If you’re looking for a super simple SMS marketing plan, then feel free to use the below template/guide to get you started, feel free to add/remove parts so that the plan is highly specific to your business and goals.
[Your Business Name] – Easy SMS Text Plan
Think of this as your simple guide to sending great text messages to your customers.
Version: 1.0 Date Made: [Date] Who Made It: [Your Name/Team Name]
1. What’s This Plan For? (Quick Look)
- Why are we doing this? (Example: Get more people visiting our shop/website, remind people about appointments, tell them about sales).
- Our Main Reason: _
- What big goal does this help? (Example: Make 10% more sales this year, get 20 new regular customers).
- Our Big Business Goal: _
- How will texts help reach that goal? (Example: Sending discount codes, telling people about new stuff they might like).
- How Texts Will Help: _
- Who will we be texting? (Example: Our loyal customers, people who signed up online).
- People We’ll Text: _
2. What Do We Want Texts To DO For Us? (Our Texting Goals)
Let’s set some simple targets so we know if this is working. Be specific!
- Goal 1 Example: Get 50 people to use an SMS discount code in the next 3 months.
- Goal 2 Example: Have 10 fewer people miss their appointments each month because of text reminders.
- Goal 3 Example: Get 100 more people to sign up to receive our texts in the next 6 months.
- Our Texting Goal 1: _ (What? By when?)
- Our Texting Goal 2: _ (What? By when?)
- Our Texting Goal 3: _ (What? By when?)
3. Who Are We Texting & How Do We Get Their Number? (The Right Way!)
- Who are the main groups of people we want to text? (Think about your customers).
- [ ] Our best customers (buy often)
- [ ] Newer customers
- [ ] People who like [Specific product/service, e.g., coffee, haircuts]
- [ ] People living nearby (if you have postcodes)
- [ ] People who signed up but haven’t bought yet
- Other: _
- How we’ll ask for phone numbers (IMPORTANT: We MUST Ask Nicely & Clearly!)
- Why Ask Clearly? It’s the law in Australia (Spam Act)! Plus, people don’t like surprise marketing texts. We need their okay before we text offers.
- Ways We Will Ask:
- [ ] Sign-up sheet in store (with a box to tick for SMS offers)
- [ ] Box to tick on our website checkout or contact form
- [ ] Asking when they pay (and writing down we got their ‘Yes!’)
- [ ] On a competition entry form (making it clear they agree to texts)
- [ ] Website pop-up asking if they want SMS deals
- [ ] Special keyword (e.g., “Text DEAL to 04XX XXX XXX”)
- What we’ll say when asking (Example): “Want special discounts sent straight to your phone? Just tick here for occasional SMS offers from [Your Business Name]. You can stop them anytime by replying STOP.”
- Keeping our list tidy: We’ll use our SMS tool to remove people who ask to stop, and check for numbers that don’t work anymore.
4. What Kinds of Texts Will We Send?
Tick the types of messages that make sense for your business:
- [ ] Special Deals: Like % off, $ off, buy-one-get-one.
- Why send this? To get people buying now.
- [ ] Quick Sales (Flash Sales): Short deals like “Today Only!”
- Why send this? Creates excitement, quick sales boost.
- [ ] New Stuff: Telling people about new products or services.
- Why send this? Let interested people know first.
- [ ] Event News: Invites or reminders for workshops, sales events, etc.
- Why send this? Get more people to show up.
- [ ] Appointment Reminders: (If you take bookings).
- Why send this? So people don’t forget their appointment. Saves you time/money!
- [ ] Loyalty Perks: Special offers just for your VIPs.
- Why send this? Make your best customers feel special.
- [ ] “It’s Back!” Alerts: Tell people when something they wanted is back in stock.
- Why send this? Helps them buy what they wanted.
- [ ] Helpful Info: Order updates, delivery info. (These are usually okay without specific marketing permission, but still need your name and a way to stop marketing texts).
- Why send this? Good customer service.
- [ ] Asking for Feedback: Like a quick rating after a purchase.
- Why send this? Shows you care, helps you improve.
5. What Should Our Texts Say? (Making Good Messages)
- Simple Rules for Good Texts:
- Keep it Short: People read texts quickly. Get to the point.
- What’s In It For Them?: Make the benefit clear (e.g., SAVE $, GET IT FIRST).
- Tell Them What To Do: Shop now? Book here? Visit us? Use a clear link if needed.
- Make it Feel Urgent (Sometimes): “Ends Sunday!”, “Limited spots!” can help.
- Use Their Name (If you can): “Hi Sarah,” feels friendlier.
- ALWAYS Say Who You Are: Start or end with
[Your Business Name]. (Rule!) - ALWAYS Tell Them How To Stop: Add
Reply STOP to opt out. (Rule!)
