SMS marketing is a versatile tool that boosts brand awareness and drives sales. Text marketing is an efficient and cost-effective alternative to crowded platforms like social media and email. Integrating SMS marketing into your strategy can yield excellent results, but success depends on following best practices. To help you get started, here’s sixteen practices that will supercharge your SMS marketing strategy.
If you’re new to text marketing, check out our article on how to launch your SMS marketing campaign. Here are 16 SMS marketing best practices to use as inspiration for a successful text marketing strategy.
1. Pay attention to the message
Effective SMS marketing campaigns provide consistent value to every contact on your list. Utilize text messages to share time-sensitive information, such as flash sale announcements or critical updates, to enhance consumers’ relationships with your brand.
Remember to avoid sending duplicate messages to ensure a seamless experience. Keep things interesting with a variety of offers and content. Send a discount one week, a helpful tip the next, or a fun piece of content. Don’t hesitate to get creative. Consider incorporating rich media or MMS, such as photos or videos, to diversify and engage your audience.
As you design your campaigns, prioritize “SMART” marketing. Ask yourself if each offer or announcement is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely).
For example, the traveling dinosaur exhibit Jurassic Quest. They go beyond mere announcements. They also allow people to text their dinosaur-related questions, which an expert answers.
2. Consider including an exclusivity aspect
When considering the content of your messages, it’s essential to reflect on the significance of someone signing up to receive them.
By doing so, they are granting you the most direct and personal means of communication. Therefore, successful campaigns provide contacts with something unique that cannot be found elsewhere.
If you replicate promotions from your emails, Instagram posts, and SMS blasts, you diminish the incentive for people to sign up for texts specifically.
It is crucial to avoid recycling content or offers from social media or other channels. Every text you send should be relevant and exclusive to your SMS list.
The 2020 Text Marketing Report revealed that SMS contacts desire early access to flash sales or promotions. Although this data was collected a few years ago, we continue to witness our customers achieving significant success by offering early access to sales promotions.
3. Get permission
When it comes to text marketing, it is crucial to always obtain permission from customers before sending them messages. Whether you already have a customer’s phone number or are simply sending them updates on their orders, it is essential to remember that sending marketing messages without their express written consent can result in significant fines.
But what exactly qualifies as “express written consent”? When subscribers willingly opt into your SMS program through a website form, you have obtained their “written consent.” However, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) also requires you to send a confirmation text as a double opt-in measure.
On the other hand, if you manually add contacts or upload a list for your SMS campaign, you must acquire written confirmation from each subscriber. One way to do this is by providing a sign-up sheet where customers can write down their phone numbers to receive special offers. You ensure compliance while maintaining effective communication with your audience when you adhere to these guidelines.
4. Personalization should be a part of your strategy
SMS marketing stands out for its unique blend of mass marketing convenience and personalized, one-on-one communication. As texting continues to gain popularity, personalization has transitioned from a mere luxury to an absolute necessity. According to data, 72% of consumers exclusively engage with personalized messaging.
Leveraging features such as custom fields and segments is crucial to running a successful text marketing campaign. These tools ensure that each contact receives messages explicitly tailored to their preferences.
With the power of SMS marketing, businesses can send targeted content that resonates with their audience, fostering stronger connections and driving better results.
5. Consider using a brand-friendly shortcode
Using a 6-digit shortcode for text messaging can aid in growing your SMS list through mass SMS campaigns. Text marketing platforms can generate a shortcode and establish distinct keywords for participants to enter your campaign.
When selecting a keyword, aim for uniqueness that aligns with your brand while being easy to remember and type. To expand your SMS list, promote your shortcode and keyword across various channels, such as your website, social media profiles, email campaigns, and web forms.
Learn more about Shortcode definition and its benefits for businesses.
6. Make your program visible
Increasing consumer awareness of your text marketing program enhances the likelihood of their engagement. You will achieve this by promoting your keyword and contact details, including the registered local number or verified toll-free number, which is vital across various platforms accessible to your target audience.
These may include your website, social media channels, email campaigns, and posters.
To ensure maximum exposure for your new marketing channel, providing multiple avenues for people to learn about it is crucial. Here are some effective strategies:
- Website – Enhance your desktop website by adding our web form and incorporating a mobile sign-up feature into your mobile site. Visitors can effortlessly subscribe when accessing your site from any device.
- Social media – Create visually appealing images for posting or advertising on social media platforms. Captivate your audience with eye-catching visuals that effectively convey your message.
- Email marketing – If you’re utilizing email marketing, we recommend embedding the web form link in all your email communications. By doing so, your contacts can easily access and subscribe to your channel, regardless of whether they check their emails on their phone or computer.
7. Frequency of text
For most text campaigns, sending one message per week is recommended. Start with this frequency and experiment with different cadences once you have a substantial contact list to gather valuable data. If you deeply understand your target audience, you may take a calculated risk and start with a higher send frequency. However, be cautious to avoid becoming overly spammy. According to Upland data, there is a significant increase in unsubscribe rates when a brand exceeds the threshold of 10-15 messages per month.
