Tell your friends to go to www.dansdeals.com/sms to signup for SMS alerts!
Last Thursday, Twitter turned off SMS notifications without warning. Thousands of DansDeals readers received SMS alerts, so I’ve been looking for options since then.
It’s tricky because the cost of sending out hundreds of messages a month to tens of thousands of readers is astronomical. Free services aren’t tailored to send out millions of monthly messages.
For people with smartphones, there are several good options for push notifications, including Telegram, Twitter, and browser push notifications. The Telegram notifications have been working great, so if you can get the Telegram app, I’d recommend that as the best method of receiving alerts. You can follow these directions to set up Telegram alerts. WhatsApp hasn’t worked for us due to the size of our following and their size limitations.
However for the thousands of DansDeals followers who don’t have a smartphone, but still want to get deal updates, I’ve been looking for solutions.
DansDeals commenter Lcm suggested using Groupme, Twitter, and IFTTT to get SMS alerts to your phone. But setting up that process was laborious and there were long delays to get notifications.
DDF member BAHayman worked his usual magic to simplify the process to just 4 easy steps that will just take a minute to setup and should work without delays. You will need internet access to setup a GroupMe account to start getting SMS alerts, but you won’t need to use it again after you set it up and you won’t need to download any apps.
For now, we’re in beta mode as we work out minor issues based on feedback. Please follow the steps below and give us your feedback on how it works for you!
Step 1: Signup for a GroupMe account with your email address and then enter the cell phone number on which you want to receive deal alerts.
(Note: If you already have a GroupMe account or have the GroupMe app, ensure from the settings menu that “receive messages via SMS” is enabled and then skip to step 3.)
Step 2: Verify your number with GroupMe via a PIN and click start chatting. You can click “text me the pin” if you don’t receive it:
Step 3: Click here to enable SMS notifications of new DansDeals posts.
You’ll have to login to your newly created GroupMe account and verify the PIN they will send to your cell phone.
Step 4: Click the allow button to finish enabling DansDeals SMS notifications to your phone:
You will then be forwarded back to DansDeals with a confirmation that SMS notifications have been set up successfully.
There is no need to download the GroupMe app.
That’s it, you should now get SMS alerts of all DansDeals posts! Share this post with your friends!
HT: lcm
Great, I miss those SMS’s!
Telegram is working perfectly every time–strongly recommend.
Yup, it’s been great!
I downloaded the telegram app on my iPhone now how do I get it attached to dans deals? Could you let me know?
In telegram search bar, search @DansDeals
Thanks, I hope it works
Thanks it’s working!
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/site-announcements/twitter-sms-alerts-not-working-try-twitter-browser-push-notifications-dont-miss-another-deal/
Set up done, let’s see what happens! Thanks Dan and BAHayman!
@BAHayman Can we get the setup to enable for any Twitter group to want to follow via SMS without a delay?
can we use this for other sms blogs?
thank you Dan!
Signed up. Will report any issues.
Thank you Dan.
@Dan, I use GroupMe for other chats. If I click allow to “let DansDeals Notifications access your groups and messages” does that mean someone now can read messages in other chats I use? This would be a privacy concern.
It’s not something that we’ll ever access, but the permission is needed for the setup.
You can make a new Groupme account and number. Or use Google Voice to signup for Groupme and get SMS through Google Voice.
I signed up with my regular number not realizing what I was sharing. I would like to disconnect that number and use my GV num.
Can you share how we can undo the permissions given?
From a desktop browser:
https://web.groupme.com/profile/access_tokens
FYI, even after taking away tokeen access, I’m still receiving the SMS alerts
What does removing token access accomplish?
It token access only required to setup the DansDeals SMS and can be revoked afterwards without stopping the DD SMS?
groupme gets very temperamental. sometimes messages can get delayed up to 12 hours…
Been using it for a week and so far so good.
Like I said, Telegram is the best option. But this is what we can do for SMS for now.
Thanks. I have a different number for my groupme account so added my primary number to the group together with the bot
I signed up with Telegram, how do I arrange to get Dans Deals on it?
