Stop Sending Useless Texts: 12 Top SMS Marketing Best Practices That Drive Sales

By now most people will be familiar with the concept of SMS marketing. It’s been a trusted form of marketing for many years now, mostly driven by the parabolic rise in people owning a smart phone who are in a position to receive and read text messages.

And it’s not hard to see why many companies still engage with SMS marketing strategies. The average open rate for SMS messages is a highly impressive 98%, and the average click-through-rate (CTR) is around 18% (compared to 2.5% for emails). Based on those numbers alone, SMS marketing would seem to be the obvious choice when it comes to developing a marketing strategy.

However, a high open rate doesn’t necessarily mean that those messages are having any sort of impact. Many companies are proactive in launching an SMS marketing campaign, but without continued refinement and monitoring it will quickly lose momentum, with messages being deleted as quickly as they are opened.

And some campaigns are developed with less-than-optimal reasoning and are likely doomed to fail from the start.

So we’re going to take a look at the reasons behind this. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the reasons why your SMS marketing strategy keeps failing. And we’ll also offer twelve tried-and-tested practices that we believe will lead to increased conversion rates and improved ROI.

What is SMS Marketing and Why Should You Use It?

Short message service, or SMS marketing, is the process of sending promotional or marketing messages to potential or existing customers via text messaging. Similar to email marketing, it is an opt-in strategy where consumers need to actively provide their contact details in order to receive the material.

As well as the impressive open rate and click-through-rate metrics, there are a number of other reasons why businesses might engage with SMS marketing. These include:

• A wide audience reach in a very short space of time
• Increased engagement and sales
• A core omnichannel component
• Quick to produce in terms of content
• Instant, two-way conversations

Of course, a business will only reap the rewards of these benefits if they initiate effective SMS campaigns, which many businesses often fall short on.

Why Most SMS Campaigns Don’t Convert

SMS marketing is often misunderstood in terms of its purpose and how it’s best utilized. Businesses often fall into the trap of seeing it as an easy way of making consumers aware that they exist, without offering any meaningful messaging or value. A message without value will more likely be seen as a nuisance rather than an opportunity, and so consumers will be more likely to resent receiving them.

In short, it’ll have the complete opposite effect to the initial intention.

Additionally, many businesses incorrectly assume that the more often they send their customer base messages, the more likely it is that they will receive a click. In reality, the opposite is true. Messages that are sent with no thought behind the timing and reasoning are far more likely to be ignored and discarded, and messaging delivered too frequently is another source of annoyance that will lead customers to unsubscribe.

So what can be done to make sure an SMS marketing campaign does succeed?

The 12 Best SMS Marketing Practices That Drive Sales

There’s an obvious reason why despite all the advancements in technology that we’re seeing, many businesses still turn to SMS marketing to drive traffic and revenue.

The reason is that, when implemented correctly, SMS marketing is a highly effective way of achieving excellent results without breaking the bank. And it’s a great strategy for offering personalized customer experiences, something that many consumers expect in today’s society. 

Businesses that succeed with this approach do not do so by accident. They succeed by using a number of tried-and-tested practices, and implementing them effectively.

Let’s dive into each of these SMS marketing tips in a little more detail.

Obtain Clear, Documented Consent

First and foremost, businesses looking to develop an SMS marketing strategy need to make sure that those they send messages to genuinely want to receive them.

Businesses will often make the mistake of thinking that if a customer provides a contact number, they want to receive marketing messages. This isn’t automatically the case, and doesn’t constitute clear, informed consent.

As a result, you should look to implement a double opt-in strategy. This is where, in the first instance, you receive a customer contact number. And then, in the second instance, you send an initial opt-in message to obtain written consent and to verify that the number is genuine.

Failure to obtain this consent isn’t just a nuisance for consumers. It’s also a potential issue from a legal standpoint, with regulatory bodies such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requiring written consent as part of its compliance standards.

Segment Lists Based on Behavior

Most companies will have a huge master list of all their customer contacts. This makes it easy to mass-send SMS marketing messages in a short space of time.

