Utilizing SMS communication is an effective strategy for maintaining and growing your website. You can swiftly and efficiently reach out to your users or set up SMS notifications for yourself to monitor your site’s health. With a variety of SMS marketing plugins available, integrating SMS notifications into your site is easier than ever.
In this article, we’ll explore the WordPress SMS plugins we recommend so you can start sending and receiving SMS notifications today.
Benefits of Using SMS Marketing Plugins on Your WordPress Website
SMS marketing plugins enable you to send updates, promotions, and other messages directly to customers or subscribers on your WordPress site. These tools allow for personalized messaging, which can increase drive traffic, user engagement, and boost sales.
Using SMS marketing plugins is highly effective for re-engaging existing customers by keeping them informed about promotions, sales, or events. They are typically easy to use and more cost-effective than other marketing channels. Additionally, SMS messages have significantly higher open rates compared to emails, increasing the likelihood of capturing your audience’s attention and prompting them to take action.
Now, let’s explore some of the best WordPress SMS marketing plugins to help you promote your products and services.
Best SMS Marketing Plugins for WordPress
1. WP Mail SMTP
WP Mail SMTP is an excellent plugin for enhancing email communication through your website. While its primary function is to improve how WordPress sites send emails, it becomes even more valuable when used with an integrated communication platform like Twilio. To set this up, collect phone numbers from your visitors through a contact form and use Twilio to configure SMS notifications.
Many websites rely on email for visitor and user communication, but what happens when these systems fail? WP Mail SMTP streamlines the email delivery process to minimize failures, but it’s also beneficial to be alerted when issues arise. This SMS marketing plugin supports SMS notifications for WordPress email sending errors, ensuring you’re informed via SMS if your email system encounters problems.
Price: Plans start at $49 per year.
2. WP SMS
WP SMS is a plugin dedicated exclusively to SMS communication for your WordPress site. It leverages Twilio, WhatsApp Business API, and over 250 other SMS gateways to interact with website users. With the SMS marketing plugin, you can send notifications to visitors, form users, subscribers, and WooCommerce customers.
You can notify users about new blog posts or newsletter updates, inform customers about their purchases, or promote new products. The plugin also allows you to automate these notifications for added convenience.
Bonus: You can start using the WP SMS plugin for free.
Price: Pro Plan starts at $39 per year.
3. Ultimate WP SMS
Ultimate WP SMS (formerly known as Joy of Text) is a plugin specifically designed for SMS communication, but it goes beyond this by enabling MMS and voice-to-text notifications in addition to SMS messages.
You don’t need an existing form-building plugin to start sending SMS notifications with Ultimate WP SMS; you can use its built-in UWS forms. This allows you to automate SMS messages to new subscribers based on the information they provide.
Additionally, Ultimate WP SMS integrates seamlessly with other apps and plugins, like WhatsApp and WooCommerce.
Price: Ultimate WP SMS Lite is free. The Pro version, offering advanced features, is available for $9.90/month or $89/year.
4. WPForms
WPForms is an easy-to-use WordPress plugin that allows you to create various forms for your website in minutes. It can be integrated with an SMS service, enabling you to receive real-time notifications about new form submissions. With Twilio, you can manage your SMS contacts and send and receive messages straightforwardly from your WordPress site.
WPForms is also a versatile form builder, allowing you to create contact forms, feedback forms, payment forms, user surveys, and more using a drag-and-drop interface. The plugin provides premade templates for many forms, which you can customize or use as is.
Price: Plans start at $49.50 per year.
5. Uncanny Automator
Similar to other plugins mentioned, Uncanny Automator is a WordPress automation plugin that can integrate with WPForms and Twilio. Specializing in eCommerce, eLearning, Google Sheets, webhooks, and social media automation, this SMS marketing plugin automatically responds to common WordPress triggers, such as page views or comment submissions.
Uncanny Automator supports over 300 automations with a wide range of popular apps and plugins. Since both WPForms and Twilio are among these supported integrations, you can seamlessly use all three tools together to receive and send SMS notifications.
Price: Plans start at $149 per year.
