Key takeaways
- SMS dramatically outperforms email on opens (~98% vs 20–30%), with ~90% of texts opened within three seconds, use this immediacy for purchase-driven messages.
- Time SMS to match a customer’s buying moment (time of day, week, month, year) so timing enhances, not hinders, campaign goals.
- Keep each SMS ≤160 characters to avoid network fragmentation, delivery failures or messages arriving out of order.
- Promote your shortcode across channels (email, fliers, in‑store stickers) and use opt‑in keywords to grow your SMS list organically.
- Use a phone number or shortened URL as the CTA so recipients can act immediately, URL shorteners (for example, Bitly) help keep messages within 160 characters.
- Because SMS lacks a visual medium and is poor for brand recall, focus messages on immediate purchase triggers and clear next steps.
Introduction
The open-rate differences between email and SMS is staggering — 20-30 percent for the former compared to almost 98 percent for the later. On top of that, approximately 90 percent of recipients open their text messages within the first three seconds of receiving it. These numbers provide serious opportunities for companies to enjoy some meaty returns on investments. The following are four key ways to take full advantage of SMS marketing.
Respect Timing, Always
Timing is the element of utmost pertinence that runs through all business mediums. Marketing is no exception; by extension, neither is SMS marketing. Brands must be mindful about the time of day, week, month, and year that they are conducting their work. Timing should serve to enhance a SMS marketing campaign’s objective, not produce obstacles for it. “The nature of the medium is such that the recipients open their messages instantly upon receiving them. But at the same time, the lack of a visual medium makes it difficult for marketers to build brand recall through this channel,” offers Entrepreneur contributor Anand Srinivasan. “Consequently, the main objective for a marketer must be to reach out to their consumers just when they are making a purchasing decision. So while a pizza chain may send out their offers during lunch hour, a salon may schedule their messages to align with how frequently a particular customer needs their service.”
Don’t Exceed the 160 Character Limit
“When you send a lengthy SMS — more than 160 characters — mobile networks typically break the text into smaller chunks of 160 characters each. Messages are restitched before they are delivered to the intended recipient. This does not happen seamlessly at all times,” offers Srinivasan. “Some networks do not break or merge messages and other networks can refuse to carry such texts. As a result, your recipient may either fail to receive these messages altogether, or messages may sometimes get delivered out of order.” In any case, when a message does not respect the 160 character limit, the central point of the promotion will not be properly conveyed to the recipient.
Promotional Materials Should Advertise Shortcode
According to Srinivasan: “No matter how good your promotional message is, SMS marketing is still a numbers game. The size of your list determines the success of your campaigns. One trick to organically grow your SMS marketing list is by promoting your shortcodes over other channels like email, fliers or through stickers inside your store.” Paying proper attention to shortcode is a pertinent step that marketers should not overlook. Additionally, promoting opt-in keywords have been shown to be effective in constructing a basis of recurring buyers.
Use a URL or Phone Number as the Call to Action
The call to action is a central component to a successful marketing campaign. However, when it comes to SMS marketing, there are no lavish input formats available to catch consumer’s eyes and direct them to the call to action button. In these cases, the only way to fully engage consumers is to inform them on how to reach you. Srinivasan says: “One of the most popular and easy ways to do this is by including a phone number or URL at the end of your message. You may make use of URL shorteners like Bitly to keep your messages down to 160 characters. While this may not be the most ideal call for action, it is still important to enable your recipient to act on their impulse, and reach out to your business.”
FAQ
SMS open rates are reported at almost 98% versus 20–30% for email, about 90% of recipients open text messages within the first three seconds of receipt.
Schedule messages to coincide with customers’ purchase moments (consider time of day, week, month, year). For examples, a pizza chain sending offers at lunch hour or a salon timing messages based on how often a customer needs service. Timing should support the campaign objective, not create obstacles.
Mobile networks typically split messages over 160 characters into 160‑character chunks and then attempt to restitch them. Restitching is not always seamless: some networks don’t break or merge messages or may refuse to carry them, which can lead to non‑delivery or messages arriving out of order, undermining the promotion’s central point.
Promote your shortcode across other channels such as email, fliers and stickers inside your store. Promoting opt‑in keywords tied to the shortcode has been shown to be effective for building a recurring buyer base.
Include a phone number or a URL at the end of the message so recipients can act immediately. To save characters and stay within 160, you may use a URL shortener like Bitly.
Because SMS is not a visual medium and is difficult for building brand recall, messages should prioritise reaching customers at the point of purchase decision and give a clear, simple action (phone or URL) rather than trying to build brand awareness.
Long messages can be split into multiple 160‑character chunks, some networks may not reassemble them or may refuse delivery, causing missing or out‑of‑order content. Keep messages at or below 160 characters and use shortened URLs to reduce fragmentation risk.
1 comment
Bulk messaging is the sharing of large numbers of SMS messages for delivery to mobile phone. Bulk SMS is one of the marketing techniques that can help to business grow. This services are taken by media companies, banks, consumer brands, variety of enterprises etc.
Regards
Venugopal S, M.D, SMS Messenger
https://smsmessenger.in/
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