SMS Marketing

SMS Marketing Best Practices to Know

1. Get Express Written Consent to Text Your Customers

Just because you have a list of phone numbers doesn’t mean you’re in the clear to start texting messages to them. 해외문자사이트 Bulk text messages, overseas text messages, international text messages, group text messages, lowest price sending company sms1004.site You’ll need express written consent from contacts before you fire off a message.

This kind of compliance is more than a best practice—it’s a legal requirement.

To comply with industry regulations, you must include the following information:

• How often you plan to text contacts (e.g., You may receive up to 4msgs/month.)
• Msg & Data rates may apply
• A link to your terms and conditions as well as your privacy policy
• Information about how to unsubscribe (Reply STOP to end or HELP for help.)

2. Be Consistent With the Number of Texts You Send

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when using SMS is not sending messages consistently enough. 

I get that. They usually just want to avoid spamming their customers (and that’s a good instinct).

But send too few messages, and people forget why they signed up in the first place. When they do hear from you, it’ll seem out of the blue and potentially unwelcome.

Consumers respond well to consistent messaging. Just like a good social media strategy, successful text campaigns maintain a consistent and regular schedule.

That schedule will vary according to the type of business you run. If you’re a retailer, you likely only send a few texts a month when a sale pops up or a customer needs a shipping notification.

Churches or life coaches, on the other hand, could opt for daily encouragement or devotional texts without annoying their contacts.

3. Watch Your Language

With a typical SMS message, you have around 160 characters per text message. You might feel the need to shorten some words or throw in a little “textese” to save space.  

While you might save space, you’ll also sacrifice clarity and professionalism.

Let’s compare these two text messages:

• Go2 Joes 2day 4 a gr8 deal! 20% off 1 slice wen u sho this text
• Visit Joe’s today for a great deal! 20% off any slice when you show this text.

Which one got the point across best? More importantly, which one would you be tempted to open and read?

Character limits may seem frustrating at times, but they’re a helpful tool for sharpening your message. And if push comes to shove, MMS will allow you to use up to 1,600 characters!

4. Don’t Use Spammy Language

Too-frequent texting isn’t the only thing that can come off as spammy or intrusive. You should also pay attention to the language and style you use in your messages.

Before you send a text, ask yourself whether it sounds like there’s a real human on the other end of the line. If the answer is yes, your customers are much more likely to reply or click a link in your message. 

However, if your message says something like “Do U want HUGE savings? Shop now!!!” then it’s more than likely that customers will unsubscribe.

Words and phrases that can look like spam (and should therefore be avoided) include:

• FREE
• $$$
• YOU WON
• OPEN NOW!!!

And so on. If you wouldn’t open it, don’t send it.

💡Learn more about how spammy texts can lead to carrier filtering. 

5. Clearly Identify Your Company

Even if someone gives you permission to text them, they may forget they signed up. 

For example, if you’re a real estate agent and you’ve collected phone numbers at an open house, those prospective buyers you talked to may not remember that they filled out your sign-in sheet.

Make your brand or organization name clear from the beginning so contacts don’t delete your messages or report them as spam. 

As a bonus, introducing yourself and your brand will also help contacts trust you and your messages because they’ll be able to identify the person behind the texts.

Here are a couple of examples:
“Hi Jenna! This is Cassidy Welch from the open house on 443 Mulberry St. Do you have any questions about the property that I can answer for you?”

“Thanks for signing up to receive updates and deals from Tea Palace! Here’s your exclusive discount code: TEXTCLUB10”

6. Personalize Your Texts

SMS marketing is unique because it has the ease of a mass marketing campaign with the feel of personal, one-on-one communication. 

As texting gets more popular, personalization is moving out of “nice to have” and into “must have.” The data says that 72% of consumers will only interact with personalized messaging.

Successful text marketing campaigns use features like custom fields and segments to make sure each contact only gets messages they’ll want to see. 

7. Check and Answer Your Text Message Replies Promptly

Whether you send mass texts, hold one-on-one conversations, or both, people will intuitively think they can reply to your messages. (Don’t worry, incoming SMS messages on SimpleTexting are completely free.) 

You’ll need to be on top of those replies to keep your customers happy. 90% of consumers say an instant response is either crucial or very important when they have a customer service question or concern, and 60% of those define “instant” as 10 minutes or less.

8. Get Your Timing Right

Picture this: It’s 9 p.m. You’re in your sweats, curled up with an ice cream cone and a bingeable Netflix series all queued up.

The last thing you want is your phone lighting up with a text about a promotion on car insurance premiums.

With very few exceptions, it’s best practice to keep your texts within reasonable business hours to avoid annoying anyone.

Plus, it doesn’t make sense to text your customers when they can’t (or won’t) immediately take action or respond to you and your offer. So, out of common sense and courtesy, schedule your marketing messages during sensible hours.

9. Get Creative With Your Campaigns to Keep Engagement High

Have you ever listened to the same song so much that you get sick of it? The same can happen with your texts. Keep things interesting with a variety of offers and content. 

Send a discount one week, a tip the next, and then a fun piece of content the following. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Consider layering in some rich media, like photos or videos, to diversify and engage your audience.

Texts are no longer limited to 160 characters. With MMS, you can include up to 1,600 characters of text and even attach images.

As you design your campaigns, focus on “SMART” marketing. With each offer or announcement, ask yourself if it’s SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely).

Take, for example, the traveling dinosaur exhibit Jurassic Quest. They don’t just send announcements. They also let people text in their dinosaur questions, which are answered by an expert.

10. Add an Element of Exclusivity

Here’s a hint–they’re giving you access to the most direct and personal way to reach them. So, successful campaigns offer contacts something they can’t get anywhere else. 

If you send the same promotions in your emails, Instagram posts, and SMS blasts, you’re giving people less reason to sign up for texts specifically.

Avoid recycled content or offers from social media or other channels. Everything you text should be relevant and exclusive to your SMS list.