C’mon guys, you can’t just say “hi.” In a world where there are a million cute ways to say hi in a text message, I expect some creativity.

Want to know the first text I ever sent my boyfriend? The poop emoji. Then a Santa emoji. Then when he asked who this was, I replied with another poop emoji. None of these are cute ways to say hi in a text message, but I never claimed to be cute. Not even once.

If that story didn’t already give it away, I have limited knowledge on being cute, especially over text message. Most of the time, autocorrect changes the meaning of my message entirely. I go from a sweet little angel to a confused troll. One time I meant to text “I hope you have a fantastic day, today ” Autocorrect changed it to “I hope you have a tomato duck, today.” You can just imagine the confusion. [Read: Nice things to say to people to make the world a better place]

12 cute ways to say hi in a text message

Most of us are on our phones 90% of our day *a statistic that I totally just made up, please don’t search that anywhere*, but I know that personally, I’m rarely texting. I feel like because of this, I’m just entirely out of practice. How do I start a conversation? I can’t possibly just say “hi,” can I? I mean, I suppose I could… but that’s just so unoriginal. I don’t want to seem like a loser. I want to seem cute and fun. But how? I’m not exactly the cutest or most fun of the bunch.

Anyways, since I clearly lack knowledge on the subject of being cute, I asked my friends. Yep, all three of them. And then I got them to ask their friends, because clearly I was severely limited.

You could always open it up with a Disney classic: “Bonjour! Good day! How is your family?” or… you could not do that and save yourself the embarrassment.

#1 Make use of the emojis. The rosy-cheeked smiley face is my favorite one to use when saying hello because it is literally adorable. You can’t use that emoji and not leave people smiling: IMPOSSIBLE. Also, the little monkey see, monkey do emojis are great additions to any hi text message. [Read: How to decode the meaning of the colorful heart emojis]

#2 Send a photo. You don’t need to send an SMS. But text a photo of you smiling, or “waving.” This is a creative and cute way to say hi in a text message that will leave the recipient with an adorable photo of you as well. [Read: Unwritten texting rules you need to remember]

#3 Videos are also an option. Since you can send photos, you can also send videos. You can send a video of you actually waving, or perhaps singing that Disney song… Be cute and have fun with it.

#4 Use a cute saying. “Hey pretty lady” is a great option or “Hey good lookin’, what’s cookin’?” Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. These are classics that will honestly never get old. [Read: How to text a girl for the first time and leave a great impression]

#5 Say hi in another language. My best friend and I tend to send each other text messages that either say “hola” or “bonjour,” and I personally think it is adorable. These are the obvious options, but you could say hi in a different language as well.

#6 Open up with a joke. Don’t even say “hi,” instead just tell them a joke. Personally, I’m a fan of knock-knock jokes, so that might be fun via text message. It is important to stay fun and creative when sending these text messages because if you are serious, the lightness of it becomes lost.

#7 *WAVES*. I’ve received this text a few times, and it’s sort of funny, depending on who sends it. It could honestly go either way. But if you think you could pull this one off, then by all means go for it. [Read: 50 cute words and their true meanings]

#8 “Hey you.” C-L-A-S-S-I-C! This is one of those cute ways to say hi in a text message that is seriously so simple, but it never fails to make me smile. Well, let me rephrase that. If someone that I wasn’t interested in sent me this text, I would be immediately turned off. BUT, if my boyfriend sent me this, I’d be in “awwww” town.

#9 Ask them how their day is going. You don’t necessarily need to say “hi” at all. You could just jump right into the conversation and ask them how their day is going. Honestly, it is such a great feeling to look down at your phone in the middle of the day to see this text message. It is just a great feeling to know that someone else was thinking about your well-being throughout their own busy day. [Read: What to text a guy when you want to make the first move]

#10 Pet photo. Just send them a photo of your pet and say “______ says hello.” Nobody is ever going to complain about getting a pet photo sent their way. This is a win-win for both parties. You start a cute conversation, and the other person gets to look at an adorable animal.

#11 Shared interest. Do you share a similar interest in a band or musician? Perhaps you could open the conversation with a lyric of theirs. Or maybe you have an inside joke that you share. Open the conversation with that. It reminds the other person of your connection, and they might be more inclined to reply to your message. [Read: 12 moves to play it cool on text and win over your crush]

#12 Super forward. You + Me = Coffee shop in 15 minutes? Want to ask them on a date, just get to it. If you are feeling confident enough to try, hey, I’m not going to stop you. Just be aware that this might not work in your favor. However, it might come off as super confident, which many people find attractive and cute.

Don’t limit yourself to “hi” or hello.” You’re better than that. I hope these cute ways to say hi in a text message helped you brainstorm your own ways to start a conversation!