What is AI SMS Marketing? Definition, Benefits & Tools
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What is AI SMS Marketing? Definition, Benefits & Tools

SMS marketing campaigns have always been a reliable way to reach customers. But with the rise of AI in marketing, everything has changed – for the better!

You can now craft a compelling campaign quickly with AI technology.

Don’t worry. AI might seem complicated at first, but these tools are easy to use. Still, it can be challenging to keep up with all the AI tools you should use and how.

This article will explore how AI SMS Marketing can be a game-changer for your business. We’ll share the best tools to create your new marketing strategy and answer any questions on the process.

What is AI in SMS Marketing?

AI SMS Marketing uses the power of artificial intelligence, as seen in these examples of artificial intelligence, to create and manage SMS marketing campaigns. The best AI writing tools draft the text, and the SMS marketing tools will deliver your messages. The AI generated messages can be highly personalized to improve customer engagement.

The rise in AI technologies means businesses can work smarter, not harder. Automated processes do the heavy lifting – you just need to know how to use the tools effectively.

5 Benefits of AI SMS Marketing

The benefits of combining AI technology to send out bulk SMS are: 

1.   Keep customers updated

Personalized messages help build a close relationship with customers. It can also help direct their attention to new content and promotions. You can also use SMS marketing to celebrate accomplishments to reinforce brand loyalty.

2.   Customer surveys

SMS messages are a great way of collecting customer feedback. This can be done with surveys or simple ‘Yes/No’ style responses. Customer surveys, particularly when assessing the Net Promoter Score B2B, garner high engagement and play a pivotal role in evaluating the customer experience.

3.   Call to action on new services and promotions

Personalized SMS messages draw attention to your business’s new features and products. You can direct an existing contact list to services you know they’ll enjoy.

4.   Save time and money

An often overlooked benefit of AI in a marketing strategy is the time it frees up for you. Because these tools generate ideas, your team can use this free time to focus on other parts of your business.

5.   Different Languages

Machine translation can translate SMS text messaging into several other languages. This allows you to find potential customers in countries you might not have thought possible.

The Best AI SMS Marketing Tools

Various AI tools can help support and deliver your SMS marketing messages. Below are the best SMS marketing tools:

TextMagic + OpenAI

best AI sms marketing tools Textmagic

TextMagic is an easy-to-use text message marketing software that helps send messages to customers. With over 100K users, it’s arguably one of the most popular tools in the industry.

When paired with Open AI’s ChatGPT, you can draft messages or get campaign ideas quickly.

Open AI’s ChatGPT for drafting sms campaigns

Main Features:

TextMagic:

  • Personalized bulk messaging
  • Phone number/email validation
  • SMS surveys for collecting feedback
  • Email to SMS
  • Zapier integration

ChatGPT:

  • User-friendly chatbot-style interface
  • ‘Dialogue’ with the AI to easily refine and improve answers
  • Generates text in response to pretty much any question

With TextMagic’s pay-as-you-go pricing, you can buy credits that never expire. There are 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1K, 2K, 3K, 5K, or 10K credit packs. The cost of each text sent depends on the customer’s location. Here are the per-message rates for some countries:

  • USA: $0.04
  • UK: $0.068
  • Canada: $0.04
  • Netherlands: $0.1

There’s a 30-day free trial to get started.

In the case of ChatGPT, the service is entirely free to use. There is a premium service, ChatGPT Plus, which promises faster response times for users and priority access to new features for $20/month.

Attentive AI

Trained on over 1.4 trillion data points, Attentive AI helps create outstanding SMS campaigns that fit your brand’s voice.

Its ‘Magic Message’ chatbot can generate copy in seconds. It does this by using a variety of metrics. These include finding the right tone, punctuation, and message length to send texts at select times for the best impact.

It’s a valuable tool best suited for visual campaigns, as you can import your entire product library. A conversational AI also ensures that customers with high sales potential reach the checkout page.

Attentive AI helps craft an ecommerce SMS campaign quickly to maximize your return on investment. The platform handles timing, copywriting, inserting images, and managing customer data.

Main Features:

  • Generate high-performing copy based on audience or campaign goals
  • Use and modify images for SMS campaigns and emails
  • Automatically set and schedule best-performing SMS and email campaigns
  • Monitor customer behavior

Attentive AI has custom pricing for each customer. That said, online testimonials suggest that you can expect to pay $300/month and $0.01/SMS (with additional carrier fees).

Octane AI

Octane AI e-commerce tool for AI and sms marketing

Octane AI is an innovative e-commerce tool that bridges the gap between AI and SMS marketing. The fun quizzes, together with analytics to increase sales. It has 2 core features for SMS marketing messages:

The first are product quizzes. These aim to engage customers, collect helpful data, and increase conversions. AI-powered quizzes have a human-like voice, making them a fun tool to engage customers.

Secondly, the Insights Analyst service collects product reviews in under 30 seconds. It will find valuable data about popular (or problematic) items and build customer personas. These can be used to inform future SMS marketing.

Main features:

  • Personalized quizzes
  • Insights Analyst helps identify critical trends and potential customers
  • Integrated with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify

Octane AI Personal Shopper prices are based on your annual revenue. It costs $50 monthly for businesses with less than $1 million annual revenue.

Insights Analyst prices are based on the number of product reviews you have each month. It starts at $3/month for 250 reviews.

Final Thoughts on AI SMS Marketing

With an AI writer, you can say goodbye to writer’s block and generate a new SMS campaign ideas and copy.

The best part? Using AI isn’t as technical as many would believe. Our article shows that the best AI tools are easy to use, cost-effective, and can save time and money.

FAQs About Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation 

Is SMS marketing illegal?

No, SMS marketing isn’t illegal. You are allowed to message and engage with your customers through text messages. But you must comply with the laws and regulations.

Make sure you have your customer’s consent to the communication (e.g., through an opt-in form). Include key information such as the nature of messages, how often you will contact them, and clear opt-out instructions. Learn about your local text marketing laws and make sure you comply. Avoid purchasing customer lists. Sending messages to these people will earn you a bad reputation and possibly incur fines. 

How do you automate SMS marketing?

You can automate SMS marketing with text marketing platforms and AI writers. These tools can do everything from generating copy to scheduling messages and much more.

Companies automate transactional SMS messages like order receipts, multi-factor authentication messages, shipping notifications to save time and keep customers informed and secure.

Is SMS marketing worth it?

Yes, SMS marketing is worth it. Research shows that 98% of SMS messages are opened and read by customers. And Attentive found that 53% of marketers had reported SMS as a top 3 revenue driving channel.

Is SMS marketing still effective?

Yes, SMS message marketing is still effective. Research shows that up to 82% of people will open every text messages they receive. This is impressive, especially if you consider that 81% of people will ignore phone calls.

Research also says that up to 75% of consumers are OK with brands contacting them with special offers and promotions. And timely and relevant SMS notifications even increase customer satisfaction.

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