How to Send SMS Messages to Your WordPress Users (Easy Way)

How to Send SMS Messages to Your WordPress Users (2023 Guide)

Want to start sending SMS messages to your WordPress users and customers? With sky-high open rates, SMS marketing has massive potential. But the technical side of syncing WordPress user data with an SMS service can seem daunting at first.

Don‘t worry – in this guide, we‘ll break down everything you need to know to start sending SMS messages to your WordPress users today, even if you‘re not particularly tech-savvy.

Specifically, we‘ll cover:

• Why SMS marketing is so effective
• How to choose the right SMS provider and connect it to WordPress
• Populating your SMS contact lists and segmenting users
• Sending your first SMS marketing campaign
• Automated SMS use cases like abandoned carts and order notifications
• Analyzing your results and improving your SMS strategy over time

By the end of this post, you‘ll be fully equipped to harness the power of SMS marketing on your WordPress site.

Why Send SMS Messages to Your WordPress Users?

Before we get into the technical details, let‘s talk about why you should consider adding SMS marketing to your WordPress site in the first place.

There are a few key reasons:

1. Sky-high open rates: The average open rate for text message marketing campaigns is 98%. That‘s nearly 5X higher than the 20% average open rate for email.

2. Lightning-fast responses: 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes. If you need to get in front of your audience quickly, SMS is the way to go.

3. High engagement: Consumers are far more likely to engage with businesses via text than any other medium. SMS response rates can be as high as 45%, compared to email response rates that hover in the 6% range.

4. Preference: 75% of consumers are okay with receiving SMS messages from brands (after they‘ve opted in). Over half would prefer SMS to their current communication channels.

5. Versatility: Besides bulk marketing campaigns, SMS can also be used for timely alerts, personalized customer service, two-factor authentication, and more. It‘s useful across the entire customer journey.

Those are some compelling reasons to start incorporating SMS into your WordPress site. But before we dive into the how-to, there‘s one more preliminary thing to cover:

SMS Marketing Laws & Regulations

As a marketer or business owner, it‘s critical that you familiarize yourself with the laws and regulations around commercial SMS messages. The main ones are:

• TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act): Requires express written consent before sending automated SMS marketing messages. Verbal consent is not enough.

• CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association): Mandates that businesses include clear opt-out instructions with every SMS campaign.

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Applies to EU citizens and sets strict opt-in requirements similar to TCPA.

• CAN-SPAM: Though CAN-SPAM doesn‘t apply directly to SMS, its requirement for honoring opt-out requests within 10 days does extend to text messaging.

Failing to comply with these regulations can lead to steep penalties reaching into the millions of dollars. So make sure you‘re collecting proper SMS consent from your WordPress users before you text them.

With that out of the way, let‘s get into the fun part – setting up WordPress SMS integration.

How to Send SMS to WordPress Users

There are a few different ways to send SMS messages to your WordPress users. We‘ll cover three of the most popular:

1. Using a WordPress SMS plugin
2. Syncing WordPress users to your SMS marketing service
3. Automating SMS in WordPress with Zapier

Let‘s go through them one by one.

Option 1: Using a WordPress SMS Plugin

The easiest way to start sending SMS in WordPress is by using a dedicated plugin built for this purpose. Some of the best SMS plugins for WordPress are:

• WP SMS: Lets you send SMS messages to WordPress users and commenters straight from your dashboard. Supports a variety of SMS gateways.

• SMS Alert Order Notifications: Automatically sends SMS alerts to customers when their WooCommerce order status changes (processing, completed, shipped, etc.)

• BulkGate SMS Plugin: Connect the BulkGate SMS service to send SMS campaigns to your WordPress users, commenters, and WooCommerce customers.

• Twilio SMS Notifications: Uses the Twilio API to send notification texts to your users for new posts, new comments, password resets, and other customizable events.

• SMS for WooCommerce: Another WooCommerce-specific SMS plugin that lets you send automated SMS updates and alerts for store orders.

These plugins provide an out-of-the-box solution for sending one-off notification texts and SMS alerts based on actions in WordPress.

However, if you want to send bulk SMS marketing campaigns, sync your WordPress contacts to a dedicated SMS marketing service, and take advantage of more advanced features like drip campaigns and automation, you‘ll need a more robust solution.

Option 2: Syncing WordPress Users to an SMS Marketing Service

For more advanced SMS needs, your best bet is to choose a dedicated SMS marketing service that integrates with WordPress. That way, you can manage your SMS campaigns in a purpose-built tool while still keeping everything synced with your WordPress user data.

Here are some of the best WordPress-friendly SMS marketing services to consider:

• Twilio: Programmatic SMS API with WordPress plugins available. Extremely flexible but requires more technical know-how to set up.

• Omnisend: Beginner-friendly SMS platform with a dedicated Omnisend for WordPress plugin. Offers pre-built SMS automations.

