Unleash the full power of SMS for your business

Email to SMS

Email 2 SMS allows you to send an SMS from your email account. All you need to do is send an email to <mobilenumber>@directsms.com.au (e.g. 0412312312@directsms.com.au) and the content of the email will be sent as an SMS to the mobile number specified. Email 2 SMS is included as a standard feature across all of our plans.

We can configure the system to accept and process emails from one or more specific email addresses, or it can be configured to accept and process emails from any account at your domain. The control is in your hands.

Set up and functionality is simple. You can use this two minute tutorial or contact us for technical support.

Web SMS

Email 2 SMS is our easy-to-use web platform. It allows you to send SMS directly from your web browser and is available as a standard feature for all of our customers. It includes advanced features like an online address book, message personalisation, mail merge capabilities, 2-way messaging, bulk SMS, SMS scheduling and usage reports.

Bulk SMS

All our services (Web 2 SMS, Email 2 SMS and our SMS APIs) are optimised to help you send large batches of SMS messages in a matter of seconds and with the click of just a few buttons. You can send group messages from your online address book, upload an Excel file with all your contacts, or send your bulk messages right from your email.

SMS to distribution list

The real power of bulk SMS comes from the ease in which you can set up and use distribution lists. This is especially useful for SMS marketing campaigns where your customers are segmented into different groups. Once you have logged into the system, you can add all your contacts under the address book menu, and then put them into groups or distribution lists that you can use for sending bulk SMS.

Branded SMS

Instead of sending messages to customers from a random mobile number, branded SMS allows your messages to come from a name of your choice, like your company name. Your customers will always know that your messages are from you, increasing trust and brand consistency.

Two-way SMS messages

Two-way messages can be replied to by the message recipients. Replies can be viewed online or they can be forwarded to you as emails. Our system automatically matches replies to the original message, which is perfect for times when answers to specific messages need to be tracked.

You don’t even need your own dedicated mobile number in order to receive reply messages. Best of all, you don’t pay to receive replies.

Personalise your SMS messages

Just because the platform at directSMS allows you to send bulk SMS messages quickly, it doesn’t mean you have to send the same message to everyone. Utilise our easy to use personalisation technology to ensure each message sent is read fully to get the biggest ROI possible.

SMS is a very personal medium, so it makes sense to personalise your SMS messages with your customer’s details. Personalised messages have greater cut through and overall effectiveness.

Inbound SMS and MMS

Inbound SMS numbers are Virtual Mobile Numbers. They enable your SMS account to receive SMS as well as send them. It works just like a normal mobile number, however instead of replies going to a hand-set, they are routed to our platform. You can receive SMS messages from your customers or staff on a dedicated number with no per message fees.

You can also receive MMS messages from your customers or staff, again with no per message fees. This enables you to get pictures and videos from people out in the field or conduct interactive campaigns and competitions with your customers.

Why use SMS marketing?

SMS marketing is fast and reliable, with a penetration rate that leaves other communication channels for dead. It puts you in direct contact with recipients, allows for two-way communication and is very cost effective.

The benefits of SMS marketing

One of the major benefits of SMS marketing is the open rate, which is as high as 99%. This should be no surprise, as it’s almost impossible to ignore or miss a text message on modern smart phones. What makes the open rate even more impressive is the fact that on average, 91% of messages are opened within 10 minutes. It’s perfect for real-time marketing where you want to stimulate action fast, or to get important service messages out to your employees in the field.

Is SMS marketing simple and fast?

Yes it is. The user interface on our SMS Gateway is well designed and intuitive to use. But just because we make it easy for you doesn’t mean you’re left alone. We have a full suite of tutorial videos on our YouTube channel as well as many on our website, and support is only ever a phone call or email away.

Reply back and keyword based SMS marketing

You can configure your settings to respond back to a customer reply with a standard response to every message received. Alternatively, you can configure it to reply back with a message based on the keyword entered by the customer – for example, if the customer sends in “Option A”, the system can respond with a predefined message containing information about Option A.

Marketing and promotions

With 91% of SMS messages being opened within 10 minutes and an open rate of 99%, SMS is the perfect way to get your marketing message direct to your customer, fast! If you need to promote your next event, new product, next clearance sale, fill empty tables or hotel rooms, or clear inventory that is about to expire, SMS marketing using Web SMS or Email to SMS is perfect because:

1. It’s much more cost effective and less labour intensive than traditional marketing channels
2. You can send messages to 300 or 30,000 people in a matter of seconds
3. You’ll reliably reach customers wherever they are – at home, at the pub, or out and about
4. Bulk SMS messages can be scheduled in advance to coincide with the launch of your big event
5. Last minute offers can be activated immediately by customers with 2-way SMS messages allowing seamless customer interaction
6. Response and ROI can be tracked so you can optimise your campaigns in real time

If you want to achieve an impressive ROI and stimulate customer activity in short time, SMS is the perfect platform.

