a simple instruction: “text HOUSE16 to 858585 for more information.” By sending that text, you could instantly receive a reply message with a link to photos of the house, nearby attractions, maps, or any other details you might want. It’s a convenient way for buyers to get a sneak peek into properties they’re interested in, right from their phones.
- Property listings
- Open house invitations
- Price reduction alerts
- Referral requests
Education
Bulk texting for schools taps into a widely used communication method to promptly share vital information with students, parents, teachers, and staff. It can also enhance the learning experience. Schools leverage bulk text messaging to announce delayed openings, notify parents about permission slips, and maintain alignment among faculty and staff. Additionally, educators utilize bulk SMS software to host remote Q&A sessions with students ahead of exams.
- Announcements
- Parent-teacher communication
- Emergency alerts
- Admissions & enrollment
Restaurants
Bulk text message marketing for restaurants, cafes, and food service is perhaps the most effective strategy for engaging customers and boosting sales. Texting lets you connect with customers about new dishes and restaurant news, leverage keywords to expand your contacts, and even confirm reservations.
- Appointment reminders
- Medication adherence
- Health tips & education
- Follow-up care
Fitness Centers & Gyms
Fitness centers and gyms have done particularly well with text message marketing because working out and staying fit is incredibly personal, and so an intimate channel like texting is a perfect fit. Customers need motivation, inspiration, and gentle reminders to help them stay on the right track and in line with their fitness goals. Fitness centers, gyms, athletic institutions, and Yoga studios alike can use SMS messaging to keep customers in the know about things like:
- Personalized workouts
- Diet plans
- Alerts
- Class schedules
- Motivational messages
- Promotions and cross-marketing
Churches
Religious organizations use bulk SMS over other communications channels partly because their members are devoted and want to hear from them personally. Text alerts have a broad range of applications that are useful for church groups, including:
- Spiritual encouragement
- Aphorisms
- Pertinent scripture verses
- Request to invite a friend to a service
- Weather-related cancellations
- Guest speaker notifications
Ready to Get Started with EZ Texting?
Best Practices for Implementing
Bulk Text Messaging
Building Permission-Based Subscriber Lists
To ensure the success of your bulk text messaging campaigns, start by building permission-based subscriber lists. Obtain consent from recipients before sending messages to maintain compliance with regulations and foster positive relationships with your audience.
Crafting Compelling and Relevant Messages
Craft messages that are compelling and relevant to your audience. Personalize content when possible and tailor messages to meet subscribers’ needs and interests. You can increase open rates and drive desired actions by delivering valuable and engaging content.
Testing and Optimizing Message Content and Timing
Test different message content and timing strategies to optimize campaign performance. Vary message length, tone, and call-to-action to identify what resonates best with your audience. Additionally, analyze engagement metrics to refine your approach over time.
Ensuring Compliance with Regulatory Requirements
Stay informed about regulatory requirements, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), to ensure compliance when sending bulk text messages. Understand the rules surrounding consent, message content, and opt-out procedures to avoid legal issues and maintain trust with subscribers.
The Best Bulk Text Messaging Software
EZ Texting has been providing bulk text messaging software for businesses and organizations since 2006.
Over time, we have developed our group texting platform to be feature-rich while remaining easy to use. We back our platform with industry-leading customer support, so, although no special design or technical skills are required to use our software, there will always be help available if needed.
Many of the features on our platform are designed for convenience. A scheduling feature enables businesses to compose messages in advance and send them when they attract the most attention.
Most marketers are surprised by the number of things you can do with mass text messaging beyond just delivering static messages.
Here are some features and capabilities you should look for as you do your due diligence:
Keywords
Short codes and SMS Keywords work together to provide an easy way for contacts to subscribe or respond to a message list. Short codes are five or six-digit codes that can be dedicated to an organization or shared by several groups. Keywords are single words or short phrases that trigger a list subscription or other action in the SMS messaging software.
MMS Marketing
MMS vs SMS can be a great way to add flavor and interest to your text campaigns. Typically, an MMS marketing message can contain up to 500kb of data, enough for a 30-second audio or video file. Either images or videos can be used for text over 160 characters.
Dedicated Short Codes
Dedicated short codes are numbers used exclusively for your organization. With a dedicated short code, you can use any Keyword you like because it will only be sent to your short code. This benefits marketing agencies that want to run texting campaigns for multiple clients.
Scheduled & Recurring Messages
Scheduled and recurring messages allow you to compose and send a bulk SMS message in advance to automatically be delivered at your chosen time. You can also able to schedule recurring messages that you can send at whatever intervals you indicate. They’re great for messages such as recurring meeting reminders or weekly sales calls.
Drip Campaigns
Business text messaging drip campaigns can be a great way to create engagement, lead prospects through the buyer’s journey, increase conversions, and boost after-purchase upsells. Text drips are preprogrammed to deliver personalized messages at specific intervals after a trigger, such as a subscription initiation, has occurred.
Text to Vote SMS Polls
In addition to providing valuable insights into customer preferences, text-to-vote SMS polls are a great way to segment your contacts into lists so that you can make your messages more personalized and engaging in the future.
