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Can we use text messaging for marketing instead of e-mail? Most of my customers give phone # only.
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Square Marketing
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Posted 02-05-2021
Re: Can we use text messaging instead of email for Square Marketing?
Posted 02-05-2021
📳Hello Everyone!📳
I'm reaching out to those who've posted to this thread as we're hosting a question & answer session with the product team for Text Message Marketing on Wednesday, February 17th.
Have questions about setting up or feedback on how it's going so far? Please head over to this thread and let us know: Live Q&A: Ask us anything about Text Message Marketing!
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You can get started by visiting Text Message Marketing on on the Square Dashboard.
Included are automated campaigns and ‘manual blast’ campaigns, where you can offer coupons, announce sales, promote events, and more.
While Text Message Marketing can be found and used within Square Marketing in Dashboard, you DO NOT need to be subscribed to Square Marketing to use Text Message Marketing.
Square Marketing users will likewise need to onboard to Text Message Marketing, and will be billed separately for text message use.
What does the Text Message Marketing do?
Opt-in Collection
- Build a list of customers to text BEFORE you pay a cent for the product
- Collect opt-ins via your point-of-sale (or via Loyalty enrollment)
- Text customers from a phone number unique to your business. This number will also allow customers to sign up via Text to Join, and can be promoted via in-store, online, or wherever else you’d like
Manual Campaigns
- Draft a message and send to customers, instantly*
- Offer a coupon, or include a link to an announcement, event, or online sale (which we automatically shorten to save characters)
- Send up to 600 characters per message, or 250 if emojis are used. This will separate out into up to 4 texts, BUT we’ll only be charging for one ‘message’ per customer per campaign.
*Note: Texts are sent in 15 minute increments, so if you draft and send a text at 2:05pm, the text would go out at 2:15. Texts can only be sent during business hours in the merchant's time zone (i.e. 9-5). After 5pm, merchants can schedule for texts that will be sent the next day.
Automated Campaigns
- Automatically text a customer with a qualifying event (similar to automated email marketing)
- General campaigns: birthday collection + birthday reward, lapsed customer.
- Loyalty-related campaigns like reminding about Loyalty rewards, and celebrating Loyalty anniversaries
What are the limitations?
Feature |
Current Limitation |
Texting: General |
No two-way texting (You cannot yet respond to Buyers by text, Sellers will not see Buyer responses) |
Texting: General |
No picture message (MMS) |
Opt-in: List Building |
No phone number list upload |
Opt-in: Loyalty Consent Specifics |
Due to the current Loyalty consent language (which permits ‘loyalty-related communication’), Loyalty sellers will be able to send automated messages to nearly all of their Loyalty enrollees. |
Seller Use Case |
Sellers who sell adult products, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, or CBD/cannabis are subject to a standard called SHAFT. This a self-regulation by mobile carriers that can block messages around these topics. |
What is the pricing?
Pricing is tiered pay-as-you-go: at the end of the month, a seller will be charged the tier corresponding with how many messages they sent. They will not be charged for months where they did not send any messages. We do not have established custom pricing eligibility or rates established for launch.
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I agree! I had written very early in this post that when I went to use the text feature it was gone. Very frustrating. Basically all of the people we want to contact - our loyalty customers - are not accessible. It makes absolutely no sense and is a detriment. Sure, I can email people, but our loyalty customers have already entered their phone number to sign up with us. They think they are on our list and don't think they have to sign up again to hear from us - nor should they. I am paying the marketing feature and can't even contact the people that want to hear from us.
Square: You had the texting feature in the spring/summer!! You really need to open it back up again. You are doing a disservice to your customers.
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Hi @Pawprints, yes I completely understand the benefit it would add your marketing your business. I will submit a feature request over to the Product Team.
Community Moderator, Square
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We have utilized Square Marketing via Text/SMS Messaging and it seems to have disappeared, which is why we pay for the marketing subscription. We were not notified of any changes. Where did it go?
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Hey @AutoDetailingMN ! Thanks for stopping by and really sorry to hear this.
Text messaging marketing is available for sellers with both Marketing and Loyalty. Can you confirm if you're subscribed to both from your Dashboard?
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We are using/subscribed to Marketing but not to loyalty. It used to be there?
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@AutoDetailingMN - Square Marketing gives you the ability to send campaigns only through email. Using Loyalty in conjunction with Marketing allows you to send text marketing campaigns as well. I moved you to this thread to learn more about this. Check out @Howard's best answer!
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Can I create custom text campaign? Would like to notify our customers about our upcoming promo through text.
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No, you can't send a text from a Loyalty Program that you're paying $600+ /year for that says "Hey Loyal Customer. We're having a sale this weekend"
Yes, it's beyond absurd that you can't do this.
Absolutely ridiculous. But they're working on it, just like they have for well over a year.
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Rketinb
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Will it be available for 2020? All the answers here are confusing as to when or if the service will be available.
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@NikkiDJ @ThingsDublin I will follow up separately, but overall we have an update.
Automated text message marketing is once again available all sellers subscribed to both Square Marketing and Square Loyalty.
We understand we had to pause this feature to make some important updates and are excited to relaunch the feature.
Feel free to start a 30-day free trial if you aren’t using Marketing and Loyalty already.
To enable Automated Text Message Campaigns:
- Visit the Marketing tab in your online Square Dashboard.
- Click Create Campaign and select text message.
- Select from the five different Campaign types.
- Edit the message and coupon you wish to send.
- Review and then select Activate Now to enable this campaign.
These text campaigns will be automatically sent to all customers who meet the campaign audience criteria. You can always edit or cancel these messages via the Campaign section in the Marketing dashboard.
Please review our Support Center to learn more about Automated Text Message Campaigns.
Thank you for your patience as we made improvements to this product.
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The current options for the text campaigns do not meet the needs of actual marketing needs. When will it fully be available as promised when I signed up in July of 2018? I need to inform my customers of a sale this weekend. Email is my only option which has a very low open rate. This is very dissapointing as I am going to have to look, and pay for, another option as square marketing has not helped in the area of "promoting" my business.
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Is custom text campaign coming this year?
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Hi all,
I have a great customer base, super loyal. but COVID is making us move and I just want to notify them via text, is that possible?
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Hi @abarzegar-
This feature isn't fully available, although it will be in Beta very soon! If you're interested in being a part of the Beta group, give this thread a reply so that one of our Beta managers can reach out to you.
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Are you opening now? We use joinsmiley.com to send blast text campaigns. But right now, we are still waiting for gov. instructions to open.
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@Howard We would like to be part of the beta for manual/custom text campaigns. We are already subscribed to square marketing and loyalty. Thanks Sheena
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Hello, is it sufficient to be using the square appointments to be considered a seller and use the text campaign?
also I’m very much interested in testing the beta!
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@luxeaesthetics Thanks for your interest! You have to be using Square Marketing at this time. Feel free to start a free trial.
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We'd love to be part of the Beta if still able to. We just opened free trial today and already having issues with queued emails but I think texts will better reach the customer.
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I am interested in joining the beta, when it rolls out, to be able to market to customers without using the templates. Or at least expanding the templates.