I like to think of myself as a growing authority when it comes to critiquing several marketing techniques and methods. The one I am going to be putting under the magnifying glass today is “Bulk SMS Service”. I have been shouting it from the roof tops & even below the roofs that businesses in Nigeria are not taking advantage of the utopia called Bulk SMS; they are to pre-occupied with sinking scarce funds in so called conventional marketing techniques which are outrageously expensive thereby abandoning cheaper and more engaging avenues like SEO, Lead generation, Auto responders etc.

To help me buttress my point that Bulk SMS Messaging is the way to go & also to help me avoid been looked upon like a blabbing wailer. I will be dissecting 3 pre-selected Bulk SMS Service providers to see what makes them tick, how they stand out for me and most importantly how they help support or dissuade my earlier point.

Smsgator.com is on trial first, now I had never even heard of this platform prior to 24 hours ago (how many I go carry for head?). Ermm? Where to begin? First off I love the professionalism and seriousness that oozes from the website, very tidy job, the GUI (Graphic User Interface) is on point because I felt like asking the GUI on a date, yea that was how beautiful and accessible she was *winks*. Another positive aspect for them was their company theme “Innovating Messaging” I really felt inspired by it. Their verification process is the best I have seen, I couldn’t send a message without verifying my contact, also I was amazed at their “Affiliate Options”…you could get sms units or even convert your affiliate units to cash. WOW! I also commend their blog option, targeted phone numbers option etc. In all honesty these guys know what they are doing and I appreciate that but I wasn’t impressed by the meager 5 sms units free after registration (Others offer way more) and there were no other advanced options such as SMS Auto responder, SMS Voting etc. They fall my hand for that side, but all in all I salute them.

Next up for C-section is www.smsmarketingportal.com now this is a platform I have heard of and even come across in my forays online (shout out to their marketing squad). This platform has an amazing website, not your average Iya-Alata Wordpress but I am not a programmer & still don’t need to be told that that site is top notch. The registration process also impressed me, it was very short and concise( no too much long story), GUI was looking nice, site map too. Now when in the client area I couldn’t believe my ears and lenses, the platform is just so easy to use. I mean a sharp 9 year old could use it ( not the ones from kaduna by the way) I really enjoyed it. They offered me 12 free sms units, can you imagine? While I giving me just 5 mstcheeew, They had so many options I found it hard to believe example included SMS Autoresponder, SMS Voting, 2-way Longcode, SMS Scheduling, etc Mogbe! But what did me in was the Instant delivery service…That is better than free beer. The feeling of seeing that DELIVERED as status is divine. As usual I had some not so sweet sightings: some of the options were giving me errors, no company mantra/theme, no affiliate option. Wasn’t happy but I will give them the benefit of doubt because I was really blown away by them.

Last up is 5starsmsng.com. I wasn’t impressed by this guys at all maybe that is why I left them for last. Asides the fact that they had a good company mantra “Simple Interface, Instant Delivery” there was nothing to take my breath away at all. No blog options, doesn’t verify your email by sending an activation link, no affiliate option, the website was dull and crappy, very poor GUI, site hadn’t been updated obviously and in all honesty the whole thing just looked like a huge scam. Very Disappointed.

All in all www.smsmarketingportal.com and smsgator.com have renewed my hope and vigor that I am not just wasting my time & that Bulk SMS messaging as a business and more so as a huge marketing tool has a future in Nigeria and all we have to do is accept it, learn, tap into it and reap the benefits it is willing to offer us only if we key into it.