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Texting for Business? Break These Text Etiquette Rules at Your Own Risk

You know text messaging has come of age when Emily Post and Cosmo magazine both dish out etiquette rules for text messaging. Although we’re not authorities on manners, we do know text message marketing and have created our own etiquette tips for business texting. We’ve seen clients face the consequences, so break these at your own risk!

Text timing is important

Mobile phones have become “always on” communications devices, replacing regular phones and land lines. So you can forget thoughts like… “I’ll send my message at midnight and they can read it in the morning” or “It’s 5 a.m. and I’m up, so I might as well send my offer now.” Those thoughts could land you in text hell and under an “unsubscribe avalanche.” Unlike email, sending texts during off hours could create a backlash. You’ll only wake those who are calmly sleeping with their phones at their bedsides. Remember, angry, sleepy customers don’t buy happily in the morning.

Leave the cute text slang at home

Don’t uz txt slang 2 commnc8 4 biz. A standard abbreviation to save space is OK. Text slang that leaves your clients confused isn’t.

Be politically correct

Text messages are easy and informal, but don’t get too casual. If you wouldn’t say it at the office, you shouldn’t text it. That means no cursing or inappropriate message attachments. This is also known as the “Weiner effect.”

Identify yourself

We tell clients to format text messages a certain way and we do it for a reason. Just like you might forget a person’s name after meeting them, your customers might forget they signed up for your texts. Remind them by identifying yourself and starting every message with your branded keyword (the word clients use to sign up). This leads to less “Who’s that?” and more “Good deal!”

Test your texts

Ever heard of fat-finger fares? It’s when airlines post the wrong airfare amount because of a typo, turning a $350 ticket into a $30 fare and an expensive mistake. If you want to avoid your own discount boo-boo, test your message by sending it to your phone first. Our platform allows you to send yourself a text message before sending it to your subscribers.

Looks count too

Being different or standing out is not really a bad thing when promoting a business. But if you want to text in all caps or random caps to make your message stand out, we have one word of advice: don’t. You might think you’re getting more attention, but everyone else will think you’re SCREAMING or run by tEEnAgeRS.

If you haven’t tried text message marketing, now’s the time to take advantage of this powerful marketing tool. Our etiquette tips will help keep you out of hot water.