Additionally, remember to consider the best times to send your campaigns. As a general guideline, aim for a timeframe between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM local time, as audiences are likelier to engage during mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Sundays typically have the lowest engagement rates, so unless you have a compelling and timely reason to send a message on a Sunday, it’s advisable to wait for a more opportune moment.
8. Keep your texts short, basic, and enjoyable
Texting is a less formal communication mode than phone or email conversations. However, it is vital to maintain a professional tone when interacting with subscribers and avoid using shorthand abbreviations to ensure clarity and professionalism.
Remember that SMS marketing platforms usually have a character limit of 160 per message. Therefore, crafting concise and valuable messages that respect the subscriber’s time and deliver the intended message efficiently is crucial.
9. Encourage people to opt-in
Building an SMS list requires an active opt-in process. Subscribers must actively opt-in to your text marketing campaign to ensure a high-quality and engaged list of contacts.
One way to do this is by offering incentives for signing up, like exclusive deals and discounts. Including this information in your call-to-action (CTA) can increase the likelihood of opting in.
Additionally, clearly outlining the expected type of content subscribers will receive and how often they will receive it can help set expectations and avoid any potential misunderstandings.
10. Timing
Timing is everything when it comes to SMS marketing. Sending messages at the right time can lower open rates and engagement, saving your efforts and resources. It’s best to send messages during business hours, as recipients are more likely to be available to read them.
Another critical aspect of timing is respecting the subscriber’s local time zone. Nothing is more frustrating than receiving a promotional message in the middle of the night. Ensure your SMS marketing platform allows you to schedule messages based on each contact’s local time zone, delivering them at an appropriate time.
Learn more about the best time to send marketing text messages.
11. Urgency
Create a sense of urgency to boost product sales. Infuse it into all your marketing campaigns, including your SMS program. Transform a simple marketing message into something that compels customers to take action by offering them limited-time value.
Achieve this by leveraging coupons, promotions, contests, and polls. Set a cap on the number of customers eligible for rewards. Additionally, provide sneak peeks of your upcoming products and services.
With these strategies, you can enhance the quality of your marketing content and effectively engage your audience.
12. Customers should be given value
Harness the power of text marketing to deliver real-time value. Take advantage of this immediacy by announcing flash sales or limited-time discounts on your products or services. This strategic approach boosts revenue quickly and enhances the overall client experience, ensuring satisfaction and delight.
Another way to deliver value is by providing exclusive content to subscribers, such as insider tips or behind-the-scenes access. It creates a sense of exclusivity and can boost customer loyalty.
13. Segmentation
Targeting is paramount in marketing and becomes even more crucial for your SMS marketing strategies. One of the critical advantages of SMS campaigns compared to other platforms is their personal touch. When customers read your text message, it doesn’t compete with other content and ads on their screens. Segmenting your text recipient list is essential to fully leverage this advantage, enabling more precise and effective targeting.
For instance, when sending a text campaign to announce the launch of a new store, segment your list based on location, such as a radius that reflects a reasonable customer travel distance. Other segmentation possibilities include prior purchases, loyalty club membership, inactive customers, lead sources, interests, and sales pipeline stages.
Segmenting your audience ensures that each message is impactful. It minimizes wasted spend, reduces opt-outs, and boosts critical metrics like opens, clicks, and purchases.
14. Include disclaimers
It is essential to comply with industry regulations to decrease the likelihood of carriers filtering or blocking SMS messages. Also, including a disclaimer in your messages can mitigate potential legal risks.
Disclaimers should be clear and concise, outlining the purpose of the message, how frequently subscribers will receive them, and how they can opt out at any time. They should also include a link to your terms and conditions and privacy policy.
15. Associate the appropriate keywords with your company
Creating easy ways for people to subscribe to your SMS marketing list is crucial for effective customer acquisition. It is essential to allocate specific keywords for individuals to text and subscribe to. When people text your shortcode, a unique five or six-digit number for your business, and the designated keyword, you can promptly respond with an automated and customizable message.
Marketers should view this as an exciting opportunity to connect with potential subscribers. It is advisable to use concise keywords, such as “CHAI” instead of “CHAITEA,” as they tend to be more effective. Additionally, you can have multiple keywords to cater to specific promotions and deals.
16. Always be Compliant
Guidelines in the industry may differ based on the destination country or state. Nonetheless, we suggest adhering to certain principles that transcend geographical boundaries and cater to your audience.
Ensure you know the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Mobile Marketing Association’s Guidelines, and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s Best Practices and Guidelines. Comply with these regulations by requiring express written consent from subscribers before sending promotional messages.
Some basic requirements for SMS marketing compliance include obtaining express written consent, providing opt-out instructions in each message, and honoring opt-out requests promptly. You must also maintain accurate records of permission and opt-outs to demonstrate compliance if needed.
Why Observe Good Practices when Doing SMS Marketing?