- Example Messages:
- Sale Text:
[Your Biz Name]: Hey [Name]! Grab 20% OFF everything this weekend! Use code YAY20 online [Link] or show this text in-store. Ends Sun! Reply STOP to opt out. - Reminder Text:
[Your Biz Name]: Hi [Name], friendly reminder about your booking on [Date] at [Time]. See you then! Need to change? Call us [Phone No.]. Reply STOP to opt out. - New Stuff Text:
[Your Biz Name]: Pssst! Our new winter warmers just landed! Be the first to see them here: [Link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
- Sale Text:
6. When and How Often Will We Send Texts?
- Best Times to Send: Think normal waking hours! Don’t text too early (before 9 am) or too late (after 8 pm) unless it’s urgent like an appointment reminder for the next morning. Consider what time it is for them if you have customers across Australia.
- We’ll usually send texts between: [Start Time, e.g., 10:00 AM] and [End Time, e.g., 6:00 PM] on [Days, e.g., Weekdays].
- How Often? (Don’t Annoy People!) Sending too many texts is the fastest way to get people to leave your list.
- Sales/Promo Texts: Aim for maybe 1-4 times per month MAX. Less is often more!
- Reminders/Updates: Send only when needed (e.g., 1 day before appointment).
- Our Texting Calendar: Let’s plan ahead for big dates!
- January: [e.g., Back-to-work offer]
- April: [e.g., Easter Sale]
- July: [e.g., Mid-Year Sale]
- December: [e.g., Christmas/Holiday Deals]
- Other Key Dates for Us: _
7. What Tool Will We Use to Send Texts?
We need a special tool (computer program or website) to send texts to groups easily and follow the rules.
- The Tool We’ll Use: [Name of SMS Tool for example 160.com.au]
- What the Tool MUST Help Us Do:
- [ ] Keep our list of numbers organised (and group people).
- [ ] Put names in texts easily (
Hi [Name]). - [ ] Let us write texts now, but send them later.
- [ ] Show us how many texts were sent, opened (if possible), and links clicked.
- [ ] Automatically handle “STOP” replies
- [ ] Let us clearly show our business name.
- [ ] (Maybe) connect to our shop website or booking system.
8. How Much Will This Cost? (Our Budget)
- Costs to Think About:
- Fee for the SMS sending tool (monthly or yearly?).
- Cost for each text message we send (usually a few cents per text).
- Rough Monthly Cost Idea:
- (Number of people on list) x (Avg. texts per person per month) x (Cost per text) + (Tool fee) = $ __ (approx.)
- Our Monthly Budget for SMS: $__
9. How Will We Know If It’s Working?
We need simple ways to check if our texts are doing what we want. We’ll look at the reports in our SMS tool.
- Things We’ll Check Regularly (e.g., weekly or monthly):
- Is our list growing? (Getting more sign-ups?)
- Are texts getting through? (Delivery rate %)
- Are people clicking the links? (Click rate %)
- Are people buying or booking from the texts? (We can track this with special links or discount codes).
- Are many people asking to STOP? (We want this number low!).
- Overall: Are we making more money from sales/bookings than we’re spending on the texts?
10. Following the Rules
This is SUPER important. Breaking these rules can lead to big fines. Think of it like phone manners!
- RULE 1: Ask Permission FIRST!
- You MUST have proof they clearly said YES to getting marketing texts from you. Ticking a box online, signing a form, or sending a keyword is good.
- Just having their number because they bought something once might not be enough for marketing texts. Be safe, ask clearly!
- Keep a record of how and when they said yes.
- RULE 2: Say Who You Are!
- Every marketing text MUST clearly show your business name.
- RULE 3: Make it Easy to Stop!
- Every marketing text MUST have simple instructions on how to stop getting them (e.g.,
Reply STOP). - This MUST work, and you MUST stop texting them marketing messages quickly (within 5 business days is the rule).
- It should be cheap or free for them to text STOP.
- Every marketing text MUST have simple instructions on how to stop getting them (e.g.,
- More Info: Look up “ACMA SMS spam rules” online for the official details. (https://www.acma.gov.au/avoid-sending-spam)
- Disclaimer: This guide helps, but it’s not official legal advice. If unsure, maybe chat with a legal expert.
11. Checking and Making It Better (Learning As We Go)
- Let’s Look at Results: Every month (or after a big text campaign), let’s see what worked using Section 9.
- Try Different Things:
- Maybe send texts at slightly different times?
- Try different wording in the message?
- Test different offers?
- (Example: Send Offer A to half the list, Offer B to the other half, see which gets more clicks/sales).
- What We’ll Change Next Time: Based on what we learn, we’ll tweak things to make our texts even better.
- Idea for Improvement 1: _
- Idea for Improvement 2: _