Millions of people now do something all the time that they never thought they’d do ten years ago—click on a text message they receive on their smartphone from a brand or business. How did we get here? And why is this this potentially a great marketing channel for your small business? Let’s take a look at what SMS is, we’ll share some rock-solid tips for success, and talk about why getting in the SMS marketing game is so important.

These messages, called SMS (short message service) are a form of opt-in marketing that require customers to subscribe. Customers can opt into receiving SMS texts when visiting your website or engaging with your social posts. Once they opt-in, you can send an SMS message that confirms their agreement to receive messages from your business with a simple ‘Yes or No.’ This is not only a courteous thing to do, but it also helps protect you in writing against any potential spam laws.

The best thing about SMS marketing is it’s the perfect vehicle for presenting personalized promotions or discounts to your products or services, especially when combined with your retargeting efforts. An SMS message could be the impeccably timed arrival on someone’s phone after they’ve just searched for a product online that your business offers. And when that product is combined with a limited-time discount or promotion, the temptation to click through can be irresistible.

In the past three years, more than half of U.S. retailers planned to increase their investment in digital marketing, primarily messaging and SMS, and for good reason. It works!

Who dis? - Make sure you identify who you are. Customers probably don’t your business phone number stored in their contacts, so having your business name in the message is important.

Timing is everything - Choosing the right time to send an SMS message is critical. For obvious reasons, don’t send your message at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. If the person had a few too many IPAs the night before, they may put your business on blast! Send your messages via time zone, rather than to your whole contact list at the same time to avoid this scenario.

You’ve got character(s)…but only 160 of them – You’ve gotta know exactly what you want to say or promote because you’ll need to keep it under 160 characters—and trust us, that is not a lot of real estate! Check out these SMS samples below for an example of how long 160 characters is:

You’re eligible to earn a $25 gift card! Visit the [business name] webpage and learn how to refer friends. business.com/rewards

Save 30% on beautiful Mom’s Day flower bouquets today only! Sale at business.com/sale Hurry, sale ends at tonight at midnight!

Send it! - Once you have your message ready, you’ll want to blast it out to your opt-in list. There are several platforms available to help you do this. A few popular ones that provide options like SMS templates and Opt-in pop-ups or landing pages include Omnisend or Attentive. But there are numerous platforms worth exploring—and many email marketing platforms (like Mailchimp) also have SMS capabilities.
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​Forget me, not - To keep you organized, Enji’s marketing and campaign calendar will help you plan things out and remind you when it’s time to unleash your next SMS message on the world.

Hit ‘em up - Considering how much time everyone spends on their phone each day, a marketing tactic that not only reaches people directly, but notifies them when it arrives (when notifications are turned on), is a powerful tool that any small business should consider. Think of SMS as little unique conversations that quickly drive conversions and sales.

Fast, efficient, and friendly—text away! Just not when you’re driving.

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