However, this is not considered to be the most optimal way of messaging. Within that list are groups of customers that share similar buying intent, or demographics, or they’re at a similar stage on their purchasing journey.

With that in mind, it’s much more effective to create separate groups with shared characteristics to help create more tailored messaging. We’ll touch on personalization a little later.

For example, you could look to send a specific message to first-time potential buyers in the form of an enticing offer. You could also look to send a different message to your cart abandoners, encouraging them to reengage with the purchase.

Lead With Value in the First Line

We live in a time when people are constantly busy and on the move. It means that when they receive a text, they want to immediately gain value from it. If they don’t, then it’ll almost certainly be ignored or deleted immediately.

With that in mind, SMS marketing text messages cannot waste time with fluff. They need to get straight to the point and inform the reader why it’s worth their time to pay attention.

Consider the below example:

“Hey, we’re running a promo!”

On the surface, this would seem to be a positive, engaging message. But it doesn’t inform the reader what the promo is for, its overall worth, or how to obtain it. In short, it has very little value.

Now let’s look at this one:

“Get 25% off your next order.”

Here, there’s a clear monetary discount, the conditions on how to obtain the discount, and a straightforward CTA which will direct the reader to the appropriate page. There is a lot of value in this single line, and it will likely achieve far superior results to the first example.

Time Your Texts Around Behavior and Intent

A lot of businesses who don’t utilize this strategy properly tend to send the same message out to all their customers at a given time, believing that consistency is what will drive results.

To some extent, this is true.

However, a much more effective approach is to use data analytics to monitor customer behaviors, and determine whether those behaviors are more likely to lead to a sale. Once this has been confirmed, then they should send off the SMS message.

For example, many data analytics tools enable businesses to watch for how much time a customer spends browsing on their website, known as the session duration metric. High amounts of time would indicate that the customer has genuine interest in completing a sale, so those are the customers that should be targeted with a discount or offer reminder via SMS.

Another indicator to keep a close eye on is cart abandonment. This might indicate that the customer was about to make the purchase, but became distracted by something. A friendly SMS message reminding them of their pending purchase might prove to be very effective in securing the sale.

Timing SMS messaging in this manner will be more resource-intensive, but it will likely lead to a much more positive ROI and increased revenue.

Respect Time Zones and Legal Quiet Hours

In line with TCPA regulations, businesses are not permitted to send marketing messages (or make cold calls) before 8am and after 9pm. These are referred to as legal quiet hours. Most people do not want to be disturbed during these hours, and businesses need to respect this.

So what is the best time to send SMS marketing messages?

While there is no hard and fast answer, generally you should look to send across SMS messages when people are more likely to have access to their phone. Consider lunch times and early evenings to be optimal windows for SMS messaging.

If you’re a business with a nationwide or international customer base, you’ll also need to take into account different time zones when scheduling your SMS messaging. Additionally, certain states in the US have more restrictive rules related to quiet hours, so you’ll need to research these as well.

Keep the Message Short and Meaningful

If a consumer opens an SMS message and sees a big wall of text, they will almost certainly disregard the text immediately, regardless of how informative or beneficial it could be. That’s because SMS marketing is not geared towards taking in lots of information. It’s designed to be instantly impactful and value-driven.

So when you’re devising your messages, keep them short and to the point. You don’t need to worry about flowery language - this isn’t a literary competition! You just need to make sure that all of the key information is presented swiftly and succinctly.

In the above example, Sasden has done just that. Everyone loves a sale, so they’ve mentioned it immediately as a hook to gain attention. Then they’ve outlined the details of how to take advantage of the sale. It’s all value-driven information.

They’ve also added an opt-out, maintaining the condition that the customer is fully in control of the marketing relationship at all times.

Personalize With Purpose

According to Forbes, 81% of consumers would like companies to offer a personalized experience when they shop with them. They no longer want to be seen as just a sales number on a spreadsheet, but rather someone who’s time and money is seen as important.

In the past, companies might’ve been able to get away with just adding the customer’s first name onto the message. But that won’t usually cut it today - messages need to become more contextual for customers to take notice.

