Automated Text Message? Here’s What You Should Know in 2024

March 7, 2024 (Updated) | By Sam Pelton
Cartoon representation of a robot sending a text message and a person receiving it

Automation is a businessperson’s best friend.

Why?

Because your life is chock-full to the brim of things to do, meetings to attend, plans to consider, and strategies to execute.

(And that’s not to mention everything you have going on in your personal life apart from work!)

With all that you have on your plate, you don’t have time to spend manually doing everything. You need automated processes to help keep you sane and free you to focus on what you need to accomplish.

That’s where an automated text message system comes in.

Because you know you want to send texts for your business. You know people are constantly on their phones. You know SMS could be a huge asset.

But you don’t want to add yet another thing to micro-manage.

Here we'll walk you through how to send automated texts, and how it can be helpful in making your business better and your life simpler.

What Is an Automated Text Message?

An automated text message is an SMS or MMS that can be programmed or scheduled ahead of time to send automatically.

This can be triggered by you scheduling a specific date or time ahead of time, or by setting up conditions under which the message will send as designated (for example, if a user sends in a specific reply message).

Why Send an Automated Text Message?

Did you know that 75% of millennials prefer SMS messages for promotions and surveys?

That 97% of American adults send texts every week?

An automated text message system allows you to send mass texts for your business on your own time…

  • It allows you to schedule all your messages ahead of time.
  • It allows you to send recurring text messages on an automated basis.
  • It allows you to create drip campaigns
    • a series of messages to go out at different intervals of time.

The ability to do all of this “hands off” frees up your time, brain space, and frustration— while giving you more freedom to take full advantage of the benefits of SMS.

So the real question is… why not?

Why use text alerts?

What Types of Automated Texts Can You Send?

Messages Scheduled Ahead of Time

With an automated text message system, you can set up and schedule all of your messages for the exact day and time that you’d like them to be sent.

You can also schedule them as far in advance as you’d like.

This means that you could designate one day each month, for example, in which you map out and schedule all of your messages for that entire month.

Then all you need to do is watch as the messages are sent out automatically at your designated times.

Recurring Text Messages

Not only does an automated text message system allow you to schedule messages ahead of time, it allows you to set up recurring messages via a text repeater.

A “recurring message” would be a message that’s repeated on a regular basis.

So if you have a text message that you would like to be repeated monthly, for example, you can easily set that up and let it go.

Drip Campaigns

“Drip campaigns,” or drip marketing, involve setting up a workflow of messages that are automatically sent out over a period of time.

Here’s an example:

  • A message sends to contacts immediately upon sign-up.

  • A follow-up message is sent a day later.

  • A third message is sent 2 weeks after that.

  • A final message is sent 30 days later.

Once you set it up, this flow of messages is totally automated and can be assigned to specific groups, or segments of contacts, within your account.

Action-Based Automated Messages

You can also set up automated messaging that triggers based on certain actions people take—such as replying to messages or subscribing to your text alerts.

You can set it up so that particular words correspond to specific automated messages. For example, if someone texts in Promotion, they could receive an automated message letting them know about your latest promotion.

What Are Some Automated Text Message Examples?

Here are some examples of automated text messages you could send…

Promotions

You can boost the effectiveness of your promotions by using SMS to showcase them.

Or you can run an SMS-only promotion to help make your SMS audience feel like they’re getting something exclusive.

Examples:

Don’t miss our fall special - 25% off all apparel THIS WEEKEND ONLY!


Text club exclusive: Get 15% off your next purchase! (Just show this text the next time you come in)


Come get a crunchy taco for only $1! Today only!

Reminders

Texting is an excellent way to remind people about events, appointments, online live sales, or other details.

Just send a quick reminder text the day of or the day before, and you’ll see engagement rise exponentially.

Examples:

Don’t forget about our webinar today at 3pm. Be prepared to take notes!


Reminder: Your appointment is tomorrow at 1:15pm. See you there!


Check out our new inventory LIVE in 15 minutes!

Updates

Does your business have information you like to regularly communicate with customers? Ever have weather-related closures? Cancellations or openings you’d like to try to fill? Changes in hours?

You can send these types of updates to customers via text message to get the best results.

Examples:

Our lunch entree this week will be our delectable chicken salad sandwich! Come enjoy.


Offices are closed today due to inclement weather. Stay home and stay safe!


Slots have opened up for tomorrow afternoon. Reply back if you’d like to book an appointment!

Internal Communication

An automated text message system can not only be used for promoting to and communicating with customers, but it can also be used to improve internal communication within your business.

Need to send meeting reminders? Office memos? HR updates?

Texts are the best way to do it!

Examples:

Don’t forget about today’s meeting at 2pm. Here’s the Zoom link in case you can’t make it in person: [link]


Please remember to submit your information for payroll by 5pm tonight.


Due to construction, please enter the building through the east door this week.

Education/Onboarding

Educating or onboarding customers and leads can be a challenge. What if people don’t see or pay attention to your emails (or whatever other means you use of reaching out)?

Automated texts (in particular drip campaigns) can help with this. You can send or schedule out automated messages to let your customers know important information.

Examples:

Thanks for creating an account with us! Follow this link to complete your profile: [link]


Thanks for signing up! Click here to join the exclusive Facebook group: [link]


We’re excited to have you! You can validate your registration here: [link]

Lead Follow-Ups

SMS, when done correctly, can add a personal touch to your sales lead follow-ups. (Your prospects will be much more likely to see your follow-ups in a text rather than an email.)

Being able to automate these follow-ups is a nice bonus too!

Examples:

Hey! I wanted to do a quick check-in to see if you had any other questions I could help you with?


