SlickText : Full Review, Testing, and Presentation (2024)

What is SlickText?

SlickText is a SMS marketing platform used by over 70,000 small businesses.

SlickText is the best solution for businesses looking for an SMS marketing solution that offers a variety of methods for collecting subscriber data, list-building options, and campaigns.

SlickText was founded by Matt Baglia, Bobby Angilella, and Ryan Kinal in 2012. The company was originally founded in Jamestown, New York. Now, the company is also operating out of Nashville with over 30 employees.

Overall, SlickText is a valuable tool for small businesses looking to build and engage with their customer base.

Its data collection methods allow you to gain valuable information about your subscribers and successfully use them in segments, campaigns, and automations.

Features

Let's discuss the main features that SlickText offers and how they can help you reach your SMS marketing and business goals. Product screenshots are included to add context and show the user interface.

1. Creating subscriber lists

SlickText has a large number of options for creating subscriber lists. Keywords, web forms, opt-in links, and flyers are the main methods for creating lists. While keywords are easy to set up, web forms are the most remarkable feature because of their data collection capabilities. You can use them later to create highly personalized messages, campaigns, and automations.

Keywords

Keywords are phrases that customers send to subscribe to a text message. They are one of the main ways to build your SMS contact list. Creating keywords by SlickText is effortless.

Editing your keyword response is similar to editing other SMS marketing tools. The most striking feature is the dynamic expiration date. This means that if you're a business offering a coupon or promo code, you can add an expiration date to your call to action and boost customer engagement.

Web forms

SlickText's web forms are one of the best options for creating subscriber lists of any SMS marketing tool. Not only do they help build your subscriber list, but they also gather information about subscribers at the same time. This allows you to create detailed segments and personalize messages.

As you can see, creating forms is intuitive. Additionally, you can gather any type of subscriber information that your business needs through custom fields. This allows you to add an extra level of personalization to your messages.

Form design options are also very varied. From font type to background images, SlickText allows you to create a form that fits your brand image and style guide.

Alternative methods

Acceptance links and brochures are two alternative solutions for building your list of subscribers. These are both viable options for building your list, but flyer design presented some user experience issues.

Acceptance links take users back to their respective text application and fill in the information needed to sign up for your keyword list. This process is as easy as choosing your keyword and generating a link.

You can also create flyers for your keyword. A QR code is integrated into the flyer to further attract customers. Unfortunately, the live preview doesn't update as you make changes. This proved particularly difficult when making stylistic adjustments such as color.

2. Segmentation

Segmentation in SlickText is perfect for small businesses looking to send highly targeted and relevant text messages. SlickText offers a large number of conditions and allows you to segment any custom field of your choice.

Segment dimensions

SlickText allows you to use pre-established and custom fields to create segments. These segmentation conditions, shown in the table below, range from purchases to total money spent to birthdays.

SlickText offers a dynamic amount of segments for small businesses looking to send targeted messages. For e-commerce businesses, note that there are few segments based on the activity of your store's customers.

3. Creating messages

Creating messages in SlickText is effortless. You can create an unlimited number of custom fields. This allows you to capture specific information about subscribers and produce highly personalized messages. You can also create and insert promo codes and coupons.

In addition to custom fields, you have a number of predefined fields. Here are some of the pre-established fields that SlickText offers:

• Phone number
• First and last name
• E-Mail:
• Date of birth
• City
• State
• Zip

SlickText can also generate trackable short links. This is useful because you can now quantify the success of your links.

4. Campaign creation

Creating a campaign is a remarkable feature of SlickText. There are a number of campaign types you can choose from. These include personalized campaigns, drip campaigns, surveys, and promotions. This means that regardless of how active your business is, there are a variety of ways to easily engage your growing list of subscribers.

International coverage

SlickText supports email in the United States and Canada. Messages can be sent via toll-free and local numbers, as well as text-compatible landlines. Dedicated short numbers are available at an additional monthly cost.

