16 SMS marketing best practices for better conversion rate 

Do you know that 67% of companies use text messaging for communication and marketing? 

You are leveraging the SMS marketing strategy because, somewhere, the conversion rates are higher comparatively, and it is the best marketing strategy that yields results. 

SMS is short marketing messages that help organizations reach their target prospects more successfully and increase engagement. 

Here, we have described sixteen SMS marketing best practices that are explained in this blog. You should follow them to achieve higher conversion rates in the future.      

16 SMS marketing best practices 

Your SMS marketing campaigns can bring you crazy engagement by implementing these best practices: 

1) Obtain explicit consent 

In SMS messages, we have clear and explicit consent from users before sending them. 

Some SMS opt-in best practices to implement are: 

• Express written consent: Before sending promotional messages, obtain permission from recipients through online forms or written agreements. 
• Provide a clear opt-out option: In every message, allow recipients to click on the unsubscribe link if they are willing to help build a better organization’s reputation. 
• Store consent records: Keep up-to-date records of all opt-ins and opt-out requests. This helps you create a list of customers for sending SMS messages. 
• Clearly state the purpose and frequency: By including terms and conditions (T&C), privacy policy, and more, you can easily state the frequency of the messages and the purpose behind the texts.   

2) Build a strong subscriber list  

The subscriber list is curated so that your messages reach customers, which will increase opening rates. 

Here are some of the text marketing tips you should know for creating an ideal subscriber list for your SMS campaigns:  

• Send a signup form for SMS email campaigns  
• Promote your SMS campaign through email & social media to the various subscribers 
• Invite people to join in social media 
• Include invite in pop-up ads 
• Ask customers to join at checkout 
• Give your email list an opt-in option to the SMS updates   

3) Segment audiences for better targeting 

Segmenting the audience list effectively targets and increases engagement in SMS marketing campaigns.     

Here is how you should segment your prospect list for successful SMS marketing campaigns:  

• Demographic segmentation: This SMS segmentation is based on the age, gender, and location of the subscribers.  
• Behavioral segmentation: Here, you categorize the audiences based on their purchase history, engagement levels, and browsing behavior.  
• Psychographic segmentation: SMS marketing messages can be sent based on behavioral patterns, such as customers’ aligned interests, preferences, and lifestyles.  
• Transactional segmentation: You can segment the audiences and send them SMS based on their recent purchases, habits, and purchase frequency.  
• Engagement segmentation: Interested subscribers can check on engagement, click rates, and subscription rates.  
• Customer journey stage: You can send the SMS based on the journey stages, such as new subscribers, active customers, and lapsed customers.  
• Event-based segmentation: If you have information about your customers or their special occasions, such as birthdays, social events, milestones, and more, then sending the offers through SMS creates a better impression.  

4) Make your content with RVU (Relevant, Valuable, Unique) 

Even if it is a sales SMS, the content should be engaging.  

There are three parameters on which the SMS message content should be on-point:  

• Relevancy 

Like any other social media or marketing channel, sending relevant content is better for targeting and reaching customers.  

You can create customer segments differently, as we discussed above.   

Give prospects options for products/services according to their interests. You can provide all the information to encourage leads to buy.  

• Value for the readers 

Consider your SMS subscribers like VIPs. Your subscribers give you their phone numbers to reach them directly anytime.  

Giving early access, special deals, or alerts about product/service launches can effectively make your SMS more valuable. 

Here is how [Add name] showing us the best way to do this through best practices SMS marketing example:   

• Uniqueness  

Always keep the SMS short, concise, and on-point. You can add an exclusive purchase mention that they should consider buying, such as a book or anything else. 

Though you should not send much information, it’s better to use a longer medium, such as email marketing.

5) Personalize your message as per customer 

SMS campaigns are unique because they combine the ease of mass marketing with the best feel of one-on-one communication. Personalization here requires a tactic different from email. 

Email can be formal but with personalized messages, whereas SMS needs a more conversational tone of messaging. It needs dynamic content based on the user’s actions, offering exclusive deals and updates, etc.  

80% of consumers buy from a company that offers a tailored experience. You can also segment the audience and take advantage of the personalization. 

For the personalization in the customer’s text, you can incorporate the following criteria: 

• Products ordered 
• Last order date 
• Demographic data 
• Subscribers status 
• Quiz or survey responses  

6) Show off your brand 

When people don’t know from whom they are getting the text, they will least care to click on the link. Mentioning your company or organization is also part of SMS compliance.  

The ways to mention your brand are:  

• Put an organizational prefix or business name at the beginning of the text.  
• Insert the company information link people can click on to get more information for brand recognition.  

To make it easier for recipients, send a virtual contact card, which allows them to recognize you and your company effectively.  

7) Provide exclusive offers 

By providing an exclusive offer in your SMS marketing campaign, you can effectively drive engagement, loyalty, and conversions. It is also one way to increase the subscriber list.  

Here are some ways to provide exclusive offers that resonate with your audience: by creating a sense of urgency, personalizing the offers, exclusive access, incentive actions, etc. 