Once again, data analytics can play a crucial role in evaluating a customer journey and devising these personalized strategies. Companies can analyse metrics such as past buying behavior and browsing history to send messages that will likely resonate with the individual.

In the above example, Music House has done just that. They’ve identified that their customer went to a particular concert the previous month, both very specific details tailored for this individual. They’ve then used this information to present a similar type of event that the customer might be interested in, and offered them the means to easily check it out.

It’s a great example of personalized SMS messaging that’s much more likely to land the sale than something more generic.

Use Strong CTAs That Create Urgency

One of the most tried-and-tested marketing strategies is to use call-to-actions (CTAs) to encourage consumers to take the next major step on their buying journey. Common examples of CTAs include asking customers whether they want to try a free demo, sign up to a newsletter, or download a free sample.

However, with SMS messaging, the action needs to be paired with a sense of urgency, otherwise the CTA is likely to be ignored. Two of the most common ways of creating this urgency are to stress that there is only a limited amount of a certain product, or that a special offer will end after a very short space of time.

In this example, the urgency is clearly signposted with bold font and capitalisation. They’ve also followed it up with the consequences of what is going to happen if the customer doesn’t make the most of this special offer, just to further emphasize the urgency.

Avoid Over-Sending

Most of these strategies are geared towards things that you should be doing. However, one thing that we recommend avoiding at all times is over-sending your marketing messages.

The simple fact of the matter is that no one wants to be bombarded with messages from your company, regardless of how informative they are. It is more likely to lead to fatigue and negative sentiment, which will then see a rise in opt-outs.

A more sensible approach could be to utilize trigger clicks or actions to instigate the next message. Consumers are much more likely to accept multiple messages if they’re part of a wider conversation tailored to them.

Test Timing, Content, and Offers

While these practices have been proven to work time and time and again, that doesn’t mean that a little trial-and-error isn’t beneficial. Every business is different. And every customer base is different. So it will be down to you to fine-tune these strategies so that they work for you.

Split testing (or A/B testing) is a common strategy used by many businesses to compare two approaches. This is where a company will test one approach over a certain period of time, then test a second approach to see which one is more effective.

For example, a company could initiate a period where they are reducing their products by a percentage, then compare it to a period where they reduce them by a dollar amount, and see which approach yields a higher CTR.

They could also conduct a split test on AM vs PM messaging to see which is more effective.

Content marketing is perhaps less pressing in relation to SMS messaging. However, companies can still experiment to see whether certain imperative (bossy) verbs are more effective than others, or if there is an optimal character length that generates the best results.

Use SMS With Email and On-Site Targeting

SMS messaging shouldn’t be used in isolation. As we’ve mentioned, it’s excellent for conveying a sense of urgency related to offers or discounts and is a great way of reaching a large number of people quickly.

However, there are certain things that SMS marketing can’t do well, which can be achieved through other marketing strategies.

Company updates, for example, are much more likely to be acknowledged in a newsletter, sent via email. Value-added blog posts are ideal for on-site marketing, where you can use internal linking to guide consumers to the relevant products or information.

You can also target customers via social media engagement. Always keep in mind that the ultimate goal is to engage relevant parties in the most effective way possible.

Make It Easy to Opt-Out (and Learn From It)

Finally, there will inevitably be times when even if you execute the best SMS marketing strategy in the world, some customers will still want to cut ties from your business. Various legal regulations (TCPA, CAN-SPAM) mandate that companies must include a clear opt-out option within their marketing messaging.

But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Companies can use offboarding as an opportunity to gain insight as to where they need improving. As part of the opt-out, businesses can present the consumer with the opportunity to inform why they are leaving.

This can then be used to inform future SMS marketing campaigns and strategies.

SMS Marketing Mistakes That Hurt Sales

We’ve taken a close look at what we believe to be the best practices related to SMS marketing for retail. Now let’s explore some of the common mistakes that SMS marketing teams make that can scupper the sale.