Superb Support
EZ Texting delivers responsive, knowledgeable, and friendly customer support. We know our software like the back of our hands and understand the text marketing best practices and the secrets that will help you get off to a strong start and continue nurturing conversations with your target audience.
Scalability
EZ Texting supports both large and small businesses. Our suite of features is scalable to meet your organization’s operational capacity. The right SMS and MMS provider will help your small company grow into a large-scale, multidimensional powerhouse.
Sign-Up Forms & QR Codes
Sign-up forms and QR codes can be used in various places, including your website, social media page, or emails. Using sign-up forms on your website or Facebook page can substantially increase your subscription conversion rate. Another option is to use a link in an email or tweet which leads to a sign-up form.
Text Forwarding
If your contact list is extensive, you will probably prefer to manage responses through a web browser interface. But for smaller lists, you may prefer monitoring replies using your cell phone or email address. Text forwarding automatically relays incoming texts to your email address or mobile phone.
Simplicity & Ease of Use
Let’s face it, we all sometimes suffer from the shiny-object syndrome. Some marketers search for the slickest-looking software but fail to consider a more important factor—ease of use. Text messaging is a simple communication channel. There’s no algorithm to optimize for like you have to do with Google and Facebook. You don’t have to come up with catchy subject lines to get people to read the message as you do with email. You make a simple message, select the right group of contacts, and send.
Automated Reminders
Reminder campaigns can be used in several ways, including payment due dates, birthdays, customer anniversaries, and appointment reminders.
For larger businesses and organizations, we can provide tools to integrate EZ Texting with popular web applications such as Salesforce and MailChimp, and APIs are available for developers who want to build our group texting platform into their own applications.
We can also arrange for dedicated short codes and vanity short codes for businesses that want their short code number to be as memorable as their bulk text messages (an example of a vanity short code is 466453, which spells ‘Google’ on a keypad).
Future Trends & Innovations in
Bulk Text Messaging
AI-Powered Personalization & Recommendation Engines
We’ll likely see more AI-powered personalization and recommendation features in bulk text messaging.
These tools will analyze user data to send tailored messages, boosting engagement and sales.
Integration with Chatbots for Conversational Messaging
Combining bulk text messaging with chatbots will create more interactive conversations.
Chatbots will answer customer questions, offer immediate help, and make transactions smoother, boosting satisfaction and improving communication.
Enhanced Security & Privacy Measures
Amid rising privacy concerns, bulk text messaging platforms will enforce robust security measures like encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict privacy compliance to safeguard user data during delivery and storage.
Trust a Leader of Bulk SMS
Your bulk SMS software should make it effortless to get started and easily send bulk SMS messages. EZ Texting fits the bill. Here’s what a few of our customers have to say about us:
It provides us with a very professional way to send bulk messages. I also like how we are able to personalize messages when sending to customers.
Easily send bulk texts out to customers and let them know of new offerings and alerts.
This has been the best product for bulk texting.
[EZ Texting] is so easy to use, it’s ridiculous.
How Many Bulk Texts Can I Send for Free?
The cellular carrier in use when the text is deployed handles bulk text messaging regulation. Carriers typically do not publicize how they define their limits like the CTIA does in the above mentioned thresholds. But carriers do monitor for what they consider A2P messaging using algorithms. If you don’t use a bulk SMS platform and your texting activity is too high, your account may be temporarily disabled or permanently canceled.
While there are upper limits at which you must use a bulk text messaging software to avoid issues, there are no lower limits. You can enjoy the benefits of a text messaging software even if you only send to one contact. There are many benefits of using a bulk SMS platform for business or organizational use, no matter how many contacts are included.
Ready to Start Bulk Text Messaging
with EZ Texting?
Our SMS platform allows you to send important messages to groups of people, encouraging feedback, generating engagement, and developing relationships. Thousands of organizations already use SMS software to benefit their businesses and communities.
Thanks to our years of experience and deep carrier relations, EZ Texting offers the fastest registration in the industry. You can sign up for free and have your account set up and ready to send professional text messages to your contacts in no time.
It's really easy to get started. However, if you really want to get results, we recommend talking to one of our "textperts" at EZ Texting. Our team will be able to answer any questions about how bulk text messaging software works, how to best use the bulk messaging tools to create a database, and the legal requirements for sending a mass text online.
We can even give you tips on maximizing engagement with a bulk text message marketing software. Start your bulk text messaging journey today by learning more about group texting for business, or if you're ready, get started with a free 14-day trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, bulk texting is legal, but businesses must ensure compliance with regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the CAN-SPAM Act. This includes obtaining proper consent from recipients before sending them text messages, providing opt-out options, and adhering to rules regarding message content and frequency.
Bulk texting can benefit a wide range of businesses across various industries, including:
- Retail stores
- Restaurants
- Service-based businesses (e.g., salons, gyms)
- Non-profit organizations
- Educational institutions
- Healthcare providers
- Real estate agencies
- Event organizers
- Political campaigns
Businesses can build a list of contacts for bulk texting by:
- Collecting phone numbers from customers at the point of sale or during sign-up processes.
- Offering incentives such as discounts or promotions in exchange for opting in to receive text messages.
- Using online forms or surveys to collect contact information from website visitors.
- Importing existing customer data from CRM systems or other databases (ensuring compliance with privacy regulations).
