As the digital landscape continues to evolve, and text messaging becomes more of a fundamental mode of communication in our day-to-day lives, people are spending more time on their phones than ever. Research indicates that people spend an average of four hours and 37 minutes on their phone every day, with younger generations, such as Gen Z, spending about six hours a day on their phone1. Statistics also show that there has been a steady increase in cell phone usage over the last several years. With this increase comes the growing opportunity to utilize text messaging as an effective marketing tool.

In this blog, I’ll outline key factors to consider when sending text messages in your marketing campaign, and go over tips on how to enhance the effectiveness of each one.

First, let’s discuss the most significant benefits of incorporating texts into your marketing strategy:

  1. It’s a Faster Way to Reach Your Audience
    95% of text messages are opened within 90 seconds from the time they are received.2
  2. It’s an Additional Medium of Communication
    Having multiple ways to engage your audience and carry out your marketing plan diversifies your marketing strategy and puts your message in front of your intended audience wherever they are.
  3. It Has a Higher Response Rate
    People are 134% more likely to respond to a text message than an email.3

Next, our focus will shift to the key components needed to create and send effective marketing text messages.

Keep It Personal

Making sure the content of your texts is appropriate for the target population is always important, but so is personalizing your messages. Using customized elements and tailoring your message to a particular recipient group has been known to increase engagement, with some reports showing recipients are 29% more likely to respond to a message if it’s personalized!4

Below are some examples on how you may better personalize a text and build rapport with your audience:

  • Include the preferred first name of the recipient.
  • Include the recipient’s major or field of study.
  • When applicable, tailor the content to a specific geographic area.
  • Mention the name of the student if your text is going to parents.
  • Customize your sending groups based on what you know of your target population’s preferences and interests.

Be Concise

Even though MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages allot for more, the general rule of thumb is to try and keep texts at around 160 characters. Text messages are regarded as a more personal medium of communication than emails, so keeping content short and sweet is a good way to ensure you get your message across without overwhelming recipients with too much information.

It’s important to be concise, but we want to make sure we maintain clarity, as well. A strong call to action, the name of your institution, and any relevant information regarding the call to action are the basic components of a concise text message. By communicating the above with a conversational tone, and without the use of acronyms and “text speak,” you can maintain an air of professionalism while building an engaging relationship with recipients.

Add UTMs to Track Links When Possible

Including appropriate UTMs at the end of links is important for accurately tracking the effectiveness and progress of text messaging campaigns. A UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) is a small portion of code that is added to the end of a URL to track online marketing performance. Having feedback on different parameters of your marketing efforts can assist you later down the road by offering insight into what communication strategies are working, or where some adjustments might be necessary.

We also suggest using link-shortening platforms when sending text messages. However, not all sending platforms support shortened links, in which case, we advise removing the UTMs to keep the message within character limits.

Provide an Unsubscribe Option

A key component of email marketing is making sure you provide the opportunity for recipients to unsubscribe from the mailing list. The same goes for text messaging!

You always want to make sure you provide an option for recipients to opt out of receiving further communications by including “Reply STOP to End” at the end of all text messages. This also helps you refine your sending populations for future sends to more engaged students and parents.

Timing Can Be Everything

You want to make sure you time the sends of your text messages appropriately, too. This ties into what we mentioned earlier about text messaging being a much more personal mode of communication — we do not want to abuse the more intimate opportunity we have to reach our audience by sending too frequently or at inconvenient times.

According to the research collected in Spark451’s 2024 College-Bound Student Survey, in which we gathered feedback from more than 5,400 graduating high school seniors, 37% of students report that they are open to receiving texts from an institution at any time in the college search and selection process. However, any time in the cycle does not equal any time of the day, and you should carefully schedule your campaign launches for maximum efficacy. In fact, numerous studies have been conducted on the subject, generating data that more clearly outlines the significant impact time and frequency of sends has on recipient engagement and participation:

  • Timing: Several sources support that it’s best to send text marketing messages between the hours of 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM within recipients’ local time zones5, and more specifically between noon and 8:00 PM6. Sending texts to a high school population around 3:00 PM yields the highest response rate7—after school has let out and before after-school activities begin.
  • Frequency: Send frequency should be something that is increased gradually, and monitored closely. It’s suggested that one text a week be the frequency with which to start. Research suggests there is a significant increase in unsubscribe rates once the sender reaches the threshold of 10–15 messages a month.8

Make It Visual

Not every text message needs to include a visual aspect, nor should it. However, adding a simple but relevant image or GIF to a text message can increase engagement by as much as 350%!9

You may be asking, “So when is it best to incorporate an image or GIF?”

Event announcements and messages that provide significant updates profit the most from having media included, because the visual component distinguishes it from other messages and promotes more awareness. Reminders and submission confirmations are more effective as simple SMS messages.

The numbers already support the presence of the massive opportunity cell phones lend to marketers. The results from our 2024 College-Bound Student and Parent Surveys alone indicate that 79% of students use an iPhone regularly, while 67% of parents reported using their cell phone more than any other device.

Incorporating text messages into your marketing strategy can increase the effectiveness of your institution’s campaign — whether your goal is to increase awareness, drive traffic elsewhere, or encourage further engagement. As text messaging continues to grow in popularity, the benefits and unique opportunities that cell phones provide marketers grow along with it. Heeding the suggestions above can help you take advantage of said opportunities, and reach your audiences in the most impactful ways possible!

For more information about incorporating and optimizing text messaging in your marketing plans, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Spark451. You can also access the full results from our 2024 College-Bound Student and Parent Surveys for additional insights about how texting plays a role in the higher education landscape today. We are always happy to discuss with you the ways we can work together to make the most of your text message marketing campaigns.

  1. https://www.harmonyhit.com/phone-screen-time-statistics/
  2. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/sms-marketing/
  3. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/sms-marketing/
  4. https://callfire.my.site.com/answers/s/article/Best-Texting-Practices
  5. https://www.constantcontact.com/blog/sms-text-message-marketing-best-practices/; https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/how-to/sms-marketing-best-practices/
  6. https://simpletexting.com/sms-marketing/campaigns/best-time-to-send/
  7. https://message-support.moderncampus.com/hc/en-us/articles/10017990079373-When-should-I-send-my-message
  8. https://uplandsoftware.com/mobile-messaging/resources/blog/what-is-the-optimal-frequency-of-sending-sms-messages/
  9. https://callfire.my.site.com/answers/s/article/Best-Texting-Practices