All About Sending SMS Surveys Using Twilio

SMS surveys have become one of the most popular feedback methodology simply because of their accessibility. Checking your text messages is almost effortless, which is why the SMS open rates can be up to 98%.

So, be it for transaction messages, marketing campaigns, or feedback collection, SMS can be reliable engagement channel. Your customers can share feedback instantly on their own mobile devices and even help you capture the most insightful feedback coming from fresh experiences. Moreover, SMS surveys are cost-effective and super easy to set up. 

Reach a Wide Audience with SMS Surveys📈

With SMS Surveys, collect feedback in a fast and easy way through Survey Invitations sent via text message.

Now, you can pick up any survey tool out there and it would most likely allow you to send SMS surveys. But what if you already use Twilio, the popular SMS gateway? What if you want to send out SMS surveys using the existing ‘sender name’ that your customers are familiar with? Zonka Feedback makes it possible.

Whether you’re looking to start using SMS channels to collect feedback or wish to integrate the feedback methodology with your existing system – a single feedback tool is the answer.

Let’s understand more about sending SMS surveys using your Twilio account. 

Zonka Feedback + Twilio to Collect SMS Feedback

Zonka Feedback has its own SMS gateway that users can send SMS survey requests through. But more often than not, businesses prefer SMS feedback only when they are already using SMS as a tool for customer engagement post purchases and other customer interactions.

In this case, if you have a Twilio account that you use for customer engagement, you can continue using the same to also send SMS survey requests. All you need to do is add your API credentials to Zonka Feedback and connect these two accounts. Once the connection is established, you can create surveys in the survey tool and when you send them to your customers, they will be sent via your own SMS gateway account. Alternatively, if you're seeking options to Twilio, platforms like Nexmo or Plivo offer similar SMS and communication services that can be integrated with survey tools like Zonka Feedback for seamless engagement with your customers. 

When to use your own SMS gateway, i.e., Twilio account? 

It is ideal to continue using your existing Twilio account when:

• You wish to use your existing ‘Sender ID’ that your customers are already familiar with and more likely to engage with
• You already a Twilio account and do not want the hassle of managing a new one
• When you want to view detailed logs and monitor all interactions
• When you want to control the cost of SMSes

How to Send SMS Surveys Using Twilio?

To continue using your own Twilio account to send SMS surveys, you can simply add your Twilio account to Zonka Feedback. Here’s what you would need to do: 

1. Create a Zonka Feedback Account

Zonka Feedback is a multichannel feedback platform with SMS surveys as one of its specialties. You can simply visit the official website and sign up to create your account. Once you are in, you can go to the code-free survey builder and create your SMS surveys. There’s a wide range of readymade survey templates that you can choose from and edit questions, question types and appearance of your forms.

From customer satisfaction surveys and detailed questionnaires to polls and quizzes, you can create all types of surveys specific to your brand and share them via SMS. 

2. Connect Your Twilio Account to Zonka Feedback

When you connect your Twilio account to Zonka Feedback, you will be able to create and send SMS surveys on the platform itself. However, the SMSes would be sent via your own Twilio account instead of Zonka Feedback’s SMS gateway account.

Now, how can you establish this connection? Here are the steps you would need to follow:

• Go to Settings > SMS Gateway
• Choose 'Add own SMS Gateway'
• On the form that follows, you can add details of your Twilio Account. Choose Twilio as your SMS Gateway, add your Twilio Account SID (find this on the Twilio dashboard), and then add your Twilio Auth Token used for API access
• Next, you can enter the number or ID (From) you will be using to send your customers SMSes. Make sure to include the country code for a specific number
• On the same page, enter Alphanumeric senderId, which you may have set up in your Twilio account, and Twilio Messaging Service ID.
• Click on Save and start sending SMS surveys using your Twilio account 

3. Send SMS Surveys

Zonka Feedback allows users to send SMS surveys both manually and automatically. Let’s discuss this in a little more detail. 

a. Send SMS surveys from Zonka Feedback Platform

Once you have connected your Twilio account with Zonka Feedback's SMS survey software, all your SMS surveys would be sent via your own account. But you can send messages to customers automatically on the platform. Here are the steps you can follow:

• Build and customize your survey
• Go to Distribute > SMS Surveys
• Compose your message or SMS body and survey URL would be added automatically to it
• Add recipients manually through Contact List or by uploading a CSV
• Preview SMS Survey and send

SMS surveys can be sent manually through Zonka Feedback's SMS survey tools when the business size is small and each customer or group of customers can be catered to manually. But when there are frequent transactions and a larger number of customers, it is best to automate SMS surveys.

You can also use call APIs to manually send SMS surveys. 

b. Trigger SMS Surveys via Integrations

Often, to collect genuine feedback, businesses must send out the feedback surveys at the right time, for example, a shopping experience survey right after a transaction is complete. And this cannot possibly be done manually for each customer for different interactions they may have throughout the day with your brand. This is where the role of automated SMS surveys comes into play.

Zonka Feedback easily integrates with tools you use, like CRMs, helpdesks, etc., and triggers SMS surveys automatically. For example, as soon as a transaction is completed by the customer, the information will be reflected in the CRM integrated with this survey tool, which would automatically trigger the survey right after purchase.

Similarly, if a customer ticket is marked closed in, let’s say, Freshdesk, an automated SMS survey would be sent to the customer to collect their feedback on the resolution they were provided.

This is made possible via workflows; you set the trigger or the condition along with the survey to be sent out and the system would send it automatically at the right time.

There are different ways to use SMS surveys and get genuine, reliable feedback. And whether you have an SMS gateway account or not, Zonka Feedback enables seamless feedback collection for your business. It also allows closing the feedback loop with customers since messages can be sent out based on responses coming in using workflows.

So, whether you want to complete survey building and sharing via the survey tool or continue using Twilio account to better manage costs, Zonka Feedback is your answer.

Sign up today for a 14-day free trial for some hands-on experience with the tool so you can make an informed and reliable decision.