Informational Text Messages: When and How to Use Them

Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages are the best way to quickly connect with clients about important issues. In fact, 90% of cellphone users open text messages in under three minutes, 45% message back, and the average response time for SMS is a mere minute and a half.

Whether you’re a freelancer, part of a small team, or working in a large corporation, informational text messages are your key to sharing crucial news at record speeds. In this guide, we’ll unpack how they work and outline some key strategies and best practices for sending informational SMS messages.

What are Informational SMS Messages 

Informational SMS messages are texts that share important news, updates, and data about your business with your clients. Whether they’re appointment reminders, order confirmation messages, or some other relevant notification, they provide pertinent information that benefits the recipient.

Some examples of informational SMS messages include: 

• Announcements
• Closings and delays
• Employee communication
• Emergency alerts
• Event communication
• Reminders
• Recruiting
• Severe weather alerts
• Surveys

Unlike promotional texts, informational SMS messages don’t contain any advertisements or offers. They’re in an entirely different realm from marketing messages and seek to serve existing customers, rather than boost future revenue. 

The Importance of Informational SMS in Your Strategy 

Consumers simply prefer text messages for business communications. A staggering 91% of SMS users say they like to receive messages from businesses. Furthermore, informational SMS messages can facilitate your commercial operations even if they don’t contain promotional content.

Appointment reminder texts, for example, reduce no-shows by almost 40%—effectively minimizing wasted staff hours and organizational preparation for meetings. Likewise, a majority of customers enjoy receiving confirmation texts—such as those for shipments and deliveries.

With informational SMSs being both effective and conducive to customer satisfaction and trust, there’s no reason not to implement them in your business strategy.

Key Elements of Effective Informational Text Messages 

Every business’s informational messages will be specific to its own operations and industry. Nonetheless, there are some common characteristics and components of effective informational SMSs. Here, we’ll explain what you should include in your next text.

1. Clarity and Conciseness

Standard SMS messages support a maximum of 160 characters. This limit allows you to communicate a small amount of relevant information that customers can read in a few seconds and isn’t likely to be ignored. 

Limit your message to one standard SMS to avoid superfluous spam. Send only the most important information that’s straightforward and to the point. Likewise, choose your words carefully so your meaning and message are always clear and understandable. 

2. Relevance to the Receiver

When sending informational SMS, make sure its content is relevant to the receiver. Shipping confirmation messages, for instance, should only be sent to the recipient who placed the order.

Likewise, ensure any mass informational texts are carefully targeted to clients who will find them helpful and valuable. If, for instance, you operate multiple stores and are closing one for renovations, ensure only clients in that location’s area get the update via SMS. 

3. A Link for More Details

As mentioned, SMS messages have fairly stringent limitations on character limits. If you need to expand on something but don’t have space within your message, include a link to your website or social media page for clients to follow. 

90% of American adults have a smartphone, meaning they can visit webpages with a simple tap of their finger. Thus, if you need to communicate something more complex, links are the best method of getting it across.

4. No Sales Pitch

Remember, informational SMS messages are not promotional texts. They are meant to inform and update, rather than sell to your clientele. And sales language and offers may detract from customer trust if hidden within the guise of an informational text.

For that reason, it’s essential to omit any sales language from informational texts altogether. That doesn’t mean you can’t use SMS for marketing purposes—it should just be an entirely different campaign from your informational messages.

Examples of Informational vs Promotional SMS 

Imagine you’re an eCommerce business that wants to use SMS for informational and marketing purposes. You can effectively do both, but you’ll have to curate the language and approach you use in each kind of message to achieve its intended purpose. Informational messages should be more targeted and straightforward, for example:

• [Business Name]: Hi [customer name], your order [#XXXX] has been shipped with an expected delivery date of [date]. To track your package, visit [link]. Reply STOP to STOP
  
  

Meanwhile, marketing messages can be more general and use more whimsical, playful tones. Most importantly, they communicate a deal, sale, discount, or other offer to drum up interest in your business. An example may be:

• Sizzling hot deals are here just in time for the summer heat! There’s a huge sale happening at [Business Name], visit [link] to get in on the action! Reply STOP to STOP

Best Practices for Sending Informational SMS 

Informational messages will be specific to your business, but there are still some best practices to keep in mind to guide you as you write. When typing out any informational SMS, be sure to consider:

1. Timing and Frequency

Unlike promotional SMS messages, there aren’t many hard-set rules for timing informational texts. Generally, they’re initiated by the user when they make a purchase or reservation. So, when they take an action that warrants an informational SMS, make sure to send it out as soon as possible. 

However, other kinds of informational messages, such as appointment reminder texts, require more careful planning. Refresh your clients’ memories about upcoming meetings a day or two in advance so they have ample time to make arrangements and arrive on time.

2. Personalization and Segmentation

Segmenting your audience means separating your clients into similar groups for targeted informational messaging. This can mean collating clients in the same area, age range, or any other demographic as long as the messages you deliver to each segment are relevant and useful.

Likewise, you should also personalize each message with specifics about the client—such as their name and order number. Doing so doesn’t just make each message more valuable and relevant to your users, but it’s also what they’ve come to expect. Over three-quarters of consumers get frustrated when companies don’t personalize their interactions—so be sure to include each recipient’s particulars so your clients know they’re special.

3. Compliance and Consent

Ensuring all your company’s texts comply with legal regulations governing SMS messages is essential. In America, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and CAN-SPAM Act regulate how and when you can communicate with consumers via SMS. Some of their more important rules include:

• Clearly stating who you are in messages 
• Obtaining users’ consent before contacting them via SMS
• Not using false, deceptive, or misleading information
• Allowing users to opt-out at will
• Identifying ads whenever you send them
  
  

Complying with these and other rules regarding SMS messaging is crucial to ensure your business doesn't face legal repercussions such as fines and lawsuits. To ensure every message you send sticks to these stringent regulations, partner with Mozeo to power your SMS campaigns. 

Send Compliant Informational Texts with Mozeo

Informational SMS messages are crucial to keep your customers in the loop about important company changes, upcoming events, and other relevant news. To reach the maximum number of consumers, they should be carefully balanced with promotional messages that encourage clients to explore new deals and offers.

At Mozeo, we specialize in crafting both informational and promotional SMS campaigns. With automated responses and consistent legal compliance, we simplify the intensive and time-consuming aspects of messaging to free your time for involved tasks. Instead of typing up order confirmations, you can spend your days dreaming up new marketing tactics to better target your clientele.

Try Mozeo today and see the difference a dedicated texting platform can make for your customer engagement and satisfaction.