Fast, effective and with a high ROI, text-message services are proving to be a valuable investment for brands, retailers and app developers 
Text-message marketing is one of the most effective options for retailers looking to contact customers or anyone looking to build an app with messaging services. It was also among the industry’s most competitive sectors for ancillary businesses, but that all changed in 2023, when one of the largest service providers opted out of the cannabis industry completely.
“It really affected the logistics of the business,” says NorthText CEO Jeff Winaker. “Now it’s more important than ever for the message to be right … and right the first time.”
Text messages need to be written with a strong understanding of the legal framework in which they are sent, which can be both a good business strategy and good policy, Winaker says.
Founded in 2007, NorthText serves all industries and was one of the first text-message marketing and notification companies in the United States. Winaker, a service-disabled U.S. Navy veteran, took over the business in 2015. The company provides both API tools to build new apps and an easy-to-use customer interface to send messages with one click.
The disruption of access to text messaging services left many businesses hamstrung, including distribution and delivery companies that were unable to send notifications, even ones as innocuous as “Your package will arrive at 1:00 p.m.” Applications that were built around community engagement simply didn’t work.
“It was because of the industry it was used in, not the message,” Winaker says.
Structured for Success
Winaker says NorthText is still able to serve all industries because the company “took the approach that if messages are crafted correctly, then they will work.”
“We’ve always looked at it primarily as a First Amendment issue, but there are rules we must comply with, which we do,” he says.
Because there are no guidelines to help text-message providers work in certain industries, the company developed a model that would work with carrier networks and operators across all industries.
Investing the time to make NorthText’s services accessible for all operators has proved invaluable. In the past three years, Winaker estimates the company’s approach has tripled the company’s market share in cannabis; its market share outside of cannabis has more than doubled. But allowing access to text-message services doesn’t mean clients can say anything they please.
“As we’ve said, we take the rules very seriously so that we remain good corporate citizens,” he says. “As a result, it’s both good business strategy and we have a lot of growth.”
A Vital Tool of Modern Commerce
Text-message services are the most effective way to reach anyone with a smartphone. The average business text message has a higher engagement rate than any of the traditional forms of advertising, including social media. On average, 98% of text messages are read and 95% are read within three minutes.
“If you’re a retailer, it’s important because timely advertising is what gets people in the door that day,” Winaker says. “Actionable advertising via text is why people buy today.”
Text-message marketing has become such a widely used strategy for retailers and brands that 60% of U.S. consumers prefer digital promotions such as coupons, according to research from Statista. Adobe found that coupons sent via text were redeemed 10 times more frequently than traditional coupons.
The U.S. text-message service sector is expected to grow by more than 20%, to $12.6 billion, by 2025, according to Grand View Research.
Fast and Easy
NorthText has become a go-to provider for software developers because of the company’s quick turnaround time and easy-to-use APIs.
“Developers often come across software that is nearly impossible to use,” Winaker says. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”
NorthText was built as a developer-first platform.
“It’s easy to use and everything about us is supposed to be simple to understand,” Winaker says. “If you do have a question, it’s quick to get an answer. There’s no 72-hour email turnaround times. If you have a question, just call or text the chat.”
Whether it’s signing up, adding subscribers or building apps, the company’s streamlined, intuitive design removes the headache that would normally come with integrating technology into a business.
The time-to-market for building an app is one of the most crucial and mercurial factors in the cost of development. Winaker says NorthText has been able to get developers to market in half the time as other service providers.
“We have had clients who built full apps elsewhere and then trash them and rebuild them on NorthText,” Winaker says.
NorthText’s quality of service, simple approach and short development time have even earned the business of some of the largest providers of messaging services.
“We’ve become the trusted source for this industry,” Winaker says. “And that’s because we’ve been in the business for 15 years, we listen to our customers, and we build things that are easy to use.”