How much does it cost to send text blasts?

Entry-level plans typically range from $29–$79 per month for 500–2,000 messages, while higher-volume plans range from $99–$139 per month for 3,000–5,000 messages. Many services also offer free trials to see if it’s the right text blast service for your business.

Can I send text blasts with my iPhone?

No, you cannot send text blasts with your iPhone; specifically with the standard iMessage app. Sending text messages with your mobile device's messaging app is meant for one to one communication. You can send group texts but those are very limited in the amount of people that can be reached. That limit is usually around 20 people. Additionally, people can see everyone else's replies, which is normally very annoying.

Can I send text blasts to past business clients?

Not unless they have explicitly opted into receiving text blasts from your business. Having a prior business relationship doesn't constitute an opt in either. There are laws in place that protect consumers from unwanted / spam text messages so if you're collecting phone numbers for future SMS blasts, make sure that your customers understand exactly what they are signing up for when they provide their number.

Is sending text message blasts legal?

Yes, sending text blasts is 100% legal. It's important to note, however, that you can only send blasts to people that have explicitly opted into receiving them. There are hefty legal fines for text message spam so be sure that whoever you're texting has given you their permission ahead of time.

Can I send a text blast with Google Voice?

No. Just like sending from your phone's text messaging app, trying to send a text blast with Google Voice is cumbersome and not a good idea. That service is meant to be a mobile phone replacement and is not set up for mass messaging. It also doesn't handle opt outs in a graceful way which is required to keep you from the legal consequences associated with spamming.

Is there an app I can use for sending SMS blasts?

Yes, most reputable SMS marketing services offer a mobile app for sending and managing text blasts. For example, SlickText provides a mobile app that lets you send messages, manage subscribers, and monitor conversations on the go. These apps are typically available to download at no cost from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, so you can handle your SMS marketing directly from your phone.

The Best Text Blast Service for Effective SMS Marketing

Engage your audience through texting with SlickText’s SMS blast service. Reach thousands of subscribers instantly with personalized messages, powerful segmentation, scheduling tools, and two-way conversations—all from one easy-to-use platform.

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SlickText has powered over 124,000 text message programs since 2011.

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Reach Your Entire Audience in Seconds

Our SMS text blast service and enterprise-grade technology supports messaging for groups of any size.

Strengthen Relationships and Collect Valuable Data

Connect with customers in two-way conversations and collect valuable feedback for segmentation.

Send Personalized, Hyper-Targeted Messages

Increase engagement with personalized, relevant messages to pre-defined and dynamic segments.

What is a Text Blast?

A text blast service is a software platform that enables businesses to send a single SMS message to hundreds or thousands of recipients simultaneously. A text blast is a single text message that is sent to a large group of people all at the same time. SMS blasts are an excellent way to reach the masses when important information needs to be communicated in a timely manner.

Businesses and organizations use a text blast service for everything from emergency alerts to letting customers know about big sales. It's just as powerful for marketing as it is for communication.

A man receives an SMS blast about a flash sale sent through SlickText

Key Takeaways

A text blast service is a software platform that sends a single SMS message to hundreds or thousands of recipients simultaneously
Compliance is essential – all recipients must explicitly opt in, and messages must follow TCPA and CTIA guidelines
Text blasts differ from group texts by supporting unlimited recipients, private replies, and easy opt-out options
Pricing typically begins around $29 per month depending on messaging volume and features
Key features to look for include opt-in tools, two-way texting, automation, segmentation, and a mobile app
Common use cases include marketing promotions, ecommerce automations, employee communications, event reminders, and emergency alerts

How to Send a Text Blast with SlickText

Our text blast service makes sending messages really easy. Even if you don't have technical expertise, you can master it all in two simple steps. Let's check them out...

Build Your Text List

If you don't have subscribers, you'll need to build your list by gaining new opt-ins. People typically opt in by texting, signing up on a website popup or web form, clicking a tap-to-join link, or scanning a QR code. If you've already grown a text blast list with a different service or have collected people's numbers in a compliant way, you can import those people who have already subscribed. Remember, to remain legally compliant, each person on your list must explicitly opt in to receiving texts from you.

Send Your Text Blast

Once you have a list of subscribers, you can start sending SMS blasts. This is where it gets fun. All you have to do is select which list or segment should receive your blast, compose your text message, and then send it immediately or schedule it to be sent at a later date.

Subscribers on a VIP list receive an SMS marketing campaign with a shoppable link

The Difference Between Group Texts & Text Blasts

People are sometimes confused by the difference between a traditional group text on your phone and an SMS blast. Yes, they both involve sending text messages to several people at once, but there are big differences between using a group text and a text blast service.

First, group texts typically have a hard limit of 20 to 25 recipients. This places a huge constraint on your ability to reach the masses. When using text blast software, there's no real limit to the amount of people you can reach with a single send.

Secondly, one of the most annoying things about traditional group texts is that when someone responds, it's sent to everyone. When using a text blast app or service, that doesn't happen. When people reply, those responses are private. You can then use the interface provided by your service to text each person individually without bothering everyone else on the list.