Mobile coupons

Printed coupons are a very effective method of attracting new business. But the process of organising, printing and distributing these coupons can be very costly and time consuming. By using SMS coupons, you can dramatically cut down the setup costs and lead up times.

You can send mobile coupons directly to your customers’ phones within minutes of their inception. And with the high open rate of SMS, the majority of your messages will be read rather than being regarded as ‘junk mail’.

Studies have shown that mobile coupons encourage the customer to be spontaneous. Applications for the retail and hospitality industry are only limited by your imagination.

SMS appointment reminders

SMS appointment reminders are proven to drastically reduce no-shows and maximise revenue. And it’s all so simple to do with the directSMS intuitive SMS Gateway.

Event management

Manage your next event quickly and effectively using SMS messaging. It’s a great way to not only increase attendances but also keep attendees informed during the event about special offers, changes to programs, upcoming performances or security announcements.

Strategic approach

We provide a cost-effective, easy to use and reliable solution for all our customers, from small businesses through to multi-national corporations. By providing a flexible SMS platform and supporting our customers to make the most of its features, we help our clients to:

1. Increase the mobility and productivity of their workforces
2. Stay in touch with their customers, anytime, anywhere
3. Increase revenues and reduce costs
4. Improve their customer satisfaction with outstanding reliability

Who uses directSMS?

Founded in 2001, directSMS is one of the most experienced players in the SMS providers in Australia. With thousands of customers, ranging from small businesses through to blue chip corporations, we’re proud that our clients have relied on us to implement a wide range of SMS-based applications.

Some of our clients include:

Because quality and reliability are two of the most important considerations for business customers, we have invested heavily in our support network and have built strong relationships with Australia’s leading telecommunications providers to guarantee impeccable standards of message deliverability.

SMS success case studies

It’s one thing to talk about success, it’s quite another to demonstrate it. With over 8000 customers, we know our SMS service works and we’ve got the case studies to prove it. Here’s just a few:

1. Fuji Xerox – a cross media marketing campaign using the reach of SMS to interact with customers
2. Bess Concrete – used directSMS to reliably and quickly notify field staff of work assignments using SMS
3. Harvey Norman – delivered reliable communication with staff and customers on the move using SMS
4. The Melbourne Sports Medicine Centre – confirmed appointments and reduced expenses using Bulk SMS

The best way to find out if our SMS service can work for you is to try it FREE with zero risk. It takes just minutes to set up and you’ll be free to explore all of our great standard features with your free trial account – like our online SMS system, usage reports, delivery receipts, and email to SMS functionality.

Add an SMS API to your existing system

If you already have an IT system and would like to keep all your communications within the one framework, you can integrate SMS messaging into your system using an SMS API. An SMS API (Application Programming Interface) allows an external application or system to communicate with our SMS Gateway. You can think of it as a link between your system and ours. Our SMS API developer page contains many code samples in different languages to speed up implementation for your developers.

Partner with directSMS

This is a great option for agencies, consultants and developers who want to offer an SMS service as part of their package to customers. When you partner with directSMS, we take care of all the service and billing of your customers while paying you a great up-front commission for each monthly plan your customers take up, as well as a trailing commission for the life of their account.

Become a directSMS reseller

Reselling our SMS service is another great option for agencies or consultants who have a customer base wanting an SMS service for their business. With our reseller program, you receive a great wholesale rate from us and then add your margin on top when you bill your customers.

White label the directSMS platform

White labelling is often a preferred solution for agencies and developers who want to integrate SMS software into their own platform. When you white label with directSMS, you get a ‘clean’ version of our SMS software which you simply re-badge with your own logo and colours. You can even have your own sub-domain, like http://your-brand.sendoutsms.com, and you set your own custom pricing while being charged a wholesale rate by us.

There’s no mention of directSMS anywhere, so you get all the equity of being an amazing SMS provider for your customers without having to reinvent the wheel developing your own system.

Integration with Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft has revolutionised the way we interact with our customers. Building marketing campaigns and sales funnels that interact and engage your customers and prospects has never been easier to implement and roll out.

The automation within Infusionsoft allows you to better target your prospects and to stay “front of mind” with your existing customers with little effort, and now you can also integrate SMS into your existing (or future) Infusionsoft campaigns with the directSMS Infusionsoft plugin (you’ll even find a step by step guide to add an SMS sequence).

So if Infusionsoft is so great, why do you need to integrate SMS? Quite simply, because it will drastically improve your open rates and overall effectiveness.

Infusionsoft delivers excellent automation of sequenced emails as your customers move through your sales funnel, but we know that email open rates are very often around the 20% mark. Adding SMS to your Infusionsoft campaign can turbo-charge the campaign’s effectiveness, with an average of 97% of recipients opening the SMS within 10 minutes. That can make a huge difference to your bottom line!

And how do we know integrating SMS with Infusionsoft works? Because we do it ourselves, and it’s helped us increase our sales conversion from around 20% to 29% – just by adding SMS to complement emails at strategic times. Proof!