Most business texts fail in one of three ways. They run long and split into three billed segments. They leave out the business name, so the recipient thinks it's spam. Or they skip the opt-out line, and carriers filter them. The templates below are written to avoid all three. Each one is short, names the sender, and includes the compliance wording it needs.
Every template assumes the recipient opted in to texts from you. Texting is for people who gave you their number for this purpose or who replied to you. Cold outreach belongs on the phone or in the mail. If you're still building that list, start with our opt-in language examples and come back.
How to use these templates
The square-bracket fields are merge fields: [Name], [Biz], [Time], [link]. Replace them before you count characters. A business name of 20 characters and a 25-character link can push a 130-character template past 160, and that doubles the cost of the text.
Every marketing text should include three things:
- Who's texting. Put your business name first, followed by a colon.
- One clear action. Book, reply, click or show up. Pick one.
- An opt-out line. "Reply STOP to opt out" is the standard wording. Put it on the first text a contact receives and on promotional texts. Transactional reminders to an existing customer can drop it after the first message, but keeping it costs you about 21 characters and protects you from complaints.
The character counts below are approximate and measured as written, before merge fields are filled.
Promotional templates
Weekend sale (~115 characters)
[Biz]: Spring sale this weekend. 20% off all services Fri-Sun with code SPRING20. Book: [link] Reply STOP to opt out
Last-chance reminder (~100 characters)
[Biz]: Last day for 20% off. Code SPRING20 ends at midnight. [link] Reply STOP to opt out
New product or service (~120 characters)
[Biz]: We now offer same-day [service]. First 10 bookings this week get $15 off. Reply YES to grab a slot. STOP to opt out
Win-back for lapsed customers (~125 characters)
Hi [Name], it's [Biz]. It's been a while. Here's $10 off your next visit, good through [date]: [link] Reply STOP to opt out
Promos get filtered more than any other kind of text, and several things raise the risk: all-caps words, piles of exclamation points, link shorteners from public services, and wording that doesn't match the sample messages you registered. Our post on content-level filtering after approval covers what carriers look for.
Appointment and reminder templates
Booking confirmation (~120 characters)
[Biz]: You're booked for [Day] at [Time] with [Staff]. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. Reply STOP to opt out
24-hour reminder (~95 characters)
[Biz]: Reminder, see you tomorrow at [Time]. Reply R if you need to reschedule.
Same-day reminder (~85 characters)
[Biz]: See you today at [Time]. Address: [short address]. Running late? Just reply.
Payment or invoice reminder (~100 characters)
[Biz]: Invoice #[number] for $[amount] is due [date]. Pay here: [link] Questions? Reply here.
Two notes on reminders. First, "Reply C to confirm" invites inbound replies, and on Ready a reply you receive is billed like a sent text. That's usually worth it because a confirmed appointment is a kept appointment. Still, count those replies in your budget. Second, if you only send reminders, register your campaign as reminders and not as marketing. For timing and setup, see our appointment reminder guide.
Follow-up templates
These go to someone you already talked to: a lead who filled out a form, a customer after a job, a quote that hasn't been answered.
Form-fill response (~120 characters)
Hi [Name], it's [Staff] at [Biz]. Got your request about [service]. What's a good time for a quick call today?
Quote follow-up (~110 characters)
Hi [Name], [Staff] from [Biz]. Any questions on the quote I sent Tuesday? Happy to adjust the scope.
Post-job review request (~115 characters)
Thanks for choosing [Biz], [Name]. If we did right by you, a quick review helps a lot: [link]
No-reply nudge, sent once (~75 characters)
Hi [Name], just checking in. Still interested in [service], or should I close this out?
Follow-ups work best when they read like a person wrote them: first name, staff name, one question. Send one nudge, not five. If you automate these as a drip campaign, stop it the moment the contact replies.
Reply templates
These are answers you send to inbound texts. Save them as reusable templates and edit a word or two before sending.
Pricing question (~110 characters)
Great question. [Service] starts at $[price] and depends on [factor]. Want me to send a quick quote?
After hours (~105 characters)
Thanks for texting [Biz]. We're closed now but will reply by 9 AM tomorrow. Urgent? Call [number].
