How to send bulk texts with TextNow
Overview
TextNow doesn't include built-in bulk texting or mail merge capabilities. Bulk Texter Pro adds those features, allowing you to send personalized text messages through your existing TextNow number. Since messages come from your existing TextNow number, recipients can recognize you as the sender and continue the conversation naturally.
Whether you're a teacher reminding students about assignments, a church contacting members, or a small business following up with customers, Bulk Texter Pro lets you import contacts from a spreadsheet and send individualized text messages that appear as normal TextNow conversations.
Why TextNow?
TextNow can be a solid choice for businesses that want a low-cost dedicated business number. Bulk Texter Pro extends TextNow's capabilities by adding features such as:
- Personalized mail merge for bulk messaging
- CSV / Google Sheets / Excel spreadsheet imports
- Individual conversations at scale
- Scheduling messages in advance
- Group conversations with parents and students
- Sending photos
- Live progress tracking
How does it work?
Bulk Texter Pro works by performing clicks and other actions on the TextNow web portal on your behalf. You must have an active TextNow phone number and be signed into the web portal for Bulk Texter Pro to work.
Prerequisites
To use Bulk Texter Pro with TextNow, you must meet the following criteria:
- Sign into the TextNow web portal.
- Have an active Bulk Texter Pro subscription, and have it installed in one of our supported browsers.
- Your Bulk Texter Pro subscription email address must match your TextNow account email address.
Setup
Step 1: TextNow web setup
Sign into the TextNow web portal.
Make sure your Bulk Texter Pro subscription email address matches your TextNow account email address.
You can find your TextNow account email address under Email on the TextNow account settings page:
Step 2: Send texts
Try manually sending texts without Bulk Texter Pro, to make sure your TextNow account is configured correctly.
Now that your TextNow account is set up, you can start using Bulk Texter Pro!
See our guides on typing in recipients and uploading a CSV for a complete rundown on how to use Bulk Texter Pro.
To send texts with TextNow, just make sure that you've selected "TextNow" in the Texting Platform drop down in the 1 – Choose Settings section.
While Bulk Texter Pro is sending texts, it will show its progress live in a popup on your TextNow tab:
Personalizing your messages
Bulk Texter Pro's mail merge is the reason a batch of 30 texts takes minutes instead of an afternoon. You write the message once with {Placeholders} in it, and every recipient gets their own version.
Start with a spreadsheet — an export from whatever system you already use, or something you typed by hand. It needs a column of phone numbers, plus a column for anything that changes per recipient. Here's what that looks like for a small business notifying customers of a closure:
| PhoneNumber | FirstName | Day | Stylist |
|---|---|---|---|
| (555) 123-4567 | Tanya | Tuesday | Jordan |
| (555) 234-5678 | Wes | Thursday | Priya |
| (555) 345-6789 | Nia | Tuesday | Jordan |
Save it as a CSV, upload it, and write your message once using the column names as fields:
Bulk Texter Pro fills in the blanks for every row:
You can review every generated message under 4 – Preview & Send before anything is sent. Our CSV upload guide covers the rest — unlimited columns, group texts that include more than one number per row, and attaching photos.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Bulk Texter Pro use my TextNow number?
Yes, Bulk Texter Pro will send messages via your own TextNow number, and conversations will appear in your TextNow account.
Can recipients reply?
Yes, your messages will come from your own TextNow number, and recipient responses will be sent back to your TextNow number.
Will recipients see each other's responses?
Bulk Texter Pro supports both bulk individual texts and bulk group texts.
By default, each recipient receives their own private conversation, so recipients cannot see anyone else's replies.
However, you can intentionally create group conversations whenever appropriate, such as including both a student and their parent or guardian in the same conversation.
Who uses Bulk Texter Pro with TextNow?
Bulk Texter Pro with TextNow is commonly used by:
- Virtual schools
- Teachers
- Coaches
- Churches
- Nonprofits
- Healthcare practices
- Small businesses
- Government agencies
- Volunteer organizations
We've written up the common workflows for schools and teachers, medical and dental offices, trucking and dispatch, and churches and nonprofits.
Can TextNow send bulk texts?
TextNow does not support bulk texting on its own. You'll need to use a third party tool like Bulk Texter Pro. Bulk Texter Pro adds mail-merge functionality for mass texting via your TextNow account.
How many messages can I send with TextNow and Bulk Texter Pro?
Bulk Texter Pro does not impose any limits on messaging beyond what TextNow imposes.
TextNow users are often able to send ~100 high quality messages in an hour period. TextNow users with a free account may not be able to send as many messages as TextNow users with a paid account.
Bulk Texter Pro has thousands of users who are happily using it without issue, because they are not using it for spam — such as teachers, religious clergy, coaches, or small business owners. Your experience can vary depending on your the age of your TextNow account, whether your account is free or paid, the content and quality of your messages, the responsiveness of your recipients, and other factors.
If you're looking for a solution for prospecting or marketing, Bulk Texter Pro is not the right choice. Using Bulk Texter Pro for spam or telemarketing is a direct violation of our terms of use. If recipients mark your texts as spam, you should expect to get shut down very quickly. You should only send messages that you are confident that people want to receive.
For more information, see our best practices and recommendations.
Bulk Texter Pro isn't working as expected.
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