SMS marketing ideas and how to get started

Ready to use SMS marketing but not sure where to start?

SMS marketing is a type of digital marketing that communicates promotions, sales, coupons, confirmations, news and other updates to your potential and existing customers (who've opted in) through text messages on their mobile devices.

We've put this article together to help with some ideas for how you can use SMS marketing. And, details for how to get started with the DailyStory SMS platform.

Unbelievable customer reach

SMS still delivers the highest open rate of any marketing channel at about 98 percent, and about 84 percent of consumers are now opted in to receive texts from at least one business. Americans check their phones constantly throughout the day, which is exactly why text cuts through in a way that email and social media often can't.

Check out our in-depth guide and overview of SMS marketing.

Below are several creative ideas to help you leverage your SMS marketing to grow your reach, increase your conversion rates and build trusting relationships with customers.

Send a welcome text to new subscribers

When consumers first sign up for SMS notifications from your brand, this is an opportunity to send them a welcome message that should include some sort of call-to-action.

Be sure and communicate what to expect

You'll want to briefly explain why the customers should continue subscribing to your notifications and what they can expect. Those reasons depend on your SMS marketing strategy, but they could include receiving exclusive discounts, sales alerts and other updates.

And include how often

Don't forget to include how often they should expect to hear from you.

And, of course, you can include a special discount with your welcome message to encourage a purchase.

• Welcome Example
• Hi Amy, thanks for signing up for our text message notifications. We send 3-4 messages per month. At any time you can reply HELP for more information or STOP to opt-out.
• You can also reply back if you have any questions.

Beginning of the conversation

Just remember that your welcome text message is only the beginning of your texting relationship. Keep your message concise. You'll always have the ability to build on what you say in your welcome text with future texts.

Send an SMS for subscriber-only flash sales

Exclusivity is important in your SMS text message marketing strategy. Sending exclusive deals to your subscribers is an effective way to make a purchase happen.

Embed a link to your store

Depending on the nature of your business, you could include a link with your offer or require the recipient to show the text in the store when checking out.

Be careful with embedded links. Overuse can get you flagged for a carrier violation.

Create a little FOMO

Just make sure that you limit the time available to act on the sale so that you're compelling your subscribers with FOMO to act sooner rather than later. The idea of a flash sale is that it's only around for a limited time.

• Cyber Monday Example
• Hi Tim, Cyber Monday at Some Store starts tomorrow! We're offering a 24 hour discount using code CYBER2026 https://txts4.me.

Don't just wait for major sales days

In addition, you'll want to offer exclusive flash sales regularly so that SMS subscribers have a reason to stay subscribed but also not so frequent that they begin to get ignored. Most businesses find two to four texts per month works well as a starting benchmark.

If you don't text your contacts frequently enough, you'll need to warm up your sending numbers again.

Promote exclusive content and updates

Have popular blogs, guides, tips or other resources that would educate your SMS subscribers? Sharing that content shows that your brand is an industry thought leader that can be trusted. It also breaks up your more sales-related messages.

Establish a cadence for your messages

Weekly or monthly tips in particular are a simple way to regularly share your expertise.

Consider email marketing too, it may be a better channel for content marketing updates.

Cross-promote through other channels

By cross-promoting your valuable content through SMS text messages, you can boost your website traffic and click-through rates.

This is a great opportunity to repurpose evergreen content that can benefit your audience at any time.

Use SMS for cart abandonment offers

It's very common for online shoppers to abandon their shopping carts before completing their order due to a vast array of distractions.

The average cart abandonment rate has held remarkably steady at around 70 percent for years, according to Baymard Institute's ongoing analysis.

With a 98% read rate, a text message will get their attention

So, one idea is to leverage text messages to capture these abandoned carts and encourage more completed orders.

• Cart Abandonment SMS Example
• Hi Amy, it's Joe from Some Brand. It looks like you left something in your cart! Use code SAVE15 for 15% off today only.

Include a branded URL

If you're set up for customers to browse your website while being logged in, you can track their behavior and have a text message sent to remind them to complete their order.

If you can, include a branded URL to their shopping cart so that the process is that much easier.

A branded URL helps customers understand who the message is from.

Running giveaways

Giveaways (which include sweepstakes and contests, depending on how you set them up and manage them) can help boost engagement and grow your SMS subscriber database.

Consider using a branded keyword

To promote, consider directing contacts to a landing page or replying with a keyword through text. You also could announce the giveaway on your social media channels or website that aims to collect mobile phone numbers to enter.

• Giveaway Example
• Hi Courtney, at Some Store we're running an exclusive giveaway for a $100 gift card. Just text back SUMMERSALE to sign up.

Again, the setup entirely depends on your goals for your giveaway. Just make sure that whatever giveaway you're launching is legally sound.

Use this as a follow up opportunity

After your giveaway, it's a best practice to follow up with those who didn't win. Perhaps there's some sort of consolation prize (such as a discount) that you can offer so that no one walks away empty-handed.

Event promotion

Got an event coming up? Whether the event is a conference or product launch, another idea is to use your SMS text messaging to build up an audience or even count down the days until your event.

• Event Promotion Example
• Hi Ali, just a reminder that the show is performing on the 28th in Dallas, TX. You can buy your exclusive member tickets here https://txts4.me.

Text messages can share key details about your event. Just make sure that every piece of information you share is valuable to recipients. If you're texting too much about details that they don't care about, you risk losing subscribers.

Follow-up after a shopping experience

It's one thing to send a thank-you text message after a customer purchases from you. It's even better if you can sweeten the message with a discount or another offer that he or she can use next time.

Use an automation to handle responses

Using an automation you can text a message after a store visit and depending on the response send a different follow-up. For example, requesting a Google Business Profile review if the feedback is positive.

• Follow-up Example
• Hi Jim, thanks for your recent purchase. How would you rate your experience 1 (bad) to 5 (awesome).

And, if a positive review came back:

• Follow-up Example
• 5
• Wow! Thank you, would you consider leaving us a review?

Or, if a negative review came back:

• Follow-up Example
• 2
• Sorry we disappointed you, Jim. Can I follow up to learn more about how we can do better?

How to get started with SMS marketing

DailyStory is a marketing platform and SMS marketing is one of our core features. Getting started with SMS marketing is simple:

• Sign up for a free DailyStory account
• It includes up to 50 text message credits
• Follow our recommendations in warming up your sending number
• Then schedule your first text.

Once you're up and running, check out 9 do's and don'ts of SMS text message marketing and how to measure the success of your SMS marketing campaign to keep improving from there.

Questions? We can help.