9 Best Texting Services For Small Businesses

Introduction

Did you know that people read text messages within just five minutes of receiving them? This highly engaging nature of texting means that texting services are still used by many successful businesses as a communication and marketing tool. 

Looking at the growing adoption of texting by customers, small businesses are also leveraging the power of text messaging. But how do you make the best use of text messaging for small businesses? It’s simple! Investing in one of the best texting services for small businesses.

Keep on reading as we share with you some of the best options in the industry and tell you how exactly you can find the most suitable texting service for your business. 

What Is A Texting Service For Small Businesses?

A texting service for small businesses is one that facilitates the sending and receiving of text messages between a business and its customers. A texting service offers multiple texting features to make communication with customers smooth and efficient. For example, one of the popular texting service features for businesses is mass texting. Mass texting feature lets businesses contact their entire customer base through a single message set up.

Benefits of Texting Service For Small Businesses

Here are some key benefits of using a texting service for your small business:

Faster response & convenience

Did you know that according to SMS comparison, SMS is the fastest marketing channel and has an open rate of 98%. Besides, SMS does not require internet connection, so practically, anyone with a phone can receive a message. This makes texting a faster and convenient means of communication and SMS for small businesses.

Automated texts saves time & money

Texting services offer automation capabilities wherein you can automate SMS marketing campaigns, set automated responses, send reminders and recalls to your customers, etc. Automation eliminates agent requirements and also offers quick responses to customers, saving your business both time and money.  

High conversion rate

Did you know, on average, SMS has a response rate of 45%, whereas email has a response rate of only 8%? So, if you use email as a marketing or communication channel, chances are only a few people would read your message. However, the simple nature of SMS can get you more conversions. 

Customization & personalization 

Text messages are often more personal in nature because of the text length. This allows you to be informal and more direct rather than being salesy, which often gets ignored. This allows you to build a good customer relationship while ensuring there is a personal touch in your communication with them. 

Increases customer engagement

Customers are accustomed to promotional emails and never care to open them. In comparison, SMS boxes are often reserved for messages that require immediate reading. This phenomenon increases customer engagement by ensuring that your customers not only open but also read your message, allowing them to participate in your campaign.

Obtain quick customer feedback 

By sending polls, review links, survey links, etc. to your customers via SMS, you can obtain quick customer feedback. This could be very valuable for businesses to understand where they can improve and can also help them understand customer trends & preferences better.  

Features to Look for in a Small Business Texting Service Based on Use Case

Some of the essential features that you may want to look at when choosing a small business texting service includes: 

Communication 

• Two-way text: To communicate with your customers one on one.
• Group text: To send messages to a group. 
• Missed call to text: Sends automated text to customers based on pre-decided keywords upon missing their calls. 
• Webchat to text: Easily continue conversation in your private inbox that was initiated on the website. 
• Facebook messenger: Easily continue conversations initiated on Facebook messenger. 
• Contact form to text: Continue conversations in a unified inbox and single dashboard after customers fill contact forms. 
• Google chrome extension: Look for chrome extension feature to send & receive SMS to your customers directly from any CRM or any other web application.
• Text automation: Schedule text messages to send to the right customers at the right time and easily automate follow ups. 
• Integrations: Look for integration to access customer information and details by integrating your CRM/PMS/EMR or scheduling platform.
• Templates & customization: Speed up your response time with saved message templates or send customized messages to your customers. 

Customer Marketing 

• Review & reputation management: Send automated review or feedback messages to your customer to improve your business reputation. 
• Surveys: Send survey form and links using link shortener.
• Bulk SMS: Send personalized bulk messages to customers for personalized SMS messaging.
• Customer recall/reactivation: Send automated recall or reactivation SMS for improving customer retention. 
• Tags/Fields: To personalize text messages at scale using contact fields/tags.
• Unified dashboard: Mark conversations as done, assign them to team members, or set the status to come back to them later.

9 Best Texting Services For Small Businesses: A Detailed Analysis

Emitrr 

What is Emitrr?

Emitrr is our top pick for the best texting service for small businesses. It offers a comprehensive suite of features that allows small businesses to send SMS to their customers securely, be it for marketing or communication. The platform offers basic to advanced features, integrations with 1000+ CRM/EMR/PMS/Scheduling platforms, and unmatched customer support that too at a very affordable price. So, no matter what industry you are in, be it healthcare, home service, education, retail, etc. Emitrr could be a great choice for you. 

