Maropost vs. Dotdigital:
Best SMS Marketing Platform for Retail

Maropost lets you broadcast promotional SMS, including sales, launches, and reminders, to lists of opted-in subscribers. This is Maropost's core bulk SMS use case for marketing, distinct from one-to-one transactional alerts.

Maropost supports MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) so you can send images and GIFs with your texts, ideal for retail brands showing products visually. Available in US, Canada, and Australia.

Maropost simplifies SMS campaign creation in two steps: (1) compose your message and compliance details, (2) choose your audience, schedule, and send. The workflow is built for non-technical marketers.

Maropost includes a live preview panel that shows how your SMS or MMS will render on a mobile device as you type, helping you catch formatting issues before sending.

Maropost lets you insert contact tag merge fields into SMS content to personalize each message with profile data such as names, preferences, custom attributes, and more.

Maropost lets you embed mobile keywords in campaign copy so recipients can text back a specific word (e.g. SALE, STOCK) to trigger automatic actions like list subscribe or coupon delivery.

Maropost gives you flexible send options: schedule SMS for a future date and time, send immediately with Send Now, or save campaigns as drafts to finish later.

Maropost schedules campaigns relative to each recipient's timezone when permitted sending hours use contact-local timezone mode, so messages arrive at appropriate local times.

Maropost's Compliance tab lets you control the order and visibility of required elements such as organization name, message body, company link, and opt-out instructions in the final text.

Maropost supports transactional SMS for automated, event-triggered messages like order confirmations, password resets, and OTP codes. Create templates in the UI and trigger sends programmatically via REST API when events occur.

Maropost helps teams meet US commercial SMS requirements with verified toll-free numbers or approved 10DLC. Unverified toll-free numbers have strict daily/weekly/monthly send limits. Maropost recommends toll-free over 10DLC for cost and approval speed.

Maropost lets you configure the legal window when SMS can be sent (default 9 AM to 6 PM) using campaign timezone or each contact's local timezone. Journey SMS auto-pauses outside this window.

Maropost lets you set default organization name and company information link at the account level. These values auto-populate every new SMS campaign's Compliance tab.

Maropost supports compliant opt-in collection, but regulations require you to document how and when each contact opted in: timestamp, method, IP address, phone number, and identity. You must retain these records.

Maropost sends from a shared short code by default. You can request a dedicated 5–6 digit short code exclusive to your brand so recipients always see the same sender. Available on request via ClientSuccess@maropost.com.

Maropost uses a pool of shared short codes (US/Canada) and long codes (other countries) across clients. Each message may show a different sender number unless you purchase a dedicated short code.

Maropost maintains an account-wide SMS Do Not Mail suppression list. Anyone on it will never receive SMS from your account, and contacts with permanent delivery failures are added automatically.

Maropost warns you when scheduling a campaign outside permitted hours, with Pause (default) or Send Anyway options to prevent accidental compliance violations.

Maropost lets you replace the default mpt1.co short domain with your own branded domain for SMS links. Add a CNAME DNS record and verify ownership in Settings.

Maropost supports teams messaging Texas residents under Texas Senate Bill 140 (effective Sept 2025), which requires registration via Form 3401, a $200 annual fee, and a $10,000 security deposit.

Maropost provides dedicated lists that store SMS subscribers separately from email lists. Each list has its own dashboard with subscriber statistics and management tools.

Maropost lets you build popup or embedded web forms to capture phone numbers and grow your SMS list directly from your website with compliant opt-in fields.

Maropost supports double opt-in when enabled on a form with a phone field: the SMS contact is only added after the subscriber confirms via email. You must disclose SMS consent clearly since double opt-in is email-based.

Maropost lets you bulk import phone numbers from CSV or TXT files, mapping phone column, optional subscription status (S=Subscribed, U=Unsubscribed), and optional UID column.

Maropost lets you target campaigns using contact lists, segments, or both. If a contact appears in multiple selected audiences, they receive the message only once.

Maropost lets you exclude specific lists or segments from a campaign send, useful for suppressing recent buyers, VIPs already messaged, or other subsets.

Maropost's Shopify integration syncs phone numbers and sms_marketing_consent status in real time when customers opt in on your Shopify store.

Maropost's Retail Express integration syncs customer phone data and SMS subscription preferences so you can message retail customers from one platform.

Maropost gives you control over when forms appear: on page load, exit intent, after scrolling a percentage, on specific URLs, or hide for X days after dismissal.

Maropost landing pages can be used as destinations for SMS campaigns and as acquisition surfaces to collect mobile opt-ins.

Maropost lets you define mobile keywords, specific words or phrases (e.g. JOIN, SALE), that contacts can text to your number. Each keyword links to an action and an automatic response message.

Maropost sends a custom auto-reply instantly when a defined keyword is received. Replies can include coupon codes, links, or nested keywords.

Maropost handles inbound replies by matching text against active keywords within a 2-hour window. Valid keyword matches get the keyword response; everything else gets the invalid response.

Maropost supports text-to-win contests: promote a keyword (e.g. WIN2026), add contacts who text in to a list, then pick a winner from subscribers and notify them via SMS.

Maropost powers back-in-stock alerts with keywords on out-of-stock product pages (e.g. STOCK42). When the item is restocked, deactivate the keyword and Maropost SMS everyone who subscribed with a link to buy.

Maropost lets you add an SMS step inside automated customer journeys alongside email actions. The journey engine sends the right text at the right point in the customer lifecycle without manual intervention.

Maropost's Send SMS journey widget includes its own Compliance tab so you can verify legal content before the journey goes live.

Maropost automatically pauses journey SMS messages when they would send outside permitted hours for a contact's timezone, then resumes when the window opens.

Maropost skips the Send SMS journey step silently when a contact has no linked SMS phone record, then continues them to the next journey action.

Maropost delivers transactional SMS for automated, event-triggered messages like order confirmations, password resets, and OTP codes. Create templates in the UI and trigger sends programmatically via REST API when events occur.

Maropost provides a per-campaign dashboard after send with message preview, performance tiles (sends, delivered, replies, clicks), drill-down reports, and campaign metadata.

Maropost shortens all URLs in your SMS body to trackable links on mpt1.co when click tracking is enabled (default ON), so you can measure clicks per link in the campaign dashboard.

Maropost tracks revenue generated from SMS campaigns alongside delivery and engagement metrics so you can measure ROI of your text marketing.

Maropost's Contact 360 profile shows SMS-specific analytics per person: sends, opens, clicks, bounces, campaign history, and keyword interactions in one unified view.

Maropost lets you build scheduled or one-time reports across selected SMS campaigns with metrics like delivery rate, reply rate, bounce rate, and unsubscribe rate. Export as CSV, XLS, PDF, or XLSX.

Maropost provides a billing-focused report showing every individual message segment sent or received, with segment counts, message type (campaign, test, keyword reply), and timestamps.

Maropost's main Dashboard includes an SMS Volume widget showing outbound and inbound message counts over time as a line chart for account-level monitoring.

Maropost's Account & Billing Usage section shows your real-time SMS consumption alongside email, filterable by month or year.

Maropost lets you schedule custom SMS reports to run daily, weekly, or monthly and email results automatically. Date ranges use Eastern Time.

Maropost lets you download SMS send reports and custom reports as Excel (.xlsx) files for offline analysis and sharing with stakeholders.