In a world where customers are bombarded with constant information each day, businesses must distinguish themselves and create personal connections.
In fact, according to Techjury, the count of messaging app users has surged to 3.32 billion in 2023. This establishes them as the most widely embraced category of applications. Projections indicate a further increase to 3.51 billion users by the year 2025.
Because of emerging technologies, you can now engage in more personalised communication with your customers.
This is achieved by incorporating the customer’s name, location, and other relevant details to tailor SMS marketing campaigns specifically to them.
And this is where SMS templates or text templates come in handy.
In this blog, we’ll break down the basics of these templates and show you how to give your messages that personal touch.
| “SMSCountry gives us the best SMS services at a reasonable price, with immediate responses from their team whenever we need help.” – Nageswara Rao, Superintendent, GITAM University Learn how SMSCountry can help you delight your customers with our fast and reliable SMS service. |
What are SMS templates or text templates?
SMS templates are pre-written text messages that you can use and customise for different situations.
They save time and make sure you send clear, consistent messages, whether it’s for customer support, appointments, reminders, or promotions.
Efficiency is critical in today’s business world; message templates for customer support significantly contribute to this aspect.
You can create a library of templates for different scenarios instead of crafting individual messages for each interaction.
When a situation arises, a relevant template can be selected, customised as needed, and sent out with just a few clicks.
How do you craft effective SMS templates?
According to Globe News Wire, enterprises’ adoption of business messaging is on the rise, exhibiting a steady CAGR of 4.1% and showing no indications of deceleration.
If this continues, SMS marketing will become really competitive. To stay ahead in this, it’s crucial to understand and use SMS templates.
Creating effective SMS templates requires a strategic approach. Here are the steps you can follow to create SMS templates.
Define the purpose
Understand why you’re sending this SMS. Whether it’s for appointment reminders, promotional offers, or customer support updates, a clear purpose helps in shaping your message.
Start with a greeting
Begin with a simple greeting that addresses the recipient. Personalisation, like including their first name (e.g., “Hi [Name]”), can increase engagement.
Keep it short
SMS has a character limit of 160 characters, so be concise. Ensure every word serves a purpose.
Add the main information
Clearly state the main message. If it’s a promotional offer, mention the discount. If it’s a reminder, specify the date and time.
Use a CTA
If you want the recipient to take an action, like “Click the link” or “Reply YES,” make sure this is clear and stands out.
Add personalisation fields
Personalisation fields like [Name], [Date], or [Product] can be replaced with actual data when sending the SMS. This makes the message tailored to the individual.
Make it sound human
Even if it’s automated, your SMS should sound like it’s coming from a real person. Avoid jargon or overly formal language.
Test and refine
Before finalising, send the message to yourself or a colleague. Check for clarity, tone, and ensure it fits within the character limit.
What are the different types of SMS templates?
SMS templates can be tailored to various communication needs. Here are four types of SMS templates.
1. Transactional templates
These templates are ideal for order confirmations, shipping updates, and other transaction-related communication. They provide customers with essential information while maintaining a professional and trustworthy tone.
Promotional templates
When introducing new products, announcing sales, or offering discounts, promotional SMS templates can quickly convey the offer’s value and entice customers to take action.
Customer support templates
SMS templates for issue resolution and feedback requests help address customer concerns promptly. They ensure consistent support while efficiently managing customer inquiries.
Appointment and reminder templates
These templates are valuable for service-based businesses that need SMS templates for event promotion and reminder. They reduce no-shows and enhance customer satisfaction.
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What are the advantages of using SMS templates?
The Harvard Business Review report highlights that SMS improves engagement, enhances brand recognition, builds customer loyalty, and boosts performance measures.
Adding SMS templates to the mix, you can achieve even more tailored communications, ensuring messages resonate on a personal level.
Here are some of the benefits of using SMS templates for personalised customer communication:
- Efficiency and consistency: Businesses can use SMS templates to ensure a uniform tone and message for customer interactions. This ensures that customers receive accurate and aligned information every time, enhancing brand credibility.
