Key-in on the right words for SMS marketing campaigns

By Adam Groff

May 19, 2020

undefined mins

If your business uses SMS as part of its marketing plan, then you already know how important it is to make sure each SMS campaign is as effective as possible.

When it comes to SMS marketing effectiveness, your business should be taking advantage of the right keywords.

Here are just a few reasons why the right keywords make all the difference when going the SMS marketing route:

Short message simplicity

In terms of SMS marketing, using keywords helps your customers connect with your campaign and your brand.

Most SMS messages use a single keyword or a keyword phrase to attract new customers to the mobile marketing campaign.

Recipients can use the keyword to opt-in to the campaign by simply texting a response. In other words, the right keyword is the easiest, quickest way to increase mobile marketing participation.

It all starts with an engaging keyword and the simplicity of SMS marketing.

Sharing deals and coupons

The right keyword can also make sharing coupons and other deals a breeze for your business.

As the following article looks at, many retailers use coupon codes to attract new customers as well as increase customer loyalty, which is part of everything you need to know about using keywords in SMS marketing campaigns.

Likewise, by using SMS keywords to promote current deals at your business, you'll increase interest and opt-ins.

For example, if you own an ice cream parlor, you can encourage customers to text the word FreeScoop to a five or six digit number to receive their coupon or information on special discounts.

Providing additional information

Adding relevant keywords to the body of your SMS marketing responses can also help your business provide more information with each campaign.

Standard texts only allow for 160 characters. However, with an appropriately placed keyword, you can link to additional information that far exceeds 160 characters.

Whether it's your website, a product page, or a contact page, linking a keyword to additional information allows your business to expand each SMS campaign.

The main guideline to remember is making sure each keyword fits naturally in your campaigns.

Marketing versatility

Using SMS keywords in your marketing allows you to make any marketing campaign a mobile campaign. You can include keywords in everything from in-store print advertising to online and email marketing.

With that said, choosing the right keyword means choosing something that will stand out in any marketing situation. This means creating a keyword that perfectly describes the campaign, such as the FreeScoop example above.

Likewise, the shorter the better, so make sure your keyword is brief and doesn't use any special characters.

Auto-correct ready

A good keyword will be short, memorable, and free of special characters, but a great keyword will take all of these pointers into consideration without being an auto-correct nightmare.

Chances are you'll need to combine two or more short words to create a keyword term, again like the FreeScoop example.

Before you go live with a multiple word keyword, make sure auto-correct doesn't change it into something unrecognizable. You can do this by giving the keyword phrase a test run on multiple mobile operating systems.

When you're ready to key-in the right keywords in your marketing campaigns, keep in mind the SMS pointers above.

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including mobile marketing and keyword analysis.

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