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Text Message Automation Made Easy.
Leverage the power of our automated texting service to engage with your audience at scale.
What is Text Message Automation?
Text message automation, simply put, is the automatic sending or triggering of text messages to individuals or groups of people with little or no manual intervention. Marketing automation has become extremely popular with brands as it allows them to personally engage with their audience at scale.
Our automated texting service offers several options for reaching your audience. From simple scheduling, to more complex recurring SMS and event-triggered messaging, we provide the ease and flexibility to put your engagements on autopilot.
Ways To Send Automated Text Messages
There are several different ways that you can send automated text messages. Our service currently offers 8 specific features that allow you to put your SMS marketing on autopilot. The great news is that they're all easy to set up and allow for a deep level of customization.
Automated Workflows
Workflows are automated sequences that subscribers can flow through that create a personalized and tailored experience. With workflows you can send automatic text messages and customize the experience based on the behaviors of the individual. For example, you can send a text with a link and then follow after a period of time based on whether or not they clicked. They are perfect for creating SMS chat bots, collecting information, nurturing leads and more.
Building automated SMS workflows is as simple as dragging and dropping objects onto a canvas and connecting them all together. No coding required. We're the only automated texting service to offer this type of tool and it's a total game changer.
SMS Drip Messages
SMS drip messages are texts that send automatically at different intervals after people subscribe to your SMS marketing program. What's great about drips is that you can chain several together to create a series of automated text messages that send days, weeks, or even years after they initially subscribe.
You can make your drip text messages even smarter by applying what we call "segment filters." This allows your drips to send only if people match specific criteria you specify. Some examples could be whether or not they provided their name, clicked a link, or even made a purchase.
This is a very powerful feature that can be as simple or complex as you need. Regardless of the complexity, our service makes setting up these automated drips a breeze.
Autoresponders
Autoresponders, also known as "auto replies", are the simplest and most common SMS automation tool. An autoresponder is simply an automated text message that is sent back to a person when they text a unique keyword to a short code or phone number. They are fully customizable and are sent immediately after a keyword is texted.
Autoresponders are typically used to confirm subscriptions to SMS marketing programs or mass texting services. When someone joins a text messaging list, they receive an auto response that thanks them for joining and usually provides some additional offer or piece of information. Some businesses use autoresponders purely to provide information and set up hundreds of keywords that deliver specific responses to people seeking info on specific things.
Scheduled Text Messages
Scheduling text messages is one of the most common and easiest ways to take advantage of SMS automation. Our texting service makes scheduling a breeze. When composing a message, you have the option to send it now, later, or on a regular basis. By choosing to send it later, you are provided with options to specify a date and time at which you want your text message to be sent. You can even choose which timezone your messages are scheduled to send in.
With scheduled texts, you can send appointment reminders, event reminders, stock replenishment alerts, and so much more. It's a must have feature when looking for a mass texting service.
Recurring Text Messages
Recurring texts, also known as "repeating messages," are SMS messages that send automatically at regular intervals. Similar to scheduled text messages, recurring messages allow you to specify a time for the message to send but additionally, you can choose to have it repeat in the future.
With this tool, you can set text messages up to automatically send daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. We offer virtually unlimited scheduling options giving you the flexibility you need to put those important SMS messages on autopilot. As an example, you could set up a bulk text message to send to a list every other month, on the second tuesday of the month, at 3:15 PM. The options are endless. You can even combine these messages with our segmentation tools to target only people who meet specific criteria.
Abandoned Cart SMS
If you own or operate an online store, you probably understand how much revenue is wasted due to abandoned orders. People are often filling up their shopping carts with goodies, starting the checkout process and then getting distracted and not completing their purchases. Text messaging is proving to be one of the number one ways to re-engage those lost customers, bring them back to your website and drive them to complete their purchases.
Our service for sending automated abandoned cart text messages is easy to set up and runs 100% on its own. Simply connect SlickText to your ecommerce site via an integration or API, configure the messages to be sent and sit back. Your automated text messages will begin sending out to those who leave your checkout flow with links that bring them back.
You can then view the performance of your cart recovery from our gorgeous analytics dashboard. From there you'll have access to all of the necessary data to ensure you're getting the optimal ROI.
Text Message Surveys
Texting surveys are a great way to collect input and engage with your audience. This feature allows you to build out a series of questions that people can answer entirely through text messaging. Once built, SMS surveys are totally automated and are a powerful tool for organizations looking to capture ongoing feedback.
Surveys are constructed using three specific question types; numeric response, multiple choice, and open-ended. Each question type expects a response relative to its type which keeps responses streamlined.
All data collected through texting surveys is auto-populated into a beautiful analytics dashboard that breaks down the responses and overall respondent behavior.
