If you want to provide Text Messaging services to your wordpress wordpress site visitors or want to send text message online to your loved ones and company employs. With WordPress plugins, you can enhance your website’s features which will provide this service free of charge. You can also find deals to promote your products through some of these services. All you have to activate the plugin and add the sidebar widget, so visitors can subscribe to text message and can have live chat. Even you can set the plugin to auto-text updates out each time a post is published!
Millennials, in particular, are notorious for avoiding phone calls. A Pew study found that 63% use text messages every day, whereas only 39% were reported to place phone calls daily. This disparity is expected to continue to grow.
For starters, 90 percent of SMS messages are read within three minutes of being sent .
Additionally, SMS messages have resulted in impressive Returns on Investments (ROIs) as high as 680 percent .
Below, we’ve collected ten plugins that can help you send different types of SMS messages to subscribers.
Using an Application Programming Interface (API), it can send and receive SMS messages via your WordPress site.
Millennials, in particular, are notorious for avoiding phone calls. A Pew study found that 63% use text messages every day, whereas only 39% were reported to place phone calls daily. This disparity is expected to continue to grow.
We’ll discuss how it works, why you may want to do it, and how to enable this type of SMS notifications with or without a plugin.
However, you’ll need a WordPress SMS plugins or other mass text messaging platform to do so.
The Benefits of Using a WordPress SMS Plugin ? Although we’ve covered the many uses of text messages for marketing and notifications, its true benefits become clearer when you look at the relevant statistics
As we said earlier, you’ll need a WordPress SMS plugins or comparable platform to start sending mass texts to subscribers and website users
You won’t have to bounce back and forth between platforms, making your workflow more efficient. 10 WordPress SMS Text Message Plugins ? Whatever your goals when it comes to sending text messages with WordPress, there’s an SMS plugin that will help you accomplish them.
How do I add sms functionality in website?
In short, There are many APIs available now. Some free gateways n some commercial. Free gateways might give you some limitations like number of SMS per day / some demo text included in the SMS.
Over 130 SMS gateways are available through this platform, including: Twilio Clickatell BulkGate ClickSend SMS Heymarket SMS Tatango TeleSign SMS by Zapier Zapier offers integration with WordPress itself , as well as WooCommerce , Gravity Forms , Formidable Forms , and a handful of other plugins .
Just like when using a plugin, you’ll still need an account with whichever SMS gateway you integrate with your WordPress site, and that provider’s rates will apply .
Since there are many, I personnay would suggest to look at the twilio API. This is a simple REST api.
twilio.com/docs/api/rest/sending-messages
Twilio SMS Notifications for WooCommerce/Bookings plugin:
Twilio SMS Notifications for WooCommerce One of the most convenient features you can offer your e-commerce customers is automated text updates regarding their purchases .
Fortunately, there are several WordPress SMS plugins that can help you implement this functionality, including Twilio SMS Notifications : As an official WooCommerce extension , you can rest assured that this tool will work seamlessly with its parent plugin to deliver accurate and timely notifications to customers .
Customizing the admin forms and form submissions is easier through the wp admin panel.and the form of SMS is customizable, for example it’s possible to change the text sent by the contact form plugin through the form SMS notifications plugin
A single site license for the Twilio SMS Notifications extension is just $49 per year , though you’ll also need to consider the per-text fees .
Appointment Hour Booking + Clickatell Add-On In addition to integrating with Twilio, you can also pair Appointment Hour Booking with the Clickatell add-on .If you use a long number and send texts only within the United States, the price is comparable to Twilio .Its All in One Extention package includes Twilio SMS for creating reminders and notification texts .
What is SMS Gateways!
A short while ago, a lot of users were talking about SMS gateways and how they’re great for sending bulk messages and information through the cellular network. This has been especially useful for businesses who want to be able to manage their customer lists, and even their incoming messages and emails from other websites. This technology, however, has evolved and improved since it was first introduced, and now there are more efficient and reliable ways of using it. This is why it’s important to conduct a SMS gateway review of its available services to make sure you get the best deal for your business’ needs. In this article, I will talk about the basics of SMS gateways and the different services that are available.
A basic definition of SMS gateways is that they are special programs that let you send and receive messages from any cell phone through a cellular network. There are many types of these programs and one of the most popular types is the SMS gateway. An SMS gateway or mobile messaging gateway lets you send or receive messages in the form of short message service or multimedia messaging service messages between global and local cellular networks. The SMS gateway then analyzes the received signal, translates the message into a compatible language, and then compiles it into a standard format used by a particular SMS service.
There are many different types of SMS gateways, but the most common types are SMS gateways for use with cellular phones and wireless network SMS. Most people know that it’s impossible to text someone via their cell phone unless they have their phone on them, but many still want to be able to do this. There are various reasons for wanting to text other people with a wireless network, and there are different protocols necessary for this to happen. Some people prefer to text with their cellphones, while others would rather have a regular receiver to text with. There are SMS gateways that work with most of these protocols, so if you’re interested in text messaging with other wireless network users, then you should consider looking into using SMS gateways.
There are lot of integrations between Twilio and WordPress famous plugins and premium themes, such as WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, which sends SMS on time and deliver SMS text messages to customers using this popular SMS gateway (Twilio).
One of the best features and integrations is that the messages are delivered instantly and on time as Messages to individuals or to companies using a branded number in Twilio console.
Pros of using SMS Plugins on WordPress Website
Pros of installing an SMS plugins on your WordPress site As you can see, text messaging is an incredibly versatile feature and tool that will compliment your digital marketing plan.
There are several WordPress SMS plugins options that you can invest in that feature seamless integration with your other plugins, text message creation through the WordPress interface, the ability to send short links, useful analytics, and allow you to manage everything through a single platform.
