SMS Marketing Software

SMS (short message service) marketing is a powerful tool for sending real-time updates, exclusive offers, and personalized messages directly to your customers' phones. 

To take advantage of the power of SMS, you have multiple options to harness the power of SMS for your business: 

• On our Premium Plan, SMS marketing is included with 500 messages per month. Use SMS to send timely updates like flash sales, event reminders, and appointment confirmations to your opted-in contacts.

• For Lite and Standard Plan, SMS marketing is not included, but can easily be added onto your plan. You get access to the benefits of SMS marketing, like higher open rates (up to 98%) and direct communication with your customers.

How to add SMS to your Constant Contact account in 5 steps:

1. Go to the Constant Contact website and log in to your account.

2. Go to the "Account" or "Settings" section and look for "Add-Ons" or "Features."

3. Select the SMS marketing add-on. 

4. Follow the prompts to complete the purchase and set up your SMS marketing service. This may include setting up a dedicated phone number, creating opt-in forms, and configuring compliance settings.

After setup, explore our intuitive text editor, personalization options, and automations to make sending your first texts fast and easy. 

10DLC stands for "10-digit long code,” which is the standard for businesses directly texting their customers in the United States. 

To use 10DLC, businesses typically need to register their phone numbers and provide information about their SMS campaigns. This process helps carriers verify the legitimacy of the business and its messaging practices. The timing of this will vary based on the carrier. 

10DLC uses standard 10-digit phone numbers that customers are already familiar with, and is specifically designed for businesses to communicate with customers through SMS. There are several benefits for businesses to set up a 10DLC, like: 

• Compliance: Helps businesses comply with SMS regulations and reduces the risk of message blocking

• Deliverability: Helps ensure that messages are delivered to customers’ phones, not filtered out as spam 

• Consumer trust: Using a registered 10DLC number can increase trust in your brand, since your business won’t appear like a 1-800 number on their phones 

Constant Contact offers SMS only, but here is the breakdown between the two types of messaging service: 

SMS (Short Message Service)

• Text-only content: Limited to plain text messages

• Character limit: 160 characters per message

• Delivery: Requires a cellular connection to receive messages

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service)

• Multimedia content: Supports images, audio, videos, GIFs, and other media types

• Character limit: Up to 1,600 characters per message

• Delivery: Requires a data connection to receive messages

Follow these guidelines to collect consent and keep your SMS marketing compliant with regulations: 

Remember, The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires businesses to obtain prior consent before sending marketing text messages to customers, and the CAN-SPAM Act protects consumers from misleading information in commercial messages. 

When collecting consent, be sure to include the following information:

• Description of the program: Clearly explain what subscribers are signing up for

• Shortcode or phone number: Inform subscribers where messages will come from

• "Msg & Data rates apply" disclosure: Warn subscribers about potential charges

• Message frequency: Let subscribers know how often they'll receive messages

• Opt-out instructions: Provide clear instructions on how to stop receiving messages

• Link to terms and conditions or privacy policy: Offer transparency about your data handling practices

• Contact and support information: Make it easy for subscribers unsubscribe and tell them where to reach out with questions or concerns

Best Practices for Compliance

1. Send a confirmation text message: Confirm registration and provide initial information

2. Be mindful of message frequency and timing: Respect subscribers' time and avoid overwhelming them with tons of messages 

3. Keep messages concise and relevant: Ensure messages are valuable and engaging

4. Personalize messages: Segment your list to send targeted, relevant content

5. Test and analyze: Monitor delivery rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribes to refine your strategy

Yes! Use our bulk SMS marketing software to schedule your text messages in advance, or include texts as a marketing channel in future automated campaigns.

To improve deliverability across both email and SMS, focus on the following strategies:

1. Build and maintain a good sender reputation:

   • Only send emails to subscribers who have opted-in

   • Regularly clean your email list to remove hard bounces and unengaged subscribers

   • Use a clear and recognizable sender name

2. Optimize email content:

   • Craft relevant and personalized content for your audience

   • Avoid spam trigger words and excessive punctuation

   • Use a clear and compelling subject line

3. Improve email infrastructure:

   • Authenticate your emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

   • Use a reputable email service provider with strong deliverability rates

4. Segment your email list:

   • Divide your list into targeted groups based on subscriber preferences and behavior

   • Send relevant content to each segment to improve engagement

5. Monitor and analyze performance:

   • Track open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribes, and spam complaints

   • Use data to refine your email strategy and improve deliverability

SMS throttling is what happens when carriers limit the number of messages you can send each day. Each phone carrier has their own restrictions and regulations, which means your texts are broken into batches and sent to large groups of people over a longer period of time, like a handful of days.

To keep throttling to a minimum, try these tactics:

1. Segment your contacts:

   • Break down large lists into smaller, targeted groups

   • Use tags or create new lists based on subscriber characteristics

2. Upgrade your SMS plan if necessary:

   • If you have a large number of opted-in contacts, consider upgrading your SMS plan

   • Higher-tier plans often allow for more messages to be sent per month, reducing throttling effects

3. Be mindful of message frequency and timing:

   • Respect subscribers' time and avoid overwhelming them with messages

   • Comply with regulations on timing e.g., between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone)