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Postscript ๐Ÿ’ฌ

Head West Team
Updated October 9, 2023
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โ€Our Take:

Postscript is the largest challenger to Attentive in the eCommerce SMS (text message) marketing world, and itโ€™s our recommended tool for SMS marketing. We recommend Postscript because it makes it incredibly easy to collect contacts, create targeted campaigns, support two-way conversations, and integrate with your existing marketing stack - all through an intuitive interface with stellar customer service. Postscript also excels in the less exciting aspects of SMS marketing like regulatory compliance. Since text message marketing is more highly regulated than other marketing channels, itโ€™s critical that your SMS marketing tool keeps you in compliance. With Postscript, you can rest assured that you are always in compliance.

Read our full guide on: SMS Marketing Tools ๐Ÿ’ฌ

Best for: Medium ($10M+ revenue) and Enterprise ($50M+ revenue) size companies

Postscript

Postscript is our recommended SMS marketing platform for most eCommerce businesses.

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Postscript Overview:

Postscript was founded in 2018 by StackCommerce alumni Adam Turner and Alex Beller who took the company through YC in the Winter class of 2019. They have built a best-in-class SMS marketing tool that executes well every step of the way from SMS collection to segmented campaign sends.

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Why we like Postscript ๐Ÿ‘:

List Growth Tools

Step one in building a successful SMS marketing channel is to build your opt-in list, and Postscript provides the tools to do it. Donโ€™t worry, if youโ€™re switching from a competitor, importing an existing SMS list is easy (Postscript will also verify the list is compliant). Postscript offers desktop and mobile popups that can collect both email and SMS and are optimized for conversion. Their pre-built templates offer enough customization to feel on brand and don't require any custom coding. They also offer SMS collection options after checkout which we love. The opt-in rate on checkout collection is much higher (typically 20%) and the checkout page is often underutilized real estate in eCommerce. ย 

Segmenting

Postscript has developed tools for hyper segmented SMS sends. Other companies are optimized for generic SMS campaigns to your entire list which won't convert as well and cost you additional money to send non-targeted messages. Postscript integrates well with Shopify and Klaviyo so you can pull in data from those apps to target your sends (e.g., customers who have spent over $100 that you have not sent a promotional email in the last month). You can also segment based on SMS activity (e.g., send only to those on your list who clicked on a text mentioning XYZ product).

Two-way Messaging

Postscript was built to support two-way text conversations. While the US is far behind Asia in conversational commerce, if Asia is the guide, then conversational commerce is going to be a growing channel and not just a buzzword. Postscript houses all of the SMS conversations within the Responses tab so you can see the text history and purchase history with every customer conversation.

Customer Support

Postscript customers almost unanimously mentioned their strong customer support. As the smaller challenger to Attentive, we think Postscript has focused on this area as a differentiator. Their team is extremely knowledgeable about all things SMS and customers (especially larger companies) can expect hands on customer support.

Regulatory Compliance

SMS marketing is much more highly regulated than email or paid marketing channels, and it's critical that your company doesnโ€™t run afoul of these regulations. In 1991, Congress passed the "Telephone Consumer Protection Act" or TCPA to reduce the number of spam calls. The act also covers text messages and allows for statutory damages of up to $500 per violation and up to $1,500 per violation if it was willful or knowing. In 2018, Uber settled a TCPA lawsuit alleging they sent automated text messages to individuals without their consent for $20M. Yikes! This is why it's critical that Postscript is on top of all of the regulations and will ensure that your business is compliant. We spoke with multiple companies who were using other SMS vendors and only found out that they were not in compliance when they switched to Postscript, and Postscript reps identified compliance issues with their SMS programs (๐Ÿ˜ฌ).

Integrations

Postscript has integrations with nearly all of our recommended tools. Link it to Shopify our recommended eCommerce platform, Gorgias our recommended Customer Support Platform, Klaviyo our recommended Email Marketing Platform, and Okendo our recommended Review Tool. Linking to Postscript can make all of these tools better. For example, you could send your Okendo review requests through Postscript to increase collection rates.

