Why You Need a CTA in Your SMS Marketing Campaign

If you're only using SMS marketing campaigns to send out information or appointment reminders, you're missing out on optimizing your results. Adding a CTA to your customer text messages could increase your revenue and brand awareness with just a few extra words of text. Here's what to know about CTAs and how to get started. 

What is a CTA?

A CTA, or a call-to-action, is used in marketing campaigns to prompt customers to take a specific action. Businesses and marketers use them in everything from emails to social media posts. Although you don't have to use CTAs to run your campaigns, research shows they're highly effective. 

Examples of Call-to-Actions

CTAs vary depending on the business and the marketing channel you're using. SMS text campaigns are short and sweet, so focus on using succinct text to motivate customers to take action. Here are a few examples of CTAs you can try:

  • Get your discount now
  • Buy now
  • Read more
  • Snag this flash sale
  • Make an appointment and change your life

A CTA can say just about anything, but they should be direct and prompt a specific action. Remember, marketing is also about offering value to the consumer, so make sure the text and the CTA are worth your customers' effort. 

What Does a CTA Really Do In Your SMS Marketing Campaigns?

Using CTAs in your text message marketing campaigns helps direct the customer and could improve your conversions. The type of CTA you create also makes a big difference. Research shows that personalized CTAs perform 202% better than a basic, generic version. 

However, personalized CTAs aren't always about getting personal. Instead, you can customize your SMS marketing and text messages by the customer's interest or geographic location. If your next promo targets your Chicago store and not  your ecommerce presence, direct your texts to the right audience. Or only send the campaign to customers who previously bought similar products. 

Simplifies the Customer Journey

You may think your SMS marketing campaigns get right to the point and are easy to digest, but that's not necessarily what the customer experiences. Research shows the average person consumes over 1,700 banner ads per month.

Make sure your customers don't get lost in a sea of marketing and advertising messages. Fortunately, you're already at an advantage using text message marketing. Research shows that only 39% of businesses use SMS marketing, yet 58% of people say texting is the ideal way for businesses to reach them.

The first step is sending valuable information, whether for a sale or upcoming promotion. Next, prompt your audience with specific actions and avoid decision fatigue. Tell customers exactly what to do next and how to take advantage of your offer or resources.

Create a Sense of Urgency

Customers will often do nothing at all unless prompted with a sense of urgency. After all, if they can purchase an item or service anytime, they have no reason to take action just because you sent a text reminding them about your business.

Integrating a CTA is an effective way to create a sense of urgency and give customers a reason to buy right now. Design a flash sale or limited time or offer that's too good to resist. Whether it's a discount, free shipping, or exclusive access, design a CTA that creates urgency. 

If a customer misses out on the offer, it's not necessarily a negative for your business. Now they know to look out for your text messages and take action before it's too late.

Sparks Engagement

Boosting customer engagement is more than just chatting with your audience. It also helps inform what products and services they want, how to improve your business, and what marketing messages work best. But if you don't prompt the customer to respond to your text, they probably won't.

Your CTA can exclusively focus on engagement and directly ask for specific information from your customers. Ask your audience to fill out a brief survey, invite them to ask questions about your products, or request an online review. Use the feedback to help inform your business decisions and give your customers what they really want. 

Refines Your List Segmentation

An SMS and text message marketing list is invaluable but is limited without narrowing your approach. Refine your efforts and improve your results by segmenting your list with the help of your CTAs. Your SMS marketing data can show you which customers took action on which CTAs, which helps further segment your lists. 

List segmentation is a common practice in email marketing and other channels, and you can also do it with a text message campaign. Segment your list by location, age, purchase history, and actions taken. If you want more feedback from your customers, send your messages to recipients that show a high level of engagement or who click through to your content. 

You can also segment your list in multiple ways at the same time. The consumers who engage the most can also be segmented into where they opted into your list from. Now you know those specific users are most likely to come from a platform like Instagram and can gather more insights about your audience. 

Raises Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is what keeps your business on the top of customers' minds. It also helps them better understand your company, products, and services and determine if they want to buy from you. When you raise brand awareness, you increase the consumer's ability to recall and recognize your business.

Some businesses struggle with brand awareness because it's challenging to grab a customer's attention long enough to make a connection. After all, customers are flooded with marketing messages all day. Fortunately, text messaging is a highly personal form of marketing as a device is almost always within a consumer's reach. They see your text, engage with your CTA to learn more or buy now, and start to forge a relationship with your brand.

Best Practices for CTAs in Your SMS Campaign

CTAs aren’t tricky to master, but they do come with best practices. Here are a few to consider:

  • Keep your CTA highly-visible - Don't bury the lead. Make your CTA clear and keep it prominent.
  • Focus on the action - Keep the focus of your call-to-action on action. Tell your customers what you want them to do and how to do it (i.e., Click Here).
  • Use first-person speech - Instead of using a CTA that says, "Start Your Membership Today," use the language, "Start My Membership Today."
  • Create a Sense of Urgency - There's a reason that the fear of missing out, or FOMO, is effective in marketing. Customers don't want to get left behind and miss out on the sale or promo.
  • Make It Simple - CTAs are simple. Avoid using a long-winded call-to-action or multiple CTAs. Give consumers one action to focus on that is immediately recognizable and understood.
  • Test Your Results - Just like with any marketing method, testing your CTAs helps refine your results. Change up the language, placement, and types of offers. Over time, you'll figure out which CTAs work the best for your business.

Final Thoughts

Adding clear and direct CTAs to your SMS marketing campaigns helps maximize your efforts and revenue potential. They're also easy to implement and change around the goals and results you’re looking to achieve.

Are you ready to get started with SMS and text message marketing for your business? Contact us today.