We all know that text message marketing is a great way to connect with your audience, especially in the current business climate. But, with more companies jumping on board with text messaging, you want to make sure your messages are clear, to the point, and unintrusive. You don’t want customers or leads opting out just because of poorly written messages.

You have less than 160 characters to use in any message, so you want to make it count. You’ll want to start with thinking about the overall content and guidelines for all of your messaging campaigns. It is easy to write 160 characters, but it is much harder to write 160 characters that have impact and create engagement. It’s worth the extra time it takes to fine-tune your messages in order to get better results.

Below are our recommendations for key elements that will help you write better messages for your text message marketing campaigns.

Writing Better Messages for Text Message Marketing Campaigns

1. Always use their name. Consumers expect brands to personalize messaging. By using their name you’ll catch their attention and they’ll appreciate the simple gesture. 
2. Mention your company name in the beginning of your text. Don’t assume your contact knows who you are. Be upfront and let them know who they are talking with.
3. Share your purpose of contact. As part of your message, always share why you’re contacting them. No one wants to be left wondering why they are being sent a message.
4. Use keywords. Use keywords to invite your prospects and customers to start conversations with you about anything relevant to them and to your business. The impactful part with keywords is that they get to choose when they respond on their schedule and at their convenience.
5. Get to your Call to Action quickly. Each text message has to be under 153 characters (English letters, not other characters) to be delivered as a single message that isn’t broken up with ellipses. So get to the point with your Call to Action, and be sure to offer a keyword asan easy way for your contact to respond.
6. Give clear instructions. Be sure that any instructions for replying with keywords or other actions are simple and clear.
7. Avoid abbreviations and slang. Not everyone understands texting acronyms. So be sure you use full words and avoid slang. If a person is confused they are much less likely to respond or engage with your campaign.
8. Test your campaign. By testing your campaign you can learn what is resonating with your audience. Then, you can use those insights when strategizing upcoming messaging campaigns and further optimize your efforts.

Below is an example of a text message that includes all of the recommendations listed above.

The Bottom Line

Text message marketing offers a significant opportunity for businesses to better communicate with prospects and customers. When you follow these best practices, and adhere to compliance regulations, you will increase the number of conversations you have with your audience. You’ll also deepen your engagement and loyalty through these well-crafted campaigns.

Through personalization, a clear purpose, and a simple call to action you’ll offer value through your messaging campaigns and your customers and leads will appreciate, and even look forward to, your communication.

Want to see how SMS-Magic Converse helps clients achieve all of this with text messaging? Reach out and we’d be happy to give you a personal tour and share examples from our clients!