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/site-announcements/twitter-sms-alerts-not-working-try-twitter-browser-push-notifications-dont-miss-another-deal/
Will this work with a Google Voice number? (Twitter did work with GV.) GV is not 100% compatible with every SMS service, but it’s works with about 95% of services.
Yes.
Twitter worked with GV.
My child’s school bus uses GroupMe to send bus stop info daily. Should/could I use the same GroupMe account I use with the school? Or will doing so be less than ideal?
Can I use a second GroupMe account using the same SMS phone number as an existing GroupMe account?
You can, this shouldn’t bother that.
You would have to use another number, such as using a Google Voice number, for a 2nd account.
thanks Dan. glad I can drop twitter
Are the SMS notifications through this method as quick as Twitter SMS used to be?
So far, yes.
twitter seems faster.
Simultaneous for me.
Not for me. Up to a min delay between twitter and groupme
Not seeing that on my end. Did you signup for this today?
yup. got some today. but still waiting for a text about the last deal
Looks like we found a bug, that’s why we’re in beta 🙂
yay. hatzlacha
did you fix It. last deal was a 20 sec delay btw twitter and groupme
20 second delay may be inevitable, that’s down from 8 minutes during the alpha test.
Signup for Twitter or Telegram if SMS isn’t fast enough.
have a smart phone but like to keep it dumb. delay is down today so far so BH and Thank you!
Have you tried reaching out to companies who advertise on the site to maybe sponsor the SMS?
“This text is brought to you buy American Express” on every text. not bad
Finally, I’ll be able to get some toilet paper and hand sanitizer in the house!
It’s been a tough go.
Was on the twitter app for a few days and was disappointed. Today I checked back on Dansdeals main site which recommended Telegram. Telegram is great, works like WhatsApp flawless !
Thank you for your good work !
Yup, Telegram is great!
Signed up!
Thank you Dan & team!
Thanks for the shout out Dan .
Happy someone was able to simplify the process!
Also on DDF as lcm 🙂
Thanks for pointing the way 🙂
Sorry, an unknown error occurred. Please try again or contact support@groupme.com
Anyone else get this error when entering PIN number?
I verified the pin was correct and still got this error.
Anyone else duplicated this?
Are you trying to link a phone number that’s already linked to a different GroupMe account?
Groupme is so much better than Twitter SMS. I really appreciate you guys pivoting so well! Shkoyach!
You’re welcome!
Hi Dan, Groupme missed this article that you posted online. I did not receive the text for it. https://www.dansdeals.com/shopping-deals/amazon/6-boxes-kleenex-expressions-hand-towels-360-towels-16-99-amazon/
It seems like there’s a slight delay from Twitter to Group Me. Won’t this be a problem with time sensitive “deals?”
Did you enroll in this today?
The delay has been eliminated with this Beta version. Twitter, Telegram, and SMS are now coming at the same time.
The previous Alpha version of this that I posted on DDF required IFTTT+Twitter+GroupMe and had a delay. You can close down that IFTTT applet or Groupme group to turn it off.
You should look into remind.com as a backup option in the future (if GroupMe kills SMS).
Their paid plan allows up to 100 groups with up to 5,000 people each
Cost?
It’s about $1,200 a year. Looked into it, but when I heard the price, I dropped it right away, so could be you can work something out for cheaper – I didn’t put that much effort into it.
Thanks. For those without a smartphone this is great!
Nice! thanks!!
Twitter push has been deqd for me for a few days too.
It doesn’t work well if you’re not on WiFi.
Try Telegram?
No more room for another app just for this. Twitter push worked perfectly fine until about the same time as they killed SMS. Will figure this out…
Using a service like Twilio is understandably expensive but is simpler to setup and more reliable. Perhaps the cost of this service can be recouped by creating sponsored ads that target this subset of Dansdeals users that do not have a smartphone. I’d imagine that there are advertisers that would like reach this group of people. Alternatively,you could have the cost of the SMSs paid for by the subscribers. I think that many of these people would be willing to pay $1 a month to get these SMSs.
It’s beyond prohibitively expensive.
20K subscribers x 500 monthly messages = $50,000 per month.
That would be called getting a bad deal on sms.. that would be counterproductive to the whole point of Dan’s deals. Maybe they’re cheaper with subscribe and save? 😉
Thanks!
