Want to Send text messages to multiple mobile numbers? Here’s how:
Step 1: Select an online SMS platform
Step 2: Upload your contacts
Step 3: Select the group of people that you wish to contact
Step 4: Type out your message.
Step 5: Click send or schedule for later.
That’s it.
Need a more detailed step-by-step process? Keep reading!
Among the many customer engagement strategies being implemented by companies these days, the use of web-based SMS continues to rise in prominence.
In recent years, the popularity of using online messaging services like 160.com.au has given both global brands and small businesses the ability to connect with their subscribers in new and engaging ways.
IMPORTANT: Here something that I often see with companies and organisations doing and it’s thinking that SMS is somehow a “free for all” where you can just add random people to your mobile contacts and then start texting them, this is not the case, the fines can be hefty.
Before I cover the steps with you, let’s start with the laws around SMS messaging…
SMS Laws and Regulations
Depending on what country or area you are operating within and sending messages to, there may be some specific legislation surrounding SMS. Be sure to look into those regulations before you start sending out messages.
For example, here in Australia, we have ACMA which are laws surrounding messaging i.e. spam laws.
The good news is that these laws and guidelines are pretty simple and will actually help you become better at using SMS.
The basic guidelines are:
- Get written consent before contacting a customer through SMS i.e. do NOT buy lists of unknown mobile numbers.
- Have a way for people to opt-out. This is generally required for SMS messaging that contains promotional content as opposed to a doctor check-up or reminder from your hair salon.
- Send messages during waking hours.
With that out of the way, let’s diver deeper into each step:
STEP 1: Select an Online SMS provider
Selecting an online SMS provider is the first step, these are also referred to as “bulk sms services”, they are one and the same and allow you to send text messages to one or even thousands of people from your computer or mobile device via a platform or even from your email if they have an email-to-sms feature.
STEP 2: Upload your contacts
The next step is to import your mobile number list into the platform. This is typically done via uploading a spreadsheet and will contain columns such as:
- First name
- Last name
- Mobile number
- Group – this is the name of the address book that you’ll be uploading these names into so it’s easy to identify them when you need to select a group of contacts.
STEP 3: Select your contacts
The hard parts are done and now click over to the “new message” view or message composer.
Here you can simply select the group of people that you uploaded earlier from the drop-down menu. Here you can select one group or multiple.
Once that is checked, you can move on to the next step.
STEP 4: Type your message
You’ll have anywhere from 160 to 450 characters to enter into your message but please note that going over 160 characters will cost you more SMS credits.
BTW: 1 SMS credit is the equivalent of 1 x 160-character text message.
If you are sending a promotional SMS message follow these guidelines:
- Make sure that you’re adding an opt-out option
- Add your company name early into the text message
- State your offer early.
- Tell them exactly what they need to do next.
If you’re sending a reminder or update then you don’t need to be as stringent you can just tell the recipient who you are and give them the information.
STEP 5: Send or Schedule
Next, click the send button to send right away or if you want to send a message later on, simply select the schedule button, super easy!
