Flash sales are a popular strategy used by retail and ecommerce brands to boost sales. But, how do businesses effectively get the word out about flash sales? Insert SMS marketing, one of the best tools to reach customers quickly and directly on mobile devices. SMS works for flash sales because it has a 98 percent open rate and cuts through the advertisement noise.
In this article, we’ll share customizable flash sale SMS templates. With just a few tweaks, they can fit your brand’s voice, tone, and style.
18 flash sale text templates
Check out the following flash sale text templates to promote your flash sale to customers effectively.
Discover more: 100 customizable text message templates
Discount code
Share a discount code that customers can use for a limited time at checkout.
TODAY ONLY. Treat yourself to [X%] off [product or service]. Use coupon code [code] at checkout. Shop now: [link]
FLASH SALE alert 🚨For [X] hours take [X%] off your purchases with code [X]. Shop now: [link]
[Brand name]: Get [X%] off all purchases until MIDNIGHT. Use code [X]. Shop now: [link]
Free item
Encourage customers to make a purchase in a short window by offering them an incentive like a free item.
Hi [name]. Start your summer off right with a [service] from [brand name] ☀️ Book today and receive a FREE [item]. Book now: [link]
Hi [name]. TODAY ONLY. Buy one get one FREE on [product]. Shop now: [link]
Free shipping
Encourage customers to make a purchase by offering free shipping on all purchases for a set amount of time.
[Brand name]: Get free shipping on all purchases in the next[X] hours. Explore products: [link]
[Brand name]: Unlock FREE shipping, with no minimum order value for [X] hours. Shop now: [link]
Product-specific
Use a flash sale text to let customers know you dropped the price of select products for a limited time.
[Brand name]: We’re offering [product] at [price] until [date]. Shop now: [link]
[Brand name]. All [products] at discounted [price] for [X] hours. Get yours now: [link]
Reminder
A common flash sale text is reminding customers to take advantage of the limited-time sale. Use a flash sale reminder text to encourage customers to act immediately.
[Brand name]: Last chance! Get [X%] off TODAY only. The offer ends at midnight. [Link]
Today is the last day to save during our flash sale. Don’t miss out, claim today: [Link]
Only [X] hours left. Get [X%] off everything. Use code [X] at checkout. Shop now: [link]
[Brand name]: ⏰ Only a few more hours left to save… Offer ends at [time]. Shop [product] now: [link]
Last call. Get [X%] off [products] while the savings remain hot. Shop now: [link]
Black Friday
Flash sales are common on Black Friday. Use one of these templates to inform customers about early bird discounts or how long your sale lasts.
[Brand name]: Early bird discount for Black Friday🐦⬛ Stop in by [time] to get [X%] off. Browse our website [link]
[Brand name]: 🛍️ Black Friday is here! Order by [time] to get the largest deal of the year. Products up to [X%] off. Browse now: [link]
Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday also is a common day for flash sales. Use one of these text templates to inform customers about your Cyber Monday deals.
[Brand name]: Cyber Monday deals start now! Get [X%] off your order through [date]. Shop now: [link]
Fall in 💜 with our Cyber Monday discount. Get [X%] off sitewide through [date]. Browse now: [link]
View more: Black Friday and Cyber Monday text examples
10 flash sale text best practices
Take a look at some best practices to keep in mind when sending flash sale texts.
- Space out your SMS flash sales. Don’t send a flash sale text to your contacts too frequently. You want to make these sales feel like special, exclusive events to get the best results. You can do this by spacing out each flash sale.
- Set a goal for your flash sale text. Ensure you have a goal in mind for your flash sale SMS promotion. This will help you with messaging content. For example, do you want to have the sale to sell extra stock, boost sales during a slow season, increase the visibility of a particular product, or improve customer satisfaction?
- Choose the right discount. You want to pick a discount that customers are excited about. This should be above the discount you use to incentivize customers to opt into your SMS marketing program, but not so high that you lose out on profits.
- Keep messages short. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. Use this limited character count wisely by ensuring texts are short and to the point. You want to catch customers’ attention and get them the must-know information.
- Encourage urgency. Flash sales encourage customers to buy in a short window. Ensure you encourage this urgency by including how long the sale lasts in your message or verbiage like “last chance.”
- Add a CTA. Don’t forget to add a call-to-action in your flash sale text. This CTA tells customers what action to take next.
- Honor opt-outs. You must honor all opt-outs to comply with SMS regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. This includes providing instructions to customers about how to opt out of your message.
- Personalize and tailor messages. Similar to any marketing message, you want them to be personalized and tailored to each customer. Segment your SMS lists and deliver relevant content.
- Don’t be afraid to use emojis or photos. SMS platforms allow you to use emojis or images in your text messages. Don’t be afraid to use them if it makes sense for your business.
Send rockstar flash sale texts with Textline
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