ServiceSheets Customers See 80% Open Rates for Church Bulletins Sent Through TextMarks SMS API
ServiceSheets creates printed bulletins and matching digital bulletins for churches using professionally designed bulletin templates. Founded by Justin Funk in August 2013, ServiceSheets distributes its digital bulletins through SMS, while still offering a print option for those who prefer paper. Congregants can text the word BULLETIN and the name of their church to 81411 to subscribe to receive their weekly bulletin by text.
“If what you need is to be able to reliably send out SMS messages through a short code through an API, TextMarks is the best choice on the market.”
– Founder, Justin Funk
Choosing The Best Digital Distribution Method
“When we first started, we had to think through the digital distribution method of our church bulletins. Should we use an app? E-mail? QR Code?” Justin and his team understood that people don’t often check emails on weekends, nor do they click on app notifications. “But with text messages….I read everything I get,” says Funk. “Open rates over SMS were phenomenally higher than app notifications or email, so ServiceSheets decided to go with text messaging.”
“Initially, we were using a long code from Twilio, but then we ran into issues with carriers marking our text messages as spam and we were getting reports from our customers that many people were not getting their bulletins,” said Funk. “That’s when we went looking for a short code and a SMS API.”
TextMarks API: Easy, Affordable and Effective
ServiceSheets researched short code providers and selected TextMarks because its SMS API was the best fit into their existing code base and processes.
“Even with a small team like mine, TextMarks API was easy to implement and easy to maintain. Everything you might want to do is an available function of the API. I was impressed by that thoroughness, as opposed to having a limited list of API functions available. This, along with the fact that TextMarks built its own product on top if its API, made me confident that I made the right choice.”
Text Messaging: Guaranteed Deliverability, Phenomenal Open Rates
After a year of using TextMarks to deliver church bulletins by text to their customers, ServiceSheets has seen outstanding results. Where average industry email read rates are in the low teens, ServiceSheets has seen open rates as high as 80% using text messaging. Also, by using TextMarks, they no longer have to worry about carriers marking their text messages as spam and not delivering them.
“If you what you need is to be able to reliably send out SMS messages through a short code through an API, TextMarks is the best choice on the market.”
Interested in learning more about TextMarks SMS API? Contact us at 800-696-1393 or email tmsales@textmarks.com for more information.
