People expect text messages to be casual, friendly, and concise. If emails wear ties and pencil skirts to work, texts wear polos and jeans. More importantly, text messages are what people say they want. Texting feels much more personal, cutting through corporate jargon to let people communicate with other people. This makes it good for professional communication, whether in a business, non-profit, or some other organizational setting.
With 97% of text messages opened and read within 5 seconds of being received, SMS is by far the most effective and powerful tool to target and reach audience instantly. Response rates are incredible and can reach 40%, but it all starts with the perfect SMS copy.
Let's take a look at the basics. All text messages can contain;
- Up to 160 English characters
- Emojis
- URLs
A text can hold up to 160 characters. If your message goes over 160 characters, you’ll actually be sending multiple texts.
It’s fine if you send messages with more than 160 characters - they’ll look the same to everyone as if you only sent one. Our recommendation is that you keep your messages to 160 characters or fewer. It’s a good framework for keeping messages concise, and for keeping your billing in check.
Texting Concepts
Here are four (4) texting concepts to keep in mind;
1. Text customers like you text friends and family
One reason people text is they want to communicate with another person. So how do you make your business sound human? The best way is to keep messages quick, pleasant, and full of expression.
2. You can convey emotion and tone through text messages
Our brains process images (especially facial expressions) far faster than words. Emojis can help you convey more with fewer words, and do it more clearly - which helps you keep messages to under 160 characters.
3. People are used to texting
People have been sending dozens of text messages a day for decades, and are becoming used to spelling out everything and using complete sentences, instead of typing disjointed words and acronyms. On a professional note, your business will look better by using complete sentences, instead of intentionally misspelled words and broken sentences.
4. Text signatures are not the same as email signatures
You only have 160 characters in a text (longer signatures cost you texts). Avoid listing all your contact info like you might in an email. Texts need to be concise, and your signatures - if you choose to use them - need to be concise, too.
Want to try this out? Start right off here to send an amazing SMS message today!