What is a promotional SMS message?

A promotional SMS message is a text message sent to subscribers for marketing purposes.

You can use promotional SMS messages to:

Announce new products
Send discount codes
Keep people updated about your brand
Invite people to events
Remind people about their abandoned carts
Educate people about your products

A promotional SMS message typically ends with a call to action (CTA), which asks people to take next steps such as:

“Order now to save 30%!”
“Become an affiliate partner for exclusive discounts.”
“Explore the full collection.”

How to send a promotional SMS message

1. Secure the right phone number for SMS

To reach your audience via SMS, you’ll need to set up a dedicated phone number. Depending on your budget and anticipated volume, you can acquire a:

Toll-free number: These are relatively inexpensive and ideal for testing smaller SMS initiatives.
Short code: These are dedicated and memorable numbers that are ideal d for high-volume messaging.
Branded sender ID: These are alphanumeric IDs, and they’re best for your business if branding is important to you.
Long code: Unlike branded sender IDs, long codes are able to receive inbound messages, which gives you more flexibility in what you can do with SMS.

2. Lay the foundation for SMS compliance

Before sending promotional texts to customers, make sure you comply with the necessary SMS marketing regulations. Here’s how to do it:

Update your privacy policy: Ensure your privacy policy clearly explains how you’ll collect and use phone numbers. If you plan to send messages like abandoned cart reminders, explain how your site tracks customer activity (for example, using cookies or plug-ins).
Get explicit consent for SMS: Just having someone’s phone number isn’t enough. You can’t send SMS messages unless they’ve explicitly agreed to receive them. Make sure your sign-up forms clearly state that you’ll be sending promotional messages via SMS, and obtain their consent.
Use double opt-in to confirm sign-ups: Confirm that people really want to hear from you by using double opt-in. After they sign up for SMS marketing, send a confirmation message asking them to reply with a keyword (like “YES”) to confirm their subscription.
Provide an easy way to opt out: Make it easy for customers to unsubscribe from your texts by replying with “STOP.” It’s a good idea to include this information in your first message and periodically—at least once a month or every fifth message.

Before sending promotional SMS messages, make sure you comply with the regulations in the countries where your subscribers are located:

United States: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)—you must obtain clear opt-in consent and provide an unsubscribe option.
European Union: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) & ePrivacy Regulations—you need to obtain informed consent, clearly identify yourself as the sender, and provide easy opt-out options.
United Kingdom: UK GDPR & Public Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) —the requirements are the same as those in the EU, including obtaining informed consent, clear sender identification, and easy opt-out options.
Canada: Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)—you must secure express consent, clearly identify yourself, and include an easy unsubscribe method.
Australia: Spam Act 2003—you need to obtain express consent and clearly identify yourself, along with providing an easy unsubscribe method.

3. Craft your promotional message

Your message content will depend on your goals, but at a basic level, here are some must-haves for every promotional SMS:

Your company name
A time-sensitive offer
An element of personalization, like a first name or a product someone browsed
A shortened link, which can be customized for your brand
A STOP unsubscribe reminder or an unsubscribe link for branded sender IDs that don’t support two-way communication, if it’s your first message or you haven’t included one in the last 5 messages/1 month

You can also enhance your message with an image or GIF under 600 KB. This will convert the message into an MMS, which also allows you more than 1,600 characters. Just remember that MMS messages cost more than SMS messages under most billing plans.

4. Find the best time to send your message

Timing plays a big role in how well your SMS messages perform. Here’s when you’re likely to get the best response:

Evening (after 7 pm): Many people unwind and check their phones at this time. Around 45% of people prefer receiving texts from brands during the evening.
Afternoon (12 pm to 5 pm): This time can also work, especially during lunch breaks.
Midday (10 am to 12 pm): A good time on weekends when people are generally less busy.
Morning (before 9 am): This time tends to have lower engagement, with only 9% of people preferring texts at this hour.

A/B testing can help you identify the best send times for your audience. However, the type of product you sell or service you offer can guide your timing decisions. For example, if you sell cozy sheets, evenings may be ideal since customers are winding down for the night and preparing for bed. If you offer a coffee subscription, mornings are likely better when people are looking for their daily caffeine boost. Brands can make educated guesses about optimal send times based on these insights, as they often align with customers’ needs and habits.

3 benefits of promotional SMS messages

1. People who subscribe to SMS actually buy

A recent Klaviyo survey of nearly 9K consumers found that 72% of people have made a purchase after receiving a text from a brand. And people who buy from text messages are buying more often—86% of respondents made 2+ purchases in the last year from SMS messages, up from 55% in 2022. Within that group of respondents, 30% said they made 4+ purchases from SMS in the last year, and almost 10% made 6+ purchases.

2. SMS speeds up time to purchase

According to Klaviyo data, 65% of people who made an SMS purchase in the last year said it was something they were planning to buy in the near future or in a few months—and they ended up buying the item earlier than they planned to because of a promotional text message.

3. You’re reaching people who really want to hear from you

People typically subscribe to SMS when they’re already enthusiastic about a brand. When you commit to growing an SMS list, you’re inherently building a list of people most likely to buy from you multiple times.

A recent Klaviyo survey found that when people subscribe to your SMS messages, 72% of them expect to receive text messages at least once a week.

Unify your customer journey across channels with Klaviyo. From cart abandonment reminders to exclusive offers, Klaviyo can help you send promotional SMS messages that speed up time to purchase.