This content originally appeared on Twilio Blog and was authored by Jesse Sumrak
SMS is a powerful way to engage with your customers, but sometimes you need something beyond this two-way communication method.
What if you need to add a third person to the conversation? What about a fourth?
Do you need to move your communication over to a messaging app like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, or should you move it over to an email thread?
While those are all viable options, group texting for businesses eliminates the need to move away from text messaging. With group MMS, you can exchange ordinary text messages between a group of three or more people. Each participant has a unique identifiable phone number, and they can read and reply to messages with the entire group.
Below, we'll walk you through how group texting for business works and how you can get started with group MMS messaging.
How Does Group Texting for Business Work?
Standard SMS conversations happen one-to-one, and mass text for businesses (SMS campaigns) is sent from one user to many. However, when recipients respond to a bulk text, they aren't responding to everyone who received the message—they're just responding to the sender.
Group MMS conversations are different. Group texting works a lot like the group chats you find on Slack, WhatsApp, or even iMessage. Each recipient can read all the correspondence in the group, and when they message, everyone sees their response.
Some group texting tools, like Twilio Conversations, allow you to bring in parties from multiple channels. For example, you could have a group MMS conversation between two SMS users and someone using a chat application.
This functionality allows users to build group texting into their own applications and workflows. A user could use the Twilio Conversations API to build group texting functionality into something like a CRM, empowering them to initiate group texting conversations from a chat window rather than their cell phone.
3 Benefits of Group MMS for Your Business
Not sure if group MMS is right for your business? Consider these benefits:
- Have a conversation with 3 or more participants: Engage with more people in a group conversation. This is essential for real estate agents, wealth advisors, personal shopping aids, and others.
- Keep people in the loop: You don't need to send multiple 1:1 texts anymore. You can keep everyone connected and communicating in a single conversation.
- Consolidate apps: With group texting, you don't need to move conversations over to Slack, Facebook Messenger, or other communication apps. Your customers won't have to download any new applications and can communicate with the easy-to-use texting they're already familiar with.
Group texting isn't a complex solution, but it's necessary. With regular SMS, you can only have conversations between two parties. If both individuals have iOS devices, they could initiate a group chat over iMessage, but that's not always a possibility. Unlike SMS, MMS supports additional parties and images.
How to Start Group Texting With Your Business
Here's how to start group texting with the Twilio Conversations API. If you get stumped, ask a developer to help you out. This is a relatively quick solution that they can help implement in no time.
1. Acquire an MMS-Capable Twilio Phone Number
If you don't have one already, you'll need to purchase a Twilio Phone Number. Search for and purchase an available MMS-capable number in the Twilio console.
2. Create the Conversation
Create the Conversation by making a request to the Twilio REST API.
<?php
// Update the path below to your autoload.php,
// see https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$conversation = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations
->create([
"friendlyName" => "Home-buying journey"
]
);
print($conversation->sid);3. Add the First Participant
With the Conversation created, we can add the first participant. this could be a customer support representative, real estate agent, or financial advisor. For this example, they'll be joining via chat.
<?php
// Update the path below to your autoload.php,
// see https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$participant = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations("CHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
->participants
->create([
"identity" => "realEstateAgent",
"messagingBindingProjectedAddress" => "+15017122661"
]
);
print($participant->sid);4. Add the Second and Third Participant
After the agent has been added to the conversation, you can include the additional participants. These participants can join via native texting (SMS) apps on their phones or through a chat application. For this example, we're going to have the participants join through SMS.
<?php
// Update the path below to your autoload.php,
// see https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$participant = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations("CHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
->participants
->create([
"messagingBindingAddress" => "+15558675310"
]
);
print($participant->sid);Repeat the process to add the third participant.
5. Send a Message
Now, let's start sending messages.
<?php
// Update the path below to your autoload.php,
// see https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php';
use Twilio\Rest\Client;
// Find your Account SID and Auth Token at twilio.com/console
// and set the environment variables. See http://twil.io/secure
$sid = getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
$token = getenv("TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN");
$twilio = new Client($sid, $token);
$message = $twilio->conversations->v1->conversations("CHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
->messages
->create([
"body" => "Hi there. What did you think of the listing I sent?",
"author" => "realEstateAgent"
]
);
print($message->sid);Need help kickstarting the conversation? Here are a few examples in our SMS templates post.
Group Texting Best Practices
Enabling group texting is the first step—now, it's time to execute engaging, high-quality conversations. Here are a few tips to help improve your group MMS chats:
- Make introductions: Ensure everyone on the group text knows who everyone is before moving forward. This will help you avoid any potential confusion.
- Set expectations: Get everyone on the same page with what will be discussed in this group texting conversation
- Respect timing: Not everyone wants to receive text messages early in the morning or late at night. Also, you might have participants in different time zones.
- Keep your messaging succinct: Text messages favor short and sweet. If you're going to write a long message, it might do better as an email.
- Get permission: Don't start a group MMs conversation unless you have permission from all parties involved.
Choosing a Group Texting App for Your Business
Ready to incorporate group texting into your business communications? Get started with the Twilio Conversations API. On top of group texting, you can scale your communications with a single API to include multiparty conversations across SMS, MMS, WhatsApp, and chat.
Check out our Quickstarts to create your first conversation, experiment with adding and removing participants, and build a proof-of-concept app in little-to-no time.
This content originally appeared on Twilio Blog and was authored by Jesse Sumrak
Jesse Sumrak | Sciencx (2021-08-24T15:59:26+00:00) Group Texting for Business (How Group MMS Works). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/08/24/group-texting-for-business-how-group-mms-works/
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