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Holiday Text Marketing Blueprint (2022)

How to cut through the holiday noise with text messaging.

With the holiday season right around the corner and some of the biggest shopping days of the year ahead, now is the time to start planning. Your customers will be bombarded with deals, specials, emails, mailers, and more. Lucky for you, text messaging allows you to cut through all this hustle and bustle.

Unlike most marketing tools, text marketing will put your message directly in front of your customers. This will lead to a quick action that will yield better results giving your business a nice boost during this time of the season.

We put together this Holiday Marketing Blueprint with little gifts so you can adjust your texting strategy for success! 

🎁 Don't Oversend

Take a minute and think about your mobile phone. What if a business were to text you every single day about something? It would get annoying, really fast—annoyed customers = opt-outs. Consider sending a maximum of two text messages per week. This way, you're not overwhelming your customer or client but still delivering high-quality content and information. 

🎁 Text Human

We've found over the years that consumers react best to natural and light-hearted messaging. Please avoid gimmicky and deceiving language, and don't use excessive emojis or caps (you're not yelling at them). Just text human. It works.

🎁 Campaign Ideas

When it comes to getting your audience's attention, you should consider prioritizing value. Consumers tend to take action when they know there is value to them.

Here are some great ideas:

✔️ Discounts - Providing a discount always works great. People love a deal. 
✔️ Contest or Giveaway - You may not want to give a discount, but you can offer value to the consumer by giving them a chance to win something.
✔️ Free Shipping - Provide free shipping for a limited time.
✔️ Limited or Exclusive - Use these terms to drive interest in your campaign or promotion. 

🎁 Test Your Campaign

Before launching your campaign or creating print material, you should test your campaign. Send yourself some messages, and see how everything looks. Test your keyword autoresponders and make sure everything is updated and relevant. Plan ahead.

🎁 Be Specific

Before sending your messages, consider the entire season and the day you have chosen to send them. The actual day in the message can make it seem very timely and relevant. The same holds for the entire holiday season. 

🎁 Use Images & Emojis

Use emojis and images to grab your customer's attention. Remember, on most phones, when a text message alert pops up, you can see part of the message right away. Using an emoji or image will entice your customer to take action and read the entire text message.

Photos can also drive a promotion or give your customers a first-hand look at what you're selling. If used correctly, images and emojis will add a human side to your messages and help you connect better.

🎁 Get Interactive

To make your messages more interactive, have your customers reply with a mobile keyword to get your deal. This will allow you to track how many people were interested and ultimately make the messaging more fun.

If you want to add a redemption component, use a code in your text messages. Then, have your customers show their phones to redeem the deal. As a side note, you'll want to train your staff to keep a simple tally by all registers. This will give you a total count of how many people redeemed the deal.

Lastly, timed messaging can drive consumer interaction. For example, you might want to run a percentage off a particular store item but only give your customers 24 hours to act, or they'll miss the deal. So, consider adding expiration dates, so consumers are given a reason to act more quickly. 

🎁 Track Performance & Communicate

Throughout your holiday marketing, you should continuously track your performance for success. Keep a close watch on your opt-outs. This will help you to make sure your messages are well-received. A low opt-out rate is a sure sign that things are going well.

Also, keep an eye on your inbox as customers may have questions. This is an opportunity for you to be proactive and help close more deals.

We hope this blueprint will help you throughout the holiday season! We look forward to hearing from you as you share your many success stories.