6. BulkGate
BulkGate is a WordPress plugin dedicated to SMS notifications, specifically designed for websites with online stores. By integrating with your WooCommerce store, BulkGate allows you to update customers on their order status. You can create your own communication templates or use the premade templates available in various languages.
One of BulkGate’s standout features is its 2-way SMS communication capability. This allows you to interact with customers, address their questions, and gather feedback, all via SMS.
Price: Plans vary by country with SMS charges.
7. FunnelKit
FunnelKit is an automation engine that empowers you to automate your marketing workflows using WordPress. We particularly recommend the FunnelKit Automations plugin for its seamless integration with WPForms.
What sets this integration apart is its ability to customize responses to each form user based on the values they provide in the form fields. When a visitor submits a form, you can trigger appropriate actions through WordPress, WooCommerce, or third-party connections like Twilio, enabling you to send SMS notifications.
FunnelKit connects with both Twilio and BulkGate, allowing you to create SMS-based campaigns. For automated marketing through SMS notifications, FunnelKit Automations is an invaluable SMS marketing plugin for your site.
Price: Plans start at $99.50 per year.
8. CartBoss
CartBoss is a WordPress plugin exclusively designed for SMS notifications, targeting websites utilizing WooCommerce for sales. Integration with your WooCommerce store is quick and straightforward, taking only a few minutes.
Once integrated, you can immediately start contacting customers who have abandoned their shopping carts. The SMS messages sent to these shoppers are available in over 30 languages and are tailored to your site visitors’ countries.
Overall, CartBoss is an excellent plugin for WooCommerce users seeking swift, effortless, and personalized SMS communication.
Price: Plans vary by country.
9. Brevo
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) is a renowned platform for email and SMS marketing. It simplifies the process of creating highly personalized SMS messages for your marketing campaigns, incorporating recipient details such as name and location.
With Brevo, you can segment your contact list according to various parameters like demographics, geography, or behavioral data, ensuring targeted delivery of your SMS messages to the appropriate audience.
Moreover, Brevo provides comprehensive management of your SMS marketing activities through your Brevo account or via the Newsletter, SMTP, Email marketing, and Subscribe forms by Sendinblue plugin.
Price: Free for 300 emails/day and pricing increases beyond this number.
10. Texty
Texty is a complimentary WordPress plugin designed to facilitate sending text messages to WordPress users’ phones, WhatsApp, or Telegram numbers. Lightweight and mobile-responsive, this SMS marketing plugin requires integration with a gateway such as Twilio, Vonage, Plivo, or Clickatell for SMS message delivery.
The plugin provides multilingual support and A/B testing capabilities. Additionally, Texty enables automated messaging to users. For instance, integration with WooCommerce allows for automated messages to keep customers updated about their order status.
Price: Free plugin
To Conclude,
SMS marketing presents a cost-effective and low-maintenance investment opportunity for businesses aiming to establish a more intimate connection with their customers and meet them where they are. If you’re prepared to embark on developing your SMS marketing strategy, any of these WordPress text message plugins serve as an excellent starting point.
FAQs
Are SMS marketing plugins secure for use on WordPress sites?
Security is a crucial consideration when integrating plugins with your WordPress site. It’s essential to choose reputable SMS marketing plugins with strong security measures in place to protect sensitive user data and prevent unauthorized access. Look for plugins that offer encryption, secure authentication methods, and regular updates to mitigate potential security risks.
Do SMS marketing plugins provide analytics and reporting capabilities?
Some SMS marketing plugins offer built-in analytics and reporting tools to keep a check on the performance of your SMS campaigns. These tools provide insights into metrics such as delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, permitting you to measure the effectiveness of your messaging efforts. Analyzing these metrics helps optimize your SMS marketing strategy for better results.
Are there any limitations or restrictions when using SMS marketing plugins?
While SMS marketing plugins offer numerous benefits, it’s essential to be alert of any limitations or restrictions that may apply. This can include restrictions on the number of messages sent per day, geographical limitations, or additional costs for exceeding usage limits. Additionally, some SMS gateways may have specific terms of service or compliance requirements that users need to adhere to when using the plugin. Understanding these limitations ensures smooth operation and compliance with regulations.