In today’s fast-paced, interconnected world, companies must address their customers’ needs quickly and effectively. Although email marketing is one of the common elements of online communication strategies, it is worth noting that SMS (Short Message Service) has been developed as a more personal and direct means of communication.
Such understanding resonates within HubSpot, and for that reason, beset by a missing link in the organization ecosystem, an SMS tool that has now been integrated within the HubSpot ecosystem is billable SMS. This enables targeted messaging to customer mobile devices with branding, reminders, offers, and new product information.
This blog will describe the HubSpot SMS tool, including its setup and features, as well as any aspects of compliance with these aspects.
The SMS tool is one of HubSpot's features which helps users in the platform to send SMS to their contacts or audience and is available as an ad-on in the marketing hub professional and enterprise plan. This tool helps to improve communication as marketers and sales personnel can connect with their target market better via a more direct and quick method. SMS marketing helps track responses and has a success rate of over 98% which is one of the competitive ways of communicating today.
The SMS tool of HubSpot permits you to:
Communicate and reach out to selected portions of your audience and share specific messages to collect feedback, opinions, and emotions throughout different steps of the purchasing process.
Update your clients and give reminders for any upcoming activity's date, time, or purpose.
Promote your products or services by informing people about promotional offers, discounts, or new products.
The HubSpot SMS tool is an add-on to the existing HubSpot CRM software platform. The price of the SMS add-on usually depends upon factors such as the user's geographical location and the anticipated volume of SMS messages to be sent. Typically, this is deployed using ‘pay as you go’ pricing, where the user buys several SMS credits, each representing one message unit. This is why some features, such as enhanced reporting capabilities and automation might be added at later affordability levels.
Important: The HubSpot Marketing SMS Add-on costs $75 per month, including 1,000 message segments. Unused segments do not roll over to the following month.
A marketing strategy incorporating SMS messaging should be guided by strict legal mechanisms, such as compliance with the GDPR in the EU and the TCPA in the USA.
For companies to be GDPR, TCPA, or similar regulations compliant, active consent must be sought from the recipients of SMS messages, and there are clear-cut guidelines on what the consent encompasses. This normally entails the recipient agreeing to receive messages by checking a box or also by sending a word to a number.
HubSpot eases the burden associated with seeking and managing consent to SMS marketing. Within the bounds of HubSpot CRM, managers can't update the consent status for any contact, thus ensuring the messages are sent only to those who permit them. Other ways are also available with HubSpot, such as creating a double opt-in when the receiver has to reply to an SMS in order to validate the subscription made.
Keyword subscriptions are one of the generally accepted means of obtaining consent. For example, you can ask customers to send a text to a certain number with the word ‘JOIN’ to enable them to receive SMS from your business. HubSpot’s SMS tool will automatically take care of these subscriptions, placing the contact in your CRM with their consent status. This approach benefits both the customers and the business by offering an easy option of signing up to receive message alerts.
Setting up HubSpot SMS takes a few simple steps. Below is an introductory guide directed on the essential steps that need to be followed.
Login to HubSpot: Click on your account and log into your HubSpot account.
Go to the SMS Tool: Click on ‘Marketing’ and select SMS tool.
Activate the Tool: If the SMS tool is inactive, such a feature must be activated. This may include buying the SMS add-on if it’s not part of your current plan.
Set Up Your SMS Sender ID: The sender ID is the title or number of the contact appearing as the one who sends the SMS. Depending on the region and provider, this could be your business name or a number.
Create SMS Templates: To save time while sending messages, SMS templates can be created for various functions, such as welcoming new customers, sending reminders, or even running promotions. These templates can easily be made using customer details stored in the CRM.
Integrate with CRM Data: Remember to integrate your SMS tool with your CRM. This will allow audience segmentation, and messages will be directed toward certain recipients based on their past actions, preferences, or associations with the business.
Important Note: Sending SMS is only available from US-based numbers and messages can only be sent to US/Canada (+1) numbers. (Source: HubSpot)
Targeting: With the use of data in HubSpot creating targeting criteria on a specific basis is extremely simple. Some of them can be based on age and place of residence, while others may take into account the purchase history or the level and type of engagement.
