best text messaging apps for business

22 Best Text Messaging Apps for Business SMS Marketing in 2022

Are you looking to grow your customer base? Or increase your conversion rate? Do you want to reach your customers quickly and efficiently? And lastly, how do you find a unicorn in a sea of donkeys? 

We’re pretty sure you answered yes to the above and we want to help you find unicorns! This leads us to one of the biggest trends—text message marketing. 

In 2022, conversational marketing is paving the way for SMS communication to be a front-runner. It’s more important than ever to ensure your business stays up-to-date.

We’re giving you the top best text messaging apps for business in 2022. These are the next-generation applications that marketers need in order to run successful SMS marketing campaigns.

Jump straight to the best text messaging apps for business with the links below:

  1. SMS opt-in from website popup 
  2. Opt-in with text keyword 
  3. SMS opt-in from Instagram
  4. SMS opt-in from ads 
  5. Contact uploader
  6. Audience segmentation 
  7. SMS blast
  8. Campaign scheduling by recipient time
  9. Drip campaign sequences
  10. Unicorn lead detection and notification to your team
  11. Audience tagging
  12. Conditional follow-ups
  13. Message personalization
  14. Email integration
  15. SMS customer survey
  16. Multimedia message (MMS) 
  17. Emoji keyboard
  18. CRM integration 
  19. Text-to-call forwarding
  20. Live chat agent follow-up
  21. Campaign analytics
  22. Android and iOS mobile app

What Makes the Best Text Messaging Apps for Business?

In previous years, SMS marketing was not so much a unicorn, but rather a donkey. Now, we’re able to provide you with cutting-edge applications that were not possible before. 

We’re talking about applications including text-to-call forwarding and unicorn lead detection. Not only is this new technology, but marketers can increase their sales and conversions up to 7x by using SMS marketing. 

So hold onto your hats and buckle up for 2022’s new best text message marketing applications for business.

Why Text Messaging Apps For Business Are Changing The Game In 2022

People are so attached to their phones these days. In fact, SMS messaging has a 99% open-rate compared to email marketing’s 10-30% average open rate.  

1 text message open rates

Let’s face it, there’s an unlimited number of options to choose from when it comes to selecting the best text messaging app for SMS marketing. 

You’ll find that each app may not be able to offer what your company is looking for. We’ve done the research for you and came up with the below criteria to help you choose the best SMS application for your business (ps… these criteria meet our expectations). 

These are the questions you should be asking yourself:

What is a good text messaging app for business?

The SMS app should allow for 2-way messaging so you can communicate with your customer. This leads to better engagement, thus leading into more conversions.

You’ll also want to get phone numbers from multiple channels (SMS, email, ad opt-ins and so on) and allow for adding richer profile data (unicorn detection). 

Best text messaging apps for business SMS marketing in 2022

Let’s jump into the 22 best applications for businesses doing SMS marketing in 2022. 

Best Text Messaging App 1. SMS opt-in from website popup 

Grow your customer base with a popup opt-in tool on your website asking your customers if you can connect with them on SMS. 

2 sms optin popup

Once the customer enters their phone number and accepts, you are ready to start sending SMS marketing campaigns to your new customer. 

Best Text Messaging App 2. Opt-in with text keyword 

The SMS keyword opt-in is a magic way to grow your text message opt-in list. Select a keyword and set up the app to reply to everyone who texts you that keyword a unique autoresponder.

3 Opt-in with text keyword

Keep the keyword and your autoresponder simple, short and sweet! 

Best Text Messaging App 3. SMS opt-in from Instagram

Just as you can utilize the website popup opt-in, you’ll want to give your customer the option to stay in touch with you via SMS messaging on Instagram. 

4 SMS opt-in from Instagram

Best Text Messaging App 4. SMS opt-in from ads 

You can collect phone numbers where you run your ads! Send the phone number to the marketing SMS platform and then follow-up with an automated text message funnel.  

Best Text Messaging App 5. Contact uploader

Upload your contact list into Customers.ai for easy sms automation. Remember, your customer must first agree to receiving SMS messages from your business. 

Best Text Messaging App 6. Audience segmentation 

You need the ability to segment your audience, whether you label them a unicorn and donkey, or engaged and unengaged, you’ll need to segment for better targeting in the future.

