64 SMS Marketing Templates for Personalized Campaigns that Drive Conversion

Hand typing into a mobile phone with text bubbles to show templates for SMS marketing.

Nearly three-fourths (71%) percent of consumers expect personalized interactions from your business. Happily, tools like SMS marketing make personalization at scale easier than ever, allowing you to enjoy up to a 15% increase in conversions from personalized messages.

Personalized SMS marketing relies on SMS marketing templates. These reusable messages are the main ingredient in one-to-many texts (also known as mass texts or bulk texts) and are key to creating SMS drip campaigns and automations, which streamline texting workflows. They include personal information relating to the lead that helps the message resonate with each recipient, building a stronger relationship and boosting revenue.

But, SMS marketing doesn’t leave a lot of room for error, so you need to be sure you’re sending high-quality messages to your leads.

Write an SMS template the right way, and you can connect with dozens or hundreds of leads and customers in minutes—without losing that personal touch. Write it the wrong way, and you’ve lost a lead – potentially forever.

Luckily, we’ve created this article to help you craft effective and engaging marketing content on your own or with our SMS marketing template generator. With it, you can select the purpose of the message and/or industry, then see (and copy!) samples of relevant SMS templates for marketing to inspire your own campaigns. Plus, we’ll show you how to schedule and send messages with a business SMS platform for effective drip campaigns and automated responses.

Best Practices for Marketing and Promotional SMS Templates

Before you start sending your SMS templates for marketing, let’s talk strategy. How you choose recipients, write templates, and send templates affects your success.

Here are 10 best practices to guide text marketing templates to the right targets:

1. Only text leads and customers who have opted in.

Before you text any leads and customers, you have to secure leads’ and customers’ opt-ins first. Texting opted-in recipients is not just the law; it also ensures you’ve got an engaged audience on the other end of the line.

2. Include opt-out language in every text.

Opting out of your marketing campaigns should be a breeze. Include opt-out language on each text message marketing template so leads always know it’s an option. This is a great way to build trust.

SMS reading: Hi Amaar, Happy International Chocolate Day from Bonnie Chocolate! Check out our website for new releases. 🍫 Text STOP to unsubscribe.

3. Focus on providing value.

Sending texts that benefit your leads makes it more likely that they’ll actually read them. Share product or collaboration announcements, product tips, VIP service offers, polls, and event information – but be sure that you’re only sending them the kind of messages they signed up for to avoid coming across as spam.

4. Aim for a casual yet professional tone.

Texting etiquette is different from email or phone call etiquette. Address leads like you would your neighbor—with friendly, casual, and polite language. Only use text abbreviations if your branding allows it. And check outgoing texts for typos; there’s no unsending a text. Avoid sounding like spam by removing words like FREE or SALE.

5. Target your messages.

Create small segmented lists, dividing them by demographics, engagement levels, and more. Write each marketing message template with one specific list in mind. This will help you craft messages that better resonate with recipients.

6. Add a CTA.

Your texts need a call to action (CTA), just like any other marketing content. Otherwise, leads won’t know what to do after they read your messages. For example, ask them to check out a new product, try out a tip, use your free VIP service (e.g., a stylist), or leave a review.

7. Personalize, personalize, personalize.

Leads and customers want to know they’re not just numbers in your books. Show them that you’re sending your messages to them specifically by personalizing texts. Leave space in your SMS marketing templates for custom fields like first names, loyalty numbers, last purchases, and more.

SMS reading: Hi Jean—HighBrow is celebrating our Blue Tier Members this week! Check your mailbox for a little gift, on us. ✨ Text STOP to unsubscribe.

Hi Jean—HighBrow is celebrating our Blue Tier Members this week! Check your mailbox for a little gift, on us. ✨ Text STOP to unsubscribe.

8. Show off your brand’s personality.

Your texts should always sound casual, friendly, and polite. But that leaves a lot of room for different brand personalities. If it works with your branding, include emojis, GIFs, images, and popular text abbreviations. (Consider creating a messaging brand voice guide that defines exactly what you can include.) These extra touches differentiate your texts from competitors’.

