According to the Pew Research Center, the number of sent texts grows each year – an average of 41.5 a day in 2011, up to 60 a day in 2012 and nearly 70 in 2013 – the majority of them from the 18-24 age group.

Similar studies show that this group sends 2,022 a month and receives 1,831 – 10 times as many as the adults. Teens are also prolific texters, sometimes in the 100-plus range. It’s clear that the ideal audience for sales opportunities via SMS message skews younger. At the same time, smart marketers should connect with other age groups who communicate via text – even if they’re a little low on the quantity.

But the real question is what to say and how to make your message stand out from all the other messages – especially if the average user may take only a few seconds to decide if they want more info or to move on.

Here are some easy suggestions.

1. Personally invite them. This may require users to have already signed up for more information/offers from company, which can take the form of everything from a simple registration to taking a fun social media survey. But once you have someone's contact info, you can at least include their name in the subject line or target their demographic to make them aware of certain products. Or, as Mindy Weinstein tells SearchEngine Journal, campaigns like the “Share a Coke” program with random names on cans show that you don’t even have to contact customers individually to get them buying.
2. Offer to improve. “How this makes your life better” seems like Marketing 101, but Weinstein said potential customers still need to be told this, even in a short text.
3. Make it sincere. Younger audiences can detect when someone tries to talk down to them for the sake of selling something, such as using older, outdated slang.
4. Make it about them. Lucule’s Debra Kaye, a contributor to Entrepreneur, suggests appealing to vanity, something especially important to millennials. Instead of talking about a product’s durability or functionality, describe how cool “you” will become if the user gives it a try.
5. Forget one size fits all. Kaye said millennials want to see diverse audiences – whether you’re selling watches or computers, show different sizes, races, genders and body types.
6. Apply ‘famous’ cred. Using a particular product that a celebrity also uses can draw interest. Dan Kennedy and Chip Kessler, also writing for Entrepreneur, says this approach works for older and younger audiences.
7. Publication. The pair also suggests that older audiences can give a product spokesperson more credibility if they’ve written some kind of book.
8. Minimal words. Don’t count on informative, lengthy paragraphs to get your point across. Once they’re hooked they can read more, but not in the initial lure.
9. Include links. It won’t do good to get people excited about something and not make it easy to get there. Close with a direct link to a site or a landing page for customers from this campaign.
10. Make your links short. Use tinyurl or bitly to make your links a few characters long. This takes up less space on your text message, and more room for your message.
11. Use numbers when possible. Treat your SMS ad like a blog post or a news story and find a way to work a numeral in, especially the headline.
12. Include a time limit. Have a time period until that particular promotion expires – a week? a day? Motivate people to move faster so they won’t miss out.
13. Include the opportunity to continue the relationship. Even if someone isn’t interested in one product or service, they may want to learn about other offers, share, or give you feedback.
14. Make “clicking for more” a logical step. Everyone else wants to learn ways to save time and money. Why not you?
15. Use short words. “Easy,” “fun,” “smart” and “happy” save space and can be understood by more users vs. more complex terms.

Overall, the ideal text message can use time elements, a bit of customizable flattery, and not pushing much through the whole piece, until you wrap up with a strong, final push on your call to action.

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