What Makes a Great Call to Action in an SMS Message?
Are your marketing SMS messages successful? Are people using the coupons, clicking the links, or calling you? If not, maybe your call to action isn’t clear. But let’s back up just a little.
Marketing messages, whether in print or electronic have many parts to them. In the beginning there’s the hook that entices someone to continue reading, and near the end is the call to action. That’s where you make it clear what you want someone to do after reading the message. There are many parts in between these two, but these are, arguably, the two most important.
Fortunately, you don’t have to worry too much about the hook when sending SMS marketing messages to your existing list. They’ve already opted in after all, so you know they are interested in what you have to offer. Don’t get me wrong, you still need to make the message sound enticing. You just don’t have to try so hard to get their attention. You have it already when the notification sound goes off and they check their message.
What happens next though, relies heavily on your call to action. It needs to be clear, and actionable – that is, the reader shouldn’t have to do anything else other than what you’ve given them in the message. But it’s sometimes hard to know exactly what a good call to action looks like. So I’ll go over a few examples here and offer my thoughts on why they are good or need improvement.
The first two are from a major office supply store. I don’t show the links, but instead inserted “[Link]” to note where the link went in the message. Both are similar, but one is better, at least in my opinion. Can you guess which one?
Example 1:
Get £30 off £100+ on any ink/toner purchase. Restock without a needing pot of gold. [Link] Ends 20/3
Example 2:
Time’s running out on your exclusive deal. Get £20 off £75+. [Link] Ends 26/2
Which do you think is better? Example 1 or 2?
If you chose 2, we’re in agreement. First off, that typo in example 1 is theirs, not mine. But that isn’t why I chose number 2. The second one is better because it starts off with a statement of urgency. “Time’s running out” encourages me to read the rest of the message to see what it is I might be missing. If I was in the market for some office supplies I might rush down to the store or go online to take advantage of the deal before it ran out.
Compare that with the first example and you have no urgency. It’s a great deal and if I needed ink I might click the link for the coupon, but I could also decide to do it later. It isn’t until after the link (which in the actual message was a rather long mess of random characters, probably half the character count of a standard text message), that they insert the “Ends 20/3”. Maybe I read that in the message, maybe not. But if I don’t see it then wait two days before I decide to buy ink, the coupon is no longer valid. So what do I do? I might wait for another coupon, or I might go shop somewhere else I know has cheaper prices.
But the more observant among you are probably thinking the call to action was the same in each message. Both wanted you to click on the link for a coupon to use in store or online. True. But neither of the messages said to click on the link. Instead they used up their character count with other words. In example 2 those words were useful. In example 1 they were not useful, but a failed attempt at humour (I’m guessing).
So in both these examples the retailer assumed the reader knew to click the link for a coupon. That’s probably a valid assumption for most people these days, but I’d still love to do a test with them to see if clarifying that call to action improved their results. I’d also have them test placing the expiration date of the coupons before the link. More people might notice it then and redeem the coupons more often.
In my next blog I’ll look at a few more examples and try and narrow in on what it takes to create a good SMS call to action. Come back and read it, I’d love to hear whether you agree with me or not.
Related Articles
5 Phrases for Your Spring SMS Marketing Campaign [Infographic]
5 Marketing Trends That Matter for SMS in 2018
Improve SMS Marketing ROI By Giving Your Customers Options
SMS messaging offers some of the highest click through rates in mobile marketing. But did you know it could be even better? See how one retailer improved their click rates by offering their customers different options in their messages. Then see how you can do the same.
Five Things Every Marketer Needs to Know About SMS
There's no better time to take a closer look at SMS marketing - could it fit your marketing strategy? What should be at the forefront of your mind when you look at whether SMS could fit with your business? Here we've highlighted five things you should know before getting started.
Do Your Customers Want Emoji in their SMS Messages?
Emoji are showing up everywhere. Should you be using these cute, fun, and illustrative icons in your SMS marketing? Your customers probably want you to. Around 72% of people have positive feelings about brands who use emoji. But before you get started, you’ll want to find out the details in this blog.
Don’t Worry, SMS Messaging is Still Perfect for Marketing
Brits feel “bombarded” by too many messages from brands on mobile. Does that mean SMS marketing doesn’t work anymore? Actually no, it just means most brands are probably doing it wrong. Find out why UK consumers feel that way and how your brand should be using SMS marketing the right way.
The Psychology of SMS Marketing
In marketing, everyone wants to be more influential and persuasive in order to build loyalty and return custom. To gain the highest ROI, businesses want their marketing campaigns to speak to every individual in such a way that makes them feel connected and yet, with every will in the world, an SMS marketing campaign is only going to achieve this high conversion and success if it manages to tap into consumer psychology.
One Simple Trick Can Boost Your SMS Marketing
SMS marketing offers the ability to send time-sensitive offers to your best customers. But are you missing out on the potential of your own brand in your offers? Read this post to see an example of how a simple trick can potentially boost your results.
SMS Marketing: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Do in Your Marketing Strategy
In order to gain success with SMS marketing, certain strategies need to be put in place. Here are a few top tips on what not to do when marketing your business through SMS messaging.
How To Craft The Best Content For Your SMS Messaging
You need concise, memorable and high-impact content with a clear call to action in your SMS messaging. That, in a nutshell, is what's needed to achieve with any marketing or engagement communications in any form. But this is never truer than with an SMS campaign when your business text messaging has to rely on a small window of recipient attention.