Observing good practices in SMS marketing is vital for a multitude of reasons. Primarily, it ensures the marketing method is efficient and engaging, leading to high open and conversion rates. SMS marketing has a staggering open rate of 98%, far superior to emails, making it a powerful tool in the marketer’s arsenal.
Adhering to best practices in SMS marketing also ensures compliance with set standards and regulations, reducing the risk of legal issues. It safeguards the business’s reputation and maintains a positive customer relationship, fostering trust. Finally, following good practices in SMS marketing allows for better targeting and personalization, leading to a more effective and personalized customer experience.
How Do the Best Practices of Text Marketing Help Create SMS Marketing Strategies?
Text marketing best practices create a framework for successful SMS strategies. They include critical elements like timing, frequency, personalization, and value. Adopting these practices increases customer engagement, conversion rates, and retention. SMS marketing instantly reaches customers with relevant info, improving brand visibility and loyalty.
Companies like Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks show the effectiveness of these practices through discount codes, loyalty programs, and personalized offers. Implementing SMS marketing best practices drives engagement and yields impressive results.
When should You use the best practices for SMS Marketing?
Utilizing the best practices to ensure success throughout your SMS marketing campaign is crucial. These practices play a vital role from the initial planning to the evaluation stage.
During the planning phase, they help construct a robust strategy prioritizing customer engagement and legal compliance. Adhering to these practices maintains professionalism and message effectiveness when executing the campaign, resulting in high engagement rates and low opt-outs.
Finally, during the evaluation process, these best practices provide a benchmark for success and identify areas for improvement. Remember, these practices are not mere guidelines but fundamental principles that should be incorporated throughout your entire SMS marketing campaign.
Do the Best Practices Prevent the Mistakes in SMS Marketing?
Yes. Implementing best practices is crucial in SMS marketing to avoid common mistakes. One such error is sending messages without obtaining explicit consent from recipients, which violates legal regulations and damages the company’s reputation. You can ensure you have the necessary permissions before initiating their SMS campaigns when you follow text marketing best practices.
Another frequent mistake is sending irrelevant or non-personalized messages, resulting in low engagement rates and increased opt-outs. Segmenting and personalizing marketing text messages based on the recipient’s preferences is essential to address this. This approach leads to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Timing is also critical in SMS marketing. Sending messages at inappropriate times can be intrusive and lead to customer dissatisfaction. Following best practices emphasizes scheduling messages when customers are most likely to be receptive.
Understanding and incorporating these practices into their campaigns will optimize their SMS marketing efforts, minimize oversights, and maximize the impact of their text messages.
What are the Laws About SMS Marketing?
The laws surrounding SMS marketing are designed to protect consumers from unsolicited messages and to ensure businesses conduct their text message marketing ethically and responsibly.
Here are some of the critical laws and regulations:
- Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) – Enacted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), TCPA regulates all types of telemarketing, including text message marketing. It requires businesses to obtain express written consent from individuals before sending promotional text messages.
- Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act – CAN-SPAM sets the rules for commercial emails and messages, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to opt-out, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
- Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) Guidelines – The MMA has established guidelines for businesses engaging in mobile marketing. These include obtaining explicit consent before sending marketing messages, identifying the sender, and providing a method for consumers to opt out.
- Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association’s (CTIA) Best Practices and Guidelines – CTIA provide a detailed guide on how to conduct ethical and compliant mobile marketing. It covers various topics, from consent and privacy to message content and delivery.
Why Need to Follow the Law About SMS Marketing?
Adherence to SMS marketing laws is a legal requirement and fundamental to ethical business practices. Non-compliance risks severe penalties, including hefty fines, legal ramifications, and damage to the company’s reputation. It can also lead to a loss of customer trust and, consequently, a decrease in business.
Moreover, compliance ensures respect for personal privacy, an essential aspect of customer rights. By following these laws, businesses demonstrate their commitment to conducting their operations ethically and responsibly. This commitment fosters a strong relationship with customers, enhancing loyalty and trust, critical elements for long-term success in the business world.
In the United States, several high-profile cases highlight the importance of following these laws. For instance, Papa John’s faced a $250 million class-action lawsuit for unsolicited text messages sent to customers. This incident underscores non-compliance with SMS marketing laws’ potential legal and financial implications.
Therefore, abiding by SMS marketing laws is essential for legal compliance and maintaining a positive relationship with customers, underscoring the importance of understanding and implementing these regulations in any SMS marketing strategy.
Does the Law of SMS Marketing Apply to Any Form of SMS Messaging?
Yes, the laws surrounding SMS marketing apply to any form of text message marketing, including promotional and non-promotional messages. Non-promotional messages include transactional texts, such as delivery updates or appointment reminders. These messages are not exempt from compliance with SMS marketing laws and must still adhere to consent requirements and other legal regulations. Non-compliance with text marketing laws will result in legal consequences. So, it is essential to understand and abide by the rules surrounding SMS marketing in all forms of text message communication with customers.