Diverse WordPress SMS plugins options Up next: an assortment of 10 different plugin options, some may be more suitable for some functions than others.
This WordPress plugin is useful for scheduling classes, doctor’s appointments, meetings and more. You can link the forms to a payment processor plugin and to an SMS add-on.
For example, It can be easily integrated with WooCommerce and trigger the WooCommerce actions, such as The changes in the orders’ statuses (pending,completed,failed,refunded, etc) so each time WooCommerce has a new action within, The SMS plugin will send a text message to the customer instantly, These type of integrations are very useful to increase the conversion in WooCommerce Stores.and sometimes SMS notifications are the same level of importance as Email Notifications.
What Can You Do with SMS on Your WordPress Site?
WordPress SMS Marketing Plugin A complete integrated extension for WordPress site.
From this article, it is clear that the ideal too l for promoting your business is the SMS marketing plugin.
You already know how to integrate your other marketing channels into WordPress social video email . But with SMS getting so little airtime when compared to the rest, you might not be aware of the full range of its capabilities.
I was actually surprised by one of these use cases recently when I found out that my favorite local food truck sends out text messages when they’re parked nearby (since their schedule can be erratic). It ended up being a huge timesaver for me as I was getting tired of having to stalk their site (both physical and digital) whenever I had a jonesing for their tacos. It’s also just a really nice touch for a small business to offer a notification service like this something I was able to sign up for through their WordPress site.
So, if you’re thinking that SMS is only for super-sized ecommerce sites, think again. SMS would be great for:
- Instant verification or confirmation of a signup
- eCommerce notifications as a purchase is confirmed, order is processed, package is shipped, etc.
- Customer feedback surveys
- A heads-up about special, insider deals
- Notification about new blog posts, video content, etc. published to the site
- Alerts related to exceeding account limits, password verifications, recent transactions, and so on
- Confirmation for upcoming appointments
- Reminders that products need to be refilled or reordered
SMS Marketing Case Study
SMS-only contests like the one Tide ran to get new mobile subscribers and generate greater brand awareness Here’s an example of how American Airlines handles their flight notifications. This is what it looks like on their site:
And here is the SMS notification I received:
As you can see, there’s a lot that can be accomplished by sending a simple text message to your visitors. And, even better, you can use these messages to complement your other marketing efforts, driving them back to the site or turning their attention to your other marketing channels.
Just keep in mind the general “rules” you’ll want to abide by:
- Only send text messages if your visitors have expressly given you permission to opt them in.
- Always give them an easy out if they decide to change their mind. Include a STOP or OPT OUT option in the message.
- Keep your messages under 160 characters.
- Include a clear call-to-action. SMS should always be sent with a purpose: read this, fill out this survey, use this coupon code, etc.
- If you do include a link, make sure the landing page is optimized for mobile and removes any unnecessary steps so your visitors can get right to what they need, just like Silverstone did.
And, of course, don’t forget to schedule them for an optimal time and date. A text on a Monday at midnight is not likely to go over well with your audience.
Another example of WP SMS Integrations,
For instance, the WooCommerce Bookings extension lets you sell bookings based on times or dates.
For instance, the WooCommerce Bookings extension lets you sell bookings based on times or dates.
You still have the option to accept bookings free of charge, but the main reason you would go with a WooCommerce extension like this is to activate the payment processing aspect.
I would argue that WooCommerce Bookings is best for companies that already utilize the WooCommerce plugin.
WooCommerce Bookings plugin Once the extension is activated, it offers fields for descriptions, pricing, titles, and a calendar.
The WooCommerce Bookings extension starts at $249 for a single site and goes up to $449 for up to 25 sites.
Also, the base WooCommerce plugin is completely free so you don’t have to worry about paying for that.
Finally, WooCommerce offers a full year of customer support and a 30-day money back guarantee. Features That Make Woocommerce Bookings a Great Choice The WooCommerce Bookings extension provides tools for creating fixed time slots where the customers have to decide based on the times you choose.
Why should I integrate SMS solution into my website?
Most SMS marketing solutions focus on using messaging in the same way brands have been accustomed to using email marketing and it looks more or less something like this: Segment and cohort subscribers Write content/creative Include a link for a call to action (CTA) Schedule campaign Launch campaign Measure results There is nothing inherently wrong with this use case.
SMS marketing is a very effective channel for these general use cases: Customer acquisition which includes acquiring net new customer mobile numbers or augmenting your existing customer data to include mobile numbers.
If you want to increase your online presence and you want to increase the amount of customers you can generate, you should definitely know how to integrate SMS solution into your WordPress blog. WordPress has become the best CMS for most businesses because it allows for a lot of customization. One of the best ways to customize your WordPress blog is to use a WordPress plug-in. When using a WordPress plug-in, you basically take an existing HTML code and change it to fit your WordPress theme. These changes are permanent and they will not affect your visitors’ ability to navigate your website.
If you want to know how to integrate SMS solution and key features into WordPress, the first step is to find a WordPress theme that uses text-based layouts. There are plenty of them out there but one of the best ones out there is one called Worpdress Text Lite which is a free download. Another great thing about this theme is that it comes with a Worpdress Widget, which means you don’t have to add any other plugins. You just need one Worpdress widget and you’re set.
Now that you have your Worpdress theme, all you have to do is find one of the many available SMS plug-ins that are available for it. For example, you might want to use Google Imap if you want to send a bulk of emails to your subscribers. Or you might want to use Yahoo External Web Caller. There are plenty of other SMS plug-ins that will allow you to send the messages from your WordPress database or from any other location. All you need to do is look for one that suits your needs. Once you’ve found a good SMS plugin for WordPress, you’re set!