Message Content: To engage the audience, use the appropriate tone of the message and write SMS content that is short and interesting. It is also important to note that SMS messages are usually a maximum of 160 characters. If content includes more than 160 characters, it will be counted as Multiple SMSs.
Scheduling: Determine when you would like to send these SMS messages.
If you have not tested out the SMS tool before rolling out your campaign, then you have proved to be a risk taker. Temporarily utilize a few text messages to yourself or to a small group of validating users for operating errors regarding message delivery, dressing & customization. A solution such as HubSpot offers the ability of message preview or bulk sends where only the presentable messages are stated automatically and are rewritten to the recipient.
Source: HubSpot
One of the most notable advantages of the HubSpot SMS tool is that it allows connecting with HubSpot’s workflow automation tools. This means that you can set up and schedule text messages to be automatically sent when a particular condition is met.
Create a New Workflow: Click on the Automation tab, and then click on the Workflows option to customize the workflows in the HubSpot account.
Choose a Trigger: At this point, decide on the actual event triggering the SMS message. ‘It could be entering as a new lead, a customer reaching another phase in the funnel, or an event about to happen’.
Add the SMS Action: As a personal touch, the owner of the action can add the SMS action using SMS activity in the workflow. Choose the correct template and ensure that the content of the message includes the contact information.
To achieve success in SMS marketing, targeting must be well implemented. For instance, HubSpot's CRM allows users to include their clients' first names in text messages as well as their appointments or suggest products that have been purchased previously. Customers are further able to engage with these messages as they seem more useful and appropriate to them.
Source: HubSpot
There are collective pros that come from the process of automating SMS communication as highlighted below:
Better Engagement: Automated messages consider customer actions or time-based schedules hence they get more engagement.
Appropriate Timing: Automation makes it possible to schedule where texts are automated and sent at the best time too. For instance, sending reminder texts a day before the actual day of the event.
Less Manual Work: When the automation is set, the workflows work on their own hence cutting down the time for your team as well as potential mistakes.
Though the native SMS tool available in HubSpot is of notable importance, it is not the only option as there exist many other integrations that might be worth extending the reach. HubSpot native tools have some limitations and not available for all countries so HubSpot users have to leverage third-party tools for SMSs.
Twilio: The messaging service that is cleanest, efficient, and most reliable is Twilio which is a cloud service that allows a lot of messages with many telephone features including sending and receiving messages analytics.
Sakari: This is a messaging service that was primarily created for businesses using HubSpot. It includes advanced functionalities like international messaging, bulk messaging, and advanced marketing automation. These SMSs also show-up on HubSpot timeline activity.
Message Media: This tool is ideal for companies having several messaging needs, including SMS, MMS, and RCS. It also provides usefulness in scheduling messages and tracking their delivery.
Using these third-party tools with HubSpot can provide several benefits:
Expanded Features: Gain access to advanced features that may not be available with HubSpot’s native SMS tool, such as two-way messaging, voice integration, and rich media.
Higher Messaging Volume: For businesses that need to send a large number of messages, third-party tools often offer more scalable solutions.
Better Analytics: These tools often come with enhanced reporting and analytics, providing deeper insights into your SMS campaigns' performance.
Integrating a third-party SMS tool with HubSpot is typically straightforward:
Choose Your Tool: Decide which third-party tool best meets your needs.
Install the Integration: Most tools offer a direct integration with HubSpot that can be installed from the HubSpot marketplace or the third-party provider’s website.
Configure Settings: Set up your sender ID, templates, and any other necessary configurations within the third-party tool.
Test the Integration: Send text messages to ensure that the integration is working as expected, and that data is flowing correctly between HubSpot and the third-party tool.
The HubSpot SMS tool is a valuable addition to your marketing and sales toolkit, enabling you to reach your customers highly, effectively, and personally. By understanding how to set up and use this tool, manage compliance, and leverage automation, you can significantly enhance your customer engagement and streamline your communication processes.