New to text marketing but not text messaging? We hear you! This guide is designed to help you understand how to do SMS marketing and the ins and outs of communicating with your customers via Simple Texting.

What is a Short Code?

The short code is the number your customers text a keyword to when they communicate with you via SMS. The short code for Simple Texting users is 555888. We went with an easy-to-remember number to make it simple for you and your customers.

What is SMS keyword?

SMS keyword is the unique word assigned to you as a Simple Texting user. Your customers will text a keyword such as PIZZA to 555888 to communicate with you. A suggestion selecting a keyword is to use your name (if it’s short) or to distinguish your location. An example of this is a barber shop – JEFFCUTS for Jeff’s Cool Cuts or COOLCUTS. The main point here is to make it easy to remember.

What is an opt-in?

Opting in means your customer agrees to receive text messages from your business. They opt-in by texting your keyword to the Short Code 555888. They will receive a message that tells them “Your Business wants to send you a msg. Reply ‘Y’ or ‘YES’ to receive the message.”

When they reply “Y” or “YES,” that’s considered the opt-in or permission you need to send them marketing messages. They will get a confirmation of their acceptance and instructions on how to opt-out in a follow-up message “You will receive messages from Your Business with keyword YOURKEYWORD. Reply STOP to Cancel or HELP for help.”

How do customers “get off my list?”

Our hope is that you’ll never give them a reason to “get off your list,” but it’s really simple to opt out. All they have to do is to reply to any message you send them with the word “Stop.” This takes them off the list immediately.

To learn how to keep your members from “opting-out” read “How to keep your SMS list subscribers happy”.

How do I get customers to opt in?

Tell them to text your Keyword (such as JONAILS) to 555888. Then, they’ll receive instructions as you’ve seen above for opting in. Learn how to build your customer list.