You know how it is. You’re looking for a specific product for your business and there are simply too many options and variants to choose from. The same thing can be said about many types of communication software, such as software for fax marketing.
Should you go with the more expensive option that has all the bells and whistles? Or should you stick with a base model that’s easy to use and affordable? Some software may be full to the brim with special features while others may only be able to perform the necessary job without any fanfare. In the end, it’s about choosing the best solution that will meet the needs of your business.
So, what do you need to know before choosing the best fax broadcasting software?
Here are some things that should be available with any piece of fax broadcasting software you consider for your business so you can be sure you are getting the most bang for your buck. If your fax software doesn’t include any of these items, then you may be missing out on some helpful functionality!
Multiple campaign creation types
Your chosen fax broadcasting software needs to first and foremost allow you to send a fax from your computer to one or more receiving fax machines. The way the software allows you to do this should be flexible in that there should be multiple methods users can choose from when building out a fax campaign and its associated content.
Any fax broadcasting software solution absolutely must include a way for users to create fax documents within the software itself on the fly, and not have to rely on finding and uploading saved documents from your computer. The fax software should provide users with a selection of common formatting tools they can use to style their fax campaign as well as the option for them to add their own HTML code to the document if they’d like.
However, the best fax broadcasting software will of course provide you with both the option to create custom ad hoc fax documents as well as the option to upload existing files. The more ways the software can facilitate the creation of fax campaigns, the better the overall user experience.
Ability to personalize fax campaigns
When sending fax marketing messages in bulk to your business contacts, it is certainly useful to be able to personalize campaigns to each individual recipient in order to create better connections and increase engagement with your contacts.
But how can you personalize tens, or potentially even hundreds, of fax messages quickly and efficiently, without spending days adding personalized information about each contact?
A useful feature that should be included in any fax software you choose is the ability to add merge tags to fax message content. Merge tags are essentially placeholders that the software will automatically replace in the document with specific information about each contact it is sending the message to.
The easiest way to personalize any message is to add the recipient’s name to it. For example, adding a “Name” merge tag to a fax document created in the fax broadcasting software will tell the system to pull any name information it has stored for each contact and include it in place of the merge tag in the document when it goes to send to them.
However, merge tags aren’t just limited to contact names. The best fax broadcasting software for your business should be able to make use of any and all information it has on a contact it and utilize it in a fax campaign – including address information, titles, product preferences, purchase information, you name it!
Scheduling capabilities
The next thing to look for when trying to find the best fax software for your business’s needs is the sending capabilities. Does the fax broadcasting software allow you to build campaigns in advance of when you need them, or does it require that you send the campaigns immediately once it’s created?
It is very important to make sure that there are scheduling capabilities included with your chosen software solution. Scheduling your campaigns will ease the minds of your staff who won’t have to constantly think about remembering to create and send a fax campaign on a certain date and by a certain time. The ability to schedule your fax campaigns well in advance of sending them can save your business a lot in terms of both time and stress.
What’s more is that the right fax broadcasting tool will provide your business with the opportunity to create recurring fax campaigns that can be set to send at regular intervals determined by you and your staff, further increasing the efficiency of your processes!
Setting sending restrictions
One thing to note about automated bulk fax sending is that if you are sending to a bunch of contact lists, each containing several hundred contacts, fax servers will need to send your campaign in batches, one after another. This means that even if you schedule your fax campaign to begin sending on a Friday at 3:00PM, depending on the number of batches required to send the campaign, the system could still be sending out messages to contacts after typical business hours as well as on the weekend.
A feature that is super helpful when you need to send massive amounts of bulk fax messages but want to make sure the system sticks to sending these messages within optimal sending times (e.g. between 9:00AM and 5:00PM, Monday to Friday) is the ability to set your own sending restrictions.
Sending restrictions allow you to prevent the fax software from sending any “batches” of messages outside of the time ranges you specify. If the system hits the restricted time before completing its send, then it will halt the sending of the campaign until the next available time within the specified range (for example, the system will stop sending messages at 5:00PM on Friday and resume sending at 9:00AM the following Monday).
Without this capability included in your chosen fax broadcasting software, you run the risk of annoying contacts who do not take kindly to receiving business messages late at night or over the weekend.
Comprehensive reporting
An important thing to look for when choosing a fax broadcasting solution for your business is what kind of reporting is available. Campaign reporting is a valuable asset that will help you gauge the success of your fax marketing campaigns as well as determine whether future campaigns can be optimized to provide higher returns and obtain greater engagement from contacts.
The best fax broadcasting software will not only provide you with simple reports detailing whether a message was sent successfully to contacts or not, it will provide information about the total cost of the campaign, how many call attempts the software made to the receiving fax machine(s), the reason for any failed sends, and more!
The more comprehensive the reporting, the easier it will be for your business to maximize your success with fax marketing.
Have you found the best fax broadcasting software for you?
Has your business found the best fax software to meet its needs? Are you still looking? Check out SimplyCast’s Fax Broadcasting application included in its all-in-one platform.
SimplyCast provides users with all of the features listed above and more and would be a great addition to your marketing toolbox. With an easy-to-use interface and drag-and-drop functionality, SimplyCast’s Fax Broadcasting tool can help you optimize your fax communications and make them more efficient.
Want to learn more? Click the button below to request a one-on-one demo of SimplyCast’s Fax Broadcasting software from one of our knowledgeable team members!
