Learn How to Set Up Automatic Response Texts and Get Free Autoresponder Text Examples

Saving your business or organization time and increasing communication efficiency starts with setting up automatic response texts.

Autoresponders are a great way to:

• Send immediate answers to frequently asked questions
• Improve customer service response times
• Automatically start messaging campaigns
• And keep things conversational with contacts, customers, and clients

But how do you get started using autoresponders?

In this article, I’ll show you:

1. What autoresponders and autoresponder texts are
2. Four reasons why autoresponder texts work for improving engagement
3. How to set up an SMS autoresponder
4. Five best practices when using autoresponders
5. The best autoresponder text message templates and examples

By the end, you'll know what an autoresponder is and how to fit it into your communications strategy.

Keep reading for more.

1. People prefer the convenience and speed of texting

The most important reason for businesses and organizations to use autoresponder texts is that customers prefer texting.

Some 85% of customers prefer texting with businesses and organizations.

Email and voice will always be important messaging and communication channels.

But…

Some 76% of consumers recently reported that they don’t like talking to businesses on the phone.

And 3 out of 4 people get frustrated when they can’t respond or take action after receiving a message.

2. Text autoresponders get higher open, click, and response rates than email

Text messages have clear advantages and benefits over email and voice. They have fantastic open, click-through, and response rates, especially when compared to email.

Texting is the way to go when it comes to making sure your message gets delivered and read.

Here’s a quick breakdown for your reference:

3. Text message autoresponders increase messaging efficiency and save time

Autoresponder texts also save time. They help you craft more efficient campaigns and automate the response and follow-up process. This leads to reducing call volume and improving communication and engagement.

Depending on how you set them up, autoresponders can also support two-way SMS and one-way SMS.

All someone needs to do is text a keyword like “HOURS”, “SCHEDULE” or “HELP”. This leads to an immediate auto response.

It can also open a new text thread with a real person in a team SMS inbox at your organization.

4. SMS auto responders are conversational and easy to personalize

Most importantly, automation makes it possible to offer more conversational and personalized experiences at a much larger scale.

There’s no need to manually respond and follow up. Instead, an autoresponder can automatically reply and even greet the message recipient with their first name.

Features like this add up to a more immediate and conversational experience that gives people instant access to information.

Can you set up an automatic text response on iPhone? Can you set up automatic text responses on android?

Yes, but…

Your personal phone has limited texting capabilities. It’s limited to sending automatic text responses while driving.

You’ll need a business texting service like MessageDesk if you’re texting as a business or organization. Software like MessageDesk comes with the automation, mass messaging, and phone number features you need to effectively reach your audience.

Here’s how to get started with automated texting on most business texting platforms.

1. Choose a business texting service

There are many great business texting services (including MessageDesk) that make it easy to set up automatic text responses.

But you’ll want to find a business texting service that works for you.

MessageDesk offers texting features designed to suit everyone from eCommerce businesses to nonprofits and small businesses.

2. Create a free account and set up your SMS number

Next, you’ll need to create a free account and get a text number for your business or organization.

To text from your existing business phone number or landline, you’ll need to submit a number porting request.

Note: It will likely take from 1-7 days to successfully text-enable your business number once you submit your request. Sometimes, this process is referred to as number hosting (not to be confused with number porting).

3. Organize your subscriber and contact lists

Already using an email marketing service or email marketing tool like Constant Contact or Mailchimp?

Then you’ll want to make sure your contact and subscriber lists are in order.

Many business texting services like MessageDesk make it easy to sync contact information between these platforms. This makes it possible to get your email campaigns and automation workflows in sync with your SMS auto reply messages.

MessageDesk also makes it easy to import a .csv file with a list of more than 500 subscribers or contacts at a time.

4. Choose your autoresponder keywords

Your autoresponder keyword is the word or phrase that people use to get an autoresponse.

As a best practice, choose a short yet memorable keyword for message recipients to text.

Here are some keyword examples used in context:

5. Set up your autoresponder message templates

You’ll want to take some time to craft your messages. The best part about text messages is that you can include personalization tags, photos, media, links, and even QR codes.

These are all great ways to customize and personalize your text messages.

Tags make it possible to automatically insert contact information into a text. Including links, images, and media also make it easy for message recipients to take action immediately.

Plus, platforms like MessageDesk allow you to save these messages with media as templates for future campaigns.

As a general rule, keep your text messages short and include a compelling call to action.

I've shown you how to get started with autoresponders. Here are some additional best practices and text message etiquette to consider when setting up autoresponders.

1. Respect your customers' time and attention
   Keep your messages to the point and include a clear call to action. Long messages often annoy recipients. It also pays to remember that phone screens are small, so viewing long text messages can become difficult.
2. Include media and make your offers attractive
   Engage your message recipients with media and compelling offers. Make them want to take you up on what you're offering.
3. Personalize messages wherever possible
   There’s nothing sweeter to someone than the sound of their first name. Personalization leads to more conversational and relatable experiences and it builds brand equity.
4. Be mindful of your tone
   The tone of voice you use in your message is essential. This is subtle but important and depends on your organization and messaging. Make sure the tone of your messaging is consistent. Anything else is likely to confuse your customer.
5. Clearly explain how to opt-in and out of future messaging
   Be upfront with your message recipients about how they can control their experiences with your automated messaging. Be sure to follow TCPA guidelines, especially when sending promotional messages.

Companies and organizations can incorporate automated messages in many ways. Below are some of the best ways I’ve seen MessageDesk customers use autoresponders.

Note: each autoresponder sequence starts when someone texts a keyword. Responses also include personalization {{ tags }} formatted for use in MessageDesk.

Bonus: Check out our guide to more advanced autoresponder workflows for text trees, text chains, and branching automation campaigns.

Special holiday offer autoresponder

Subscriber opt-in autoresponder

Appointment confirmation or reschedule autoresponder

RSVP and event update autoresponder

Out-of-office autoresponder

Thanks for your purchase autoresponder

Final thoughts and next steps

Autoresponders can simplify your messaging and help your business or organization save time.

When used correctly, they're a fantastic way to build and maintain conversational experiences with your contacts, customers, and clients.

Start sending texts with a free MessageDesk account today. Check out our paid plans - pricing starts at just $14 per month. You’re also free to meet with a messaging expert for a demo.