In Telegram anyway not to get notified on every post just the major ones?
No.
I like this better then twitter, because I get a picture of the deal as well!
Do you mean Telegram?
Do we know which countries still get sms. Maybe can switch my location to that country. (I don’t care for my country’s custom experience)
I tried India, didn’t work for me.
Probably only works for SMS to that country code.
Did u sign up new account and delete the # from old account?
No. Try and let us know.
Another sms work around https://zapier.com/blog/twitter-sms-notifications-tweets/
I haven’t tried it yet
Tried it from their free version. 15 minute delay and limited to 100 messages per month.
Paid version might be better.
where do I find the dansdeals groupme chat to click allow? please clarify in top of post (especially for dumb-phone users like me:)
Please open this post on a computer or smartphone to set up SMS.
I have this for my family group I didn’t think it was an option for you bc we can all respond on it together but I guess you figured out how to get a broadcast type group going
Exactly, no group responses.
Dan, as I (& many others) don’t have texting, is there a way to get the deals to my email inbox?
you can sign up for a google voice number and have all texts forwarded to your email
I am in a different GroupMe chat and I constantly have issues with SMS. It randomly will stop sending SMS or it will send them out of order.
And the “don’t send SMS while GroupMe is open in browser” option is moody as well.
USA text only or international as well ?
A couple of points.
It seems that above steps will work only if you are not logged into GroupMe in your browser. If you are, incognito will do the trick.
Also, it may be helpful to add how to disconnect and stop the service if needed.
Go with telegram, it works instantly as apposed to Twitter which doesn’t always notify right away. Thanks Dan
Cool!
It worked for me. I hate twitter, so a great solution for now.
Tried Telegram?
DansDeals SMS notifications set up successfully!
Thank you Dan! I can now once again follow you. Only problem is it won’t show on Twitter that you have that many followers 🙁
Works magic! Just got my first SMS with no delay. Thank you so much!
Thank you. Works perfectly.
Does group me only support USA numbers or international as well ?
works with international
Thank you
do i need mms to receive these alerts?
No
I use telegram for alerts.
When I click on a link for a new deal within a few minutes of when it posts I usually get directed to the 404 page.
Does this happen by everyone? Does this happen with sms?
(It doesnt bother me too much. I just go to the main page and the link from there works.)
Same with me, takes a few minutes till the link works, so I just go to the main page.
Great, will now have Telegram and GroupMe and test to see if one is received before another over the next week or so.
i feel we dumb phones using group me got the gerber deal tonight 18 minutes after others. i have to figure out a way to finagel twitter on my account unless i would lose out on all the deals would opening a new twitter account with a new country work
Dan, is there any way to activate the alerts if I am already using GroupMe on SMS for group chats?
Does it not work for you?
I signed up as per Dan Dan instructions & received confirmation but no texts
Ensure from the settings menu that “receive messages via SMS” is enabled.
Just received 1st sms about free coffee & donuts from dunkin. How delayed is that? Thanks Dan
Compare timestamp to Twitter:
https://twitter.com/DansDeals
Groupme SMS seems to be working. 3-5 minutes late but better than nothing. Hope time delay won’t affect deals. Thanks Dan for all you do
yes dan thank you for setting up sms for the yeshivishe oilam on behalf of all of me and my friends we thank you very much yasher koach
I’ve yet to meet a yeshivishe Paul…
LOL!!
I’ve got a 15 – 30 minute delay in receiving Telegram alert from time of Twitter timestamp. That’s every alert since I joined Telegram yesterday
Haven’t heard that from anyone else. Try removing battery optimization for Telegram from your phone’s settings.
I signed up with GroupMe a half hour ago.
The Ray-Ban deal came 2 minutes later on GM than on Twitter.
Update.
Last few deals were same time as Twitter.
Dan, group me working like a charm!
Great!
Really helpful post. Is there any documentation or source code for this? I’ve been trying to create something similar for a subreddit since twitter disabled SMS, but without much luck.
Would love to know the same.
My google voice number isn’t working to set up groupme. Says unknown error occurred. Didn’t have that issue with my regular number, but I don’t want to use my regular number.