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Effective SMS text messaging imbues personality with efficiency. It isn’t enough to simply ‘send out a message’ anymore. In fact, massive strives have been made to assure customized, personality-rich texts in SMS text campaigns. Text message campaigns have overtaken text email campaigns, and for good reason: they work.

Check out the following tips for creating immersive, engaging SMS text messages. Before hopping into an SMS text marketing campaign, you should always know your audience. Once you’ve effectively targeted your consumers, do the following to create a compelling text environment:

Tip One: Keep it Clean

Concise information is good information. According to Statisticbrain.com, 129.8 million are text-enabled mobile users. Across such a wide base, quickness is key. Clean SMS text programs offer relevant information. They cut the fluff, engaging consumers with immediate facts and opportunities. If too many letters are packed into a text message, readers will skim. Even worse: They may disregard the message.

"Eye efficiency" can be garnered through limiting total words. Follow these rules to slim down your messages:

• Limit lines to 50 characters.
• Apply breaks when possible.
• Limit typographic devices, like asterisks.
• Limit paragraphs to four lines.

Tip Two: Avoid Text-Speak

‘Text-speak’ is rampant today. Informal words, abbreviations and punctuation faces, while useful for brevity, have no place in your SMS text campaign. Misspellings, such as ‘c u later’ and ‘gr8’ should be avoided at all costs. While such slang is used by modern mobile owners, its use is sporadic. You’re more likely to seem pushy, rather than fit in to your marketing segment.

Text-speak looks sloppy, regardless of its relevancy to day-to-day life. While you may be limited to 160 characters per message, it isn’t worth it to butcher entire words. Crafting entire sentences creates an air of assuredness, and grammatically correct messages will always dominate text-speak. Remember to proofread, and to make sure words aren’t auto-corrected to text-speak alternatives.

Tip Three: Utilize a Call to Action

Right now, approximately 30 percent of consumers interact with a brand through text messaging services. Calls to action, prompts and representative services have a place within SMS text campaigns, and they should be utilized. Whether you’re trying to persuade a consumer to buy, spread the word or return, a call of action is your best tool.

Consumers should feel comfortable with post-message action follow-up. Your campaign should be informational, and each text should end on a positive note. Always include informative links, indicating service, product and brand information. Spreading information, in most cases, requires a prompt. Give consumers the tools needed to spread knowledge to their friends.

Tip Four: Tailor Messages to Events

A little creativity goes a long way. Holiday, birthday and retailer events should be reflected in your messages. ‘Timely’ messages are far more organic than mechanical nods to product marketing. Even if your grammar is correct, your texts will still sound dry if they’re not grounded in the external world.

If you’re utilizing an SMS text message to get the point across, you’ll need to adhere to the channel’s rules. SMS text messaging should be more personal than email marketing. The service is made for one-on-one quick conversations, and it needs to be used in such a format.

Tip Five: Add Promotional Offers

Every promotional text should anchor your surrounding campaign. While technically outside the realm of writing an SMS text message, promotional offer inclusion is still vital to any text message. They’re also supported by the following statistics:

• 90 percent of enrolled SMS consumers feel they’ve gained value from it.
• SMS-based coupons are 10 times more likely to be redeemed than email coupons.
• 70 percent of consumers state they’d like to receive mobile-based offers.

Of course, promotional offers should flow correctly. Your SMS text message can’t abruptly cut away to a sharp prompt to save 70 percent. Keep any hyperlinks at the message’s end, but tie them to the message’s relevancy. Expand upon slow sales periods, and feature day-to-day merchandise in a new way. If you need walk-in traffic, make on-location coupons a priority.

Tip Six: Stay on Target

When messaging your consumer, remind them they’re in an opt-in relationship. If they’ve texted ‘YES’ to text services at some point, they’ve engaged your brand hoping for special offers. Any recipients on such a list should have personalized lead-in lines, such as, “Hello, so-and-so, you’ve opted in for our text services.”

No one likes being forgotten. When possible, personalize texts as much as possible. While your text campaign, alone, will engage consumers with personalized text, they can still utilize surrounding marketing mechanics to amplify results. Never sound indifferent, and always include a personal signature when possible. Supporter response time will skyrocket, increasing both feedback and widespread support. SMS text message campaigns, in essence, are refined consumer relationships. As your company grows, so do its ties to buyers.

For more tips on how you can improve your mobile communications, download the complimentary Mobile Marketing Success Kit.

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