As a small business owner, you’ve probably heard all the buzz around SMS marketing. And it’s no wonder; that SMS texting is taking the marketing world by storm.
SMS texting has higher open rates, conversation rates, and engagement rates than other channels like email. As a result, your customers are more likely to open—and respond—to your marketing texts, getting more eyes on your content and helping you attract (and maintain!) loyal customers.
When you incorporate an SMS solution into your marketing strategy, you can communicate with your customers in real time, helping you build relationships and enhance your brand awareness. With SMS marketing, you can send your customers announcements, reminders, invites, and alerts. For example, you can text a promo code for your upcoming sale, invite your customers to join your loyalty program, provide updates about your new product launch, and even send out polls and questionnaires.
SMS marketing can benefit your business in many ways, which probably has you wondering how much text marketing costs anyway. And what factors influence SMS marketing pricing? Follow along to learn the ins and outs of this marketing strategy so your business can budget accordingly.
How Much Does SMS Marketing Cost?
How much is text message marketing? And how does it relate to your marketing ROI? To better understand SMS marketing costs, we’ve broken down text message marketing costs to help you budget and calculate your marketing ROI.
SMS Marketing Costs and Marketing ROI
In our guide on SMS marketing costs, we’ll unpack everything you need to know about the expenses associated with this marketing strategy. These include SMS marketing software costs and how they impact your overall marketing ROI.
The Cost of SMS Marketing
What is the cost of SMS marketing? The cost of SMS marketing will depend on your text message marketing strategy, such as the number of texts you send and the kinds of messages you text. This is because SMS texts cost money to deliver. While it’s typically only a few cents per message, the price can quickly increase if you send thousands of messages multiple times a week. Also, certain kinds of messages, such as MMS messages, cost more than your standard, text-only SMS message because they include media like video clips, images, and interactive features, in addition to having higher character counts.
What’s more, the specific SMS software you choose and the features it includes will also impact the overall cost. For example, if you have a robust SMS plan with advanced features, it will likely be more expensive than a standard plan with basic features.
Factors That Affect the Cost of SMS Marketing
What are the factors that affect the cost of SMS marketing? Several factors influence your overall SMS marketing costs, but most of them ladder up to the SMS marketing software provider you select since each offers different pricing models.
To give you a glimpse at what the cost of SMS marketing with a brand like EZ Texting might entail, let’s look at a quick estimate for average EZ Texting users: Sending 1 SMS message a week to 1,000 contacts over four weeks (4,000 total messages) would cost $168 in our Essentials pricing tier — and you would have another 1,000 messages left over.
However, not all SMS platforms offer the same features, service, or dependability, so not all services are priced the same. First, to determine the cost of SMS marketing, let’s look at what it costs to send an SMS text. It costs between $0.01 to $0.05 per SMS text message, with MMS texts costing slightly more because they can include up to 1600 characters and data like emojis, images, and brief videos. That said, it could cost more to send texts internationally. Depending on your carrier and plan, they may charge anywhere from $0.25 to $0.50 per international SMS message.
Instead of charging you per text, many providers will give you a certain number of message credits per plan with the option of purchasing additional monthly credits. For example, with EZ Texting, every plan starts with a flat rate of 200 credits—one SMS text costs one credit, while each MMS text costs three credits. It’s important to remember that SMS marketing software costs will vary from provider to provider, so it’s a good idea to shop around and research.
Next, you’ll want to consider the cost per custom Keyword. A Keyword is what your customers text your number to opt-in and receive communication from you. For instance, you might encourage your customers to text SUNSHINE20 to receive 20% off your summer collection. It will depend on your SMS plan, but you may receive a set number of Keywords each month or can purchase additional ones a la carte. For example, EZ Texting’s base plan starts with one customizable Keyword each month, with the next plan offering up to three unique Keywords per month.
There’s more to SMS marketing pricing than just texts and Keywords, though. There are countless features involved with SMS marketing platforms, so many providers offer tiered pricing plans with set monthly fees. Typically, they start with a basic plan with limited features and move to more robust plans with more advanced options like API access and list growth tools. Again, SMS marketing platform costs will vary depending on your selected provider.
So, exactly how much does SMS marketing cost? And what can you expect to pay? To better understand what an SMS marketing plan might cost you, check out EZ Texting’s pricing tiers.
When you choose one of EZ Texting’s straightforward monthly plans, it’s easy to determine our SMS marketing software costs and factor them into your budget.
