Anatomy of a great SMS

We have reviewed thousands of SMS campaigns and come up with what we think is a benchmark for the anatomy of a great SMS.

OPTION 1: REPLY ‘YES’

Personalisation has been shown to increase the amount and quality of the leads our clients generate.

Highlight the unique value of your offering, whether that’s a really great deal or fast delivery. Why should the recipient choose you?

The tone of voice should suit your brand – and your audience! As a rule, keep it simple and avoid long words.

The word ‘FREE’ attracts readers’ attention, while reverse billing (where the sender pays for the reply) improves responses.

Naming your brand/product typically increases the chances of it being opened and eliciting a positive response.

Use direct language and clear calls-to-action for a high-performing, hard-sell SMS.

OPTION 2: AN EMBEDDED FORM

• • Personalisation is extremely important in getting attention. Be sure to play around with how you personalise the message as well as where in the message you place personalisation.

Use a shortlink that is generated by your automated messaging platform for easy, seamless tracking. Additionally, this also helps keep the SMS character count under the important 160 character limit.

Use a less hard-sell, more informative tone of voice – you’re encouraging the user to find out more, learn and enhance their experience.

OPTION 3: BULK SMS BLAST

• • A clear call to action always adds impact (but consider converting to a REPLY YES or embedded form SMS for better results).

Bulk SMS blasts have a more product-centric tone of voice.

Creating a sense of urgency encourages the recipient to act.

NB! Every SMS campaign and every brand is different, so be sure to split-test all of these elements to find the right message for you.

We hope you found the anatomy of a great SMS insightful. For more tips, visit 12 tips for creating the perfect SMS campaign