SMS Engagement: Send Texts People Actually Want

Texting is one the most powerful channels for connecting with customers and growing your brand—if you give customers what they want, and avoid what they don’t.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Get Contacts to Opt In

Send the kinds of messages people want you to send.

Opt-ins are great for two reasons:

Mobile carriers love to see that contacts intentionally opted into communications
These contacts are telling you exactly what they’re interested in, which takes out the guesswork for you

For example, say you have “Text or call us at [number] to schedule your service” on your website. Then you know customers who text you at that number are interested in scheduling. Text them back to book, and text them down the road when they should schedule their next service.

Or you might use Keywords to have contacts opt into messages about different topics, like:

INFO for alerts and updates
WIN for contests and ticketing
DEAL for discounts and promotions

The main takeaway here is to set expectations. Enable contacts to tell you what they’re interested in, and then send them those kinds of messages.

2. What to Include

Tailor messages to feel personal, casual, and clear.

People do want occasional mass alerts, like for breaking news, inclement weather, or changes to their account. More often, though, they want messages that feel unique to them, even if you’re sending the same thing to everyone.

To create that experience:

Use custom merge messaging to include their name and other unique details
Keep messages short and sweet, like two professional peers texting each other
Let some of your personality—or your brand’s—shine through
Use an emoji, casual terms, or an exclamation point, for instance, if it makes sense
Add an image or graphic to help get your point across

People view texting as a fairly personal medium, so just be sure your messages are on topic and aren’t stuffy.

3. What to Avoid

Make carriers and customers happier by leaving these out.

Making customers happy—and increasing engagement—is straightforward. Keep your messages on topic, don’t send so frequently that you annoy them (weekly or less is usually fine), and respond quickly when someone texts you.

Carriers are a bit trickier to make happy, but paying attention to them also increases customer engagement, so it’s win-win. A few things to avoid: