Writing effective text messages for customer outreach requires an understanding of the medium, an efficient message structure, and the ability to avoid potential missteps. Starting without any of this knowledge can potentially ruin the reputation of your business with existing clients.
Learn how to craft response-rich SMS campaign messages and what mistakes to avoid in the post below.
Follow the Basics of SMS Campaign Messages
Before heading off and crafting high-converting SMS campaigns, your business needs to master the basics of the platform. Working within the parameters and rules set by SMS messages will help you put together more unique and creative campaigns.
Every SMS message is restricted to 160 characters. It’s the basis Twitter used when it originally had a limit of 140 characters. When you’re writing campaigns, keep every marketing message within these limits or it’ll be cut off and won’t look professional.
Even though modern phones allow multimedia elements in messages, your SMS message won’t transmit videos or audio. You also can’t underline, bold, or change the font color. Ultimately, you’ll need to use the power of words to get your message across instead of clever design.
Best Practices To Use for SMS Messages
For your business to send SMS messages as a method of marketing your product or service, you’ll need to follow the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Under this act, you need the express permission of the recipient to send out SMS messages. This means having them opt in through some type of form. Verbal consent doesn’t legally count.
Just as pertinent as opting in is having an option for receivers to opt out of your SMS campaign. Both are required for you to legally send SMS messages to your audience.
Here are some examples you can follow to craft a well-written message that follows all the rules:
It’s ABC Cleaners here. We’ll give real-time updates on all your orders at every stage of the cleaning process. To sign up, here’s a one-time code: 15OFF | To stop all texts reply STOP
Here’s another example: It’s Fourth of July at Ron’s Sports Goods and we’re blasting off with savings! Just add code 4THJULY at checkout and receive 15% off. Happy Shopping. Type STOP to no longer receive texts
Make sure to identify yourself in your first message so the customer knows exactly who you are. Although it isn’t required by law, it’s still a professional best practice to ensure your audience doesn’t feel taken advantage of.
Finally, connect with an omnichannel solutions provider like Mitto that will use automation to send and receive messages through an SMS application programming interface. The API uses code to send and receive notifications through an SMS gateway, which acts like a literal gate for the code and device.
How To Craft Engaging SMS Campaign Messages
Simply getting your audience to open their messages is no big feat. Open rates of SMS messages hover around 90%. It’s what happens after they’ve read the message that matters. In order to get your customers to take action, you’ll need an engaging SMS campaign message.
The intent behind the message needs to be clear immediately. With only 160 characters available, you’ll have to be concise and create an eye-catching statement that immediately resonates.
You’ll also need a call to action in every message you send. In the examples above, both include a discount code to use when checking out. You can also have someone visit your website, sign up for a lead magnet, or download a white paper.
Your next objective with an SMS message is to identify a target audience for more engagement. Imagine a customer who uses their phone often and checks their messages frequently. You can take it further and include personalization in each message. This allows you to mention the client by name since they’ve already provided their information to your business.
Add to your message clear and concise language combined with visual elements or emojis to make the message more engaging. This combination will help your messages stand out, punctuate your brand personality, and increase engagement.
Customizing SMS Campaigns Based on Campaign Types
Four major campaign types dictate how you’ll write and craft your messages: promotional campaigns, transactional campaigns, reminder campaigns, and feedback and survey campaigns.
All four use different strategies to get your customers to take further action.
Promotional Campaigns
Promotional campaigns promote products or services, discounts, seasonal items, or changes to the company. They should be sent out sparingly as customers will eventually begin to view these greetings as spam. Promotions can be text-specific, meaning only the targeted customer will be able to access the information, or they can be general, like promoting a new opening or event.
Transactional Campaigns
Anytime a customer makes a purchase or signs up for a subscription and receives a text update, it’s considered a transactional campaign. The customer needs to make a transaction in order to receive the message. The purpose of this message is to ensure that the customer is updated in real time on all actions they’ve taken with your business. It’s also used to inform customers of their shipping status or order numbers.
Reminder Campaigns
A SMS reminder campaign can be sent out to remind customers of upcoming events or holidays, an expiration date for a coupon or promotion, or any other special occasion. When clients schedule an appointment for your service, you’ll set up a reminder text to help them remember when to attend the engagement.
Feedback and Survey Campaigns
To gain insight from consumers on how they feel about the product or service they purchased, you’ll use a feedback and survey campaign. A quick survey is sent out with a set of questions. The results will help you understand your customer base better and make decisions about your services, products, or process.
Common Mistakes To Avoid When Writing SMS Campaign Messages
Don’t get overly sales-pitchy with your promotional messages. If you have a discount or something to offer of value, that’s almost always better than a hard sell. Otherwise, you aren’t using SMS campaigns effectively and you likely won’t see the results you want.
You also don’t want to be too wordy in your messages or start sending them multiple times a week. Sending too many messages too frequently can become a nuisance to customers and they’ll unsubscribe. Keep your messages concise, clear, and easy to read.
If you want clear results, it’s best to segment your audience before running any campaigns. You want specific types of offers being sent to specific segments of your audience. If you’re running a sale on men’s shoes and you send it out to your women customers, engagement results will be skewed.
Above all else, don’t forget to set SMS reminders or include a call to action in every relevant message. You want people to remember when they’ve set a sales call or consultation and you want people to take action.
Conclusion
SMS campaigns have an extremely high open rate, so the potential for getting customers engaged is high. Crafting high-converting messages means following SMS best practices and focusing on creating your message. The time to craft, iterate, and deliver high-performing SMS campaigns can be overwhelming for most business owners. To reduce the time, work with an omnichannel solutions provider like Mitto that can guide you through the process. Then you’ll be able to better focus on creating the most effective SMS campaign messages to drive engagement and conversions.