Do I need a text marketing API? 5 Reasons You do!
Text marketing, or SMS marketing, is the most effective way to reach your contact list. According to Hubspot, close to 70% of phone users open a new text message within just 5 minutes of receiving it. With the option for messages to be automated, and for short-form content, means creation can be fast and simple, enhancing your marketing success when done right. In fact, over 75% of customers prefer to speak with a business via text rather than via phone.
However, despite its power, there are limitations. If you’re already using a text marketing platform separate from your existing CRM, POS, or other platforms, some issues you may run into include an inability to send event-triggered messages, and a lack of personalization.
Why do I need an API for a text marketing strategy?
Text marketing API, or SMS API, integrations can significantly enhance an existing text marketing strategy by streamlining operational workflows and increasing scalability. An API can potentially connect to any CRM, POS, or other text marketing platform you may be using.
APIs enable your text marketing platform to speak directly with your CRM, meaning you can leverage existing customer data without having to manually upload (and re-upload when there are changes) lists and re-segment audiences and contacts. Automated updates between systems using an API ensure that customer information is always accurate, eliminating the need for hands-on changes in more than one place and the risk of human error. Furthermore, delivery reporting can be accessed automatically via integration.
A text marketing API integration with your current systems will also allow for multiple benefits in terms of what can be sent and why.
How can an API integration enhance a text marketing strategy?
1. Creating event-triggered messages
Don’t discount the power of a good old abandoned cart message. Consider these pings as no-effort pushes to customers seemingly ready to purchase. Imagine a potential customer signing up for a newsletter. Without lifting a finger, a text marketing API can trigger a reminder message. Have they left unpurchased items in their shopping cart? A message is sent—maybe this time with a discount code. Have they signed up for an event? Send them attendance information automatically upon signup.
Some messages may need to be tailored to your receiver than others, either based on the audience segment or an individual contact.
2. Implementing personalization, at scale
Who doesn’t love the warm feeling when someone remembers your birthday or other special things about you? Why not implement this practice within your current text marketing strategy? With our text marketing API, further personalization is possible. API integration eliminates the time spent manually sending such messages while increasing customer loyalty.
You can deliver highly targeted promotions based on segmented traits, behaviors, and even purchase history. You can also create bulk campaigns while still incorporating individual personalization, for example, sending a message to a wider-scale audience with similar traits or behaviors. By creating bulk campaigns that feel personally tailored based on traits like purchase history, location, or behavior, you’re making an impression, and increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
3. Sending messages for all brands in one place
Managing text marketing for multiple brands or subaccounts under a parent company can become a logistical headache without the right system in place. Text marketing APIs streamline this by automating the process, allowing you to manage all your brands’ communications from a single platform. With the ability to define brand-specific customer segments, messages are always reaching the correctly chosen audience based on their assigned traits in your CRM.
Some providers offer the option for subaccounts under a single master account, enabling you to keep each brand’s messaging history, settings, and billing separate. Using an API to manage these subaccounts, allows you to maintain consistency and accuracy.
4. Enhancing reporting and analytics efforts
Integrating a text marketing API with your CRM and other analytics tools transforms how you measure and optimize campaign performance. By combining text marketing performance data with other marketing metrics, these systems offer a holistic view of your marketing efforts, and eventually ROI. Real-time insights, such as open rates, conversions, and customer responses, can be pulled directly into your dashboards, giving you immediate feedback to inform quick decision-making and strategy adjustments.
This seamless flow of data between your text marketing platform and CRM allows you to uncover deeper trends, such as customer engagement patterns and campaign effectiveness, all within a single interface.
5. Streamlining workflows, and increasing time efficiency
Efficiency is critical to maintaining a competitive edge. A text marketing API integration streamlines workflows by automating repetitive tasks like scheduling campaigns, segmenting audiences, and managing opt-ins and opt-outs—all directly from your existing CRM or other tools.
You can eliminate the need for manual data transfers between platforms, reducing human error and saving valuable time. Real-time data synchronization ensures that customer information and campaign performance are always up-to-date, giving your team immediate insights for faster decision-making. Instead of juggling multiple tools, marketing teams can focus on strategy, creative execution, and analyzing results. For CMOs and marketing leaders, this means quicker campaign rollouts, seamless customer engagement, and more bandwidth to innovate.
Is API integration difficult to implement?
The benefits of using a text marketing API are undeniable, offering options to increase engagement with your audience and streamline your text marketing strategy. Now, if you’re thinking the benefits of integrating with an API for your text marketing needs aren’t worth the work, think again! While you’ll need to have a marketing or developer team member who understands the technical aspects (specifically someone who knows what a JSON REST API is) once the connection is made and your platforms are integrated, you’re ready to send.
How to find the right text marketing platform with an API
With so many text marketing API providers available, look out for a few key features to ensure you choose the best fit for your needs:
- Compliance Tools: Features like opt-in management and automated opt-out handling ensure your campaigns comply with SMS and MMS marketing regulations. Providers experienced in handling sensitive or highly regulated industries (e.g., hospitality, entertainment, and gambling) often have a competitive edge in navigating compliance challenges.
- Developer-friendly Implementation: Choose a provider with well-documented APIs, and robust developer support. This will ensure a seamless setup and reduce the time required to get your campaigns running.
- Fair Pricing: A cost-effective pricing model is essential if you plan to send frequent messages to a large audience. As pricing can range significantly and depend on customized plans as well as plan types, it’s best to contact providers for a customized quote.
- A User-Friendly Dashboard: Even if you rely on text marketing API integration, the platform’s dashboard should offer useful tools for campaign monitoring and management.
Meet Mobiniti: The smarter way to do text marketing
Mobiniti makes enhancing your text strategy easy with powerful text marketing API integrations. Seamlessly connect your CRM and other tools to automate event-triggered messages, scale personalization, and save time – all while delivering better results. Mobiniti also offers growth and engagement tools like opt-in forms, loyalty programs, contests, and more.