The third difference between group texts and SMS blasts is the ability to opt out of future messages. With group texts, it can be impossible to remove yourself from the group. An SMS blast service, however, is required to provide a way for people to opt out. People can remove themselves from future messaging by simply replying with the words STOP, END, UNSUBSCRIBE, or CANCEL.

Group Texts VS Text Blasts

	GROUP TEXTS	TEXT BLASTS
Recipient Limits	15	Unlimited
Gracefully Handles Replies
Allows Opting Out

If you're looking to get started with SMS marketing or any other type of text messaging at scale, you should always choose to go with a text blast service.

Why Text Blasts Are So Effective

SMS blasts are effective for many reasons. First, people almost always have their phones within an arm's reach, so a text has a real chance of being seen quickly. Unlike a phone call, a text doesn't require someone to stop what they're doing to answer — they can glance at it and respond whenever it's convenient. And unlike email, there's no inbox to get lost in or app to open. That makes SMS a direct, low-friction way to reach people compared to other channels.

In addition to the reach of text messaging, using an SMS blast service is also cost effective. At pennies per text, reaching people through SMS is a very affordable outreach channel.

Text Blasts & Compliance

Text blasts are regulated by the TCPA, CTIA guidelines, and carrier requirements. That means you need clear consent before texting people, plus transparent details about who you are, how often you’ll text, and how subscribers can opt out.

Compliance is one of our top priorities, so SlickText is built to help you follow SMS compliance guidelines from the start. Our platform can auto-generate terms and conditions, insert required language where needed, and even provide opt-out intelligence to automatically unsubscribe anyone who displays opt-out intent.

Example of SlickText opt-out intelligence that unsubscribes a contact based on chat sentiment

Ways People Are Using Text Blast Services

Because of their effectiveness, organizations across all sectors are turning to text blast apps and services for much of their communication needs. Here are some of the ways they're incorporating SMS blasts into their strategies.

Text Blasts For Marketing

Get all of your customers excited at once by sending a text message blast with a special offer they can't refuse. If you need to drive sales, email sign ups, traffic or almost any other kind of action, SMS marketing is an excellent way to do it. You can inspire customers to engage using a compelling text message that gets the word out to everyone at once.

Text messaging is quickly becoming one of the most popular vehicles for digital marketing today. Text blasts land directly on a customer's phone rather than competing with a crowded inbox, making them a strong complement to email in any marketing strategy. Having a solid SMS marketing strategy in place is a must for any business.

SMS For Employee Communications

Employees are inundated with emails these days and many go unread. Important initiatives and reminders will fall on deaf ears if you can't get people to open your messages, which is why SMS blasts are so helpful for engaging with employees. Reach people where they're really listening—on their phones.

From collecting feedback with SMS surveys to automating and scheduling text message reminders, text blasts have become an important tool for many companies around the world.

An employee interacts with their company through two-way text messaging

SMS Blasts For Event Reminders

Event reminders and updates are key pieces of information that no one should miss. From keeping volunteers in the know to engaging participants, there's no quicker way to get the word out. People read their text messages— almost immediately. Using an SMS text blast service to broadcast a message into the hands of everyone will be your most effective method of communication.

Event planners across the country are adopting SMS as their go-to strategy for engaging with the masses. With our intuitive and easy-to-use software, we make the entire process simpler than ever.

A music fan receives a text alert with a presale code for an upcoming concert tour

Emergency Text Alerts

Emergency preparedness plans should prioritize instant communication. Whether your emergency involves a weather event, fire, or other harmful situation, you've got absolutely no time to waste. Organizations are planning ahead by developing a text messaging strategy, so it's only a matter of clicks if they need to send an alert.

Our text blast service has been battle-tested by tens of thousands of organizations in North America. We power emergency notifications for lists with millions of people. Rest assured that when you need to send a message, it gets delivered.

An emergency alert to shelter immediately is sent as a public announcement through the SlickText platform

Finding a Text Blast Service

There are a lot of SMS blast services out there, but they aren't all equal. Make sure the one you choose is easy to use and offers some level of their service for free. This will allow you to try things out and ensure it works well for your needs. They should also have a wide array of features, especially if you're sending SMS blasts for marketing. Chances are you'll want to leverage some of the other tools their app has to offer.

Make sure they have a good text blast app in the Apple or Google Play store so you can manage your messaging on the go.

Growing your text blast list is important for anyone looking to reach the masses with SMS. The service you choose should offer multiple opt-in methods like text-to-join and web forms for opt-in.

Cellular compliance is also a big deal. Make sure your text blast service follows all of the best practices for handling opt outs, disallows the uploading of numbers without proving prior opt-in consent, and keeps records of all messages in and out.

What to Look for in a Text Blast Service

Easy to use
Has a free trial
Offers plenty of features
Has a mobile app
Offers multiple opt-in methods
Properly handles opt outs
Asks questions about subscriber consent

IMPORTANT FEATURES

Key Features to Look for in a Text Blast Service

When searching for an SMS blast service, you’ll find that most look similar—at least on the surface. The fact is, there’s a lot that can set them apart; especially when it comes to the features they offer. Here are some key capabilities to look for when shopping around.

