90% of users read SMS messages within 3 minutes of receiving them. An SMS mail-out is a rather old, but still effective tool for communication with a client. If you set up an SMS advertising campaign right, taking into account not only the clients’ gender, age, and purchasing history, but also their current location you can achieve conversion rates of 10% or more.

It would seem that creating an SMS mail-out is simple; write a text, add contacts for feedback, and send messages to all the contacts in the database. However, an effective SMS mail-out that might maximise conversion rates requires special attention. Here are 5 life hacks for successful SMS mail-outs:

1 Make them targeted

To target your SMS mail-out, divide the database into groups and send offers only to customers who might reasonably be expected to be interested. By doing this, you can avoid disturbing other customers with irrelevant messages.

Divide the database by:

  • gender,
  • age,
  • preferences,
  • purchase history,
  • other criteria.

Here is an example of how not to write an SMS message. It has been sent to all the subscribers in the database:

“Promotion! 25% discount on implants from the ToothDental clinic! Call 44 555-55-55 for details”

Sending SMS messages with an offer this like requires careful targeting, taking into account the client’s age and history. Obviously, there are only a few clients who may be interested in dental implants. For most people, either with healthy teeth, or only a few fillings, this information is useless. As a result, you may simply annoy the audience with unnecessary information and waste money notifying customers who will not be interested in your offer.

2 Add a call to action to your SMS mail-out

The SMS message should contain a clear call to action, helping the client to make use of the information they have received.

Create SMS mail-outs setting out the target action:

  • leave a phone number to receive calls,
  • leave a link to the website if you want to generate traffic,
  • leave the address and telephone number of a particular store if you want to encourage footfall to it, as well as special purchase conditions that will encourage the customer to go there.

“Get your free manicure and pedicure at Orpheus Beauty Salon during July! Phone +44 555-22-00 to Make an appointment ”

3 Don’t get carried away with upper case

There is no way to change the colour or style of the font in SMS messages, so capital letters are the only way to highlight words. Try to add one or two words in capital letters to attract the attention of the recipient, but don’t write the whole text message in this manner. An overabundance of capital letters is hard on the eyes. What’s more, it looks like you’re shouting and it completely the purpose, which is to stand out from the lowercase and attract attention.

“TOTAL sale! 25% for the entire spring collection at Cosmetic Paradise! Hurry up! Tel. +44 455-33-22”

4 Say your name

If you are making an SMS mail-out using a customer database, don’t forget to indicate a sender ID, like your company name at the beginning of the message, because this can attract attention and strengthen what you have to say. Using a sender ID in the SMS mail-out increases conversion rates, makes the message more individual and means that the client always knows who you are and is more likely to open and read your mailings.

5 Write short but sharp

Sophisticated wording, long texts, or oversaturating your SMS message with details makes them difficult to understand.

Here’s an example of how you shouldn’t write SMS messages:

“July 10 – 19, Everything for the House on Bridge Street is offering a 20% discount on your second purchase of the day. Categories; Flowers & Curtains”

An SMS mail-out with an abundance of information hinders your main message. At best, text messages like this can be left for later re-reading, at worst, they are just deleted.

And the main trick is to choose a reliable SMS provider. SMS services from Intis Telecommunication offer certified distribution channels, automatic API distribution, and an SMS gateway.