In the sea of marketing going on right now with the holiday season, it’s easy to want to send your clients every bit of information about your holiday promotions and all the changes going on within your business. However, by doing so, you may inadvertently be spamming your clients. Phone and email providers are constantly scanning for spam-like texts/emails. It’s important to make sure your own marketing doesn’t come across as Spam.

No one likes getting Spam, and you may not even realize you’re spamming clients. Follow these tips to keep your texts Spam-free:

• Keep it different – To prevent phone providers from flagging your texts as Spam, keep each text message different by including merge fields (e.g. “Hi [First Name]! We had fun seeing you on [Session Date] …”). Two or more merge fields should be enough to show phone providers you’re sending personalized messages to your clients.

• Spread it out – If you have a large number of texts to send, you might want to consider spacing out when the texts are sent. If you try sending hundreds of texts at once, it can bog down a phone provider and cause them to look at you as Spam. Perhaps try sending smaller groups of texts over a period of time (e.g. send 100 texts at 10 A.M., another 100 at 11 A.M, and so on). Another suggestion is not to use the exact same wording for your blast—for each sub-batch, change a word or two to keep each sub-batch different. Also, for your client’s sake, don’t text the same client every day either. They’ll get sick of the texts and so will their phone provider.

• Avoid “spammy” phrases – Some texts just scream Spam. Have you ever received a text or email with phrases like “Save Big!” or “Act Now!”? Avoiding phrases like this will not only let phone providers know you’re not out to Spam people, but also your clients will see you with more credibility.

• Let your customers opt-out – Your clients will have more peace of mind if they know your marketing isn’t a lifetime commitment. Our SMS service has it built-in that if a client responds “STOP”, we will no longer text that number. Including this information in your marketing texts can show your clients you’re not intending to Spam them.

• Take responsibility – Always include your studio name with your texts so clients know where the SMS messages are coming from.

• Keep it relevant – Give your clients information they can actually use. If you bombard them with useless information about your studio, they won’t care when you send them important information that is truly about them.

• Keep it casual – You set the tone for your communications with clients. Talk to your them like they’re a friend. If your clients receive a cold “Hello” or “Dear”, then they’ll view your text in a cold manner. You don’t want clients to think you’re some marketing robot.

• Get a Response – Interacting with your clients is key. If your clients are sending texts back to you, their phone provider won’t think you’re spamming them. Ask your clients questions or tell them to respond to get an exclusive offer. There are multiple ways to get your clients involved.

Utilizing all these tips is a great way to keep on top of your marketing content and show both your clients and their phone providers that you’re not trying to Spam them.