Quality Opt-In Tools

Oftentimes when getting started with text messaging, you won’t yet have a list to work with. Even if you do, you’ll want to keep expanding. It’s critical that your text blast software offers several different tools to help you opt people in and keep your list growing.

Two-Way Texting

Two-way texting allows people to respond to your text blasts and enables you to engage privately one-on-one. Our collaborative inbox makes it easy to manage conversations on your own or with your entire team.

Automations

Text automation helps minimize the amount of manual work required to communicate with your audience. Automation can mean a lot of different things. At a minimum, make sure the service you choose for your SMS text blast gives you the ability to schedule your messages and put the ones that happen frequently on an automated schedule.

Click Tracking

An important component of a successful texting strategy is understanding how people are engaging with your messages. One of the best ways to do this is by tracking click behavior. Make sure your service not only tracks click counts but also who’s clicking so you can further segment your audience.

Segmentation

In some cases, you’ll find yourself wanting to send an SMS text blast to a subset of your total audience. Manually managing lists can be time consuming and prone to errors. A good text blast service offers the ability to define and send to segments based on subscriber data.

A Dedicated Mobile App

You need the ability to manage your texting on the go. It may seem silly, but many services don’t offer a mobile app for managing text blasts. Make sure that your service does and that you can download it from the app store.

WHY CHOOSE US

Why You Should Choose SlickText as Your Text Blast Service

We know there are several apps out there for sending text blasts. From having the highest quality messaging and deliverability to the easiest platform to use, here are just a few reasons why you should choose SlickText.

Get started for free

Want to give SlickText a shot? You can try our text blast app for free. We don't even require a credit card.

Send Your Blasts on the Go

With our text blast app, you don't have to be at a computer to push out your messages. We make it extremely easy to send blasts at any time, from the palm of your hand. It's convenient and practical.

It's Easy to Use

We've built this SMS blast service to be as easy as possible to manage. Whether you're great with technology or far from tech-savvy, you'll enjoy how smooth it is to get started sending text messages with our software.

Put Your Blasts on Autopilot

Don't stress over trying to remember to send a text blast about important holidays or for future sale announcements. Schedule your texts in advance, use our automations, and let our platform handle the rest.

Set Automatically Recurring Texts

Are you constantly sending the same reminders every week or month? Schedule recurring text message blasts that will do the heavy lifting for you. You decide how often they recur and can stop them at any time.

Maximize Deliverability

Your messaging strategy won't work if people aren't getting your texts. Don't be fooled by cheap, low quality services. We use only the best messaging routes in North America to ensure your SMS blasts are being delivered.

Invite Your Team

Strategic messaging isn't always a one-person job. If you have a team working with you, invite them to use the service and app. Add an unlimited number of employees and individually control their access.

Enjoy Outstanding Support

We pride ourselves on being the friendliest team in tech. Our in-house customer service team is deeply knowledgeable about our service and is here to help with any questions or issues you may run into. Don't hesitate to call, chat, or email anytime!

Common Text Blast FAQs

How much does it cost to send text blasts?: Entry-level plans typically range from $29–$79 per month for 500–2,000 messages, while higher-volume plans range from $99–$139 per month for 3,000–5,000 messages. Many services also offer free trials to see if it’s the right text blast service for your business.

Can I send text blasts to past business clients?: Not unless they have explicitly opted into receiving text blasts from your business. Having a prior business relationship doesn't constitute an opt in either. There are laws in place that protect consumers from unwanted / spam text messages so if you're collecting phone numbers for future SMS blasts, make sure that your customers understand exactly what they are signing up for when they provide their number.

Can I send a text blast with Google Voice?: No. Just like sending from your phone's text messaging app, trying to send a text blast with Google Voice is cumbersome and not a good idea. That service is meant to be a mobile phone replacement and is not set up for mass messaging. It also doesn't handle opt outs in a graceful way which is required to keep you from the legal consequences associated with spamming.

Can I send text blasts with my iPhone?: No, you cannot send text blasts with your iPhone; specifically with the standard iMessage app. Sending text messages with your mobile device's messaging app is meant for one to one communication. You can send group texts but those are very limited in the amount of people that can be reached. That limit is usually around 20 people. Additionally, people can see everyone else's replies, which is normally very annoying.

Is sending text message blasts legal?: Yes, sending text blasts is 100% legal. It's important to note, however, that you can only send blasts to people that have explicitly opted into receiving them. There are hefty legal fines for text message spam so be sure that whoever you're texting has given you their permission ahead of time.

Is there an app I can use for sending SMS blasts?: Yes, most reputable SMS marketing services offer a mobile app for sending and managing text blasts. For example, SlickText provides a mobile app that lets you send messages, manage subscribers, and monitor conversations on the go. These apps are typically available to download at no cost from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, so you can handle your SMS marketing directly from your phone.

Get started with our text blast service!

Get started for free