8) Always include a link as a CTA 

SMS is a direct communicator that drives a good opening and conversion rate. 

Include a link in your messages to make it easier for interested recipients to reach your site. Without the link, the message might become unclear for prospects. 

However, there are certain effective ways that you should follow for putting links in your SMS campaigns:  

• Do not place the link at the beginning  
• Only include one link as a CTA  
• Make them know in the message where the CTA link is going to land    

9) Watch your language 

Effective language use is crucial in SMS marketing to ensure the messaging is clear, engaging, and manageable for the recipients.  

Here are some best practices in SMS marketing to know how to create an engaging message:  

10) Include multimedia in your text message 

The multimedia messaging service can significantly enhance engagement and make your campaigns more dynamic & effective.  

The best way to use multimedia in SMS marketing is to include clickable links to short videos, voice clips, and other content to make the message more engaging for the audience.   

11) Send texts during regular hours 

You can send text messages during normal business hours, depending on the campaign type, industry, etc. 

It is essential to be courteous to the subscribers during SMS marketing efforts. For example, don’t send text message notifications at night, as they won’t enjoy it. 

Also, from an engagement perspective, people will be less likely to act with such a marketing method to send messages from 9 am to 8 pm. One of the many benefits is immediate action from your subscribers. People are unlikely to act in off hours with them during regular hours.    

12) Be consistent with messaging frequency 

One of the best practices for SMS marketing is to be consistent with the messaging frequency.  

You are willing to avoid spamming the customers with bundles of text messages. However, sending few or too many messages will seem out of the blue and potentially unwelcoming. 

Consumers respond well to consistent information through a good social media strategy, and successful text campaigns also maintain a consistent and regular schedule.  

The schedule must vary with the type of business you work for. For instance, if you are an e-commerce salesperson, frequent texts of more than six are necessary when a sale is coming up.

Amazon promotes sales and discounts whenever necessary by sending bulk messages.  

13) Invest in smart texting software 

SMS marketing software has many benefits, like boosting customer engagement through higher open rates, enhanced targeting through advanced segmentation and personalization, and more. 

These integrations can help with personalized, seamless data categorization, providing a unified marketing strategy. Data analytics and two-way communication features can also help track SMS marketing performance. 

All these features are available in Salesmate CRM, a powerful SMS text campaign that allows you to send personalized texts to all contacts with a few clicks. 

Want to automate your SMS campaigns?

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14) Stay compliant 

Laws based on the business’s geographical location specify the dos and don’ts of SMS marketing. Know that almost 42.04% of consumers prefer receiving four to six messages monthly.  

Spamming can lead to a breach of laws based on the geographical location. Some are other SMS marketing regulations, such as:  

• Don’t include SHAFT and prohibited content as per the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.  
• Never send an SMS before 9 am and after 8 pm as they are not the appropriate time to receive messages.          

15) Monitor and analyze performance 

Monitor your performance, which improves the SMS marketing campaigns for engagement rates above 80%.  

Always check the open rate, click-on rates, and other metrics to determine what works with the audience.    

Must read: 10 best SMS marketing platforms in 2024

16) Respond promptly to replies

Timely responses to customer replies/inquiries are crucial in SMS marketing for building meaningful connections of prospects with the company. 

Prospects can show that you have value-driven engagement and effectiveness in the campaign with responses/inquiries.  

Here are a few ways to promptly respond:  

• Set up automated responses  
• Prioritize customer queries  
• Use chatbots for common questions  
• Set response time goals  
• Personalize responses  
• Analyze response data   

Also read: The ultimate step-by-step SMS marketing guide you need

How does Salesmate – A text messaging CRM, drive business opportunities?

Every business needs a CRM, and Salesmate is the one for you.  

It is one of the best SMS marketing platforms for sales campaigns and others. Here is how you can send and receive SMS responses within the tool:  

Let’s look through its unique features: 

• Text templates: Customize the SMS text template for every segment of prospects to whom you plan to send messages.   
• Contact management: Manage your contacts in your CRM for better & instant engagement with your customers without any hassles.  
• Chatbots: Chat one-on-one with the visitors through chatbots to always take advantage of all sales opportunities.   
• Send personalized texts: Create & send a personalized text within a few clicks for better SMS marketing campaigns.  
• Text sequences: Schedule and send messages to the subscriber list at the correct time using text sequences to encourage customers.  
• Reports: Get insights into every SMS marketing campaign through reports to measure and analyze your campaigns for effective changes in the future and create better text campaigns for your business. 
• BigCommerce integration: This integration will help bring customer, order, and store data right into CRM from the store and give a bird’ s-eye view of sales progress. 

Salesmate, an all-in-one CRM, can offer you the best automation in the business. 

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Wrapping it up! 

You can skyrocket your customer engagement and business through SMS marketing best practices.  

As mentioned, consider audience segmentation, CTA link, branding your business, and more for successful text marketing and a noticeable increase in sales. 

The best SMS marketing platform is Salesmate, which will handle all the automation-related nuances. It is a perfect tool for creating a powerful text campaign for your business. 

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