Messages that Matter | Text-Em-All Blog

The Difference between Mass vs. Conversational Texting

Written by Kaitlyn Orred | May 10, 2019

At Call-Em-All, we consider mass messaging to be our specialty compared to our competitors. Why? We could ramble on with information for days, but the simple answer is our software truly allows us to efficiently and successfully send over thousands of messages more rapidly using the toll-free number that we provide our customers.

I know that the market is full of competitors and that they have a lot of interesting ways of describing mass texting services. Let’s try to clarify some of those key differences you should be aware of. Learn how a mass texting service is the most effective way to keep people informed when it matters most.

WHAT IS MASS TEXTING?

Mass Texting or Bulk SMS is essentially sending one text message, at once, to a large group of people. Every company has a different definition of what mass texting is because there are different levels of "mass". First, you need to ask yourselves, what are your needs?

How many contacts are you usually messaging and how fast do you need your messages to go out?

One? Two hundred? Three thousand? Depending on the number of contacts you want to reach will determine how quickly your messages can be sent. In our opinion, using toll-free numbers (1-800) is the best solution for sending out mass messages. Unlike local numbers (long codes) and shorts codes (292929), there are minimal carrier restrictions on delivery speed and unlimited group size. The max delivery speed of local numbers is 100/hour compared to 72,000/hour for toll-free numbers. That's a substantial difference and the reason why we pride ourselves for developing a service that truly has the capability to send personalized mass messages.

Do your messages need to be personalized?

Personalizing your text messages is an effective way to make your contacts feel like an individual and not another number, especially when using mass. When you personalize your mass text message, you get better engagement and improved response rates. Research shows that text messages with personalization can yield a 5-12% better response rate to your message. What is personalization? This feature allows you to insert custom fields that automatically fill in with your contact information. Users can upload data that includes: first name, last name, appointment dates, doctor names, invoice amounts, etc. The possibilities are limitless!

Are you expecting replies?

If you send out a text broadcast to a large group of people and some of those people respond back with questions for you, you’ll want to respond using conversational texting.

WHAT IS CONVERSATIONAL TEXTING?

Conversational texting is used when companies need a documented, seamless way of engaging with a contact one- on- one, either after the recipient has replied to a mass message or when you need to contact that person directly. It's exactly how it sounds: A conversation between you and one of your contacts. Manage replies, send individual messages, and view message history on your computer with our Text Conversations solution. We view conversational texting as a compliment to our automated mass messaging services!