SMS examples and strategy
Welcome SMS examples
Inspire your SMS campaigns with examples from top brands.
Explore all text messages
Sign-up for MailCharts to discover campaigns and get inspired!
-
Vuori
Vuori: Welcome to Vuori! Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel. Privacy: attnl.tv/p/5idVuori: You're in! Stay tuned for exclusive early access to new arrivals, promotions and more. Shop now: https://vuori.attn.tv/l/vVx/reaBI
Pro tip: Scroll down for hand-picked emails.
9 Engaging Welcome SMS Examples + Tips for Creating Your Own
According to Retail Dive, people are six to eight times more likely to engage with SMS marketing than with email marketing. Pair that statistic with the knowledge that welcome emails generate 320% more revenue than any other type of promotional email, and it becomes clear that welcome SMS messages can be a key revenue booster.
While the use of discount codes is common in welcome messages, there are many other ways in which you can invite new subscribers to your store. Have a look at the welcome SMS examples we’ve gathered below as inspiration. They come straight from our new database full of SMS marketing examples. Sign up now and be among the see it when it launches.
What Is a Welcome Text Message?
A welcome text message or SMS welcomes a new or potential customer to your SMS list. It often contains information about the types of messages the subscriber can expect, how to unsubscribe, and whether there may be a cost to receiving messages from you. Ecommerce brands will often also include a welcome discount code.
9 Effective Welcome SMS examples
Welcome Messages: Strategic Tips
Want to explore emails?
Sign-up for MailCharts to discover campaigns and get inspired!
9 Effective Welcome SMS examples
Share important information
There are a few things you should communicate to new SMS subscribers:
- whether message and data rates may apply.
- how they can opt out.
- where they can find your privacy policy.
Some brands include this information in their confirmation text message, but you can also send it within your welcome message, as Vuori does:
Note how the brand also offers SMS subscribers the option to receive support via text message by replying “HELP” to any of the messages it sends. Lastly, it clearly mentions the benefit of signing up and includes a CTA to “shop now.”
Sign up free for curated examples
Vuori
Invite new subscribers to a live event
Cosmetics brand Clinique changes its welcome SMS depending on what they’ve got going on. In the example above, they’re promoting a live Instagram event. The teaser that some “merry news” will be announced during the event acts as incentive to get the recipient over to Clinique’s Instagram account.
Sign up free for curated examples
Clinique
Push seasonal sales
If you have the resources to frequently change your welcome message, you can also apply this tactic to seasonal sales like Benefit Cosmetics does here.
Note how the first part of this welcome message can be repurposed in the future. All the brand would need to switch out are the two lines about the Black Friday Sale.
This is a very engaging welcome message thanks to its conversational tone. On top of that, it makes the recipient feel like they’ve become part of a community by calling them a “Benebabe”.
Sign up free for curated examples
Benefit Cosmetics
Include a welcome offer
Welcome offers tend to be highly effective, and clothing brand Draper James makes it very easy for the recipient to use their $10 off by telling them exactly what to do. They just need to click the included link to the online store and the code will be applied automatically.
Sign up free for curated examples
Draper James
Send a reminder
Nothing stops you from sending a reminder to make sure new subscribers use their welcome code. In fact, it’s a great idea to do so. Have a look at the welcome message examples from Bandier below.
The first welcome message offers 15% off the recipient’s next order. The reminder welcome message text then adds a sense of urgency by saying the welcome code is expiring. It also urges the recipient not to miss out and repeats both the discount code and how much discount they’ll get. The sense of urgency is emphasized one more time through the use of the word “today.”
Sign up free for curated examples
Bandier
Repeat your brand values
If your brand stands for something, it’s a good idea to highlight that in your welcome message. It helps your message pop out among the many other—often generic—welcome messages your subscribers receive, and solidifies your brand image.
For Days is a zero-waste fashion brand. Their ecological approach is a big selling point for their target audience. In this welcome message sample, they remind the recipient that all of their products are “ethically made with organic cotton and non-toxic dyes.” They also refer to their positioning as a zero-waste brand by welcoming the recipient to a closed-loop life.
Sign up free for curated examples
For Days
Incentivize recipients to stay subscribed
If you have a high unsubscribe rate for your SMS list, or you fear that people will sign up just to get the welcome discount code, you can offer them an incentive to stay on your list.
In the welcome SMS example above, Aurate lets new subscribers know that they’re automatically entered into a monthly giveaway as long as they stay subscribed.
Sign up free for curated examples
Aurate
Promote new arrivals
A promotional SMS doesn’t need to include a discount. This welcome text message from Bob’s Watches invites the recipient to check out the store’s new arrivals. This is a good approach for a brand that sells luxury items, as offering a discount would risk cheapening the store’s image
Sign up free for curated examples
Bob's Watches
Make them feel special
Organic textile store Parachute makes their new subscribers feel special by mentioning they’ll be “the first to hear about new products, sales and more.” At the same time, this sentence makes it clear what types of text messages recipients can expect.
Parachute
Want to explore emails?
Sign-up for MailCharts to discover campaigns and get inspired!
Welcome Messages: Strategic Tips
Personalize your welcome SMS
There is one thing missing from the welcome SMS examples above: an example of a personalized message. While more common in email marketing, it’s still easier to stand out in your recipients’ SMS inbox with a personalized message.
The added benefit is that your recipients will feel more spoken to, and, as a consequence, will be more likely to engage with you.
State your brand name
When sending an email, you can have your brand name in the sender field. When you send a text message, however, you can’t be sure that the recipient has saved you to their contact list—so your message may appear as coming from a random number.
Make sure to include your brand name at the start of your text message so the recipient knows who it’s from. If you don’t, they might opt out. And if they don’t, you still missed an opportunity to build your brand image as they may not click through to find out who messaged them.
Make a time-sensitive offer
Welcome discount offers tend to work well, and even more so when they’re paired with a sense of urgency. Communicate an expiry date for the discount code, and consider sending a reminder to make sure that recipients make use of their welcome gift.
Include all required information
The first message you send someone after they’ve signed up to receive text messages from you needs to include the following information:
- who you are.
- how often you will message them, and/or what types of messages you’ll send.
- that message and data rates may apply.
- how they can opt-out.
Unless you send a confirmation message with just this information after someone has opted in, you’ll need to include all of this in your welcome SMS to be compliant.
Stay legible
Most text message services stick to a limit of 160 characters per text. Although they do offer message concatenation (they’ll split longer messages into different individual messages and then put them back together as one message on the receiver’s end), you’re still best to keep your message to a maximum of about 320 characters. That means your copy needs to be on point.
Brands sometimes try to get more into a message by not using spaces between words or writing things such as “We would love 2 see U in our store.” Unless this type of writing is in line with your branding, it’s best to avoid it. Not only can it come across as juvenile, it may also be illegible to some of your subscribers.
Engage Subscribers from the Start with Solid Welcome Text Messages
When someone opts into your SMS list, they’re excited to hear more from your brand. Don’t let that moment go to waste. Send a welcome SMS with a discount code, an invitation to check out your social media channels, a reminder of what your brand stands for, or something else that will make them want to click your CTA and head over to your store again.
The examples in this post act as inspiration, but if you need more, sign up today and get notified when we launch our dedicated SMS marketing database. It will include all types of SMS marketing messages from real ecommerce brands, including welcome messages.
Want to explore emails?
Sign-up for MailCharts to discover campaigns and get inspired!