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SMS marketing: 5 easy text marketing examples to get you started

Last updated May 2023

Not sure how to get started with SMS marketing? Need some inspiration before you hit ‘send’ on your first SMS campaign? We’ve got you covered with five of the most common, helpful, and engaging ways to use SMS in your marketing campaigns.

What is SMS marketing?

Also called text message marketing, this is a strategy that uses a Short Message Service (aka SMS) to appeal to your audience. To accomplish this, brands typically use an SMS provider that allows them to send hundreds or thousands of text messages to their audience, all at once.

These messages may be promotional or transactional. Businesses can advertise and then automatically send SMS messages to their customers after they’ve made a purchase.

SMS marketing is similar to email marketing because you can directly reach your audience via their devices. It does play by a few different rules though. Text messages need to be shorter to be effective. Not only will a long text fail to capture the attention of your readers, but it can also cost you more money over the course of your campaign.

When done correctly, SMS marketing can be a powerful and cost-effective tool.

Want to give it a try?

Sign up for a free trial and explore messaging features in The Hub.

Whether you’re a retailer or a service-based business, these SMS marketing examples and ideas are a great addition to your toolkit.

1. Time your special deals for special days.

Everyone loves a bargain, right? Make your promotions or special deals pop by timing them to coincide with a special holiday, birthday, or significant event. 

If you’re considering running a special offer or campaign, try to time it in the lead-up to big shopping events like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Christmas. And, if you’ve got customers’ birthdays in your database, set up an automated message to go out on their birthday with a gift or special deal.

birthday sms spa discount

2. Create a sense of urgency.

By adding an end date to your offers, you’ll encourage more people to take action. If they know your deal ends in two days, they’ll be more inclined to ‘buy now’.

Don’t forget to include a clear call to action that links to the deal or product page. You need to make it easy for your customer to get from “Ooh, I want that” to “Sold”.

vip list free drink sms

3.  Use SMS marketing to find out what people think.

Capture customer feedback by sending a simple SMS that asks people to rate your product or service. Using text messages for collecting feedback will boost your response rates – it’s a lot easier for people to answer a quick text message than an email. 

Keep your questions simple and concise. For example, a ‘Y’ or ‘N’ answer, or a rating from 1 to 10. And, to say thanks to those who respond, why not give them a special treat?

customer service feedback sms

4. Provide helpful reminders and updates.

Text message marketing isn’t all about sales. Make life easy for busy people by sending helpful reminders and updates. For example, a timely text message to confirm an appointment. A quick update on a customer’s account information. An alert about an overdue bill. Or perhaps a change to a scheduled delivery.

Whatever message you need to get across, remember to keep it short, sweet, and helpful.

appointment reminder for optometrist

5. Forge stronger relationships with your customers.

While promotions and reminders are great ways to engage with your customers, you can also use SMS marketing to touch base with people one-on-one. Find ways to personalize your messages based on customer preferences or past shopping behaviors to show your willingness to go the extra mile.

dentist check up reminder sms

Grab 30 SMS templates for marketing, sales, and customer success.

If you use HubSpot and MessageMedia, start building out your cross-channel workflows with these tips and templates.

Tips for following SMS marketing best practices.

Just as you would with other platforms, like social media or email, there are some best practices to follow when it comes to SMS marketing. These not only help reduce the cost of your marketing but also how effective it will be with your audience. Here are our favorite tips:

  • Keep text messages short and simple.
  • Identify your brand and the purpose of your message to avoid being flagged as spam.
  • Don’t send too many texts too close together.
  • Pay close attention to the tone of your message so that it doesn’t get misinterpreted.
  • Respond to customers ASAP to maintain their attention and loyalty.
  • Make sure your info is factual and correct.

Want more SMS marketing inspiration?

We’ve got loads of SMS templates ready to go – all you need to do is copy our messages and add your details. Play with them and see what works for you and your customers.

Take our SMS platform for a spin.

Get a free trial to start exploring messaging features.

FAQs.

Short message service (SMS) is a protocol for sending text messages from one cell phone to another.

If you’re a business, you can use SMS to communicate with your audience. By sending text messages to your customers’ phone, you can get important information across and promote products and services quickly and easily.

SMS marketing can be divided into a few types. These may be:

  • Promotional: sending text messages to customers to inform them of special deals or new products and services.
  • Transactional: messages to customers with updates about their order.
  • Customer feedback: find out what customers really think about your brand.
  • Reminders: let customers know their appointment or booking is coming up.

An SMS campaign is a marketing strategy utilizing text messaging.

This may involve sending promotional reminders about new deals, asking for customer feedback, or giving discount codes as part of a loyalty program.

Creating an SMS marketing campaign is easy. Get started with these first steps:

  • Consider the type of SMS marketing campaign you need. What are the promotions you would like to share with your audience? How often would you like to send messages to customers?
  • Explore SMS providers. By using an SMS platform like MessageMedia, you’ll be able to schedule when they send, auto-reply, and personalize your messages.
  • Craft engaging messages. Consider the length of these because longer texts cost more. Luckily, less is more when it comes to SMS.
  • Use reporting to see what’s working and what’s not working. Then improve with each campaign you send.

Just like social media or email, SMS marketing is a form of digital marketing. In fact, digital marketing includes any kind of marketing performed over electronic devices.

SMS messages have an open rate of 98%. This makes them a great opportunity, especially compared to e-mail.

Since SMS messages are shorter and can’t convey as much info, if you’re a marketer you’ll need to consider your larger strategy in reaching your audience.

For example, you might use shortened links to allow customers to read more information after opening an SMS message. You might also use SMS messages alongside other marketing channels.

You can send promotional business SMS to those who have opted in to receive them. You’ll also need to make sure they can opt out when they want to.

Learn about opt-in and opt-out rules.