What’s in a Keyword? Three Rules to Using Keywords in SMS Marketing
You’ve probably seen keywords used in marketing text messages you’ve received. They’re short, easy to remember words you can type into a text message reply. A common example you’ll see is something like “reply STOP to unsubscribe” at the end of marketing text messages. STOP is the keyword.
But they really could be any words right?
Technically yes, but some are better than others.
Just think about what you want to use a keyword for. They are a mechanism you provide your customers, clients, or members to reply to your text message. Now consider that your customer is typing their reply on a small keyboard on their mobile phone. Even those who excel at texting (almost anyone under the age of 18) don’t want to have to type in a long word. So keeping it a short word is the first rule of keyword choice.
Beyond using simple, short keywords to instruct your customers (like “STOP”), you can use keywords to help track marketing campaigns. Whether you are running a contest, promoting a sale, or looking for feedback, choose a unique keyword for each campaign. This will let you determine which campaigns are the most effective. The second rule is use as many keywords as needed. Imagine you are an electrical retailer running a discount campaign using SMS messaging. You could have a single keyword such as “BARGAINS” for the customer to access a list of prices for all items but wouldn’t it be better to break the list down? How about “TV” for televisions, “HIFI” for music systems and “CAMERA” for photographic. Response rates and conversion rates will benefit by sending prospects straight to their area of interest.
Many of the text messages I get use different keywords. For example, a music venue frequently sends me texts asking me to reply in order to win tickets to a show. They could simply ask me to send the keyword “Enter” or “Yes” in order to enter the contest. But they don’t. For each musical act, they use a keyword related to the artist: their name, portion of the name, or a song title. This helps me know, or realise in the moment I’m texting, what exactly it is I’m agreeing to in my reply. And that’s the third rule, make the keywords make sense. For brands this might mean using a product name, or the brand name itself.
Bear in mind also that you can use keywords in conjunction with either SMS shortcodes or VMNs (Virtual Mobile Numbers). For a fuller explanation of these click here.
Following these three rules of keyword choice should help you in creating effective text marketing campaigns. You can always learn too, from the marketers texting you. Have you received any awful keyword choices? Please share with us in the comments.
Related Articles
Be Careful When Reading About Shortcodes and VMNs
When you start using SMS marketing, one of the first decisions you need to make is whether or not you’ll need to get replies. If you do, then you’ll need to decide between shortcodes and a virtual mobile number (VMN, also called longcode). If you don’t, then that’s alright too.
What’s in a Keyword? Three Rules to Using Keywords in SMS Marketing
Keywords are single words that can be used within two way SMS marketing campaigns. They can be used in conjunction with SMS shortcodes or with Virtual Mobile Numbers. Learn three basic rules for the use of SMS keywords that will increase click-through rates and conversions.
An SMS Service Built Around You
The Second Most Important Rule of SMS Marketing
Text message marketing works because it is short, quick, personal, and immediate. You don't want to annoy the people you're reaching out to. If you're running an opt-in campaign, or a contest, keep the process to as few steps as possible.
3 Reasons Why SMS is The Key to Your Mobile Marketing
The year of mobile marketing is finally here. You’ve heard it before, but it’s clear it has finally arrived. In fact, it may have arrived last year so if you haven’t joined yet you might be late to the party. Don’t worry, there’s still time. Here are 3 reasons SMS needs to be an integral part of your mobile strategy going forward.
Using Keywords with VMNs and Shortcodes (Part 1)
Keywords are important in SMS marketing. In order to use them, you have to have two-way messaging. But does it matter if you have a VMN or shortcode? Yes, and no. In principle, they are the same. But practically there are differences. Find out all about them in this blog.
6 Psychological Tips for SMS Marketing Success
Getting to grips with the underlying psychology of how audiences react both consciously and subconsciously to your message is key to achieving the maximum effect in any type of marketing. All kinds of things come into play with different media, from colours and shapes to images and videos. Even the way things move can have a powerful effect on a viewer. Unlike many other forms of marketing, however, SMS marketing is unique in that the only tool you have is words - and not many of them. But armed with a basic knowledge of consumer psychology, 456 characters is more than enough to get the desired effect. In this article, we present our six top tips to take advantage of the psychology of SMS messaging.
6 Tips To Help You Get The Most From SMS Marketing
What are the dos and don’ts of SMS marketing? How can you get the most from your business text messaging? We’ve put together six actionable tips to help you get the best from your SMS marketing campaigns.
3 Common Errors That Will Ruin Your SMS Marketing
You worked hard to get those customers on your SMS marketing list. But now they are unsubscribing like crazy, or maybe just no longer responding to your messages. What happened? Maybe you’ve committed one of the following common, but easy to fix, errors that can completely drive your customers away.
How to Increase Retail Foot Traffic with SMS Marketing
Here's a great real life example of how a retailer used text messaging to offer out a discount voucher to customers who had visited their store. Their approach is simple and intelligent and very focused on one segment of their customer base, those who had recently visited a store.