Review of Boomtext SMS Mobile Marketing Service

Recently, a post shared the outcome of a text message marketing experiment while at two different events. There wasn’t a lot of information as it pertained to the services used to get the text messaging off the ground, since then several readers have messaged in asking about recommended SMS providers for mobile marketing.  Here I will share the one I used, BoomText, who it’s for, who it’s not for, and the likes and dislikes of the service.

Review of BoomText SMS Marketing Service

BoomText is an SMS service provider for those who want to expand their marketing reach to mobile devices customers and prospects that have smartphones or cell phones with text messaging capabilities.  Boomtext was one of the vendors used in the recent mobile marketing case study.

Who Is BoomText For

Anyone who wants to get their feet wet, or scale their existing mobile marketing efforts.  Sky is the limit when brainstorming how SMS messaging can be used in mobile marketing.

I see two key areas where it has the most traction:

1. Public speakers: giving members of the audience access to a freebie that is only available when they a text message is sent to a given number.
2. Local Businesses: if they have  a model to get repeat business and have an emphasis on building a community of customers, SMS/text message marketing is a great way to connect further with the community.

Sidenote: A local coffee shop texted me on my birthday, something like “It’s your birthday, have a latte on us!”  All I had to do was show the text message at the register that day to qualify.  Too bad I ended up getting sick that day and couldn’t make the trip!

Who It’s Not For

If your business is not one where you are before an audience, or does not focus on building a community, you probably won’t get much value out of the service in your current state.  However, let me encourage you to pause and think how mobile marketing could be integrated in your business.

What I Like about BoomText

Easy Numbers: 411247 (US) and 32075 (Canada), also known as short codes these are the numbers mobile phone users send their text to.  Selecting a provider that has number which are easy to remember, and say is important.

After setting up a keyword mobile users text that keyword to 411247 (if in US) to opt in.  When I looked at other providers, none had as simple a number as what I found at Boomtext.  Learn more about Boomtext here.

They offer a trial. The BoomText 15 Day Test Drive give users enough time to determine if this is something they want to move forward with.  No credit card necessary for the trial.

Decent Training Videos. This was important for me as a new user, I find videos help me learn faster than anything else. My desire is to focus the trial period of a service on using the service, not setting it up.

Support: I had a couple questions on advanced features, and was pleasantly surprised to receive quick and thoughtful responses both by email, and phone.  Learn more about Boomtext here.

Organizing Contacts with Groups. While I did not use this feature directly, they offer the ability to group contacts as they text in.  This grouping  then allows users to schedule a message to go out at a specific date and time to the entire group.

Experience With Known Brands: I like the fact that they have a track record with known companies, like Chick-fil-a, Sonic, Subway, and others who have had success using their service. Learn more about Boomtext here.

They have an API. This is for techies, but important for business who want to integrate other services, such a their email service provider.  This is how I was able to use Infusiontxt.com as they are leveraging the API so that inbound text messages can be added to Infusionsoft automatically.

What I Don’t Like

User Interface: I admit I’m picky on this sort of thing, but the user interface needs a little help.  There is too much white space, and it required more time for me to find stuff than necessary.  I eventually figured it out, but speed of implementation is key for today’s marketer, a cleaner interface would have surely saved me time.  Here’s a screenshot:

Training Videos: Ok, I already mentioned this as a positive, but if you are seriously considering giving Boomtext a try, it is worth mentioning that the training videos aren’t always consistent with the options in the user interface (at the time of this review).  I imagine the guys at Boomtext will evenutually update the videos accordingly, but I cannot say for sure. Learn more about Boomtext here.

Costs Of BoomText

It’s pretty simple.  If you have 1 keyword, it is currently a flat fee of $50/mo, 3 keywrods $75/mo, and 5 keywords for $100/mo.  Each text sent from the service is $0.025 cents.  There is no charge for received messages.  So if you sent 1000 SMS per month, that’s $25, and you have one keyword, your monthly amount is $75.

Not bad when you consider the costs and effectiveness of alternatives to email, such as faxing, or voicebroadcasting, not to mention the high open rate of SMS text mobile marketing gives you.

Bottomline on BoomText

As Mobile marketing becomes more mainstream (and it will, see this) Boomtext will grow, and mature it’s offering.  Overall, I’m pleased with their service, and will endure the clunky user interface in exchange for the benefits it offers my business as well as customers and clients. Learn more about Boomtext here.

Questions, Experience with BoomText, other feedback? Chime in below.
Photo Credit: Chrisbb