You know the importance of the call to action in text messages. When text messaging, you need to spur recipients to action. And since you only have 160 characters, every word has to count.

What words should you use? Let’s explore the words that are more likely to make your audience want to respond.

Keywords are words that your audience is interested in, and search for on Google and other search engines. But in text messaging, they have an additional meaning: they’re associated with numerical codes, such as “Text SAVE to 77777 to save 20% on your next purchase.”

With these two meanings in mind, you can craft SMS text messages that bring more reaction and engagement in your audience.

Effective keywords

According to a number of studies, the most engaging words in text messages are:

• You—engages directly with the audience, as if you’re speaking to them directly
• Free—everyone loves free stuff
• Because—answers a question, stated or unstated, for the reader
• Instantly—because no one wants to wait for rewards
• New—keeps the audience ahead of the curve

Building community

An crucial part of building a market is to make your market into a community, with shared values and identity. These words help spark that desire:

• Join
• Become a member
• Come along

Cause-and-effect

Depending on your audience and objectives, you may want to sound rational and objective. The following words emphasize the impression of rationality and absence of bias:

• because
• since
• caused by
• as a result
• accordingly
• due to
• consequently
• for the reason
• therefore

These are just some of the most effective keywords for a text messaging campaign. In the next blog, we’ll look at words that help reinforce the sense of community among our audience.