How to Choose Your SMS Provider?

You are currently looking for a provider to send your SMS marketing campaigns but you’re not sure how to make the best choice. In this article, we help you with your decision by answering this question: what are the main criteria to consider when selecting the right SMS provider?

Before signing a contract and sending your first SMS marketing campaign to your customers, here are the 13 key points that will help you choose the most suitable SMS provider:

1- Benefit from message delivery guarantee

Many companies offer SMS sending without this delivery guarantee. It is essential as it ensures your message will be delivered. Some services offer “ low-cost SMS” that do not come with this delivery guarantee. SMS offers a 95% read rate, which is far superior to email. In that case, does it make sense to base your customer communications on a management method that doesn’t allow you to be certain your recipient actually received the message intended for them? Our premium SMS offer provides you with this message delivery guarantee.

2- Personalize message content

The more you personalize your messages, the more positive your campaign results will be. Personalizing your SMS messages involves integrating variables into your SMS (e.g., #Name#). These allow you to send a message that will feel unique to each of your recipients. Be sure to check on the SMS provider’s platform that this feature is available.

3- Customize the sender name

Some providers allow you to customize your sender name. What’s the benefit? Being able to display a brand or sender name will improve the read rate and strengthen your brand’s reach as well as customer or prospect proximity. Conversely, receiving a message from a short number (e.g., 36758) will negatively impact your campaign’s effectiveness. To learn more, read: Why customize your SMS sender name?

4- Include the STOP reply option

The “Stop SMS” is a legal requirement that you must include in all promotional SMS campaigns. It takes the form of inserting a “STOP 36XXX” in your message, giving your recipient the option to unsubscribe. This feature is therefore important. To learn more, read: SMS Stop — what does the law say?

5- Analyze the performance of your campaigns

Being able to measure the performance and results of your campaigns is a crucial element that will allow you to best manage the commercial and relational effectiveness of the SMS channel. Being able to track the read rate or click rate (when a link is included), measure the quality of your contact database, and more — these are pieces of information you need to be able to analyze for each of your campaigns, in a simple and readable way.

6- Analyze the clicks on your campaigns!

One of the marketing trends to implement is click tracking. The click rate gives you an interesting statistic on the engagement of your recipients, but as is often the case in marketing, the hardest part is still ahead! Send follow-ups exclusively to those who clicked, using our click tracking feature.

7- Set up scheduled sending

Being able to choose the date and time of your send will help you stay better organized. This way, you create your campaigns whenever you like, and they will automatically go out at the moment you consider most opportune for reaching your recipients.

8- Have SMS credits with no expiration date

Have you purchased a pack that you need to use within the next 6 months or year? Knowing the expiration date of your pack is important for managing your budget and sends as effectively as possible. Some SMS platforms do not set an expiration date, while others will impose one. This is an important point to check before purchasing your first pack.

9- Keep full control of your campaign costs

Sending a campaign inevitably incurs costs. Make sure there are no hidden fees: some platforms will charge you for message personalization, sender name customization, or URL insertion. Be vigilant on this point, as it will help you keep costs down and run low-cost SMS campaigns.

10- Integrate a Rich SMS solution

Rich SMS involves integrating a link into an SMS message to enhance your campaign experience. This allows you to include forms, videos, and maps through a dedicated mobile site. SMS Partner offers a free solution of this type with Toodiz — feel free to sign up and give it a try.

11- Check the available sending solutions

While most platforms offer an online platform and an SMS API, it is important to test the usability of the platform and/or verify that the SMS API supports the coding language used by your developers. Ideally, an SMS SDK should be available in the documentation.

12- Data privacy guarantee

The LCEN (French Law for Confidence in the Digital Economy) requires opt-in compliance for sending any marketing SMS. This means that the person receiving the message must have consented to receive it, and that the recipient’s phone number was obtained with their consent. Make sure your SMS provider complies with this law in their service.

Likewise, the security and confidentiality of your customers’ data are essential. A good SMS provider must guarantee both of these points in their general terms and conditions on their website or on a dedicated page, such as here.

13- Explore additional features…

Some SMS platforms offer additional features worth exploring. For example, at SMS Partner, our platform provides a targeted mobile phone number database rental solution, international SMS sending, and an SMS OTP solution (for two-factor authentication).

? You’ve chosen your SMS provider but are worried about making mistakes when launching your first campaign? Download our free Notion checklist, which covers the key steps for a successful SMS campaign. Launch with complete peace of mind!

If you enjoyed our article and would like to share our SMS solution, become a business referral partner!

If you would like to learn more about the many features available on our platform or if you would like advice on choosing your SMS provider, contact us: help@smspartner.fr