An effective call to action can help make your text marketing campaign a success.

Open rates for text message marketing campaigns hovered around 98 percent in 2014. If your company hasn't starting using text marketing to connect with customers, you could be missing out on an important opportunity. Here are a few tips for businesses that are interested in getting started with text message marketing and here's why having an effective call to action is a critical step towards campaign success.

Crafting a successful campaign starts with an opt-in
The first step towards crafting a successful text message marketing effort is getting potential subscribers to opt-in to receive communications from your business. Businesses need to provide customers with an opt-in option in accordance with anti-spam regulations. The most common question among companies that are just getting started with text marketing is: how do I get my customers to opt in? There are a few different approaches you can take.

Crafting effective calls to action
Whether you're new to text marketing and you want to grow your subscriber list or you're a veteran text marketer that's simply interested in increasing customer opt-ins, an enticing call to action is the key to success. As you're thinking about your call to action, it's important to remember that consumers are inundated with marketing messages via email, mail, and the Internet. In order to get potential subscribers to opt-in for text communications, the language you use in your call to action needs to be irresistible and convey value. Here are some examples of effective calls to action that you can use as inspiration.

Potential subscribers are more likely to opt-in if your call to action is compelling.

Good CTAs create a sense of urgency
A limited-time opt-in offer creates a sense of urgency. Setting a designated amount of time for a deal can increase the likelihood that potential subscribers will opt-in to receive communications from your company. For example, a business might use the following limited-time call to action in order to increase their subscription rates.

• Text "okay" to 123-456-7890 within the next 24 hours to receive a special deal.
• Text "yes" to 123-456-7890 by midnight to receive an instant 30% discount.

Effective CTAs offer unique benefits to customers
The best calls to action offer unique benefits like discounts, coupons, or free products and services for customers who opt-in. After all, it's incredibly difficult to resist a good deal! Examples of calls to action that offer special benefits for customers include the following.

• Send a text to 123-456-7890 to receive a 15% off discount for preferred customers.
• Text "yes" to 123-456-7890 for your exclusive Black Friday discount.

Keep calls to action clear and concise
You have limited time to make a connection with a potential subscriber. To increase your opt-in rates, it's important to keep your calls to action concise. Providing simple instructions and illustrating benefits clearly can help improve your business campaigns.

Text marketing is an effective way to reach new customers. If you're thinking about adding text messages to your business marketing toolkit, there are a few important things to remember. First, your goal is to get customers to opt-in. To do this, you need to create compelling calls to action that entice customers to participate in your campaign. Creating urgency and providing benefits can help increase your opt-in rates. To learn more about why text marketing is so effective, see this blog post from ClubTexting.com.

Jess Shepard is a content writer who enjoys researching and writing about marketing, small business, and entrepreneurship.