5 Audience segmentation

Best Text Messaging App 7. SMS blast

Create an audience and send your campaign to multiple customers.

Best Text Messaging App 8. Campaign scheduling by recipient time

Maximize your engagement by reaching your customers in their specified time zone. 

Best Text Messaging App 9. Drip campaign sequences

Schedule a series of SMS messages based on actions your customers take.

Drip campaign

Best Text Messaging App 10. Unicorn lead detection and notification to your team

Understand who your unicorns are and identify them by asking qualified questions to create your customer persona. 

6 Unicorn lead detection

Notify your team that a unicorn has risen via email, browser notification and/or mobile app.

Best Text Messaging App 11. Audience tagging

Tagging allows you to understand who your unicorns are in a sea of donkeys. You can tag based on replies (qualified prospects get unicorn tags!) and based on how engaged they are with your SMS campaigns.

Best Text Messaging App 12. Conditional follow-ups

Set conditions based on your customer’s response that allows for automated follow-ups.

7 followup branch

Best Text Messaging App 13. Message personalization

This is exactly what it sounds like… personalize, personalize, personalize! Customers like to feel important, so calling out their name or some personal callout gives you an edge to securing that lead.

8 Message personalization

Best Text Messaging App 14. Email integration

Multiple touchpoints mean higher conversion rates. So get your channels in sync including your website, social media, SMS and email! With an text messaging app that connects to your email marketing efforts you can leverage all the messaging channels your target customers use.

Best Text Messaging App 15. SMS customer survey

Allow your customers to provide feedback on your products, services and communications.

9 SMS customer survey

Best Text Messaging App 16. Multimedia message (MMS) 

Include images, GIFs, and video to catch your readers’ attention in your text promotions, sale notifications and discount offers.

Best Text Messaging App 17. Emoji keyboard

Connect with the consumer by expressing emotions. Fun Fact: Over 900 million emojis are sent daily 😮

10 Emoji keyboard

Best Text Messaging App 18. CRM integration 

Make sure you have CRM integration capabilities to allow the data to flow between the CRM and your SMS application. 

Best Text Messaging App 19. Text-to-call forwarding

This is a unicorn! Give your customers easy access to a representative to answer any questions they may have. Now, convert them! 

Best Text Messaging App 20. Live chat agent follow-up

Be more responsive in a timely manner with a live chat option. 

11 Live chat agent

Best Text Messaging App 21. Campaign analytics

Learn how your campaigns perform (number of recipients, successful sends) over time. 

Best Text Messaging App 22. Android and iOS mobile app

Want to be able to view and respond to convos from your customers and prospects on the go? Use a text messaging app for business that has a mobile app that allows you to view and reply to replies from your customers.

12 Android and iOS mobile app

Leveraging these tools will give you the power to learn about your campaigns and your customers in order to increase your conversions. With a top-notch software company leading the way in conversational and SMS marketing, Customers.ai offers one of the best SMS marketing apps available. 

FAQs about Best Text Messaging Apps

How can I send a text message from my business?

Ensure that the app allows you to send 1-off blasts as well as automated sequences. This is essential in growing customer engagement. 

How do companies send mass text messages?

The most effective way to send mass text messages is through a platform (like Customers.ai) where you can manage the customer journey starting with contact collection (customer list upload or Instagram fan to SMS contact). A benefit to doing this helps you find relevant learnings about your prospects in order to follow up with them. 

It’s not just about engaging in sms though.The customer journey is important as well, whether that sale happens in the text message conversation, a call or a follow-up from sales.

How do you send text messaging alerts to customers?

Use a keyword like “text to join” (remember, they must opt-in in order to send them SMS). Keep in mind that the customer will likely text you back so you’ll want to ensure that you have mapped the conversation journey. 

Let’s say your prospect is a unicorn because they’ve answered a qualifying question in the way that unicorns do. You can notify your sales or service teams to call them immediately when the lead is hot.

Looking for the best text messaging app for your business requires assessing your needs and goals. Whether you’re an agency, an in-house marketer, a small business, or a creator, you can find the right, tailored plan. 

  1. Grow your agency by enabling SMS messaging across your client portfolio
  2. In-house marketers can qualify and convert prospects in the most engaging customer messaging channel, SMS
  3. Small business owners can sell more and serve 5-star customer support with SMS reengagement campaigns 

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