As the evenings draw in and Halloween approaches, we want to talk about terrifying SMS mail-outs, ones which will definitely not attract the attention of subscribers, but may even provoke a desire to unsubscribe.

So, here is a small selection of ‘anti-features’ that will make any mass messaging campaign unsuccessful.

Visual. SMS don’t have extensive design options, as, for example, the email does. Because of this, some senders use Caps lock to highlight key words and phrases. Emojis have also become popular in recent years. However, these tools may play a bad trick on you if used thoughtlessly.

You can easily clutter up the message, making it hard for the client to find the main point. Also,not everyone responds well to emojis. Some perceive them as overly familiar.

Obsession. You want to grab the attention of your customers, so much that you shower them with messages every day. Sometimes even several times a day. Don’t do this! You’ll just annoy your subscribers, and, very quickly they will unsubscribe.

It’s better to send SMS once a week, or time them to coincide with something such as updating the menu, new collections, or the beginning of seasonal sales.

Language. Grammatical errors or the use of slang may turn off your customers. An illiterate text may make your clients wonder if you are really a professional if you een make mistakes in your texts.

Slang can create the impression of a familiar attitude. This doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used at all, but such an approach should be carefully chosen, justified and aimed at a specific group of clients. If you aren’t sure that you really need it, it’s better not to include slang in the text of the message.

Disturbance. Waking customers up early in the morning or distracting them late at night with a message is bad form. Few people will enjoy receiving such texts, and you won’t achieve anything positive from sending them.

Most likely, after such early morning or nocturnal messages, clients will be annoyed even by the mention of your name. Therefore, choose the timing carefully for your SMS.

“I am better!” Writing about competitors’ shortcomings via SMS is not the best way to earn a good reputation among clients. Firstly, you will look like a gossip. Secondly, many countries have laws and regulations prohibiting negative advertising. In any case, your messages should describe your advantages, and not contain a list of competitors’ shortcomings.

Even in the run up to Halloween, your texting doesn’t have to be terrible. Think carefully about the concept and all the aspects of your mass messaging. To do this, you can use the tools of the Intis Telecom platform. Also, you can find inspiration for Halloween messages in our previous articles.