Have you scheduled your free demo yet? Here’s the link! [link]


What’s holding you back from moving forward? I’d love to hear your thoughts! :)

Customer Service

Although you don’t want to rely too heavily on automated text messages for customer service, it can be helpful for giving people quick answers to frequently asked questions—or for letting them know you’re out of the office.

You can set it up so that an answer to a common question is automatically sent when someone texts in a specific word. Or you could set up an “out of office” text message to go out after hours so that people know when they should expect a response.

Examples:

Thanks for reaching out! Our offices are closed but we’ll get back to you first thing tomorrow morning!


You’ve reached the CatBack SMS Help Line! To better assist you, please reply with one of the following: HOURS, PROMOTIONS, TECH SUPPORT, FEEDBACK, or GENERAL.


Thank you for your inquiry! Your comment has been submitted and we will review it shortly.

How to Send Automated Texts

Concerned that sending automated texts will be complicated and difficult to set up?

Don’t be!

Here are a few easy steps detailing how to send automated texts.

Note: if you’re looking for how to send scheduled texts via phone you can check here for iPhone and here for Android.

Step 1: Create an Account

You’ll first need an account with an SMS platform.

Setting up an account is as simple as filling out a short online form.

And if you’re not ready to shell out some cash for a full paid account, you can always sign up for a free trial. That will allow you to test things out and get a feel for how it all works.

Step 2: Plan Out Your Messages

Once you’re up and running on an SMS platform, you’re ready to start planning out the messages you’re going to be sending through your automated text message system.

Maybe you’ll be sending a specific promotion to a subset of your leads.

Maybe you’ll be sending an announcement of an upcoming release to current customers.

Maybe you’ll be sending a series of onboarding messages to new customers.

Whatever the case, you can start thinking about specific aspects of your campaign:

  • Who will receive your messages?

  • How many messages will you send?

  • What will be your primary call to action for your campaign? For each individual message?

Need an example? Get a free SMS drip campaign template here [Google Spreadsheet].

Nothing is set in stone during this planning phase, so you can always change your mind later.

You also don’t need to have everything figured out before you move forward, although it’s good to have a general idea of what you’re going to do.

Step 3: Schedule / Create Your Messages

You can start setting up or scheduling messages as soon as you know what content you want to include in the first message you’d like to send.

There are 3 ways to schedule / create your messages.

Schedule for a Specific Date and Time

You can schedule your messages for a particular date or time.

You can even schedule subsequent recurring text messages by selecting for your text to go out on the same day or time at regular intervals (such as monthly, weekly, or daily).

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What is an automated text message system?

Schedule a Drip Campaign

Perhaps you want to automate a campaign but not specify the particular date that you’d like the messages to go out.

For example, let’s say you want to create an onboarding campaign for new trial accounts and send them a series of automated texts to help them get started.

In a case like that, you can use a drip campaign option.

You can simply set up all the messages you’d like your audience to receive, and designate how long of a delay you’d like in between each message.

Then customers or leads can be added to your campaign’s message flow automatically as soon as they sign up for your texts, or as soon as you add them to a designated list.

Designate the Conditions that Trigger the Automated Message

If you’re not wanting to do a scheduled blast or a drip campaign, you can create single automated messages triggered based on your subscriber’s activity.

You can set up and customize these auto-responses within your online SMS platform.

Step 4: Build Your SMS List

Once you have your messages set up and ready to go, all that’s left to do is to get people loaded into your overall SMS list so that they can receive those messages!

Some tools that can help you build your SMS list so that you can send automated texts include:

  • “Text to join” words: These allow people to automatically join your SMS list by texting in a particular word to your account’s free phone number

  • An online sign-up page: This is an online form that your leads and customers can fill out in order to sign up for your texts

  • QR codes: People can join your text list by scanning an automatically generated QR code

  • Integrations: You can automate with CRM software and other management services via API or via the integration site Zapier.com

What Potential Concerns Are There with Automated Text Messages?

Although automated texting is basically a no-brainer, there are a few potential concerns to think about to make sure you’re doing it effectively…

Lack of Human Touch

According to Zendesk, “3 in 4 consumers will spend more with businesses that provide a good CX.”

So customer service is important!

And while effective and efficient, an automated message typically just can’t beat the touch of an actual human interaction.

Even if you automatically personalize the messages with the recipient’s name and personal details, the bottom line is that the interaction is not organic, lacking the spark and personality of a human touch and not allowing for an engaging back-and-forth.

To combat this, make sure the tone of your automated messages is spot on and try to make bandwidth to engage in personal interactions as well.

Psychology: Not Feeling Like a “Person”

Piggybacking on that last point—while it’s often better than not having an interaction at all, being on the receiving end of automated messages can leave someone with the sense of feeling more like a number than a person.

In other words, automation, especially if implemented coldly and mechanically, can make someone feel like a cog in a machine.

As mentioned above, the best way to combat this is to nail down the tone you’re going for and make an effort to couple your automated messages with personal interactions whenever possible.

Annoyance in Regards to Dealing with a “Robot”

Still along the same lines as the last 2 points, be aware that interacting with a “robot” rather than a human is a frustrating experience for many.

We’ve all experienced it—pushing button after button through automated phone menus before getting to speak to a real person.

So do your best to make your automated text message experience as non-frustrating as possible. One way to do that would be to not make your recipients have to go through a lot of hassle if they want to speak to a real person—make it easy for them to patch through to a real rep.

Conclusion: Get an Automated Text System

In this age of busyness and technology, you need tools that are effective for your business.

Effective, but not difficult!

Automated texts give you the amazing benefits of SMS - high read rate, visibility, and responsiveness - and don’t require you to hover and micro-manage.

Thus, you can release some stress in your life, increasing sales and leaving you happier with your marketing efforts.

What are you waiting for?

Get your free trial now.

See Also: Business Texts You Can Send in Your Sleep

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