Personalized campaigns

Creating a custom campaign in SlickText is similar to creating a custom campaign in SlickText like many other SMS marketing tools. You can choose who to send your campaign to, external media for MMS messages, and custom fields.

Programming options are also standard. Unfortunately, there is no option to prevent messages from being sent to people who have recently received a message from you within a certain period of time. SlickText customers should pay attention to spam prevention, which is a key reason why many subscribers unsubscribe.

Drip campaigns

Drip campaigns are one of the main types of campaigns that SMS marketers use to mobilize subscribers. Essentially, it's a series of automated messages based on customer actions.

This allows you to maintain ongoing engagement with your subscribers without spamming them.

Setting up drip campaigns in SlickText is a user-friendly experience, but one that doesn't sacrifice detail. You have the option of connecting your individual drops to various segments. This extra layer of detail helps you easily create complex campaigns. We'll come back to setting up drip campaigns in more detail in the Automations section.

Text surveys

Text surveys in SlickText are a powerful way to engage with your subscribers and gather data simultaneously.

As you can see above, you have the option of creating survey questions with different types of responses. SlickText also gives you the option to store each text response in a new custom field. Add to that the fact that creating custom fields is unlimited, text-based surveys directly help your business gather targeted information about subscribers in an engaging way.

A visual survey flow on the side allows you to preview your survey. Additionally, you can add a template acceptance message for people to become subscribers. This allows non-subscribers to respond to surveys as well.

Alternative campaigns

SlickText also offers a number of alternative campaigns for your business.

• Promotions: Give your subscribers unique promo codes to redeem.
• Text to Win Contest: People text your keyword to participate in a contest and SlickText chooses a winner at random.
• Loyalty programs: A personalized campaign ideal for retaining customers.
• Birthday texts: Great to combine with discount codes to build customer loyalty.

5. Two-way conversations

SlickText's inbox for two-way messaging is intuitive and easy to navigate. This helps your business facilitate one-on-one engagement with your subscribers.

Inbox

As you can see above, SlickText's inbox comes with a number of unique features in SMS marketing. Your inbox view allows you to see previous texts that a subscriber has sent and when they first subscribed. This provides context for you and your team members.

Other notable features include downloading transcripts, buttons to remove subscribers, and an integrated Google map that shows where your customer is sending their message from.

Team members

SlickText allows you to add team members and delegate specific inboxes to them. Each team member can be assigned the following access levels:

• Admin: Full access to everything, including high-level account information, like passwords and subscription plans.
• Manager: Full access to everything except top-level account information.
• Textword Specific: Access to specific keywords and inboxes.

Automatisms

Automations in SMS marketing are messages that are sent as a result of specific actions by the customer. SlickText's autoresponders and drip campaigns allow your business to send highly relevant messages without having to invest time all the time.

Autoresponders by keyword

As we saw above, autoresponders are simple and comparable to other SMS marketing tools. Additional trigger words like STOP and HELP are provided by SlickText. However, unlike solutions like SimpleTexting, there is no option for custom trigger words.

Drip campaigns

Drip campaigns are the most complex form of automation that SlickText offers.

Each trigger is based on a segment you created and a specific period of time after subscribers joined that segment. Drip campaigns are particularly effective in SlickText because segmentation and custom field creation are already quite robust. This means that the possibilities for customizing drip campaigns and customer retention strategies are superb.

Plus, the user interface presents your campaign consistently. This allows SMS marketers, whether new or experienced, to understand how the campaign is going.

6. Analytics

Analysis in SMS marketing can be used in different ways depending on your industry. If you integrate with Shopify, you have access to specific analytics related to your revenue and abandoned cart rates.

Dashboard

SlickText's analytics dashboard is easy to navigate and detailed.

The visual graph at the top of the screen shows entries and exits. There are also a variety of other analytics such as the cities where the top subscribers are located, link tracking, and opt-in methods.

A list of unique abandoned cart statistics is available if you use SlickText with Shopify.