Emitrr Features

• Bulk Texting: Send text blasts to thousands of recipients at once
• Omni-channel messaging: This feature allows businesses to communicate with customers through various channels under one platform. These channels include text, email, Google My Business, Facebook, and more.
• Analytics and metrics: This feature allows you to track the status of your campaigns by helping track the delivery rates, missed calls, VoIP usage, and more.
• SMS marketing campaigns: This feature lets you set up manual and automated SMS campaigns.
• Schedule text messages: You can schedule messages for later by setting up the date and time.
• Assign conversations: This feature allows to assign conversations to team members. You can assign conversations to an entire team or an individual..
• Two-way texting: Two-way texting feature allows both the sender and recipient to send messages to each other. The customer can reply to the message.
• Customizable templates: You access a list of templates and also edit the templates according to your need.
• Read receipts: This feature shows whether the receiver has read the message or not.
• Typing indicators: This feature shows you if the recipient is typing often indicated through a series of dots.
• Personalization: This feature allows you to add personalization based on the contact. For eg, you can address each contact by their first name.
• Contact management: Segment contacts based on data like area code, city, date subscribed, custom fields, and more.
• Unified inbox: Manage and access conversations happening on different platforms, Web, Facebook, phone, etc., in one single place.
• SMS surveys: Send survey forms, review links, etc. to gather customer feedback.
• Landline texting: Text-enable your existing landline number and use it to send SMS.
• Reputation management: Build your online reputation across different review platforms with intuitive tools like survey automation, feedback tracking, link sharing, and more.
• Opt-outs: Give options to your customers to opt out of your messages.
• Web chat to text: Continue website conversations in your inbox.
• VoIP: Enjoy a range of calling features like IVR, edit extensions, call recordings, voicemail transcription, call transfers, disposition, and more.

Emitrr Integrations 

Emitrr seamlessly integrates with over 1000 CRM/EMR/PMS/Scheduling Platforms including:

• Hubspot
• Zapier
• Freshdesk
• Mailchimp
• Salesforce
• Dolphin
• HousecallPro
• Dentrix
• Opendental
• Denticon
• eClinicalWorks
• And more…

Emitrr Pros

• HIPAA, HITECH, and TCPA compliant
• Easy-to-use interface
• Easy to set up
• Excellent customer service
• Wide range of features
• Flexible pricing
• Seamless integration with 1000+ tools

Emitrr Cons

• No major issues with this software

Emitrr Pricing

Emitrr offers credit-based pricing for texting service which is very affordable compared to other texting platforms and it starts at $109 a month for 3000 credits, and so on. 

Emitrr Customer Support Rating

• Capterra: 4.8/5
• G2: 4.7/5

Emitrr Reviews

Emitrr customer service is unmatched! I don’t need help often but when I do, it is handled quickly. The system is very user friendly.

Overall very positive. The service works like I need it to, the customer service is amazing, up-time is great, and changes made seem to be well thought out and well, not just changes for change sake.Capterra

Capterra

Weave

What is Weave?

Weave is a communication platform that offers texting services specifically for small businesses in the healthcare niche, including nutrition, dental, medical spa, eye care, etc. The platform offers standard texting features but lacks more advanced capabilities such as drip campaigns, list segmentation, response filters, and more. Weave stands itself out for its customer support and easy-to-use interface, but its high pricing may be a pain point for small businesses. 

Weave Features

• 2-way texting: Allows both ended and receiver to engage in text conversation.
• Missed calls to text: Follows up with customers whose calls were left unattended via text.
• Automated response: Responds to incoming text messages via standard template when there is no one to send messages.
• Mass Texts: Send text blasts to entire customer base or different customer segments via mass texting.

Weave Integrations

• Dentrix
• Easydental
• Dentimax
• Denticon
• Dolphin
• Eddson
• Eaglesoft
• And more..

Weave Pros

• Useful texting feature
• Good customer service
• Intuitive interface 

Weave Cons

• Messaging issues
• Limited features
• Technical glitches
• Only meant for the healthcare industry

Weave Pricing

Weave’s pricing starts at $399 a month + it also charges a setup fee of $750.

