16 Ways To Engage Customers Using Text Alerts

Short message service, or SMS—commonly known as text messaging—is an incredibly effective way for businesses to reach their customers. However, it’s important to strike a balance between engaging customers and making them feel spammed with too many messages.

The goal should be to provide valuable content that keeps customers interested and engaged while promoting the brand’s products or services. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share some clever ways for brands to engage customers via text and stay top of mind without overwhelming them and leading them to unsubscribe.

1. Encourage Preference Customization

Invite your customers to customize their preferences. With mobile phones living in the palms of our hands, text messages are an instant and intimate way to connect with your customers. It’s important that brands don’t take advantage of this intimate access. Inviting your customers to customize their preferences strengthens retention and creates the ideal experience for your customers. – Ivonna Young, The Lavender Agency

2. Limit SMS Alert Frequency

Texts for SMS campaigns shouldn’t be sent out at the same frequency as email marketing. SMS alerts should be sent during promotional periods, to announce brand partnerships that could benefit the subscriber and to offer exclusive VIP access to new product launches or sales. Brands should also do tests where subscribers can vote for a specific new product, and this can make an impact on new product launches. – Stephanie Sprayregen, Spray Marketing

3. Understand Your Audience

SMS is an underutilized channel by B2B marketers. It’s critical to understand your audience before jumping in. If you start with something simple and highly relevant, such as a reminder to log in for a person who has signed up for a webinar, you’ll build the trust needed to be successful with this highly intrusive and intimate channel. – Robert Finlayson, Bold Marketing and Communications

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4. Always Send Valuable Content

We send SMS via Klaviyo to customers, and we then send a link for a free high-value downloadable intellectual property product, such as a training program, to say thanks for signing up and to capture their data on another channel. This keeps messaging rare and gives them the expectation that they will only receive value from us via text. That way, the customer gets excited about messages and sees value from day one. – Kale Panoho, K&J Growth

5. Deliver Exclusive Offers And Discounts

Brands should be cautious about the number of times they send SMS messages weekly. If they send too many, they will drive up unsubscribe rates. A great way to retain those on the SMS list is to deliver exclusive offers and discounts. This will condition their community to sign up to receive offers they wouldn’t receive from the brand elsewhere. – Tony Pec, Y Not You Media

6. Personalize SMS Outreach

Personalization is key here. Consumers expect to receive valuable offers or information for products or services they’re interested in, at the right time. A good example of when to use SMS is when you know they’ve been on your website and abandoned their cart. The SMS would ask if they have questions about the specific product in their cart. When they reply, you can answer the question or offer a small discount. – Nate Reusser, Reusser Design

7. Include On-Brand Imagery

Personalization and added value are key to SMS engagement. Text messages are inherently more personal than other communications, such as email. Including on-brand imagery that’s fun, funny or thought-provoking keeps people wanting more. Discounts or shareable content provide added value, but sending things such as this with personalization makes it relevant and valuable. – Erin Fabio, GRIT Studio

8. Send Messages That Pay Off

Do you like being interrupted for something that isn’t worth your time or attention? Your customers don’t. If you’re going to push a message to someone’s phone, it should pay off on why they allowed you to text them. This means delivering value aligned with their expectations in a way that’s true to your brand’s voice. Anything less is an intrusion at best and an annoyance at worst. – Katy Thorbahn, Shiny

9. Send Customers A Fun Survey

Send a brief survey to find out about the customer’s personality. Ask about their birthday or zodiac sign. Ask about their vibe—is it casual, business, classy? What is their marital status—married, single or divorced? What is their favorite holiday, and do they travel? Conducting a fun survey can also help characterize your consumer, and then you can add them to more personalized SMS streams. – Jessica Kopach, The JKO Agency

10. Notify Subscribers When New Content Is Available

One unique SMS strategy is to offer notifications when a partnered influencer has shared new content or is going live. For example, a beauty brand could partner with a beauty-focused creator for a series of sponsored videos and allow audiences to opt in to being notified when new content has been posted or a live event is underway. Alternatively, a brand could have the SMS come from the influencers themselves. – Danielle Wiley, Sway Group

11. Use SMS To Offer Kind Words And Tips

Don’t only use SMS to push promotions. Instead, send out sporadic messages that simply offer kind words, well wishes or even tips that relate to your audience—such as a quick SMS that says, “Your friends at Tim’s Tires just want to remind you that it’s going to be cold out there this week, so make sure to slow down and make it home safely!” You are not selling anything, but a kind word goes a long way. – Bernard May, National Positions

12. Keep Content Relevant

One way we engage customers via text is by sending personalized and relevant content that adds value to their day, such as exclusive offers, new product updates and helpful tips. We also limit the frequency and keep messages brief to avoid overwhelming them, and we ask for feedback and respect their preferences by giving them the option to adjust the frequency or opt out. – Frank Rojas, Qode Media Inc.

13. Strike A Balance Between Frequency And Relevance

With SMS, it’s important to strike a balance between frequency and relevance. Brands can add value by sending relevant, timely and personalized information, such as exclusive offers, reminders or updates. Providing an easy opt-out option and allowing customers to control the frequency of messages can also help prevent unsubscribes. The goal is to make the customer feel valued, not bombarded. – Kenny Tripura, Edkent Media

14. Don’t Be A Nuisance

Rule No. 1 is don’t be a nuisance. Be moderate in your texting frequency while focusing on providing relevance (a clear purpose) and personalizing the message for the recipient (such as by using first names). The first four to six words of your texts matter the most, as they appear in the preview, so what is said there must compel them to open and read the message. – Chelimar Miranda, Medical Advantage

15. Time Messages Around Holidays And Special Events

To engage customers without overwhelming them, brands can provide exclusive offers via SMS. Personalized messages based on customer preferences and purchase history are effective, as are messages timed around holidays and events. By providing value and a tailored experience, brands can stay top of mind without risking an unsubscribe. – Fernando Beltran, Identika LLC

16. Don’t Forget To Follow Up

We do a lot of SMS for lead generation at our agency. I’ve seen a lot of what works and a lot of what doesn’t. Let’s start with what doesn’t work: Not following up. Believe it or not, the No. 1 issue I see in my business and the hundreds of clients we work with is just not following up! So what does work? Quick video messages. Send one while you’re on a walk or doing something casual. Those work wonders. – Devin Schumacher, SERP