On top of these tiered plans, you can also purchase more message credits, which let you exceed the base 200 monthly message credits provided with each plan, giving you more flexibility and freedom with your marketing campaigns. For example, you might start sending your clients automatic appointment reminders or texting weekly promo codes to your rewards members, which would use up more monthly credits. Furthermore, you can add additional features to your plan, such as more users and multiple textable numbers.
We were looking for a cost effective way to set up texting campaigns. After looking at many we chose EZ Texting and are glad we did. The price was great. The service worked flawlessly.
— Darvie F, Pastor
What is ROI?
With a better understanding of some of the costs of running an SMS marketing campaign, let’s calculate your ROI.
ROI is a word that often gets thrown around in the business sphere, but what exactly does it mean? ROI stands for Return on Investment, which is a metric used to determine the profitability of an investment or strategy. It’s a ratio that looks at how much you paid to employ the investment versus how much you earned. Essentially, it helps you determine if your effort was worth the outcome.
To calculate ROI, divide your net profit by the investment cost and multiply it by 100 to get a percentage.
ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100
How Do You Calculate Your SMS Marketing ROI?
Now, what about your marketing ROI? It’s the same deal. Your marketing ROI refers to the cost of your marketing campaigns compared to the profits you earned from running them.
Your marketing ROI could be as simple as determining profits from your sole SMS marketing campaign. So, let’s go back to that summer sale scenario: You texted a promo giving your customers 20% off their purchase. In this case, your SMS marketing ROI would determine how much you spent on the SMS campaign vs. how much you earned.
Let’s say you ran a four-month marketing campaign on a basic SMS marketing plan that costs you $200 a month. That investment cost you $800 for four months, and you earned $200 in profits directly related to that 20% promo.
Therefore, your SMS marketing ROI for that one campaign is 25%.
Your marketing ROI could also incorporate multiple marketing strategies in the same campaign. In addition to your SMS marketing efforts, you could run social media ads and email marketing to further promote your 20% off sale. To arrive at your marketing ROI, add everything you spent to oversee that marketing campaign and compare it to your profit.
For those four months, in addition to the $800 you spent on SMS texts, you spent $600 on social ads and $420 to cover email marketing.
When you add up everything, including your text message marketing costs, and divide by your $200 profit, your ROI for this diverse marketing campaign is nearly 11%.
So, what is a good ROI for your text message marketing strategy? Well, it depends. There is no good or bad ROI percentage; it’s just a matter of finding the sweet spot for your business. The more you experiment with different marketing strategies and track your ROI, the easier it will be to see what performs the best and gets you closest to your ROI goals. It’s also important to note that your ideal ROI could completely differ from your competitor’s goal ROI.
Understanding how much you need to budget for an SMS platform and how the money you spend relates to your marketing ROI can help you track your income and determine what strategies generate the highest profits for your business. For more tricks of the trade, check out our guide on SMS marketing tips and FAQs below.
Discover How EZ Texting Can Help Your Business
It’s time to find out how SMS marketing can benefit your business. When you implement an SMS marketing strategy with EZ Texting, your business can experience higher open rates, improved conversions, and increased customer engagement. Contact us today to learn more about SMS marketing and how it can boost your business. Happy texting!
FAQs
SMS marketing has many benefits, including the fact that it’s a cost-effective way to reach a large audience in a timely manner. Another major benefit to using this marketing strategy is its high engagement rates. You can easily communicate with your audience and build relationships because they will likely open, read, and engage with your messages. Because there are so many perks to using this marketing strategy, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with SMS marketing campaign costs so your business can budget for its SMS solution.
The following are some of the best practices for SMS marketing: keep your messages short and sweet, use clear and concise language, avoid slang, proofread your messages before sending them, and respect your recipients’ privacy. It’s also important to comply with marketing legislation, which includes receiving permission before sending messages, offering an opt-in and opt-out option, and not sending spammy or unsolicited messages.
If you want to save money on your text message marketing costs, there are a few strategies you can take to help keep your costs low. For one, choose an affordable SMS marketing platform with a basic plan that offers bulk messaging. Next, keep your messages short, optimize them for delivery, and avoid sending unnecessary texts. Since most plans are based on the number of messages you send, you’ll want to be mindful of how many you send out each month to stay within your budget and set plan.
To start with SMS marketing, begin by deciding on a service provider and selecting a plan that best suits your business goals. Once you’ve signed up, encourage your customers to opt-in to your text marketing program, and then start creating SMS campaigns that include those who have consented to receive marketing material from your business.
