Send SMS Marketing Offers Straight to Customers' Phones

SMS marketing uses text messages to talk to potential or existing customers. Some people call it text message marketing. Businesses use it for special offers, coupons, product updates and other time-sensitive news.

SMS marketing works because a text reaches your leads and loyal customers on the phone they carry every day. The main benefits of SMS marketing are speed, reach and direct communication. Once customers have given you permission, you can start real-time conversations with them.

The common types are promotional deals and discounts, SMS coupons and discount codes, and text-to-win competitions. Flash and seasonal sales, loyalty and membership programs, and alerts and notifications fit in too. Pick the ones that suit your marketing plan.

Yes, for many businesses. A text reaches any mobile without an app, and it lands on the screen people check all day. The customer can act on the offer straight away.

Decide on your main message and why it matters to a customer. Ask customers for permission to text them. Then choose a text messaging service and send. You need three things: a list of numbers from people who said yes, a keyword or form they can use to opt in, and a clear offer or call to action.

We treat SMS as a separate channel. A text goes straight to the phone's message inbox, with no email spam filter, ad blocker or paid-ad algorithm deciding who sees it. That makes SMS strong on delivery and response. It also gives your other marketing channels a boost.

You buy prepaid credits and pay per message, with no monthly fee. On standard packages the rate for SMS marketing runs from 7.95c down to 5.95c per SMS. New customers get their first package at 1.9c per SMS (+GST). Rates for other countries are on the pricing and coverage page.

An SMS campaign is a planned send of text messages to your customers. It can carry a promotion for a specific product, a time-sensitive offer, an update or an alert. You send it to people who agreed to receive texts from your business.

Use it when you need a fast, direct channel. SMS works best for short, time-sensitive offers, reminders and updates. It helps build brand awareness, gather fast feedback and keep a personal line open with current and future customers.

SMS works on every mobile phone with no app to install, so it reaches anyone with a mobile number. 160 delivers to 588 networks in 182 countries.

They do when they asked for it. Send the kind of offers they signed up for, keep texts short and well spaced, and make leaving easy. That keeps your unsubscribe rate low and helps build trust. A customer who opts out is removed for you.

160.com.au sends notifications, alerts, reminders and marketing campaigns. Our SMS solutions include bulk SMS, the SMS gateway API, email to SMS, SMS marketing, online SMS and virtual SMS numbers.

Our SMS platform is simple to use, works from any location and is highly secure. Sub-user accounts let your marketing teams send from one account's credits. We have run from Sydney since 2002 and send only through Australian carriers. Call our team on 1800 671 823 to start a campaign or to plug SMS into your own software with our API.

Do give every text a clear call to action, keep it short and simple, and open with an attention-grabbing word such as Sale or Special Offer. Don't send too often, use slang or text abbreviations, or push too hard. Plan your marketing strategy so texts arrive well spaced. Keep the tone human and customers will be more willing to consider your business.

Use the opt-out in the text: reply STOP, reply the opt-out code, or tap the opt-out link. On 160, the number then comes off your groups automatically, so it is never texted again. Under the Spam Act 2003, businesses must honour an opt-out within five business days.

Yes, with consent. You can text people who gave express or inferred consent. Every message must say who sent it and how to contact you, and give an easy way to opt out. From 1 July 2026, business Sender IDs must be on the ACMA Sender ID Register. 160 handles opt-outs and Sender ID registration for you.

The best SMS marketing tool is the one that fits how you send. Good SMS marketing software gives you Australian carrier routes, delivery reports, automatic opt-outs, two-way replies, scheduling and local support. 160.com.au gives you all of these, with prepaid credits and no monthly fee.

A good SMS has one offer and one call to action. Send in business hours, in the customer's time zone. Give regulars a reason to open your texts, such as a first look at a new range. Space your sends out and stop the moment someone opts out.

A text lands in the phone's message inbox, with no spam folder to get past. That suits short, time-sensitive offers. Email marketing suits longer news with pictures and links. Many businesses use both, and with Email to SMS you can send SMS with email from your normal inbox.

Yes. Use the SMS API to send an SMS message from your own website, app or marketing software. On WordPress and WooCommerce, the WP SMS plugin sends order updates and abandoned cart texts.