How Much Does SMS Marketing Cost? Pricing Insights

SMS marketing is one of the most affordable means of reaching out to potential customers and generating leads. However, many startups and small businesses are still worried about the SMS marketing cost.

If you’re one of those who want to calculate the cost of SMS campaigns, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog post, we’re going to provide you with all the details about the cost and pricing models of SMS marketing.

If you still have more questions about SMS marketing, you can always contact us to get help.

Factors that Affect Your SMS Marketing Cost

First, let’s review the most important factors that affect the cost of SMS marketing campaigns.

Message Volume

The number of messages you send is the most important factor in determining the cost of your campaigns.

SMS gateways usually offer bulk discounts. This means you need to pay less money per SMS when you choose to send more messages. Of course, the overall cost of your campaign will increase when the number of messages increases.

Subscriber List Size

The list of your subscribers can also affect the price because many SMS providers calculate the cost based on the phone numbers. In other words, you might send 1 text message to 100 people or choose to send 2 messages to 50 numbers. In both cases, you’re sending 100 text messages but the price will be different based on the service provider you choose.

Pricing Models Offered by Service Providers

As said earlier, service providers might calculate the cost differently. So you have to pay special attention to the pricing model and choose the one that matches your requirements.

Message Length

As you know, a standard SMS has a limitation of 160 characters. If you write more characters, it might count as two or more messages. So your cost will increase if you want to include too much information in a single message.

Location

It’s obvious that when you send an SMS to a phone number within your country, the cost is much cheaper than that of international messages. So the cost of SMS marketing campaigns will increase if you’re running an international business.

Advanced Features

SMS marketing platforms offer some advanced features like:

• Two-way messaging
• Shortcodes
• Integration with other marketing tools
• Scheduling
• Automation

These features are usually expensive so you have to be careful when choosing your packages.

Pricing Models for SMS Marketing

Let’s now take a look at the common models companies use to determine the price of SMS marketing services:

1. Pay-As-You-Go

In this model, you have to pay according to the number of messages you send. Prices usually range from $0.001 to $0.10 per message and they change based on the volume.

If you’re starting with SMS marketing, this model is the best choice. In fact, startups need to send a limited number of messages so they’d better choose Pay-As-You-Go. Remember that if you send large volumes of messages, you might face an escalation in the final cost.

2. Monthly Subscription

If you have a medium to large-sized business, you’d better go for monthly plans with a set number of messages. 

For example, an SMS marketing service might charge you $50 per month for up to 5,000 messages.

This plan is more cost-effective for you when you want to send high message volumes because the cost per message will drop as volume increases.

3. Custom Pricing for High-Volume Users

The last common pricing model for SMS marketing is custom pricing. This model is suitable for large international enterprises that need to send tens of thousands or even millions of messages per month.

Here is a summary of these SMS pricing models for better comparison:

Additional Costs to Consider

Apart from the previous factors, there are some extra costs when you run an SMS marketing campaign:

Shortcodes

Sometimes you might want to make your text messages stand out by using a shortcode number with 5- or 6-digits. If you choose a long code (a standard 10-digit phone number) instead of a short code, your SMS marketing cost might be lower.

Using shortcode might cost between $500 to $1,000 per month, which is only affordable for large businesses.

Keyword Costs

You might ask what keywords mean in SMS marketing. These are phrases that customers have to text to a short code if they want to receive updates or opt-in to your SMS campaign.

Although some platforms offer this option in the basic pricing, many other providers charge extra for adding new keywords to your campaign. So consider something from $5 to $25 per keyword if you want to use this option.

Compliance and Legal Costs

You have to comply with some regulations like GDPR in Europe or TCPA in the United States. These regulations might involve additional costs because sometimes you have to use certain tools to ensure compliance.

For example, you have to get consent before sending your messages and also include an opt-out option in your messages. An automated opt-out feature will definitely cost you so you have to include these costs in your calculations.

Comparing the Cost of SMS Marketing Platforms

It’s good to compare various platforms to see which one offers affordable options for your business:

WP SMS

WP SMS is an easy-to-use WordPress plugin for SMS marketing. It supports more than 300 SMS gateways and can integrate with many tools like WooCommerce. It offers many features for free and the advanced options need payments.

The free version includes the following SMS features:

• Send SMS/MMS
• SMS Newsletter & Subscribers
• WordPress Notifications
• Webhooks
• GDPR Compliance
• REST API
• Automatic Update
• Message Button

You can also buy the WP SMS Pro for $39 per year and get lots of options like:

• Login With Mobile/SMS
• 2-Factor Authentication in wp-login.php
• Scheduled SMS/MMS
• Repeating SMS/MMS
• Shorter URLs by Bitly
• Send SMS Gutenberg Block
• WooCommerce
• BuddyPress
• Quform
• Gravity forms
• Easy Digital Downloads
• WP Job Manager
• WP Awesome Support
• Virtual Numbers Detection

You can also earn some other add-ons like WooCommerce by extra payment. 

SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting offers monthly subscription plans. The packages start at $39 for 500 messages and the cost will change with volume. They offer lots of tools and features including keywords and integrations with other marketing platforms.

EZ Texting

EZ Texting offers plans starting at $25 per month for 500 messages. They provide options for both short codes and long codes, along with a variety of integrations for customer relationship management (CRM) tools and email marketing platforms.

ClickSend

ClickSend has a pay-as-you-go approach and its pricing starts at $0.01 per message. Of course, they offer discounts for bulk messaging.

They offer many features like multimedia messaging services (MMS), voice services, and email-to-SMS.

The table compares the SMS marketing costs of these platforms:

Samples of SMS Marketing Costs

Now that you know the breakdown of SMS marketing prices, it’s good to see some real samples of calculating SMS marketing campaigns.

Sample 1: 12,000 Messages Using a Toll-Free Number

In this example, you choose a Basic Plan but want to send 12,000 messages per month. With a toll-free number and one additional user for managing SMS campaigns, the breakdown of your cost will be as the following table:

Sample 2: 2,500 Messages Using a Local Long Code

Now, let’s consider if you want to use a Pro Plan but just need 2,500 messages per month. Also, if you want to use a local long code number without additional users but with a small setup fee, the cost will be:

Sample 3: 15,000 Messages Using a 10DLC Number

As the last sample, imagine if you need an Advanced Plan with 15,000 messages per month. Also, you want to use a 10DLC number with Campaign Registration Fee. You have to bear the following costs:

Final Thoughts

As you see, SMS marketing costs can be as low or as high as you need. It really depends on your goals and the size of your marketing campaigns. 

It’s good to get started with cheap plans that cost almost nothing. The free version of WP SMS is the best choice in this case. 

Also, you can go for premium options when your business grows and you need to send more messages with more features. 

Here also we have WP SMS Pro with numerous features and integrations. If you need more information about SMS marketing plans and get advice from experts, you can contact us right now!

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