SMS text message marketing can be the most effective method of mass communication.
Compared to emails, text messages can be more powerful. They have a 98 percent open rate compared to 20 percent in emails, and consumers are 4.5 percent more likely to respond to (and not just read) your text message than your emails.
So, how are you approaching the copy of your text messages? Remember, you can engage with or lose a lead forever in less than 160 characters. Paying attention to what you’re saying and how you’re saying it matters.
The following are eight tips to write an effective marketing text message.
Keep it short and concise
When it comes to SMS text messaging, you’re already limited to 160 characters per message. It’s important to get to the point quickly without a lot of fluff. Consider the recipient’s “What’s in it for me?” angle and focus on that to do more than just read your text message.
Writing in short sentences can help you be as concise as possible while also being more engaging for recipients. Think “5th Grader Level” when writing your copy. Consumers are most likely to skim your message, so don’t write long or complex sentences. You’ll lose their attention if you do.
MMS messages, with the use of images, can help you maximize what you can convey in a single message. Learn more about how you can leverage MMS text messages.
Use a strong call-to-action
Having a 98 percent open rate doesn’t mean much if your recipients don’t know what to do next. A strong, clear call-to-action can make the difference between a sale and being ignored.
Some examples of call-to-actions that you can use:
- Act fast
- Sign up now
- Buy now
- Last chance
- Limited-time offer
- Don’t miss out
Check out our list of 100+ Call to Action words and phrases
Keep in mind that your goals matter. What is the point of sending this text message to your recipients? You’ll want to aim for that goal while being as persuasive as possible.
Personalize your text message
Depending on your SMS text message marketing platform, such as DailyStory, you should be able to personalize your text messages.
There’s a lot of power behind personalization. By using a person’s name when addressing them, you’re breaking down the impersonal barrier that can exist in any type of marketing method. This can help build trust with your text message recipients. It also can help you stand out from your competitors.
About 72 percent of customers will only engage with personalized messaging.
Of course, personalization goes well beyond just including a first name. You could use other data points as relevant. But personalization also ties into the type of messaging you’re sending. You would send a different type of message to a past customer who hasn’t purchased from you in a few months than you would to a brand new lead who hasn’t purchased from you yet.
Dive deeper into how personalization is one-to-one marketing.
Use power words in your text message
Using power words in your text messages can help you engage with your audience. These words help spur some type of emotion in your recipients, which can help with your sales conversions.
See our 16 tips to increase your sales conversion rate.
Some top power words in marketing include:
- Obsession
- Bold
- Epic
- Secret
- Daring
- Imagine
- Inspire
- Risky
- Avoid
- Authentic
- Secure
- Tested
- Rare
- Immediately
- Hurry
- Proven
- Affordable
- Guaranteed
See more power words and take note of what might work for you in future SMS campaigns.
Of course, while words like “free” or even emphasizing certain words by using all capital letters can help engage and persuade recipients to act, you have to beware of potential carrier violations, which can prevent your text message from being delivered at all. You don’t want to write anything that can be viewed as spammy by mobile carriers.
Dive deeper into carrier violations and how to avoid them.
Add urgency to your copy
It’s easy for consumers to not act until the last moment (or at all) unless they’re compelled to do so.
When an offer or message feels urgent, you’re more likely to spur your recipients to action. For example, a sale that ends in two days should inspire customers to plan how they can take advantage of the offer before it’s over. If the sale is monthlong, it’s easy to think there’s plenty of time to act, but that means it’s that much easier to forget about it entirely.
Consider how you can infuse urgency into your text message.
Avoid ‘text-speak’
“Text speak” is the use of abbreviations to save time, energy and space in your 160-character text message. For example, saying “l8r” instead of “later” or “u” instead of “you.”
As a brand, you want to maintain some professionalism and resist any appearances of spam. Using “text speak” can devalue your brand and cause a recipient to lose respect for you and opt out of your messages.
Consider your brand personality. You can still sound human and engaging without devolving into “text speak.”
Beware of special characters
Keep in mind that while special characters can feel like a great way to make your text message stand out, all characters are not supported by all carriers. Many carriers only support unicode.
This means that the use of a special character (like a special quotation mark or apostrophe) will not work for every recipient. That can cause confusion because (depending on the carrier) the unsupported character can be replaced with something random or a space. Either way, your text message will suffer as a result.
Keep your text messages legal
With various anti-spam laws in place, it’s critical that all your marketing text messages include an opt-out option in the text.
Including the commonly used “Reply STOP to opt-out” at the end of your text makes your available message space that much shorter, but it’s better than risking thousands of dollars in fines.
In addition, you must identify who is sending the text message. This is non-negotiable. Make sure to work your brand name into your message.
In conclusion
Invest the time and effort into crafting text messages that support your goals, represent your brand and engage with and persuade your audience to take action.
Check out these six things to know before starting your first texting campaign.