9. Think outside the box.

Creative SMS marketing texts are more likely to catch your leads’ eyes than run-of-the-mill coupons. Craft engaging campaigns, from polls to competitions to VIP SMS service opportunities (think: free gift suggestions and stylist advice).

10. Embrace a two-way relationship.

Take advantage of texting’s two-way nature by encouraging recipients to respond and reach out. Remind them that they can reply to your texts. This strategy, conversational marketing, helps leads and customers form stronger connections with your business.

SMS Templates for Marketing Generator

This SMS marketing template generator includes 64 templates for a variety of purposes and industries. Use them to inspire your own marketing texts—or copy a template you like, apply your branding, and send them manually or automatically through your business texting platform.

The information in this guide is provided “as is” and should not be relied upon as legal advice. You are responsible for ensuring your use of the services and your message content complies with all laws applicable to your business.

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How to Send Marketing Texts Using SMS Templates

Once you’ve created your SMS marketing template library, you’ll need to implement them in your SMS marketing platform.

You can get started by selecting a template and list then hitting send, or you can set up a drip campaign and or even establish automated responses with your templates.

Setting up SMS Drip Campaigns

As part of your marketing, you may want to stay in touch with a certain group of leads or customers over a long period of time. An SMS drip campaign lets you set up a series of SMS marketing templates that send on a schedule. Abandoned cart messages, special offers, and event invitations can all be used as an effective step in a drip campaign to re-engage potential buyers.

Setting up one of these campaigns is also easy with an effective business SMS platform:

  1. Choose whether you want the texts to send on specific dates and times or on a set number of days apart.
  2. Select your list of leads to add to the campaign.
  3. Create new SMS templates or choose some you’ve already written.
  4. Start the campaign.

Your SMS marketing platform might offer additional campaign features. For example, if contacts reply to the drip texts, you might be able to remove them from the campaign so your team can continue one-on-one conversations with them.

Automating Marketing Texts

You can also send automatic text messages. Automations take over repetitive tasks, like sharing loyalty point information or replying to FAQs. They can also provide fast lead engagement by acknowledging their purchase, content download, newsletter registration, or contact message to jumpstart customer service and provide additional upselling opportunities.

Here’s how to set up a basic SMS marketing automation:

  1. Choose your trigger. This is what kicks off the automation. Triggers include when your platform receives a text with a specific keyword, from a new lead, at a certain day or time, or from a specific messaging channel (e.g., Instagram Messenger). Your platform may also be able to send texts when the number receives a phone call from an integrated voice platform.
  2. Pick a relevant keyword or timeframe. If your automation includes a keyword or timeframe, now’s the time to indicate it.
  3. Identify an action. You’ll choose to send an SMS marketing template in this case.
  4. Create a new SMS template or choose one you’ve already written.

This is the process for creating simple SMS marketing automations. You can also create automations that work across platforms. For example, you can set up one that sends a text every time your CRM platform indicates a lead signed up for an event. (This automated text messaging guide walks you through all types of automations, including advanced versions.)

Next Steps After Sending SMS Marketing Texts

Once you’ve written and sent your SMS templates for marketing, there’s a good chance you’ll see an uptick in customer responses. Your team may want to answer some of the questions or hand threads off to sales or customer service teams. If you’re using an SMS platform, this will be a smooth process. A HubSpot SMS integration makes it even easier to text throughout the customer lifecycle.

Ultimately, text marketing templates are a key player in your SMS marketing strategy—and your marketing success as a whole.

Ready to streamline your workflows with SMS marketing templates? Read our automated text messaging guide.

Ebook cover: SMS Automations, The Complete Guide

Sophia Huneycutt is Heymarket's lead writer, producing everything from articles to eBooks. She works closely with Heymarket's product and customer service teams to help convey the latest business texting best practices. A B2B technology writer since the mid-2010s, Sophia has also worked with brands like Microsoft and Indiegogo. Her dying potted plants wish she'd stick to writing in her spare time, too.
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