Weave Customer Support 

• Capterra: 4.8/5
• G2: 4.5/5

Weave Reviews

Love having appointment schedule on our phones and ability to text patients from anywhere – anytime. Love the connectivity factor.

The initial setup and onboarding was HORRIBLE. The first guy who came was a local yahoo who knew nothing about the actual product and didn’t even install all our phones.

Capterra

Podium

What is Podium?

Podium is an AI-powered lead generation and communication platform that allows small businesses of different industries to communicate with their customers easily via SMS. Although the software offers a handful of useful features, it can be quite expensive for burgeoning companies. Podium’s basic plan only comes with an inbox for your SMS, emails, social media messages, etc. But for more advanced features such as automation or integrations, you are required to invest in the advanced pricing plan.  

Podium Features

• Reviews and reputation management: Send review requests via SMS and so that businesses can collect reviews from platforms like Google and Facebook.
• SMS Surveys: Send out SMS surveys by sending survey forms or links and gather customer feedback effectively.
• Unified Inbox: Manage all conversations from a unified inbox.
• SMS Marketing: Use SMS to communicate with your customers or to send out SMS marketing messages.
• SMS Marketing: Utilize SMS to run targeted SMS marketing campaigns and follow up with customers with drip campaigns.
• Integrations: Integrate with third-party apps to simplify and automate your business workflow.

Podium Integrations

Podium integrates with 180+ different solutions, including: 

• Freshdesk
• Freshbooks
• HubSpot
• Athenahealth
• Airtable
• Open Dental
• ARMS
• Calendly

Podium Pros

• Very easy to use
• AI-powered

Podium Cons

• Expensive for small businesses
• Poor customer service
• Limited features

Podium Pricing

• Core: $399/month
• Pro: $499/month
• Signature: Custom

Podium Customer Support

• Capterra: 4.3/5
• G2: 4.5/5 

Podium Customer Reviews

“The product is easy to use and the UX is top notch. While I wish there was a few more customizable options from team management it is easy to use even for people who aren’t tech savvy”

We previously used Podium and we switched to a less expensive option. Well, you get what you pay for. Podium is a far better product. Reviews increase, we get paid faster using card readers or text to pay. Excellent customer service!

Capterra

EZ Texting

What is EZ Texting?

EZ texting is an all-in-one text marketing software for small businesses. The platform offers capabilities centered around marketing campaigns mostly and offers standard features that most texting apps offer. EZ Texting has an intuitive interface that allows for easy onboarding; however, customers often complain about their misleading and expensive pricing plans. Here is an in-depth look at what EZ Texting has to offer:  

EZ Texting Features 

• Generative AI: Generate two-way personalized messages to run targeted campaigns.
• Two-way texting: Send one-on-one text messages to your customers in real-time. Interact with customers who respond to your bulk message in separate message threads.
• Custom keywords: Create unlimited SMS keywords for different types of campaigns.
• Bulk texting: Create targeted contact lists and send out SMS for marketing purposes.
• Contact management: Send targeted messages to customers by segmenting them into groups and lists.
• Analytics and reporting: Check detailed metrics, such as click rate, delivery rate, etc., and see how your bulk SMS campaigns are performing.

EZ Texting Integrations

• HubSpot
• Mailchimp
• Zapier
• SquareSpace
• Salesforce
• QuickDesk
• Vortext
• CustomerX
• And more..

EZ Texting Pros

• Customer service is quick and helpful
• Easy onboarding process

EZ Texting Cons

• Limited texting features
• Expensive & misleading pricing 

EZ Texting Pricing

EZ texting offers 4 different pricing options:

• 500 messages: $29/month
• 1000 messages: $49/month
• 2000 messages: $79/month
• 3000 messages: $109/month

EZ Texting Customer Support

• Capterra: 4.3/5
• G2: 4.5/5

EZ Texting Reviews

 I beg you (Who is reading this – AVOID THEM ) I have been their customers for 2+ years and I have started at a low package. without any notification or anything I was robbed in the BRIGHT DAYLIGHT 

I use the service to send out surveys and it has really increased the response rate from when I was just sending the survey by e-mail.

Capterra

Textedly 

What is Textedly?

