Are you tired of watching your marketing emails sit unopened in spam folders? Are you flinching at the invoice from your Google Ads spend?
Have you considered that your customers carry the perfect marketing channel in their pockets every single day?
Here’s what we hear from business owners like you every day: “What will SMS marketing actually cost my business?” “Can it integrate with our existing systems without breaking the bank?” “What tools do I need to track performance and prove ROI to my board?” These are exactly the right questions to ask, and they deserve straightforward answers.
At Cellfind, we’ve spent years helping South African businesses transform their customer communication. We know that behind every “maybe we should try SMS” conversation is a business owner weighing costs against potential returns, wondering about technical complexity, and needing proof that this investment will actually move the needle.
How Much Does SMS Marketing Cost?
Understanding SMS pricing models helps you budget effectively and maximise your marketing spend. Most businesses want to know upfront what they’ll pay per message and how volume affects their costs.
Cellfind offers competitive, volume-based SMS pricing to suit every business need. Our transactional tiered discounts ensure you get better rates as your monthly messaging volume increases. Whether you’re just starting out or running large-scale campaigns, we offer some of the lowest SMS pricing in South Africa. For example, pricing starts at R0.24 per SMS for up to 10,000 messages, dropping to as low as R0.17 for volumes up to 500,000. Need to send more? Get in touch for custom pricing on volumes over 500,000. All prices exclude VAT and apply to SMS sent within South Africa. For international rates, contact us directly.
We charge minimal setup and maintenance fees, making it easy to start small and scale as needed. Inbound messages are billed separately, and your SMS credits never expire — giving you total flexibility to run campaigns on your schedule.
API Integration Made Simple
What is API integration, and how does it work? API integration allows your existing systems to send and receive SMS messages automatically, creating seamless customer experiences without manual intervention.
Our SMS API supports all major programming languages, including Python, Java, and PHP. Integration typically takes less than a day with our comprehensive documentation and developer support. You’ll receive secure API keys and clear HTTP request examples to get started immediately.
The integration process involves three main steps: obtaining your API credentials, setting up HTTP requests in your preferred programming language, and testing message delivery. Our technical team provides guidance throughout the process.
Short Codes and Long Codes
Cellfind offers both short codes and long codes depending on your messaging needs. Short codes provide higher throughput for bulk campaigns, while long codes work well for two-way conversations and customer support.
Short codes are ideal for promotional campaigns, alerts, and high-volume messaging. They’re easily recognisable and help build brand recognition. Long codes offer more personal communication channels and support detailed customer interactions.
Our system handles routing automatically, selecting the most appropriate sending method based on your message type and recipient location. This intelligent routing improves delivery rates and reduces costs.
Dashboard Features That Drive Results
Your SMS dashboard serves as mission control for all messaging activities. Think of it as your business intelligence center where every click, delivery, and customer response translates into actionable insights that guide your next move.
Here’s what Cellfind’s dashboard puts at your fingertips:
- Real-time analytics and performance tracking – Monitor delivery rates, click-through rates, and customer responses as they happen, with instant alerts for campaign issues or engagement spikes
- Advanced contact management and segmentation – Upload contact lists, create custom audience segments, and personalise messages using macro fields while the system automatically handles duplicates and maintains clean databases
- Campaign overview and message tracking – Get snapshot metrics of all SMS activity, track individual message status, and access historical data to identify trends and seasonal patterns
- Template library and scheduling tools – Store successful message formats for easy reuse, schedule campaigns for optimal timing, and set up automated drip sequences that run without manual oversight
Template Management and Scheduling
Pre-built message templates speed up campaign creation while maintaining consistent branding. Create templates for different campaign types, personalise content with customer data, and schedule messages for peak engagement times.
Our scheduling features support both immediate and future campaign deployment. Set up drip campaigns, birthday messages, and follow-up sequences that run automatically. Time zone management helps you reach customers at appropriate hours regardless of location.
The template library grows with your business, storing successful message formats for easy reuse. Copy high-performing templates, modify content for new campaigns, and maintain message consistency across all touch points.
Analytics and Reporting Tools
Your campaign data tells a story, but only if you know how to read it. Smart businesses use detailed reporting to separate what’s working from what’s wasting budget, turning every campaign into a learning opportunity that improves the next one.
Cellfind’s analytics suite transforms raw data into strategic insights:
- Comprehensive performance reports – Track opens, clicks, and responses broken down by time, location, and customer segments, with exportable data for deeper analysis or integration with existing analytics platforms
- Real-time monitoring and alerts – Set up custom notifications for campaign milestones, delivery problems, or engagement spikes, with immediate alerts that protect your sender reputation and campaign effectiveness
- Historical trend analysis – Access campaign archives to identify seasonal patterns, peak engagement times, and long-term performance trends that guide future strategy decisions
- Conversion tracking and ROI measurement – Monitor which messages generate the most leads, track customer lifetime value by segment, and calculate precise returns on your SMS marketing investment
Multi-User Account Management
Growing teams need collaborative tools and proper access controls. Our dashboard supports multiple users with customisable permission levels, keeping your campaigns secure while enabling team collaboration.
Assign roles based on job functions – marketers can create campaigns while managers access performance reports. Audit trails track all account activities, providing accountability and security oversight. Team members can collaborate on campaigns without compromising account security.
User management includes password policies, session controls, and activity monitoring. Onboard new team members quickly while maintaining strict security standards. Remove access instantly when team members leave or change roles.
Maximising Lead Generation ROI
Combining cost-effective pricing with powerful tools creates exceptional value for your marketing budget. Smart businesses use our API integration to automate follow-ups, trigger personalised messages, and nurture leads systematically.
Automated campaigns reduce manual work while improving response times. Set up instant confirmations, appointment reminders, and promotional sequences that engage customers without constant oversight. This automation scales your marketing efforts without scaling your workload.
Our analytics help you identify your most profitable customer segments and optimise targeting accordingly. Track which messages generate the most leads, which times produce better responses, and which customer groups provide the highest lifetime value.
International Campaign Capabilities
Reach customers across different time zones and countries with our international SMS capabilities. Our platform handles currency conversions, local regulations, and optimal routing automatically.
International campaigns benefit from SMS’s universal compatibility and high engagement rates. Unlike social media or email, SMS works on every mobile device globally. This reliability makes SMS perfect for businesses with diverse, geographically spread customer bases.
Time zone scheduling prevents messages from arriving at inappropriate hours, respecting customer preferences while maximising engagement. Our system calculates optimal delivery times based on recipient locations automatically.
Your SMS Marketing Partner
Smart SMS marketing combines strategic thinking with the right technology platform. Cellfind provides the pricing transparency, technical capabilities, and analytical insights needed to build successful campaigns that generate leads and deliver measurable ROI.
Our comprehensive approach addresses the three most common concerns businesses have about SMS marketing: understanding true costs, implementing seamless integration, and accessing actionable dashboard insights.
With competitive pricing, powerful API capabilities, and detailed analytics, Cellfind empowers businesses to leverage bulk SMS marketing effectively and achieve their lead generation goals.