• Total abandoned cart value
• Order revenue collected
• Recovery rate
• Revenues from abandoned subscribers
• Subscription revenue recovered

The top-down analysis capabilities are great. Each campaign, coupon, contest, survey, and loyalty program you've created with SlickText has its own analytics page. This allows you to continuously iterate and optimize your campaigns and automations.

7. Integrations

Most SlickText integrations are managed by Zapier. There are a few native integrations out there, but most of them are email tools.

• HubSpot
• Shopify
• ActiveCampaign
• AWeber
• Constant Contact
• Drip by drop
• GetResponse
• MailChimp

Customer Support

The SlickText customer support team is attentive and helpful. She can be reached by live chat, email and phone. Business hours are Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm EST. We've found that the phone support response time is the fastest.

SlickText has secondary material such as sector-specific guides and product tutorials. These are useful resources that SMS marketers, both new and experienced, can refer to.

• Customer support channels : Live chat, phone, email
• Other support resources : Free SMS Marketing Guides, Product Tutorials
• Request status page : No

Pricing

SlickText pricing starts at $29 per month.

Pricing is based on the number of messages sent per month and the keywords available.

Alternatives to SlickText

SlickText competes with a number of SMS marketing tools that support all businesses or focus on specific sectors like e-commerce.

1. Postscript

Postscript offers a specialized SMS marketing solution for Shopify stores, allowing you to create personalized SMS campaigns while ensuring compliance with legal standards.

Features

• Advanced Shopify integration : Direct sync with Shopify stores.
• SMS campaign automation : Personalized messages based on buying behavior.
• TCPA/GDPR compliance : Compliance with legal SMS marketing requirements.
• Smart segmentation : Precise targeting of customers.
• Follow-up and analysis : Evaluation of the impact of campaigns.

Pricing

• Usage-based pricing : Costs depending on the volume of messages sent.
• Customizable plans : Adaptation according to the needs of the company.

Postscript is an ideal option for Shopify merchants who want deep integration and advanced SMS marketing features, making it a good alternative to SlickText.

FIND OUT MORE: Try Postscript now

2. SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting is a versatile SMS marketing platform that offers a full range of features for sending mass messages, managing surveys, and tracking customer engagement.

Features

• Sending bulk text messages : Effective communication with large audiences.
• Campaign automation : Automated message scheduling and execution.
• Interactive tools : Public engagement via surveys and contests.
• Various integrations : Compatibility with numerous platforms.
• Analytics and reports : Precise monitoring of campaign performance.

Pricing

• Flexible plans : Pricing based on the number of message credits, starting at $25/month.

SimpleTexting is a solid SlickText alternative for businesses looking for an easy to use, feature-rich SMS marketing platform that is suitable for a wide range of industries.

FIND OUT MORE: Try SimpleTexting Now

3. SMSbump

SMSbump is an SMS marketing platform integrated with Shopify, designed to help online retailers launch effective SMS campaigns. It is recognized for its ease of use and its powerful automation capabilities.

Features

• Shopify integration : Perfect synchronization with Shopify online stores.
• SMS automation : Automatic sending of messages based on specific customer actions.
• Customer segmentation : Precise targeting for personalized campaigns.
• GDPR and TCPA compliance : Strict compliance with regulations.
• Analytical reports : Detailed monitoring of campaign performance.

Pricing

• Based on usage : The costs vary according to the number of messages sent.
• Flexible plans : Adapted to the needs and size of the company.

SMSbump is a great SlickText alternative, especially suited to Shopify users looking to closely integrate their SMS campaigns with their online store.

Final Verdict

SlickText is a powerful SMS marketing solution used by over 70,000 businesses. It includes essential features that most SMS marketing tools have. Its most powerful functions are its list and campaign creators.

SlickText's features are best suited for businesses that are looking for reliable and unique ways to continuously grow and engage with their existing subscriber list. While we are confident that SlickText is a viable solution for e-commerce businesses, specialized software such as SMSBump or Postscript can be viable alternatives.