Automated Birthday Rewards
Automated birthday text messages are one of the most fun and personal ways to engage with your customers or audience. This feature allows you to send text messages on or a specific number of days before your subscribers' birthdays. This is another set it and forget it feature that provides great value while requiring no effort whatsoever.
Birthdate collection is also 100% automated as subscribers are simply asked to reply back their date of birth when they join your text messaging list. All information is stored within the SlickText system and sends people a customizable text on their special day.
Reasons to Use SMS Automation
There are plenty of reasons why automating your text messages makes sense. In this fast paced world, the more you can automate, the more you can focus on other important tasks that require you to be hands on. Here are just a few reasons why you could be putting your SMS and MMS marketing campaigns on autopilot.
Simple Setup
Setting up any of our automated text messaging features is as simple as possible. We believe that great marketing tools should be easy AND powerful. That's why we've built our SMS marketing software to be simple to use but with the ability to get as complex as necessary.
Hands-Free Messaging
Using automation allows you to focus on other important areas of your business or organization. Let our auto texting service handle the grunt work of staying engaged with your audience so that you can focus your attention elsewhere.
Consistent Returns
SMS automation provides consistent returns by broadcasting to your audience on a smart and consistent basis. One of the main reasons why brands fail with outbound marketing is because it requires consistent, hands-on focus. By sending automated texts, you can provide consistent value and stay top of mind with you customers.
Intelligent Engagement
Automation can backfire if your messages are not relevant, engaging, or timely. By using our segmentation tool with all of our SMS automation features, you can create a higher level of assurance that each of your group texts sent provides value and is well accepted.
Automated Texting FAQs
If you’re looking for an automated texting service, there’s a good chance you’ll have questions. It can be a bit nerve-racking to take your hands off the wheel and it’s important to know how things work. Below are some of the common questions we receive from organizations looking to put their messaging on autopilot.
What do people use SMS automation for?
Organizations across many different industries are using SMS automation. Every day we see a new use case for our automation tools. Some of the most popular uses include ecommerce abandoned cart flows, lead nurturing and chat bots.
Is sending automated text messages Legal?
Yes, automated text messaging is perfectly legal. It’s important to ensure, however, that each person you’re messaging has opted in to receive your texts beforehand. There can be large legal fines associated with SMS spam so make sure people are subscribing first.
How can I personalize my automated messages?
There are several different ways to personalize your text messages. It’s especially important to do so when sending them automatically. You make this happen using “merge tags” which allow you to use people’s first and last names. You can further personalize by sending different messages based upon their behavior like clicking a link, placing an order or how they respond to a previous message.
Does it cost extra to automate my texting?
In most cases it costs nothing more to send automated SMS messages. All automation features, besides workflows, are included with a paid subscription. Workflows do cost extra and it’s well worth it. They give you maximum flexibility when putting your texting on autopilot.
What are the best practices for automation?
Most of the best practices for sending auto text messages are the same as traditional SMS marketing or mass texting programs. Make sure people have opted in. Everyone should know how to opt out. Only send messages that create value. Send during normal hours. They aren’t complex. Just put yourself in the recipient’s shoes.
How does SMS automation work at scale?
The great thing about automation is that it works just as well with 10 people as it does with 100,000. The important thing to remember is that you should be personalizing every text message that’s sent. This leads to better engagement and response rates. Each automated text should use the person’s name when necessary and only send if the message is relevant to that individual person.
Why Choose SlickText As Your Automated Texting Service?
There are several text alert services out there. None rise to the level of overall quality and depth of features that SlickText offers. Here are a few reasons why we're your best bet for automation...
Setup Is a Breeze
Don't worry about the hassle of learning complex text messaging software. We've built every feature within our suite of SMS marketing tools to be dead simple to use; especially our automations. You'll love how quickly you can be up and running.
Flexible Automation Options
Most text marketing services offer very few automated options. We understand that you need to minimize the amount of time and effort you spend working with our software so that you can focus on your business. That's why we offer a wide array of features that can be 100% automated.
Manage Everything On-The-Go
In addition to our outstanding desktop experience, you can also manage your automated text messages from our mobile app. Available for iOS and Android, you'll have full control over all of your settings just as you would from a computer.
World Class Messaging Quality
There are a lot of different ways to send text messages today. That includes a lot of low quality methods that leave your texts undelivered. Our text blast service uses the best North American SMS messaging routes to ensure the best possible delivery for your campaigns.
Hundreds Of Other Features
While automation is an important component to any texting strategy, it's not all of it. Our SMS marketing service provides a ton of additional features and functionality at your fingertips for managing a complete text messaging program.
Fanatical Support
Forget the frustrations of learning this all on your own. There's no doubt you'll have questions and we'll be here for you. Our knowledgeable support team has helped tens of thousands automate their messaging and is ready to do the same for you!
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