Wrong number or not interested (~60 characters)
Sorry about that, we'll remove you. Have a good day.
When someone says "wrong number" or "stop texting me" in their own words, treat it as an opt-out even if they never typed the keyword STOP. For more inbound wording, see our auto reply examples.
Compliance language to keep on hand
These are the system messages carriers expect your program to have. The wording should match what you submit during 10DLC registration.
Opt-in confirmation
[Biz]: You're subscribed to texts about [topic]. Up to [N] msgs/month. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.
HELP response
[Biz]: For help, call [number] or email [email]. Reply STOP to opt out.
STOP confirmation
[Biz]: You're unsubscribed and won't receive more texts. Reply START to rejoin.
On Ready you don't send this one yourself: Ready sends the confirmation when a contact you've texted replies STOP, using the opt-out reply filed with your campaign registration, so put this wording there.
On Ready, an inbound STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE is honored automatically, and the opt-out applies across every campaign so that contact can't be texted again by mistake. Sends are also held outside permitted local hours based on the recipient's area. Ready records your opt-in attestation for each campaign you send and each API send that attests consent: who sent it, to how many people, and when. That record is not a per-contact consent log. Your form, store or CRM still needs to keep each person's opt-in time, the wording they agreed to and the page URL. Compliance is ultimately the sender's responsibility. These tools reduce your risk, but they don't make you immune. Campaigns, drip campaigns and automations wait up to 24 hours for the window; a one-to-one or API text is held only if the window opens within 6 hours, otherwise it is refused and must be resent; a one-to-one reply to someone who texted you in the last 24 hours goes out at any hour.
Length notes and what a template costs
A segment is 160 GSM-7 characters. Longer texts split into 153-character segments, and each segment is billed. One emoji switches the whole message to unicode, which cuts a segment to 70 characters (67 when the text runs to multiple segments). Ready replaces curly quotes, long dashes and ellipses with plain characters before sending, so those don't change your count on Ready. Emoji still do.
Here's a worked example. Take a 175-character promo sent to 5,000 opted-in contacts on Ready's Standard rate of $0.0075/segment plus a $0.0045 carrier fee per segment:
| Version | Segments per text | Total segments | Rate portion | Carrier portion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 175 chars, one emoji | 3 (unicode, 67 each) | 15,000 | $113 | 15,000 × $0.0045 |
| 175 chars, no emoji | 2 (GSM-7, 153 each) | 10,000 | $75 | 10,000 × $0.0045 |
| Trimmed to 158 chars, no emoji | 1 | 5,000 | $38 | 5,000 × $0.0045 |
Cutting 17 characters and one emoji reduces this send from 15,000 segments to 5,000. The figures leave out the compliance surcharge. If you turn on DNC/litigator scrubbing or landline validation, each adds $0.003 per segment. Both are off by default. Rates are on our pricing page.
Sending these on Ready
We make Ready, so here is what it does and doesn't do for template-based texting:
- Reusable templates and bulk campaigns. Merge fields fill per contact.
- AI message writer and spam-filter check. These help you draft wording and flag phrasing likely to be filtered before you send. AI does not reply to your customers on its own.
- Registration handled in the app. The cost is $25/mo for registration and $2/mo per number, with no setup fee. Most approvals take 2 to 7 days. You can send up to 500 texts a month before registering, and your first 20 one-to-one texts are free. Use those free texts to test your templates before you register, because they end once registration is paid.
- GoHighLevel. If you work in GHL, Ready installs natively with two-way sync per sub-account.
To be honest about the tradeoff: if you're a developer comfortable wiring up a raw CPaaS API and handling registration yourself, Twilio's per-segment rate is lower. With Ready you're paying for the compliance stack, the inbox and the registration flow being done for you.
The practical takeaway
Start each text with your business name, ask for one action, and add "Reply STOP to opt out" to anything promotional. Count characters after filling merge fields, and remove the emoji unless it's worth paying for two more segments. Make sure your registered sample messages match what you actually send. Copy the templates above, adjust them to your voice, and send a few to your own phone first. If you'd like to try them on Ready, you can create an account and test them with your first 20 free one-to-one texts.