SMS examples and strategy
Flash sale text message examples
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Benefit Cosmetics
Benefit Cosmetics: 24 HRS ONLY! Treat yourself with 50% OFF all full-size mascaras (your lashes will thank us)! Use code: LASHFLASH* https://benefitcosmetics.attn.tv/l/8sI/ZJjAV.
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Flash Sale Text Messages: Examples and Strategic Tips
If you only had 24 hours to get as many people on your list to your online store, what would you say to them? Would you offer them a massive discount? Send them an emotional plea? Bombard them with ALL CAPS text messages?
If you’ve ever organized a flash sale, you’ve already faced this question and you know that it’s crucial to reach your list as soon as possible so they can benefit from your sale before it ends.
That’s where flash sale text messages come in. They’re the perfect tool to communicate a sale quickly and effectively. But what are they exactly, and how do you write them?
Let’s have a look.
What Are Flash Sale SMS Messages?
Flash sale SMS are text messages that alert subscribers of a flash sale, which is a sale that is highly limited in duration. Sometimes, flash sales are also limited in that there is only so much of the product on sale available. Because flash sales are usually announced last-minute and never last long, SMS is a great way to communicate them.
10 Flash Sales Text Message Examples
Sale Text Messages: Strategic Tips
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10 Flash Sales Text Message Examples
Share a clean and relevant discount code
Since your flash sale happens for a very limited time only you want to make it extra easy for subscribers to shop. One of the ways to do that is by handing them a relevant and easy-to-remember discount code.
Benefit Cosmetics does a great job at this with their “LASHFLASH” code. It’s related to the mascaras that are on sale and because it rhymes, it’s even easier to remember.
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Benefit Cosmetics
Use emojis
When done right, emojis can really grab a receiver’s attention. Relevancy is key here as well. Lovesac uses lightning bolts to announce its flash sale. It’s a fitting choice, but the emojis do more than that. They also add some spunk to a text message that otherwise might have seemed a bit dull and robotic because of its very short phrases.
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Lovesac
Make them feel special
Who doesn’t love an exclusive deal? Organize a flash sale solely for your SMS subscribers and make sure they know how special they are. Dana’s Bakery does this in a rather subtle way, hinting at the VIP status of the recipient.
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Dana's Bakery
Go for strong copy
Just because you have a limited amount of characters to use in a single SMS doesn’t mean that your copy doesn’t need to rock. This flash sale text message by Blume stands out because of its description of the Whirl moisturizer. Where most ecommerce businesses use ultra-short sentences in their SMS marketing messages, Blume opts for an inviting longer phrase.
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Blume
Tie your sale to an event
Holidays and other types of recurring events are always great opportunities to host a sale. In the example above, Fuego Box is promoting its Midsummer Flash Sale with a related discount code.
If you want to do a flash sale but don’t want to make it seem like you’re organizing one “just because,” linking it to a seasonal event is the easiest way to go. The new year in January, Valentine’s in February, the start of spring in March… There is always something worth celebrating… and worth shopping for.
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Fuego Box
Keep it short
Jewelry store Zales combines surprise (“Poof!”), scarcity, and a nice discount offer in this short but powerful flash sale text message. It’s a great example of how powerful short copy can be.
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Zales
Send a reminder
It’s quite common for marketers to send follow-ups for their promotional emails. Nothing prevents you from doing the same for your SMS flash sale campaign. After all, you don’t want your subscribers to miss out on your sale, and neither do they.
Remind your list that their time to shop is running out. You can do this a few hours beforehand if your sale lasts for an entire weekend for example, or closer to the deadline if you’re doing a 24-hours only sale. Experiment with keeping the deadline a bit vague, like Chubbies does in the example above (“tonight”) or be more specific and communicate the exact time and date the sale will end.
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Chubbies
Create a separate flash sale list
Flash sales can be a bit intense. If you plan on texting your subscribers a lot to promote yours, it can be a good idea to ask for their permission ahead of time. Peter Thomas Roth gives its subscribers the chance to sign up for flash sale alerts separately. By doing so, they avoid annoying customers that just want to get the occasional promotional text message and increase the chances of success for their flash sale messages to customers.
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Peter Thomas Roth
Offer free shipping
A flash sale doesn’t always need to involve a big discount. Sigma Beauty offers its subscribers free shipping on any order they place during the sale. An incentive like this can be just enough to sway shoppers who’ve been on the fence for a while.
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Sigma Beauty
Of course, you can also always offer both a discount and free shipping. That’s what Alloy Apparel did with the flash SMS message above. Note how the discount code is relevant to the Cyber Monday sale.
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Alloy Apparel
Add a sense of scarcity
A flash sale by definition has a sense of urgency to it, but nothing prevents you from adding some scarcity as well. Cosmetics brand Stila organized a one-day flash sale for their mini and travel-size products, adding that the recipient better hurry if they want to buy some because they “won’t last.”
Stila Cosmetics
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Sale Text Messages: Strategic Tips
Automatically apply the discount
If you’re offering a site-wide discount, have the discount be automatically applied as soon as your subscribers click the link in your flash sale SMS. It’s a one-time thing to set up for you but makes their shopping experience so much smoother.
Create an easy coupon code
The next best thing—and a good backup—is to include an easy-to-remember discount code that’s relevant to your flash sale. Offering 30% off the weekend before Mother’s Day? Your code could be MOTHER30.
Codes that have some sort of wordplay (“LASHFLASH”, “SNEAKERFREAKER”, “BUYBED”) are fun too, but try to avoid codes that could lead to misspellings, such as “FLASH4U” which could easily be remembered as “FLASHFORYOU”, “FLASH4YOU”, or “FLASHFORU”.
Space out your flash sales
Flash sales are only exciting when they’re a surprise, or when they don’t happen too often. If you offer 20% off every weekend, your subscribers will notice and your flash sale text messages won’t be as enticing anymore.
Use shortened URLs
You only have so much space within a single text message, so don’t waste that on a long URL. Instead, use a URL shortener so you can keep your text message clean while still including a URL that allows you to track clicks and sales.
Emphasize exclusivity
Presenting a sale as being exclusive is always a good idea. You can organize flash sales just for your SMS subscribers but you can also alert them of a new sale before you alert anyone else.
Terms such as “VIP”, “exclusive”, and “for SMS subscribers only” tend to be popular in this context but it’s always a good idea to see if you can add a spin to them that’s relevant to your brand.
For more in-depth SMS best practices, check out our Ecommerce SMS Marketing Guide.
Flash Sales and SMS: a Perfect Match
As flash sales never last long, your subscribers need to hear about them as soon as possible. SMS is perfect for this. Flash sale text messages to customers tend to get noticed more quickly than emails and the right copy can generate clicks to your website fast.
Experiment with the strategic tips and examples in this article to see what works best for your audience. Need more inspiration? Then sign up today and get access to our database of curated SMS marketing journeys when it launches.
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