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Can we use text messaging instead of email for Square Marketing?

Can we use text messaging for marketing instead of e-mail? Most of my customers give phone # only.

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Tom
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Re: Can we use text messaging instead of email for Square Marketing?

📳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!

1 Best Answer
Admin

Best Answer
 
We know you've been asking for it, and we're excited to announce Text Message Marketing (SMS) in the US, which is now available as an a la carte subscription that allows you to collect customer phone numbers and send them marketing-related text messages.

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.

 

 

 

 

Howard
Beta Team Lead, Square
Join the Beta Community
Evaluate | Influence | Engage

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Square

Great suggestion! I know I've heard this feedback from multiple merchants.

 

For the time being, our marketing campaigns are limited to email only. While it's possible this may change in the future, you're best bet is stay diligent, and suggest that your customers enter their email addresses so they can take advantage of your awesome deals and announcements. 🙂


Sean
he/him/his
Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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lacking text marketing. doing double work now with the loyal customers which is a waste of our time and missing opportunities for SQ.

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Is there any update to this request? I'm opening my biz in 7 days and was hoping to put out a flyer with a text code for new customers. 

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Square

@BOONgarden - While we don't have any sort of update to share, we'll be sure to update this thread if we do. In the meantime, I'd suggest checking out this thread for more details about the feature request process itself. Thanks for taking the time to comment! 🙃


Sean
he/him/his
Product Manager | Square, Inc.
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I am welcoming you to [Personal Information Redacted] located in Diane K’S [Personal Information Redacted]. All your prices remain the same and receive a complimentary haircut when you bring someone in.  On Monday 3-7 and Tuesday 9-2 I’m at The Walmart Salon in Osprey for those of you that want to stay local.  Any questions call Me [Personal Information Redacted]

 

 

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YES, that is very much needed. I work with many customers under 40 years old, and a good percentage of them under 25, and texting IS the way they communicate and get much of their information from various vendors as they opt in to receive texts.

PLEASE push on this and implement as 9 out of 10 of my new customer signups for our loyalty program we subscribe through Square DO NOT sign up to give us their emails. Even though we give them 10 free points toward receiving their loyaly reward of $10 off their m=next purchase once they achieve 100 stars (dollars) spent with us. This is how we set up our reward or loyaly program. Texting - need it!!

 

trainman

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Square

Definitely agree it would helpful, @trainman. We'll update here should anything change, thanks for taking the time to share!

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Hey Sean...

 

Any update on text message marketing?

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Admin

Thanks for taking the time to share your insight, @trainman. I apologize for any inconvenience this is causing and I will certainly share your post with our Product Liaison team. We don't want any of our sellers to miss out on any sales — appreciate your patience.

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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Hope you offer text marketing soon. You already do all the data collection for it.

That is the only way I'd subscribe to a marketing feature.

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Text messages for marketing would be the best option.everyone doesn’t read emails but will read a text message please add this feature ASAP

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Admin

Good point @Exclusivekutz1! I'll share your interest in this feature with the Marketing team. Thanks for your post!

️ Helen
Seller Community Manager

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Sean, can we access the text numbers we collected. IN the past month I have many, but I am only seeing email addresses on my export. Can I get the text numbers. ?

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Admin

Hey @Shannons, welcome to the seller community and thanks for your post.

 

You should be able to access the phone numbers that you or your customers added from your online Square Dashboard > Directory > Import / Export. Are you able to see them from there?

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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When I export I have just emails no phone numbers - this is when they are checking out we get the text number for receipt 

will it keep that info in for us ? 

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Admin

Got it. I'm very sorry for the confusion. There is a difference between entering in a phone number for Automatic Receipts versus adding the phone number as contact information for your Directory. At this time, phone numbers assigned to credit cards for receipts are not accessible but numbers added to Directory during a sale are.

 

I apologize for the frustration. Rest assured that I'll be sharing your experience with our Customer Engagement team. For now, please follow these steps if you need to access your customer's phone numbers: Add Customers and Payments to Your Directory from the Square App.

 

 

️ Tom | he/him
Seller Community Manager | Square, Inc.
Find step-by-step help in our Support Center
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Definitely need the text marketing.

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Text Marketing will increase SALES...this will benefit everyone!!!

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1000% agree.  Something as simple as this shouldn't take a forum for square to get on the curve ball.  This is common sense and should be added immediately.

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From what I'm getting from Square, there are compliance red tapes that they have to sought out with each carrier in regards to sending customers promotional ad via text which can cost the customers that doesn't have unlimited data and also, some companies are in lawsuit (Jiffy Lube) for sending promotion without customer proper consent.

 

Another issue, is the cost of the six digit short codes, they are very expensive and if Square should retain these cost, then the merchant monthly subscription will be costly.  For, now email is cheaper.

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