Imagine this: you get a notification on your phone. It’s a text from the best custom t-shirt company.

You get excited. You open the message to see an awesome promotion you just can’t miss out on. You open the website, get your estimate, and BAM—just like that, you made a purchase.

SMS marketing campaigns have a 98% open rate. If visibility is your goal, SMS is your best bet.

In this digital era, people have their phones glued to their hands. Even the slightest ding attracts their attention, so why not use it to benefit your business?

SMS is uncharted territory for many brands. While email marketing is a red ocean filled with lots of competition, think of SMS as a blue ocean with a world of opportunity to “WOW” your target customers.

Are you intrigued yet? Let’s go over what SMS marketing is, why you should use it, and some best practices:

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing (a.k.a. short message service marketing) is the process of texting your customers promotions or news straight to their phone numbers.

SMS marketing allows you to be in direct communication with your customers using a brief, yet straightforward message that they’ll actually look at and read. This gives you a better chance of getting a sale if your SMS campaign is effective.

Why should you use SMS marketing?

Here are a few reasons:

SMS marketing is immediate.

This is helpful if you need to communicate urgent information to your customers, such as sales or special promotions.

Your customers will receive your message as soon as you send it, which means they are more likely to read it and buy one of your t-shirts. It’s also easier to access than an email, which may get lost in a crowded inbox.

There’s a reason why SMS is so popular for abandoned cart campaigns and other ecommerce messages—text messages just work.

SMS is personal.

Text messages have a personal feel that emails cannot match. Texting is like talking to a friend, whereas email can be more formal.

Personal is good, especially when it comes to marketing your custom apparel. You want your target customers to trust you. SMS can help you build that trust.

SMS is affordable.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to reach your target audience.

There are no design or layout costs, and you don’t need to worry about print or postage. You can also automate your SMS campaigns, which saves you time and money.

SMS is a great way to share announcements or news.

Whether it be a new promotion, new product launch, or customer anniversaries, SMS allows you to announce the news in a quick and easy way.

You can also use SMS to remind your customers when certain sales are ending. This creates a sense of urgency and encourages them to take action.

SMS is measurable.

If measuring success is important to your business, SMS marketing is for you. You can track how many people open and click on your links, which helps you to gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns. Hell yeah.

Best practices for SMS marketing

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of SMS marketing, let’s go over some best practices to make sure your campaigns are successful:

Get permission first.

Before you start sending out mass texts, you need to get permission from your contacts first. This means adding an opt-in keyword to your marketing materials, such as “Text JOIN to 12345 to get exclusive offers.”

You should also make it easy for people to opt-out of your SMS campaigns. Add an opt-out keyword, such as “Text STOP to 12345 to stop receiving messages.”

Not only is this best practice, but it’s also the law. Businesses must obtain consent before sending marketing messages to customers.

Keep your messages short and sweet.

Since SMS messages are limited to 160 characters, it’s important to keep your messages short and sweet. Stick to the point and use simple language that your audience will understand.

Avoid using abbreviations or jargon because they can confuse some people. And always proofread your messages before you hit send!

Make sure your offer is valuable.

Your SMS campaigns will be more successful if you offer your contacts something valuable, such as a discount, free shipping, or early access to a new product.

Your offer needs to be relevant to your audience and it should be something that they would actually want. Otherwise, you’re just wasting their time.

Run an abandoned cart campaign.

Abandoned cart campaigns are one of the most effective ways to use SMS marketing. You can send a text message to customers who have abandoned their shopping cart, which reminds them to finish their purchase.

Add a call-to-action (CTA).

If you’re going to send out a message, make sure there’s a strong CTA. Tell your customers what you want them to do. (That’s the only way they’ll know.)

Test your campaign before you send it to your customers.

So, you’ve set up your SMS campaign, drafted out your message, and now you’re ready to send.

Hold your horses! Test the message with your own number first to make sure everything works.

We don’t want any spelling mistakes, dead-end links, or other SMS mishaps, do we?

Ready to text your customers?

SMS marketing is a great way to reach out to your customers and promote your business. Just make sure to follow the best practices and you’ll be on your way to success!

And before we forget, did we mention we’re the best t-shirt printing company? If you need custom shirts for your business or e-commerce store, we’re the ones to call.

Scrappy Apparel is a bulk manufacturer of custom apparel. We offer luxury-quality products at pocket-friendly prices. We fold each shirt, polybag it, and ship it to your doorstep for free! And with our private labeling services, you can take true ownership of your custom apparel.

If you’re ready to work with the best t-shirt printing company on your custom apparel project, you know what to do next: