Best SMS Apps for Small Businesses: 6 Best Apps (Updated List)

Email is the most preferred method of communicating with clients. Unfortunately, apps like Gmail automatically move messages to a folder that’s seldom examined, and many people just don’t open emails—no matter how important they are. I can’t tell you how often I’ve missed a critical update to a booking or an adjustment to order because it was delivered by email, especially in the last two years when everything has been so up in the air.

You can not ignore SMS, especially if your consumer base is young. According to a study, 75% of millennials prefer text-based communication over spoken conversation. Text messages have a 98 percent open rate. Furthermore, 67 percent of customers prefer to text than call or contact a company. But why is texting so popular?

Texting is, after all, time-saving. In today’s fast-paced world, time is money. You can get started with the best SMS apps for small businesses and save your time and money on customer engagement and sales. Although SMS is not the best method for developing personal relationships with your consumers, it is perfect for fast check-ins and confirmations.

SMS marketing services are the most acceptable methods to ensure that your clients view your order confirmations, booking reminders, promotions, and other essential updates. SMS marketing tools may be used to deliver customized messages to consumers and scheduled messages depending on a calendar, marketing list, or other integrated apps. In addition, business texting allows you to communicate quickly and personally with contacts, customers, and clients.

SMS or text notifications are essential in most of the working domains. It would be easy to interact with learners through text notifications if you are selling your online course. Graphy is an online course creation and selling platform. You can create your course in no time and sell it directly from the portal. Graphy also gives you push notification features like live classes, assignments, tests, etc.

So now you know that SMS marketing is essential for your business but what are some of the best SMS apps for small businesses? Here in this article, we will discuss the same.

Table of Contents

Why do you need an SMS app?

SMS is a low-maintenance method of ensuring that your business is constantly “on”. Continuing from the previous point, availability through SMS allows your company to remain “on.” For example, every given company’s text messaging service will enable users to confirm orders and appointments after office hours, reducing the need for another email or client call.

These autoresponders make your company more available to clients who may not want to speak with someone personally. At the very least, writing SMS for your business should not be difficult. While email and phone scripts are longer, character constraints (160 per text) keep the average business text shorter than a Tweet.

What characteristics distinguish a great business SMS app?

Texting applications, like any other sort of software, provide businesses with a plethora of options. Here are some crucial features when selecting a text messaging service for companies to identify the best SMS apps for small businesses.

Is it safe and secure for your consumers’ privacy?

People rightly cherish their privacy, and when someone gives you their phone number, they are putting their confidence in you to keep it safe. That means no spam and, most importantly, keeping personal information out of the hands of hackers.

Businesses should be wary about using WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger technologies to replace business messaging, mainly because they are prone to security flaws. Instead, you’ll need a specialized messaging app linked to a legitimate business phone number.

Is it scalable messaging that expands with your company (without spending a lot of money)?

Business texting must be scalable. Once you sign up, you’re committed to sending and receiving customer SMS for the long run. Therefore, the frequency and extent to which you will employ texting are determined by the size and scope of your organization.

For example, the cost of testing varies depending on whether you’re paying for a service that covers a small number of consumers or hundreds or thousands. In addition, some providers accept credit cards, while others (RingCentral) allow limitless SMS access. Ensure that you are spending in a system to which you can commit strategically and economically.

Is it simple to use, and does it integrate with other tools you currently have?

Choose applications that connect rather than jumping between a slew of separate tools to save time and money. It stands to reason that your SMS campaigns should be integrated with your existing communication platforms.

What devices are needed to send and receive texts?

Everyone is accustomed to receiving SMS text messages on their smartphones. However, corporations and organizations frequently want the ability to text from a laptop or tablet. For example, do you own a service or trades firm that employs field workers? Then selecting a business texting provider with a robust mobile app maybe even more beneficial to you. But be cautious. Many corporate messaging platforms are nearly entirely designed for PC use. Some services, such as MessageDesk, allow messaging from any device. This covers desktop PCs and downloadable mobile apps for the iPhone, Android, and tablets.

6 best SMS apps for small businesses in 2022

Now for the good stuff! We’ve identified the 6 best SMS apps for small businesses in 2022 that can help you contact clients on the go, and they’re all simple to use and affordable for small businesses.

RingCentral
SimpleTexting
EZ Texting
Twilio
MessageDesk
Google Voice

Ring Central: A complete communications package that includes limitless, integration-friendly messaging

RingCentral is about far more than texting. The platform enables you to deliver omnichannel customer support, including phone, email, and SMS (among other channels), allowing you to reach your consumers anywhere and at any time.

You may send unlimited texts with 1,000 characters using RingCentral from a single business phone number. This covers anything from meeting requests to files and links. Whether you only want to confirm appointments with clients or execute full-fledged marketing campaigns.

The most significant advantage of utilizing RingCentral is that all of your company’s communication is integrated onto a single platform. You may, for example, track all of your SMS through your RingCentral dashboard or use our in-app connectors for your email or CRM.

