With open rates that regularly top 90% and read times measured in minutes (not days), SMS marketing remains one of the most direct lines you have to your customers. But it's also the easiest channel to misuse. Here's how to do it right — and how to know it's working.
Email competes with a crowded inbox. Social media competes with an algorithm. A text message lands directly on a customer's lock screen — which is exactly why SMS marketing, used well, tends to outperform almost every other channel for time-sensitive offers, reminders, and updates.
It's also why SMS marketing, used poorly, can damage a customer relationship faster than almost any other channel. The bar for relevance and respect for the inbox — or in this case, the lock screen — is much higher.
SMS marketing is governed by strict regulations (like the TCPA in the U.S.), and for good reason: text messages feel more personal and intrusive than email. Every subscriber needs to provide clear, documented consent to receive marketing texts — usually through a checkbox at checkout, a website signup form, or a keyword opt-in (“Text JOIN to...”).
Beyond compliance, an opted-in list is simply a better list — these are people who actively want to hear from you, which sets up everything that follows for higher engagement.
The most effective SMS campaigns tend to fall into a few categories: order and appointment updates, exclusive offers or early access for subscribers, abandoned cart reminders, and time-sensitive announcements (flash sales, event reminders, last-call notices).
Frequency matters enormously. A handful of genuinely useful or valuable texts per month will keep subscribers engaged; daily promotional blasts will drive opt-outs fast. When in doubt, every message should answer the question: would I want to receive this on my personal phone?
Because SMS doesn't have an “open rate” in the email sense, the metrics that matter are click-through rate (for links), conversion rate, opt-out rate, and revenue per message sent.
Opt-out rate deserves special attention — a rising opt-out rate is an early warning that your frequency or relevance is off, well before it shows up in your overall revenue numbers. Tracking SMS alongside your email and website analytics gives you a complete view of which channel is actually driving the sale.
We'll help you map out an SMS strategy that fits your audience — and connect it to the same analytics dashboard as the rest of your marketing.
Book Your Free Discovery Call Read More Articles