Textedly is a popular SMS marketing platform that allows you to send anywhere from 10 to 100,000 SMS. The platform offers useful features such as an opt-in subscriber list, message scheduling, analytics, and more. Textedly also offers multiple pricing options; however, it does not offer the best value for money and is not suitable for businesses that require to send longer messages. 

Textedly Features

• Mass texting: Send text messages to thousands of contacts at once and save hours worth of daily time.   
• Text message scheduling: Schedule text messages for a later date to keep your calendar full. 
• Reviews and reputation management: Easily collect customer feedback and manage your online reputation. 
• Text message marketing: Send mass marketing messages to customers and follow up with drip campaigns. 

Textedly Integrations

• Zapier
• Salesforce
• MailChimp
• Zoho
• HubSpot
• Constant Contact
• Zendesk
• And more..

Textedly Pros

• User-friendly
• Good customer service
• Affordable

Textedly Cons

• Does not offer the best value for money
• Difficulty in contact management
• Not suitable for sending longer text messages 

Textedly Pricing

Textedly offers many different kinds of pricing plans. The more features you add, the more you’ll have to pay: 

• Bronze: $24 per month
• Plus: $39 per month
• Enterprise: $50 per month
• Elite: $70 per month
• Business: $140 per month
• Silver: $210 per month
• Premium: $350 per month
• Custom

Textedly Customer Support 

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.6/5

Textedly Reviews

The textedly web text message service is very awesome and it is above my overall expectations.

Good price for messages, but not good service for companies who sending SMS to new monthly, fresh and updated lists of customers.

Capterra

Text Request

What is Text Request?

Text Request is a texting tool that is best fit for service-based small businesses. The platform is also ideal for businesses who require to send bulk SMS. Text Request’s robust contact management tools help in the delivery of large SMS, however, customers often complain about delays in sending SMS along with other technical glitches. Here’s some more information on Text Request: 

Text Request Features

• Webchat to text: Start conversations right from your website with a live chat widget for texting and collect contact info to follow up once the user leaves the site.
• Landline texting: Get your existing landline number text enabled and enjoy both calling and mass texting from the same number. 
• API and Integrations: Use out-of-the-box integrations offered by Text Request or create your own with their API and webhooks.
• SMS Reviews: Send mass SMS review requests to generate reviews for your services. 
• Signatures: Create custom SMS signatures for each user so your contacts always know who they’re talking to.
• SMS templates: Use available SMS templates instead of crafting messages from scratch.

Text Request Integrations

• Clio
• HubSpot
• Mailchimp
• Angi
• Mindbody
• Pipedrive
• Zapier
• Help Scout
• And more..

Text Request Pros

• Easy-to-use interface
• Helpful customer support
• Useful message customization features

Text Request Cons

• Often fails to send messages
• Technical glitches
• Difficult to track conversation and contacts

Text Request Pricing

Text Request offers four kinds of pricing options:

• Basic: $59 a month for 1,000 texts
• Starter: $193/month for 2,500 texts
• Corporate: $279/month for 6,000 texts
• Enterprise: $549/month for 20,000 texts

Text Request Customer Support 

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.6/5

Text Request Reviews

Ease of use and great customer service! from customer communications to reservations it helps us in all aspects of our communications.

The only thing I feel might be missing, is that it is hard to tell who the text is directed to. Sometimes you have to go way back into the previous texts to figure out who it belongs to.

Capterra

Textline

What is Textline?

Textline is a well-known business mass texting service that offers handy tools for customer communication, team collaboration, and process automation. The platform offers secure texting and is ideal for modern customer support, logistics, marketing, and sales. With a complete suite of features and integrations, Textline allows not only small but also enterprise businesses to simplify their business communication goals. However, the platform lacks in offering the best automation features and also has high per SMS cost.  

Textline Features

• Group text messaging: Send messages in groups and get replies on the same text thread.
• ‍Mass texting: Send thousands of personalized text messages in a few clicks. 
• SMS templates: Reduce time spent manually typing messages with SMS templates.
• Text message scheduling: Schedule a single text message or mass group text messages to go out at a future time and date.
• Two-way texting: Engage in two-way conversations with customers.
• Automated texting: Set up automated messages based on pre-set keywords.
• Text message surveys: Create personalized SMS surveys and get actionable insights.

