Table of Contents
Introduction
Possessing the ability to connect with customers and employees in real-time is a superpower that can set businesses apart from their competitors. However, such superpowers should be used responsibly as miss-timed communication and communication on the wrong channel can lead to unfavourable results. You need to know your customers, and their preferred communication channels, and then deploy campaigns to inform and engage. Doing so effectively can prove to be quite a game-changer for any business.
Fun fact: Text messages have a response rate of 45%, which is way more than any other form of communication. Considering the personal nature and convenience that texting offers, individuals and businesses find it easier to effectively interact and engage with each other using SMS.
Let’s say you have to connect with your customers and update them on something urgent. The message is rather wordy and you don’t want to write the entire thing using your phone and you also want your customers to read the message immediately. In such a case, sending an Email wouldn’t be the best option. So, what do you do? This is one scenario wherein you can send text from email.
What does it mean when you send text from email? Why is it needed? What are the prerequisites for the same? How does one send text from email? What are some business use cases for sending text from email? We’re going to cover all this and a lot more so stay tuned!
Send Text From Email: What Does It Mean?
When you send text from email, it means using your email to send text messages, i.e the recipient will receive the email as a text message on their phone and they can read and respond to the same without needing an active internet connection.
This is because the email sent by the sender to the recipient’s message box will be converted into a text format, which will go as an SMS or MMS (based on the nature of the message) and once they respond to the text message the response will be received on your email inbox and the conversation can go on from there.
How To Send Text From Email?
You must be wondering how to send text from email. Well, you need not worry as it is not a complex process. All you need is an internet connection, the recipient’s network carrier, and their phone number.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to send text from email:
Step-1: Open your email account
Login to your Email account and go to ‘Compose Message’.
Step-2: Add the recipient
In the ‘To’ field, instead of adding the recipient’s email address, add their phone number and the SMS or MMS domain of their gateway carrier.
Each mobile carrier has a different SMS and MMS domain.
Here’s a table for the SMS and MMS gateway extensions of the major carriers in the US.
For example: If the recipient’s phone number is 12341234 and the mobile carrier is AT&T, then:
The email address for SMS will be: [email protected]
The email address for MMS will be: [email protected]
With the help of this table, you can easily create the email addresses of your recipients by knowing their phone numbers and SMS and MMS gateways.
Tip: If you’re going to send multiple messages to your selected recipients, then save them as contacts for easy access in the future.
Fact check: What are SMS and MMS gateways?
An SMS gateway acts as a mediator between a mobile network operator and an application or service that needs to send SMS messages. When an application or service sends an SMS message to the gateway, the gateway routes the message to the recipient’s mobile device.
Step-3: Compose your message
Once you’ve added the recipients, compose your message like you would do while sending an email. The recipient’s carrier will turn the email into a text message and deliver it to your recipient’s SMS inbox. You can also add a subject in the subject line.
Here, you need to be mindful of the character limit. One SMS segment consists of 160 characters. If you go beyond 160 characters in your email, then your message will break into several SMS segments, based on the number of characters in your message. Your SMS might even get converted into an MMS when you add a subject to your email.
Also, if you seek to send attachments in your email, then it will go as an MMS. The character limit for MMS messages is 1600 characters.
Depending on the use case, make sure that you keep your messages within the character limit to avoid any disruptions in the flow of communication.
Step-4: Hit send!
Congratulations, your message has been sent to your recipient and will land directly on their native messaging app on their phone.
When the recipient responds to your message, you’ll receive it as an email in your email inbox, and the conversation can continue on this thread.
Benefits Of Sending Text From Email?
Check out the benefits you derive when you send text from email:
1. Ease of use
It is fairly easy to send text from email. All you need is an active internet connection and your recipient’s carrier information.
2. Wider reach
You can easily reach out to a large number of people at once and send them text messages through your email address.
3. Cost-effectiveness
Sending text from email can prove to be a lot cheaper than using your text messaging app. However, this largely depends on the mobile plan you have chosen.
4. Convenience
If you check your email frequently, then sending an email to text will definitely be more convenient.
5. Instant delivery
You can easily send text from email to a lot of people at once, IE both group texting and broadcast texting can be easily executed via email, which will be more efficient than sending individual messages.
6. Better Engagement
Text messages have a better open and response rate as compared to email, so the email that you send in the form of text will ensure better engagement.
