Marketing text messages have almost a 100% open rate with coupon redemption rates that are much higher than other marketing campaigns. So, if you aren’t implementing text message promotions into your holiday marketing campaigns when everyone is shopping heavily, you will miss out on massive revenue.

As with other types of marketing, text message marketing has its proven strategies that work and some that don’t. Want to figure out how you can create fun, effective marketing texts? This guide will set you straight. Just read along!

Holiday Text Message Promotions

Text message promotions aren’t as difficult as they might sound. You don’t need to be a tech genius or spend loads of time sending individual texts to everyone on your marketing list.

Between that and these 8 tips, your holiday sales are bound to increase!

1. Sign up for a Free Giveaway

This is one of the simplest yet most effective text messages you can send as part of a holiday marketing campaign. Start the message by saying “Happy Holidays!” and create a call to action that gets customers to sign up for your email list in order to receive a free item or coupon code.

This type of text does a lot to engage new customers.

For starters, it helps you build your email list. People rarely give their email addresses to businesses without a catch.

Usually, the promise of something free does the trick.

What this does for you is it gives you access to those who are already interested, so sending them marketing emails in the future can drive sales. Need proof? Well, people who buy products after receiving an email offer spend 138% more dollars than those who don’t receive them.

The second reason this text message works is people love free things! When you give a product away for free and people actually like it, they are more likely to pay you in the future. After all, reciprocity is a pretty strong instinct.

Look at Costco’s free pizza samples as an example. After giving away free samples of frozen pizza, the store’s frozen pizza sales increased by 600%.

2. Restocked Items

Is there a best selling item that is always flying off of your shelves? If so, your customers will love to receive notifications when it’s back in stock.

This is especially true during the holiday season. If customers buy it up throughout the year, they are likely to want to share it with their loved ones as a gift.

This is a great opportunity to offer the item for a limited time discount. Adding something like “The first 15 shoppers will get 15% off” to the message will ignite the fear of missing out that most people have.

3. Avoid the Crowds

The holiday shopping season leaves stores packed, especially on Black Friday. Just as customers are dealing with crowds during these sales, their inboxes are crowded with promotional offers from retailers like yourself.

Instead of having your texts get lost in that shuffle, send your messages earlier when the competition isn’t as fierce. Another bonus of the early notification is that customers are given more time for planning and budgeting.

4. Tempt Them

During the holidays, people indulge and give into temptation. This is the perfect time to send high-quality photos in your text messages.

Whether you run a restaurant or a clothing store, sending enticing photos via text can pique your customer base’s interest even more.

5. Don’t Be a Spammer

It’s illegal to send unsolicited texts. In fact, doing so can cause trouble for you from mobile carriers, your customers, and the FCC.

Make sure consumers actually want your messages before you start flooding their inboxes. And when you do, make sure you keep records where you can prove that they opted in.

An example of how you can do this is by having customers scan a QR code in order to receive your texts.

6. Utilize Your Emojis

Did you know that emojis increase engagement by 85%? When you send text messages to your customers, include emojis that make sense with your brand and the content of the message.

There is, however, a method to using emojis the right way. Place them close to the end of your messages so that they don’t take away from your logo or other graphics that are present.

7. Give Your Customers What They Truly Want

In marketing, knowing how much is too much, not enough, or too little can be a headache in itself. So, instead of driving yourself crazy with this, allow your customers to take on some of your workload.

How does one accomplish this? Ask your shoppers what types of messages they want and when they would like to receive them.

Use your findings to create a text marketing campaign that makes sense based on their preferences.

8. Use Multiple Types of Messages

Don’t run a boring text marketing campaign. Make use of all the texting options out there to switch things up and keep customers engaged.

You can send MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services) that include graphics and look similar to a flyer. Or SMS (Short Message Service) only include words, which you can spruce up with emojis.

You can also embed links to marketing videos on sites like YouTube to either type of message. Make sure your videos and photos line up well with the message of your brand.

Some creative video ideas that customers respond to are tutorials and how-tos, behind the scenes, and testimonials from satisfied customers.

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Text message promotions can take your sales from lackluster to soaring in a small amount of time. So, utilize these tips during the holidays and all year round.

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