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Two-way Messaging

Create a frustration-free experience for your customers while saving time and boosting sales with two-way texting.

  • Send and receive text messages in seconds
  • Assign conversations to team members
  • Automate responses to frequently asked questions
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MASS TEXT MESSAGING SERVICE TRUSTED BY THOUSANDS OF BUSINESSES

What is two-way messaging?

Two-way messaging is an SMS conversation between two people, also known as conversational support. The ability to reply back and forth allows for a more personal interaction that can build trust and rapport.

This is in contrast to one-way messaging, which is a one-sided conversation. With one-way messaging, you can send out mass texts, but your customers have no way to respond. This can quickly become frustrating for your audience.

While some companies offer basic SMS capabilities, not every platform is equipped with two-way text messaging, leaving business owners and marketers at a disadvantage. SimpleTexting is ready to serve you with our powerful two-way SMS capabilities. Try us free for 14 days when you sign up, no credit card required.

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Why two-way messaging is vital to your SMS strategy

With so many brands competing for customers’ attention these days, anything you can do to deliver a more personal service will help you stand out. Two-way texting can help you do just that.

Most importantly, it allows you to build trust and rapport with your customers. When you can have a one-on-one conversation with someone, they are more likely to trust you. This is especially true if you’re able to address their specific needs and concerns.

Another reason why two-way messaging is important is because it can help you save time. If you’re able to have a conversation with your customer and address their needs right away, they are less likely to need to call or email your business. This can free up your time, so you can focus on other tasks.

Two-way SMS can also help you increase sales and conversions. When you can have a conversation with your customers, you can build a relationship with them. This can lead to increased sales and conversions because they are more likely to trust and do business with you.

Watch the video below to see two-way text messaging in action:

2-Way Messaging 11_9

Our students don’t want to be bugged by their school all the time. Sending an SMS is an easy way for them to receive important information without it going into a spam folder.

Shawn Diddy Brand Manager, Maharishi International University

How to use two-way text messaging in SimpleTexting

You can use two-way texting in SimpleTexting in three easy steps:

Send a text

Send an SMS blast using the Campaigns menu or send a single text message to someone through the SimpleTexting inbox.

Check your inbox

Visit SimpleTexting’s inbox to find your two-way conversations, including replies to your individual texts and campaigns.

Reply to your conversations

Reply to the texts in your inbox using helpful tools like AI Assist and templates.

How two-way messaging works

Receive and reply to messages

Our 2-way text messaging service makes it easy to strike up a conversation. Plus, every plan comes with unlimited contacts, and all incoming SMS messages are free.

  • Schedule replies for a specific date or time
  • Add emojis to your messages 🎉
  • Create reusable templates for standard replies
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Keep your team informed

Stay organized and provide a better customer experience, thanks to the Inbox’s private notes feature.

  • Have behind-the-scenes conversations
  • Collaborate on tough questions
  • Never forget important details
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Stay on top of conversations

Chat with multiple customers at once, and don’t let anyone fall through the cracks. Our 2-way messaging features are designed to improve your messaging workflows.

  • Snooze conversations until later
  • Filter by time waiting or time received
  • Mark completed conversations as resolved
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Send photos, documents, and more

Whether you need to share a sales one-pager, ZIP file, or a single photo, you can easily upload it and text it via our 2-way messaging service.

  • See higher click-through and reply rates
  • Close more sales
  • Provide engaging customer support
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Practical ways to use two-way texting for your business

While we can’t possibly list all the uses for two-way messaging, here are a few of the most common examples to get you started.

Answer customer questions

Respond to customer questions as they come in, or set up automated responses to FAQs to save your team time.

Collect feedback and reviews

Customer reviews show prospects what it’s like to work with you, and they can lead to more sales

Send appointment reminders

If you’re a service-based business, each missed appointment costs you money. Two-way SMS can help solve that problem.

Request more information

Need clarification or more details from a customer? Two-way texting allows you to collect information in minutes.

Provide order updates

Customers can ask about the status of their order via text, which will free up your team’s time by avoiding long phone calls.

Nurture leads

If someone’s on the fence about your products or services, you can use texting to close the deal.

SMS surveys

Show your audience their feedback matters by sending them SMS surveys regarding your services.

Schedule shifts

Use SMS to remind employees of their upcoming shifts or check their availability for open shifts.

Confirm appointments

Enhance customer experience by confirming bookings as soon as they’re made using SMS.

Two-way messaging in action

Thanks to SimpleTexting’s two-way messaging functionality, Shower Door Experts can offer quotes for its services over text. After someone texts the business requesting a quote, Shower Door Experts asks for any other details it needs and sends the quote in the same conversation. Customers have a convenient option for requesting a quote, and Shower Door Experts has all of the quote information in its SimpleTexting inbox

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Integrate two-way SMS with other tools

Two-way messaging is even more powerful when it’s integrated with other tools. For example, you can integrate SimpleTexting with your CRM, so there’s a record of every customer interaction.

SimpleTexting also has thousands of other integrations that are ready to go. Need a custom integration? We have a team dedicated building and maintaining integrations specifically for your business’ needs.

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Why choose SimpleTexting for two-way text messaging?

What makes SimpleTexting different from other two-way messaging services? With our platform, you get

Built-in automation workflows

Create autoresponders in seconds for customer FAQs, or schedule responses for later.

No keyword limits

Create as many keywords as you’d like so customers can opt in to your messages.

Multi-device access

Send and receive messages from your desktop or on the go with our mobile app.

Convenient customer support

We’re available 7 days a week to answer questions about two-way messaging.

Full suite of features

In addition to one-on-one conversations, you can send mass texts from the same dashboard.

Thousands of integrations

You can integrate SimpleTexting with nearly any tool or platform you rely on to run your business.

Great Product, Great Price, Great Experience!

SimpleTexting is an easy and effective tool to communicate with my clients. It has plenty of automations to make communication less cumbersome.

Assistant director at a non-profit Capterra

Convenient SMS/MMS

Really enjoying the convenience of being able to SMS/MMS our customers. Makes follow up and connecting with our customers so much easier.

Brookside Shopper Approved

Collaborative 2-Way Messaging

I love that I don’t have to be the only one responding every time, but I can see what’s happening with our customer service. I’m able to assign someone to keep our customers happy, answer order questions quickly and yet I can jump in and connect with the customer anytime.

Cindy Shopper Approved

Love the ease and notifications!

We have other programs and still chose to use this service. It is so easy and notifies you via email when someone has responded.

Kimberly A. G2

More on Two-Way Messaging

Frequently asked questions about two-way text message marketing

Here are some of the questions we hear often about two-way messaging – and their answers:

Two-way text messaging allows for communication both ways – both the sender (you) and the recipient (your customer) can send a message to the other. Meanwhile, in one-way messaging, the recipient can’t message the sender back.
Some texting services, like SimpleTexting, will outright advertise that they have two-way messaging. But if the service you’re looking at doesn’t make it that clear, check to see if it has an inbox to manage replies from recipients. Not all services have two-way texting, so don’t assume until you see it advertised.
The monthly cost for a two-way texting service can range anywhere from the double to triple digits, depending on what else the tool does. Since SimpleTexting focuses just on texting, its plans start at $29 per month, putting it on the lower end of the spectrum.
While business texting generally requires express written consent from a customer, if a customer texts you first, you have implied consent to continue that conversation. However, you will still need separate permission to send promotional texts after completing the conversation.