The short answer: you can put a link in a marketing SMS, and it should be on your own domain, short and recognisable, leading to a page made for the campaign. Avoid unknown shortened links: they raise suspicion, because that is how scams arrive, and they make the campaign perform worse.
Why your own domain makes a difference
People who get an SMS with a link ask one question before tapping: "is this really from the company?". If the link shows your company name, the answer is easy. If it shows random letters and numbers on a domain the customer does not know, many will not tap, and some will delete the message thinking it is fraud.
| Type of link |
How the customer sees it |
| asuaempresa.co.mz/xmas |
Recognises the company and knows where it goes. |
| [SHORTENER]/x7Kq2 |
Cannot tell who sent it or where it goes. Looks like a scam. |
| http://41.xx.xx.xx/promo |
An address made of numbers instead of a name. Total distrust. |
One page per campaign
| 1 |
Create a short page on your website, with the message's offer up front, the deadline and a single button (buy, book, call). If customers land on the home page, they get lost looking.
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| 2 |
Give it a short address, such as asuaempresa.co.mz/xmas or asuaempresa.co.mz/sms. Every character counts towards the message parts.
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| 3 |
If you want to measure with UTM tags, do not put them in the SMS, where they make the message longer: make the short address redirect to the tagged page. cPanel has a redirects tool; see 301 redirects and UTM links.
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| 4 |
Open the link on your own phone before sending the campaign, from the test SMS. Check that the page opens, reads well on a small screen and that the button works.
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No website or domain yet? You can register a domain and build the page with the website builder included in the hosting plans.
How not to look like a scam
| Avoid |
Prefer |
| "Click here", without saying what for |
"See the collection at", "Book at" |
| Threats or fake urgency: "your account will be blocked" |
A real offer deadline: "until Sunday" |
| Asking for codes, passwords or a mobile money PIN |
Never asking for such details by SMS, and telling customers so |
| A message without your company name |
Your company name at the start of the message |
| Domains that look like yours but are different |
Always the same domain, one customers already know |
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Many phones recognise the address even without "https://". Writing just asuaempresa.co.mz/xmas saves characters. Check in the test SMS that the link is clickable on your phone; if not, add the "https://".
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Your website has to cope with the campaign. If you send to thousands of people at once, many tap the link in the first few minutes. Send in waves or get the site ready: see how to prepare for a traffic spike.
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