• Drip: Code-free SMS/email marketing automation. The Drip for WordPress plugin makes it easy to capture leads and sync contacts.

• ActiveCampaign: Robust SMS marketing features integrated into all-in-one marketing automation. Connects to WordPress via plugin.

• Sendinblue: Marketing automation platform with SMS campaign options. The WooCommerce and Opt-in plugins from Sendinblue enable easy contact sync.

• SlickText: Affordable SMS marketing service with a free WP SlickText plugin for one-click contact sync and SMS opt-in forms.

• Mobile Text Alerts: WordPress SMS provider with a dedicated plugin. Provides SMS signup widgets, autoresponders, and SMS keywords.

To illustrate how this works, let‘s walk through setting up SMS sync with Omnisend.

First, install the free Omnisend for WordPress plugin on your site and activate it. This will add an Omnisend settings page where you can log into your Omnisend account to connect it with WordPress.

Once connected, the plugin can automatically sync your WordPress user list as Omnisend contacts. You can also add Omnisend signup forms to your site to capture SMS consent and phone numbers.

Whenever someone signs up through an Omnisend form or checks the SMS consent box at checkout, they‘ll be added to your Omnisend SMS list with proper TCPA consent collected. You can also tag and segment your synced contacts based on custom fields.

From there, you can compose your SMS campaigns right in Omnisend. The drag-and-drop builder lets you customize your message and preview how it will look on mobile before you send.

You can send one-off SMS campaigns, set up automated messages triggered by specific user actions, or create multi-step SMS workflows to nurture contacts over time.

Other SMS services will have a similar integration process – look for a service with a dedicated WordPress plugin that fits your needs and budget.

Option 3: Automating SMS with Zapier

If your favorite SMS provider doesn‘t offer a native WordPress integration, you may still be able to connect the two using Zapier.

Zapier is an automation tool that lets you create "Zaps" to send data between web apps. Many of the most popular SMS services offer a Zapier integration out of the box.

To build a Zap, you‘ll choose a "trigger" from one app and an "action" from another app. For example:

• Trigger: New user registers in WordPress
• Action: Add new contact to Textedly SMS list

By linking triggers and actions together, you can keep your WordPress user data flowing into your SMS platform. Popular SMS Zaps for WordPress include:

• Add new WooCommerce customers to Avochato
• Subscribe new WordPress users to EZTexting
• Add new Gravity Form submissions to a SimpleTexting contact list
• Send BurstSMS messages for new WooCommerce orders
• Create Salesmsg contacts from new WordPress users
• Send custom Twilio SMS messages when a Ninja Form is submitted
• Add new WordPress blog posts to SendHub
• Send SMS order alerts via Plivo for new WooCommerce orders

Browse the Zapier app directory to find pre-made templates or create your own custom WordPress SMS automations.

Tips & Best Practices for WordPress SMS Marketing

Now that you know how to send SMS campaigns to your WordPress users, here are some tips to make the most of your efforts:

1. Get express consent before sending any marketing messages. Be clear about what users are subscribing to.

2. Send a welcome text immediately after someone signs up to confirm their subscription.

3. Follow SMS marketing regulations closely. Provide clear opt-out instructions and honor requests promptly.

4. Keep your messages short and to the point. Focus on one call-to-action per text.

5. Personalize your SMS campaigns as much as possible. Address contacts by name and send relevant, targeted messages.

6. Provide an incentive for SMS signups, like a special discount code or free gift to boost opt-ins.

7. Pay attention to timing. Send messages when users are likely to be receptive, like mid-morning or early evening.

8. Make use of SMS autoresponders to welcome new subscribers, wish contacts a happy birthday, or send an automated series of messages.

9. Monitor your click-through rates and unsubscribes to assess what types of SMS content resonate with your audience.

10. Supplement your SMS efforts with other channels like email and push notifications for an omnichannel messaging strategy.

By following these guidelines, you‘ll create a thoughtful, valuable SMS experience for your WordPress users that keeps them engaged with your brand.

Wrapping Up

SMS marketing is one of the most underrated ways to connect with your WordPress users and customers. Although it can seem intimidating at first, sending text messages straight from WordPress is easier than you might think.

By using a WordPress SMS plugin, syncing your user data to an SMS marketing platform, or building custom Zaps, you can start leveraging the power of SMS for your business.

The key is choosing a reliable SMS tool that integrates seamlessly with WordPress, collecting proper consent from your contacts, and treating SMS as a privilege. Don‘t abuse the intimacy of text messaging with spammy promotions.

Instead, use SMS to provide timely, relevant, valuable content to your users. With sky-high open rates, it‘s the closest you can get to a direct line with your audience.

Follow the steps in this guide and you‘ll have no trouble making SMS an integral part of your WordPress marketing strategy. Your contacts (and conversion rates) will thank you.