When was the last time you left your home without your cell phone? Also, Statistic says that 95% of US people use mobile phones and 100% of users keep it close-by day in and day out. SMS remains the quickest, most proficient and practical correspondence channel to achieve your clients wherever they are and whatever they do! So you have to be there with just 160 characters around for a standard SMS, and so you have to locate the correct words to rapidly draw your clients’ attention and get them moving.
Here are 10 ways to write better SMS for successful campaigns:
As with any type of marketing campaign, there is no single modus. There are some good practices that have proven successful for many types of marketing campaigns and that you can apply to your business.
1. Tell them who you are!
Start a conversation with letting your customer know who you are. Do not assume that your customers will know directly from whom the message comes when they receive your SMS. Remember to identify yourself clearly in the message.
2. Avoid abbreviations and “SMS language”
With only 160 characters available, it can be tempting to use abbreviations in your text to save space. If a young target will not be offended, many others will find it frustrating. The risk of abbreviations and “SMS language” is that they can lead to a misunderstanding of all or part of your message. Another disadvantage, and not least, it can convey a bad image of your company and damage its reputation. It will look very unprofessional too.
3. Stay simple
We welcome you to remain straightforward in your messages so as not to suffocate your beneficiaries in a data set. To reveal to them excessively, there has a chance of passing up the basics and never again get themselves. Go directly to the point: 1 SMS = 1 OFFER. Just notice the fundamental data.
4. Get attention right away!
Find a hook, keywords that will instantly engage your customers! If necessary, use LETTERS CAPITALS, without abusing: “NEW”, “EXCEPTIONAL”, “10% OFF”. Don’t use too much because it is difficult to read messages of which all letters are capital.
5. Use a good “Call to Action”
CTA or Call to Action is essential in your SMS. It will trigger the interaction by indicating to the recipient what is the procedure to follow. It will improve your CTR too.
6. Create urgency
Promptness and speed are the quintessence of SMS Marketing. Surf on this idea to create a sense of urgency among your recipients by indicating for example in the message, the end date of validity of the offer. The sooner the offer is approaching, the quicker your beneficiaries will react.
7. Integrate multimedia into your SMS
If you are really limited with the 160 characters available, you can embed a link in your SMS. Like a link of a video with lots of information on your marketing. In this case, you can use T2M URL Shortener instead of Google URL Shortener (as it shut down) to shorten your long URL and also track CTR.
8. Be exclusive
When your customers have agreed to receive your SMS, reward them by playing on the exclusive nature of your offer. Let them have a membership. For example, you organize Private Sales and offer a 10% discount on the sale to all participants. By stating that this promotion is only for VIP customers, you develop their sense of belonging to a club and create the attraction to your brand.
9. Ask questions or send survey forms
Your customers are in a hurry. They do not have the time to answer 20-page long surveys or endless calls. It does not mean that they do not like (or do not want to) give their opinion on your new products, their new advisors or new services. You can use Google Forms for this.
10. Customize your SMS
A personalized message has a lot more impact! Use each data from your customer like customers name, customers loyalty point etc. to customize the content of your offers by SMS. It will also let your customer know that they are special to you and you are sending them to message separately or something like that. Everyone wants to be special, it’s human nature. So make your customer feel special.
