Guide to Choosing the Right Automated Messages for Group Texting

How many automated messages do you have as part of your group texting campaign? You probably have at least one: the confirmation response you send after someone opts into your program.

Automated messages are different from what you send out as part of your campaign. These messages are set up ahead of time and then are sent at particular moments to the customer without your intervention. For example, you might send one as a response to a keyword or other action from your customer. Perhaps you use them as a response to a transaction or to remind clients about an appointment. It is also possible to use automated messages as part of a scheduled campaign, such as a drip campaign.

Get your team together to determine when to utilize automated messages.

There are many other potential uses for automated response messages. No matter how large or small a role automated messages play in your program, it is essential that you have a strong message that does what you want it to do. There are a few key components that make your messages stand out.

Know the Purpose
Before you set up your automated messages, it is important to understand the purpose of the text. The most common auto-reply message is the confirmation reply after someone has signed up. It is also common to create other automated messages for other keywords that you might have your users text to you. For example, you might create automated responses for keywords that correspond with various customer service issues.

You might also have automatic messages created as part of a scheduled drip campaign as a way to continually interact with customers depending on where they are in the buying process. Before you develop a strong automated message, it is important to know the purpose behind the response. To do this, consider:

• Why you want the clients to text the keyword
• Is there an action you want them to take with the message
• Do you need to inform them about something, such as the terms of your program

Once you know what you want to convey, then it will be much easier to actually create the text. Just remember, keep each text to just one topic. You only have 160 characters with which to work. This limits what you can say in one message. By focusing on one key message, it is much easier to stay within the character count.

Keep It Personal
Just because you use automated messages as part of your group texting program does not mean that you take away the personal touches. Personalization is a key component of a successful texting campaign. Even if there is nothing overtly personal within the message, such as a person’s name, it is still possible to write the message in a way that has personality. This makes it appear less like a standard, auto-reply message and more like something you have sent directly to the consumer.

It is even more important to create a personal message when you have automated messages as part of a scheduled drip campaign. Think about where the customer might be in their purchasing decision and develop content that directly relates to the customer’s current situation.

Some ways to make even automated messages appear personal include

• Add a person’s name
• Choose the right language
• Use second person (i.e. you)
• Make the information relevant to the person’s location in the buying pattern

Make It Relevant

Your message should be relevant to each person you send it to.

As mentioned, creating a message that is relevant to the recipient is one way to make even automated messages appear more personal. There are a few different ways to create an auto-reply or another automated message that retains relevant to the customer. To do this, you need to know a few key facts about the recipient:

• Demographics
• Buying patterns
• Relationship with your company (i.e. first time buyer, regular customer)
• Psychographic data
• Where they are in the buying process
• What they are looking for from you

With this information, it is easy to create a few different auto-reply messages that are tailored to a few key groups of customers. Then, you can send that message to those customers so that they have something more relevant and personalized to them.

How do you do this? For one, group your customer list based on the above information and any other data you might have about customers. Then, when you set up automatic message systems, such as a drip campaign or scheduled campaign, you do so for each of your groups. Just make sure that you do not have anyone in multiple groups that might end up receiving too many messages.

That works well when you already have people signed up and segmented into groups, but what about the auto-reply message you send as confirmation when people sign up? How can you personalize that by making it more relevant?

It is easy: use different keywords in different key areas for marketing. Then, you will know at least something about the person signing up, such as:

• Geographic location
• Where they saw the ad
• What type of ad they responded to

With this information, you can determine what type of response to create for each individual keyword. For example, if you advertise your company in a health and wellness magazine and have a texting call to action, then you can use a dedicated keyword relating to health. Then, you can cater your response message to an audience more interested in health and wellness.

Provide Value

Each text, even auto-replies, need to provide value to customers.

As with any message you send your group texting subscribers, your automated messages need to have value. This might be:

• Offers and deals
• Exclusive access
• Information

If the automated message you want to send out does not have inherent value, then take some time to add value to it. For example, in a confirmation text for people who have signed up to receive your texts, in addition to providing information about the terms and conditions, provide them an offer for your company.

So, what does this look like when you put it all together? You want to choose an automated message for your group texting program that has personality, connects with the recipient, provides value and facilitates the effect you want. There are many types of templates you can use for developing auto-replies and automated messages; however, take the time to develop your own versions that are relevant to your customers and are written in your brand’s voice.

Ready to set up some dynamic automated messages? Try GroupTexting for free.

Categories: Text Message Marketing Tips