Textline Integrations

• Salesforce
• HubSpot
• Freshdesk
• Zapier
• Slack
• Talkdesk
• Aircall
• Pipedrive
• And more..

Textline Pros

• Easy to implement & use
• Functionalities can be customized with ease
• Seamless integration
• Great customer support

Textline Cons

• Very less automation features
• Pricing per SMS is quite high
• Limited texting features

Textline Pricing

Textline offers three kinds of pricing options:

• Limited: $59.97/month
• Standard: $89.97/month
• Pro: $249.95.month

Textline Customer Support

• Capterra: 5/5
• G2: 4.5/5

Textline Reviews

I love Textline from both the perspective of a customer who appreciated the actual companies customer service and user of their app in giving my own customers better service.It doesn’t feel native to iOS and some screens did not render well.

Capterra

Birdeye

What is Birdeye?

Birdeye is an AI-powered customer texting platform meant for local small businesses. The software allows businesses to reach their customers across text, social media, web, etc., from a single inbox. Birdeye serves small businesses in many industries, including healthcare, legal, real estate, home services sector, etc. However, this is an expensive texting software, and customers also often complain about integration issues. 

Birdeye Features

• Unified inbox: You can receive all messages across different platforms under one inbox.
• AI chatbot: This feature can engage in chat
• Auto response
• 2-way texting
• Mass texting

Birdeye Integrations

• Salesforce
• Zoho
• Entrata
• ADP
• DrChrono
• Denticon
• Dentrix
• Cleardent
• Zapier

Birdeye Pros

• AI features
• Keeps upgrading
• Easy-to-use
• Helpful customer support

Birdeye Cons

• Expensive
• Missing texting features
• Integration issues

Birdeye Pricing

Birdeye’s pricing starts at $350/month. For more details regarding their SMS cost, you’d have to get in touch with them. 

Birdeye Customer Support

• Capterra: 4.6/5
• G2: 4.7/5 

SimpleTexting

What is SimpleTexting?

Simple Texting is a text messaging platform that is known for its SMS and MMS message marketing capabilities, such as recurring texts, group and mass texts, etc. The best thing about SimpleTexting is that it integrates with CRM and other external tools seamlessly and offers plenty of useful texting features. However, it is quite expensive compared to other options, and customers often complain that they face issues in sending SMS. 

SimpleTexting Features

• Recurring texts
• Scheduled texts
• Text-for-Info keywords
• Conversation filters
• Saved replies
• Internal notes
• Push notifications
• Templates
• And more..

SimpleTexting Integrations

• Zapier
• Salesforce
• Hubspot
• Mailchimp
• Slack
• Instagram
• And more..

SimpleTexting Pros

• Easy to set-up and use
• Useful texting features
• Integrates with multiple tools easily

SimpleTexting Cons

• Expensive compared to others
• Billing issues
• Delay in sending messages

SimpleTexting Pricing

SimpleTexting’s pricing starts at $39 a month, plus it charges $29 for 500 credits.

SimpleTexting Customer Support 

• Capterra: 4.8/5
• G2: 4.6/5

How to Choose a Texting Service for Small Business?

A texting service may be required by different kinds of businesses for different purposes, and the choice of texting software could vary depending on the independent business needs. Let us see a step-by-step process now on how to choose the right texting software for your business. 

Step 1: Understand your goal with text messaging:

The first step in choosing the right business texting software is to identify your goal and what you want to achieve by sending text messages for your business. You may want to consider these factors: 

Is it to reduce phone calls?

Your agents can take only one call at a time and customer phone calls often last for an average of six-seven minutes. So if your business is expanding rapidly and you want to reduce phone calls and put your agents and resources to better use then you might want to consider texting software for customer service.

Is it to get better ROI on your marketing?

If your goal is to generate better ROI on your marketing, then must look for a texting software that allows you to send personalized sms messaging your customers, that allows you to run drip campaigns, segment your audience, analyse text campaign results, and more.  

Is it to improve customer response/improve customer experience?

If your goal is to improve customer experience or customer response, then you should instead focus on a texting software with capabilities that allow you to schedule messages, set auto-responses, and send automated reminders and appointment updates. Features such as two-way texting, review, and form links, etc., should also be considered.  

Is it to grow your marketing list?

