Consumers like staying in touch with their favorite brands - 48% of consumers actually want to communicate with companies via text, and that percentage increases to 74% when a real person is texting them back.  Now more than ever, marketers need to have an SMS strategy. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our recent blog on the top 3 SMS trends for 2022 that you don’t want to miss. Comprehensive and effective SMS strategies plan for the variety of opportunities across the customer lifecycle to create magic, connection, and loyalty. However, to create impactful moments, you need to be intentional.

Today we’re sharing the next installment of our monthly series featuring the Do’s and Don’ts of Text Message Marketing. 

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The Do: An Exercise Equipment Company Scheduling a Customer Delivery

This exercise equipment company does a great job with messages that are…

1. Relevant: Your customers only want to hear from you when the content matters to them. Cutting out the noise and getting to the point quickly grabs their attention and saves time - both of which are very important in creating trust between company and customer.
2. Helpful: Texts that offer customers the flexibility to follow up on their own time, rather than forcing them to contact customer service, allow customers the ability to personalize their experience to their needs and timeline. Rather than forcing your customers to cater to your needs, cater to theirs. Help your customers help you!
3. Friendly: Greeting a new user with a delightful message is a great way to introduce them to your company and help them feel excited about getting started. Adding a simple welcome to your message creates a sense of connection that many businesses forget to add.

The Don’t: A Spa Confirming an Appointment 

This spa could improve by sending texts that are…

1. Appropriate in length: Text is a great way to communicate time-sensitive updates and information but it is not a good medium for lengthy essays worth of details. Best practice is to send texts that can easily be read on ⅓ of a screen. Texts where you need to scroll to be able to read the whole message are far too long and should be shortened. Instead you can put the information on a landing page and use text to send the link or deliver it via email.
2. Spelling and format checked: It’s best to always have someone proofread your texts for spelling and grammar and also send test texts to make sure everything is delivered how you intended. In this example the emoji is not coming through and the text ends in the character “J” instead. They would have caught this had they done appropriate testing.
3. Supportive of questions: If you’re sharing detailed information via text that someone may have a question about, it’s best practice to offer a phone number or email address to reach out through, or end the text with “text back if you have any questions”. Enabling an easy way to ask questions leads to the highest chance of customer success and loyalty. 

Have you received a good or bad text from a company that you think we should feature next month? Text us your example at (617) 553-6631!