Another advantage of utilizing RingCentral is that its texting capabilities are limitless. To put it another way, you’re not bound by per-message charges or pricing. You won’t worry about overspending or restricting your SMS if you have a vast consumer base.

SimpleTexting: A modern platform with robust messaging capabilities

SimpleTexting lives up to its name very well, offering a clean, user-friendly platform that allows you to transition between one-on-one messages with clients and focused marketing campaigns.

There are built-in features such as scheduled texts, auto-responders, and direct consumer communication through SMS. Meanwhile, you may get started quickly by uploading your current contact list.

Text-based polls, voting, and push alerts are standout features that allow for more meaningful messaging engagements with your consumers. Furthermore, link-tracking statistics can assist you in learning which interactions are effective and which are not.

The platform’s price is dependent on the purchase of “credits.” However, it is essentially a free corporate text messaging service for up to 14 days (with 50 outgoing texts and complete features).

EZ Texting: A marketing-oriented mass-messaging app

EZ Texting is a marketing-focused mass-texting solution. For example, the platform allows you to quickly set up contests, coupon codes, discounts, etc.

These kinds of exclusives are excellent tools for not just client retention but also for incentivizing people to join your texting list. In addition, because EZTexting now offers statistics and interfaces with email marketing platforms, you get a complete picture of how SMS contributes to client acquisition.

Aside from these marketing tools, you may also create automated reminders and notifications, similar to ZipWhip. The platform is simple and provides various adaptable and elevated options based on business requirements. For example, if you want a la carte messaging options, you can add more business numbers or extra messages.

Twilio: The finest SMS app for personalization

You may have arrived here hoping for a Twilio alternative, but bear with me. Twilio is a clean slate, allowing businesses to integrate SMS messaging, phone number forwarding, and other functions. Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix are just a few examples of firms that use it in the background.

While Twilio is primarily intended for developers, it does not have to be a user to use it. There are enough no-code capabilities for most users with broad technical understanding. For example, you can connect Zapier, HubSpot, and Zoho CRM to Twilio’s API, requiring little to no code. Generally, you only need to figure out which portions to copy and paste.

If you wish to construct your app or anything similar, Twilio also has a few no-code options. The studio is a drag-and-drop app builder that can be used to create things like SMS surveys and autoresponders. You begin by selecting a trigger, such as an incoming message or a calendar event. Based on what has occurred, you may then build response criteria. It’s pretty straightforward, and the built-in instructions cover topics as simple as SMS autoresponders and surveys. Similarly, project templates allow anybody to get started, even if they have never developed an app before.

Its features are a touch above the demands of most small companies, but if you truly want to minimize expenses or develop your app-like structure, it makes it feasible with features like CodeExchange.

When you join up with Twilio, you are asked if you are a developer. Whichever choice you select, the interface is tailored to your specific requirements. If you’re not a developer, you’ll receive links to all of the information you’ll need to connect Twilio to third-party apps or utilize Studio so you can get started immediately.

Twilio should be less expensive than alternative SMS marketing platforms for most use cases, provided you’re willing to put in the effort to get everything up and running.

MessageDesk: Best for local service-based enterprises and organizations that want a shared team inbox

For enterprises that want a team inbox, MessageDesk is the ideal messaging app. It’s suitable for one-on-one messaging and broadcasting to big audiences using a 10-digit phone number or an 800 number. You may also use your current business phone number or SMS your landline.

MessageDesk is an excellent tool for companies and organizations wishing to engage their consumers in a discussion. It’s ideal for customer support and service, collecting reviews and comments, billing and scheduling alerts, and SMS marketing campaigns.

It contains features like scheduled and automated text messages and MMS messages, group messages and broadcasts without reply, etc.

Google Voice: For businesses that currently utilize Google Workplace, this is a simple text messaging tool (formerly Google Workspace)

Alright, admittedly, Google Voice isn’t the most powerful messaging app. However, the service does give a simple solution for businesses who want to send a few messages to clients and call it a day. Assume you have a small number of clients or your organization already uses Google’s suite of applications. If this is the case, you may not want to pay for bulk messaging or execute full-fledged campaigns.

Assuming you utilize Gmail for the majority of your correspondence, Google Voice’s texting features offer another alternative for checking in with clients and staying in touch with them while on the move. However, texting through PC is likely the bare minimum that organizations should provide for mobile texting.

However, the app will care for you—nothing more and nothing less. Although Google Voice’s text capabilities are restricted, it is a Google product that implies reasonably trustworthy and reliable.

Launch your course with Graphy

Engaging with your students using a text messaging app is not the best idea if you’re offering an online course. Graphy has developed a smooth connection with push notifications that you can utilize to engage with learners. This will make it easier for you to manage your courses and learning community. Our platform is constantly evolving and adding new features to assist you in launching your online teaching company. Graphy has over 30,000 creators who have successfully generated their content with our assistance and are delighted. Create your online course with Graphy today.