- Time savings: Crafting individual messages for every customer can be time-consuming. With SMS templates, businesses can quickly respond to inquiries, send notifications, or provide updates without spending excessive time on each message.
- Personalization at scale: Templates can be customised with customer-specific information, such as names, purchase history, or location. This personal touch helps build stronger customer relationships and boosts engagement.
- Segmented communication: Tailoring templates for different customer segments, considering their preferences, behaviours, and demographics, can significantly enhance the relevance of your messages and lead to higher response rates. For instance, institutions offering the best online social work degree may craft their message based on their target demographics. They can use SMS templates to streamline information dissemination, offering quick updates on course schedules, assignments, and important announcements.
- Automation and workflow: SMS templates can be integrated into automated messaging systems, allowing businesses to set up triggered messages for specific events or actions. This streamlines communication and ensures timely interactions.
- Improved customer service: Utilizing templates to provide prompt and individualised responses demonstrates to customers that their requirements are highly regarded. This results in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, as individuals perceive their concerns as acknowledged and backed.
- Consent management: Templates can include options for customers to manage their preferences, such as opting out of certain types of communication. This assists businesses in ensuring regulatory compliance and upholding customer choices respectfully.
- Feedback collection and surveys: SMS templates can include links to surveys or feedback forms, making it convenient for customers to provide their opinions. This data can enhance products, services, and overall customer experience.
Remember, SMS templates offer numerous advantages. Consecutively, balancing automation and genuine human interaction is important.
Use templates to enhance communication efficiency, but be prepared to address unique situations requiring a more personalized approach.
How do you implement SMS templates?
Integrating SMS templates into your communication strategy involves a few key steps.
First, ensure seamless integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. This lets you pull relevant customer data to personalize the messages effectively.
Next, automate and schedule your SMS campaigns to reach customers at the optimal times for engagement.
However, it’s crucial to maintain compliance with SMS marketing regulations, obtain proper opt-ins, and provide easy opt-out options.
Here’s the step-by-step process to create and save SMS templates in SMSCountry.
Step 1: Log in to your SMSCountry account by visiting https://login.smscountry.com/
Step 2: From the main dashboard, click ‘Templates’ in the left panel.
Step 3: Click ‘Create template.’
Step 4: Click ‘Add template.’
Step 5: Give a title to your template and add the message content. You can insert tags for personalisation.
Step 6: Click ‘Add’ and your template will be created.
How do you measure the success of SMS templates?
Various engagement metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates, measure the effectiveness of your SMS templates.
Analysing these metrics provides insights into what templates resonate best with your audience.
To further improve performance, consider A/B testing different variations of templates to identify the most effective ones.
Additionally, stay receptive to customer feedback and preferences, adapting templates accordingly.
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How to overcome challenges with SMS templates?
While SMS templates for customer service offer numerous benefits, there are challenges to navigate. One of these challenges is avoiding over-automation.
While templates are efficient, injecting a human touch into interactions is important. Templates should serve as a foundation, but personalized elements should be added to ensure a genuine connection.
Maintaining the relevance and timeliness of templates is another hurdle. Outdated or irrelevant templates can have a negative impact on customer perception.
Regularly review and update your templates to reflect current offerings and market trends.
Additionally, handle customer data and privacy responsibly, complying with data protection regulations.
Improve personalized customer communication with SMS templates
In the age of personalized communication, the best SMS template tool has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to engage with customers meaningfully.
Businesses can enhance customer relationships and drive results by understanding the nuances of crafting effective templates, integrating them seamlessly, and measuring their impact.
As technology influences our communication methods, utilizing SMS templates remains an intelligent approach to ensure connectivity and maintain relevance in your customers’ perception.
Check out our SMS Template Library
We have curated SMS templates for almost anything you need SMS for. Check out our library of SMS templates.
If you’ve been looking for a list of the top bulk SMS service providers or are looking to move from Twilio to a better alternative, you’ve come to the right place.
