How to create an Android text message

How to Write a SMS Text Message

• Create a new SMS by clicking Create at the top, then choose to generate android text message

• Give your text message a Name

• Select which Contact list/s you will send to under “Recipients”

• Fill in the name or phone number of the Sender (you or your company). Note! The sender name is limited to 11 characters (including spaces) and cannot contain å, ä, or ö.

• Write your text message in the text box on the right-hand side

• Insert any custom fields you wish to use – click the plus sign

• Click on Send a test to send a text-SMS to yourself or your colleagues. Note! You also pay for the test text messages.

• When you are ready to send the text message, click Back and then Send. You will now see a confirmation page.

• Earlier bounced and unsubscribed text message contacts are automatically blocked and you will instead see the correct number of contacts that the text message will be sent to. You also see an estimation of how much the text message campaign will cost, and the prepaid balance on your account. If the prepaid balance is not enough to cover the estimated cost you’ll see a “Top-up prepaid”-link.

• Select whether to send the text message immediately or schedule it for later

• Click Press and hold to send

• Statistics for text messages can now be seen under the sent tab.

How to Write a Good SMS Text Message

According to The State of SMS: Executive Summary, on average, 98% of mobile users read a branded or commercial text message, which makes SMS an effective tool in your marketing strategy.

And the next question is how to convert these reads into purchases. To make sure your SMS marketing hits the target, keep in mind the following core principles of effective SMS copy when getting down to your next campaign.

1. Use simple and clear language.

This advice is #1 in all best writing guides. We all want to show off our creativity, but sometimes the less, the better. Compare these two:

Registration in our app will entitle you to a perfect chance to stay at our place with a 10% discount. All you need to do is to make a booking within the next two weeks.

What the second text may lack in linguistic garnish it makes up for in clarity and details. SMS is a space-limited type of message, so provide only the most important information, using less text.

2. Don’t exceed the limit.

Clear and well-structured language isn’t just easy to digest; it also contributes to campaign integrity and saves your marketing budget as there is a character limit for one SMS. Most providers have the maximum SMS limit of 70/160 characters (Latin/Cyrillic), so try not to exceed it.

To help you keep within the limit, in the eSputnik system the total limit and the number of current characters are indicated in each SMS so that you can plan your sending strategy right.

3. Avoid confusing words.

Since an SMS copy doesn’t allow too much text, marketers often use shortenings and acronyms to pack the maximum in one message. And sometimes such a technique makes the SMS hard to scan and digest.

Such a message looks like a word scramble. 2hr is more or less clear from the context. But not everyone would get that CLB MMB stands for club members and Lim avail for limited availability.

4. Avoid ambiguity.

Ambiguous words and symbols or emojis can do more harm than good when used in the wrong way. Since SMS doesn’t have much space to set the context, you won’t be able to explain what exactly you mean.

Slang also isn’t the best answer to how to write a text for SMS, especially if you target a multi-age audience: we’ll tell you wuz this deal abt may seem just a mishmash of words to your 30+ recipients.

5. Include contacts.

If it’s not in the SMS, people won’t look for your phone number or email address elsewhere. Include full contact information in the SMS if it presupposes possible future communication.

For example, this SMS Shop Elegant Flowers & Gifts for International Women’s Day rather requires a link to the necessary website section.

6. Include a call to action.

An SMS should catch the attention but also prompt action. Unlike emails, it’s not a place for a lengthy copy so you’d better reduce unnecessary details and get straight to the point.

This isn’t the best example of an encouraging SMS. With no direct call to action, the subscriber may not know what to do: look for free food elsewhere, go to the shop and buy, compare prices, wait for price alerts, etc.?

7. Use caps wisely

With no different fonts or colors in the SMS text, capital letters are the only way to lay focus on a particular piece of the message.

Don’t abuse it and emphasize only the most important part, like Sales, #& Off, Holiday hours, Monday only, etc. Caps used to write the whole message lose their primary purpose of catching attention.

8. Segment your contact base.

As with any other communication channel, segmentation and personalization are key to successful SMS as well. Instead of annoying messages with zero relevant information, write an SMS with offers your subscribers are interested in.

To do this, segment your contact list taking into account your type of business. A zoo shop may divide customers based on the pet they own; a beauty studio - based on customers’ previous cosmetic procedures; a car maintenance service - on the vehicle type, etc.

A hamster owner doesn’t need alerts on price drops for dog mats. A client treating post-acne has left their contacts to hear about everything related to this particular issue rather than, let’s say, lip fillers and injections. SMS that delivers value has a bigger response rate and generates more conversions.

9. Personalize

Make your bulk SMS more human-like by personalizing the copy. Apart from delivering relevant offers, you can also use some personal data like name, related purchase, geolocation, etc. to make your message more human-like.

There’s no need to put a name in every promo SMS (that is impersonal by default) but a name put in a birthday greeting or reminder would look up to place.

For example, in the eSputnik system, you can personalize any piece of copy by adding dynamic content. Make your SMS closer to the audience by showing you know the purchase history of a particular customer and know who you’re writing to to. Timely care is always appreciated.

10. Focus on benefits for the reader.

It’s a well-known marketing tip - when promoting a product, emphasize not its technical characteristics but the benefits it may give the customer. Compare these two:

11. Include a simple promo code.

Short promo codes like GIFT, XMAS20, 50FF are easier to use than TFGYURF3452. For some people it’s more convenient to type manually than copypaste, so make the promo code text as user-friendly as possible. This is a good SMS marketing example:

12. Watch the spelling and grammar.

Many brands sacrifice grammar and punctuation for the sake of a bigger text volume. But we at eSputnik don’t see it as a successful practice for marketing writing. Any of your messages - email, SMS, web push, mobile push - represent your company and should look professional and high-quality.

13. Incorporate SMS in a workflow.

Automated workflows improve your marketing routine, save time and allow reaching your customers via several channels. Moreover, each channel works better when supported as the trust in the brand increases as consumers see messages repeated across channels.

You can build different workflows based on your company type and service, but there are several basic automated SMS that would be effective for any business (and they don’t require any personal data but for browsing and/or purchase history):

14. Write SMS in the language of the recipient.

If you have the info on the customer’s preferred language, put this knowledge into practice as 75% of online customers say they would rather consider buying the products in their native language.

In the eSputnik system, for example, you can create as many language versions within one template and switch between them in one click. Moreover, the statistics on the multilingual campaigns (regardless of the number of languages) are provided in one report which makes analytics more convenient.

15. Optimize the sending schedule.

Even if you don’t have enough customer data to set up scheduling tailored to a particular customer, remember that not many people like to be bothered at night, early in the morning, and on weekends.

Also remember that SMS is considered to be a more private channel than any other, and people are more likely to share their email address than a phone number.

And when they do share it, appreciate their trust and don’t use SMS to send regular promos. Save the channel for more specific occasions like holiday congratulations, personal reminders, important service updates, change in working hours, etc.

SMS is a great channel for marketers to complement current strategies and reach customers in a friendly way. Its employment isn’t complicated and doesn’t require much effort on your part. Use the trusted format of a text message to engage your audience and get real conversion results.