If your goal is to grow your marketing list, then a texting software that’s TCPA compliant with features like easy contact list import, opt-in/opt-out option, personalization, campaigns, analytics dashboard, etc. are some things you must look for. 

Step 2: Identify a software that aligns with the goal and ties into your system/tech stack for that function:

• If your goal is to reduce calls, then a texting system that integrates with your CRM/EMR/EHR/Scheduling platform is what you should look for to automate customer notifications.
• If your goal is to improve marketing ROI, then it should integrate with your CRM/Marketing automation.
• If your goal is to improve customer experience, then the texting software should seamlessly integrate with your CRM/PMS platform so that you can leverage a unified view of your customer’s journey across all touchpoints for a personalized communication & customer experience. 
• If your goal is to grow your marketing list, then it should integrate with different marketing or social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. 

Step 3: Review cost

The cost of SMS service could vary depending upon different factors and this can influence your choice of texting software completely. To review cost consider the following:

• Do you want to send SMS Vs MMS or both: SMS lies between 160 characters and costs 1 credit. However, MMS messages includes attachments, videos, and links which cost 3 credits. 
• Pricing structure: The pricing structure of texting services is often based on four models: subscription, text credits, pay-as-you-go per text, and hybrid model. Your choice of texting software for small businesses would largely depend on this. 
• Phone number type: SMS marketing campaigns is allowed for three types of numbers: 10DLC, toll-free, and shortcode, and the cost varies depending on the option you choose. Consider which type of number is suitable for you and look for a texting software that allows you all three or any one preferred option.
• Other fees: Some texting services charge you an additional fee for user add-ons, phone number add-ons, etc. Since the cost can add up quickly, consider this facet as well.

Step 4: Review support/flexibility

Not having quick and easy access to customer service could slow you down and your business operations. So, you must review the customer support and flexibility the business texting software offers. Look for software companies that offer 24/7 support via different channels (calls, text, email, etc.), and check online customer reviews for support to avoid setbacks after signing up. 

Step 5: Understand their product roadmap

Lastly, consider the product roadmap of the texting service you have narrowed down. For this, see if they are innovating and adding new features, capabilities, etc., as this will also benefit you in the long run. Also, see if you can partner with them for the long term to avoid wasting time and resources that go into finding and changing software again and again. 

Why Emitrr is the Best Texting Service for Small Businesses? 

After comparing the nine best texting services for small businesses, we think Emitrr stands out the most and is the best pick, irrespective of the industry you are in. Here’s why:

It’s all-encompassing

Emitrr fulfills and caters to all the criteria that we have listed in the above section. Be it offering different kinds of integration, catering to different goals (marketing, reducing phone calls, improving customer experience, etc.) with a complete suite of features, be it affordable cost, flexibility, and innovation. Emitrr is an all-encompassing texting software for small businesses. 

Offers all customer texting features

No matter what your business goal is (marketing, communication, customer service, etc.) and what type of business industry you are in, Emitrr offers all kinds of customer texting features you may look for. Check out the list of features of Emitrr we have listed in the blog.

Integration with CRM/EMR/PMS/Scheduling Platforms

No matter what business industry you are in, be it healthcare, home services, real estate, education, non-profit, etc. Emitrr integrates with 1000+ CRM/EMR/PMS/Scheduling Platforms allowing you to easily sync and access your customer data in one place. 

Affordable business texting platform

Emitrr offers a credit-based pricing structure for sending SMS, which starts at just $109 for 3,000 credits. If you compare this with other platforms, you will see that our pricing is on the lower spectrum, and the value for money you get with so many features is just the cherry on top. 

Top-notch customer service

Emitrr takes pride in offering the top-notch customer service with plenty of contact options such as live chat, email support desk, knowledge base, etc. that is available 24/7. It has even been rated 5/5 by current customers on Capterra. 

FAQs

Conclusion 

As a small business, it is a tough job to get leads, retain customers, manage teams, and ensure that everything is running smoothly, and all customers are satisfied. In addition to going above and beyond to grow your business, you also need to have certain tools handy to ensure operational efficiency and personalized communication. This is where texting services for small businesses come into play. Now that you have a detailed account of all the SMS services for small businesses out there, you can make an informed decision and add that extra edge to your business.