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What we donโ€™t like about Postscript ๐Ÿ‘Ž:

Reporting

Like many marketing platforms, Postscripts native reporting will over attribute sales to their channel. Many customers we spoke with used Google Analytics as their source of truth for attribution. Reporting in Postscript is more intuitive and better than other SMS platforms but has room for improvement especially around attribution.

International

Postscriptโ€™s focus area is the US and Canadian markets. For businesses with large international presences, you might want to consider alternatives for those markets or for the entire SMS platform. ย 

AB Testing

Postscript offers AB testing for SMS, but we would like to see this feature improve over time. Historically Postscript customers were unable to AB test campaign flows although Postscript has recently rolled out this feature. We would also like to see AB test reporting improvements.

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Postscript Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ:ย 

Postscript offers four pricing tiers. The free plan will cost $0.015 per SMS and $0.045 per MMS (texts with photos or video). More expensive monthly plans will lead to lower per SMS and MMS fees and come with more support. As always, whisper 'Head West' at checkout for a special discount.

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Postscript Alternatives:ย 

Attentiveย ย 

Voyage

SMSBump (Yotpo)ย 

Emotive

Twilio

Klaviyo SMS โ€

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Postscript FAQs:ย 

What is Postscript SMS?

Postscript is an SMS (text message) marketing platform designed specifically for eCommerce businesses. Here's a quick overview:

  • Product: Postscript is a software platform that allows businesses to collect customer phone numbers, build SMS subscriber lists, create and send SMS campaigns, manage two-way SMS conversations, and track performance.
  • Features: Key features include SMS collection tools, segmentation and targeting, drag-and-drop campaign builder, two-way messaging, automations, integrations with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, and reporting.
  • Use Cases: Postscript is optimized for eCommerce marketing use cases like abandoned cart recovery, promotions, surveys, order updates, reviews, and more.
  • Founding: Postscript was founded in 2018 by Adam Turner and Alex Beller. It is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
  • Funding: Postscript participated in YCombinator in 2019. It has raised $106.2 million in funding from investors including YC and Greylock.
  • Competitors: Major competitors include Attentive, SMSBump, Klaviyo, Twilio, and others.
  • Key Differentiators: Easy SMS collection, targeted segmentation, compliant messaging, great eCommerce platform integrations, and excellent customer support are some of Postscript's core differentiators.

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What are the advantages to Postscript?

  • List Growth Tools - Postscript provides popups and other tools to help grow your SMS subscriber list. This is important for building an audience to market to via SMS.
  • Segmenting - Postscript makes it easy to segment your list and send targeted, relevant SMS campaigns. This increases engagement and conversions.
  • Two-Way Messaging - Postscript supports two-way SMS conversations with customers. This enables more personalized and interactive marketing.
  • Customer Support - Postscript is known for providing excellent customer support to help users get the most out of the platform.
  • Regulatory Compliance - Postscript stays on top of regulations to ensure your SMS marketing campaigns are legally compliant. This prevents legal issues.
  • Integrations - Postscript seamlessly integrates with platforms like Shopify, Klaviyo, and more. This streamlines your marketing technology stack.
  • Intuitive Interface - The Postscript interface is easy to use and intuitive, especially compared to competitors. This makes it faster to create and optimize SMS campaigns.

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What are the disadvantages to Postscript?

  • Reporting - The native reporting in Postscript overattributes sales to SMS. Many users rely on Google Analytics for more accurate attribution.
  • International - Postscript is focused on the US and Canada. Other options may be better for international businesses.
  • A/B Testing - Postscript has A/B testing but it could be more advanced. Competitors may offer better split testing capabilities.
  • Pricing - Postscript has a free tier but paid plans are more expensive than some competitors.

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Is Postscript open source?

No, Postscript has an API but is not an open source software.

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How many customers does Postscript have?

Postscript has 12,993 customers as of October 2023 according to Store Leads data.

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