7. Archiving and backup
Since you’re communicating through your email address, you can easily archive the sent and received messages for future reference and broadly manage conversations better.
8. Generate more responses
SMSs have a response rate of 45 per cent. This means that sending texts from emails can help you generate more responses in addition to communicating information in real time.
Top Use Cases Of Sending Text From Email
Here are some of the top use cases when you send text from email:
1. Communicating urgent information
As a business owner, you’ll often come across situations wherein you’ll have to communicate important information urgently to your customers or employees. When you send text from email, you can send automated notifications, reminders, and alerts through email, thereby ensuring that your recipients do not miss out on any important information.
2. Run SMS marketing campaigns
When you have to send out SMS marketing campaigns on the go, logging into your messaging app or marketing platform and typing in messages on your phone isn’t always the most feasible option. Running SMS marketing campaigns can be seamless when you send text from email. You can also send messages to a large number of people at once, saving time and effort at your end, while also ensuring quick delivery of messages as they are being sent as texts.
3. Communicate using the customer’s preferred channel
Sometimes customers do not have internet access OR they might just prefer text over email. That is when you need to adjust to their needs and can send emails to texts.
4. Never miss out on any important information
What if you need to forward a message from your email to your phone so that you don’t miss out on an important piece of information? You can easily send emails to text and pull that piece of information on the fly.
5. Ease of managing conversations
Not only can businesses archive their sent messages but also easily access and manage conversations through their email inbox. The moment your customer database crosses 100 managing conversations on a phone becomes extremely difficult.
6. Emergency alerts
If you have to send alerts to people during emergencies, then sending email to text is the best option, as people read and respond to texts quickly in comparison to email.
7. Sales follow-ups
In case of following up with potential leads and existing customers, you can easily send text from email. Right from sending reminders to scheduling appointments, providing additional information, or answering queries.
8. Internal communication
If you want to streamline internal communications, you can send text from email. Whether it is about important deadlines, company updates, or work schedules; sending text from email proves to be quite helpful.
9. Communicating confidential information
If you need to communicate information that is confidential in nature, you can always use your email address to send the information as a text message. Also, incorporating encryption, password protection, using secure networks, and limiting access are some steps that you can take to protect the information that you send.
10. Delivery tracking
If your business delivers a product it’s a lot easier for you to share delivery updates using email to text, you can also integrate this with CRMs to automate the entire process. Business messaging through email is hence a great option.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When you send text from email, how is it billed?
The standard texting rates (MMS and SMS) apply when you send messages depending on the carrier.
2. What should I do if I can’t find the recipient’s carrier to send text from email?
Let’s say you don’t know the recipient’s SMS/MMS gateway, and you don’t have the means to reach out to them. Well, there are a lot of free tools available if you want to figure out your recipient’s gateway. You can check out https://freecarrierlookup.com/ to find the recipient’s gateway.
3. SMS vs MMS: What to choose while sending texts from emails?
When deciding on SMS vs MMS, the purpose of the message can be a good filter to use. For instance, if it is an alert, an SMS would fit best However, if you are sending marketing messages, then an MMS would help you generate more responses.
4. Is character limit important when you send text from email?
Yes, the character limit is a crucial aspect that you need to keep in mind while sending emails to texts. Text messages have a character limit of 160 characters, and if you send text from email that exceeds this character limit, your message will be split into multiple messages that will make it difficult for the recipient to understand and respond to it. You may also be charged per message, depending on the carrier and your plan, and might end up paying extra for every message that your original message is split into.
5. Is it important to include a subject while sending texts from emails?
While it is not necessary to include a subject in your message, it is advisable you use it to your advantage. A subject will describe the purpose of the message in a crisp manner and will be the first thing that will catch the attention of your recipient. Make sure that the subject is short and crisp and perfectly conveys the purpose of the message that follows.
Conclusion
Two-way email-to-text capabilities are ideal when you need to communicate with your customers or employees in real-time through their preferred channel. Even though these aren’t the most natural and regular methods of communication, you need to be prepared and have all such communication channels available to avoid inconvenience.
While sending email to text is a good option to communicate with your customers, using business texting software is another great way to engage with your customers quickly. A customer communication and engagement software like Emitrr can help you interact easily with customers, and send alerts, reminders, or other important messages even when you don’t have your cell phone with you. Excited to know more? Book a demo!
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