Failing to Optimize for Mobile Experience

According to our research, over 70% of all online sales were made using a mobile device. This is a clear indication that most online shopping is actually done on the move rather than when sat in front of a computer.

Unfortunately, many businesses have been slow to react to this. They’ve likely made their website and ecommerce options available for mobile. But they’ve failed to optimize the experience, which means that customers are likely faced with laggy systems, an unpredictable interface, and unclear navigation.

This means that, even if you send the most effective SMS marketing message ever created, the consumer will quickly lose patience if they’re unable to complete the purchase.

Failure to Track Engagement

Most businesses will engage with an SMS campaign of some kind. But many companies will initiate the campaign, then let it run while hoping for the best.

There are now countless analytics tools available for businesses to track their SMS engagement across dozens of key metrics, such as click-through-rates, buying behavior, customer sentiment, and churn rates. Businesses can use these metrics to use data-informed analysis to see whether their strategy is working, rather than having to rely on guesswork.

Without this analysis, businesses will likely be wasting time and money on fruitless campaigns without knowing why they’re not working.

Sending Generic Broadcasts

We touched upon this earlier, but it’s worth reiterating. Companies who fall into the trap of sending uninformative, directionless SMS content to all their customers simultaneously are not going to see tangible results. A consumer’s attention is a finite resource - there’s only so much of it to go around.

The nature of SMS marketing is instant knowledge and gratification. Messages without clear value and intent are going to be ignored.

How Often Should I Send SMS Marketing Messages?

It’s a tough balancing act between sending the right number of messages and risking consumer annoyance by over-sending. We’ve discussed how it’s often a more effective practice to send tailored SMS messaging based on customer behavior and intent.

However, it’s also important to make sure your entire customer list hears from you regularly to keep you in their minds and perhaps instigate a purchase. We wouldn’t recommend sending more than two messages a week, with at least two days between each message.

You should always make sure you track your message performance (particularly opt out rates) to determine whether you should increase or decrease the frequency of your messaging.

What’s the Ideal Message Length for SMS Campaigns?

The general consensus is that SMS marketing messages should not exceed 160 characters. There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, the longer the message, the less chance there is of it grabbing the customer’s attention, negating the whole point of the message. 

There are also a number of technical reasons why this is the standard limit. A message that exceeds 160 characters is concatenated, meaning it is split into a series of messages rather than remaining singular. And customers certainly don’t want to be sent multiple marketing messages in quick succession.

Longer messages will also start to incur additional costs when sending them. So a business might end up with a negative ROI if they don’t pay attention to their message lengths.

You also need to keep in mind that if you include special characters, such as emojis or accented letters, this limit is reduced to 70 characters.

What’s the Best Way to Grow an SMS Subscriber List?

There are a number of ways that businesses can grow their SMS subscriber list.

Sign-up forms on a business’s website is a very effective tool. These can be embedded into static webpages or take the form of a pop-up (though the pop-up needs to be timed effectively).

You can also offer the option of signing up to an SMS contact list when a customer makes a purchase. If they end up happy with their purchase, they’re likely to be receptive when they receive follow-up messages for new products or discounts. You just need to make sure that it is optional rather than mandatory, as this approach treads a fine ethical line.

There’s also nothing stopping you from promoting your SMS availability across your social channels. This is especially effective when offering a discounted or free product to all new sign-ups.

How Do I Track the Performance of My SMS Marketing Campaigns?

There are a number of key metrics involved in determining whether an SMS campaign is successful or not.

You should start by confirming the delivery rate of your messages. This is the percentage of sent messages that successfully reach their intended target - in this case, your customers’ mobile inboxes. This should typically be a very high percentage, as a lower percentage indicates that a large portion of your numbers are no longer valid, or have blocked marketing communications in some way.

You can also monitor metrics such as:

• Open rates: As the name suggests, this is the percentage of the total messages sent that were opened and read. For SMS messaging, this should be above 80%.
• Conversion rates: This is the percentage of recipients who fulfilled your CTA requests. A high percentage indicates that your CTA was clearly actionable and well-delivered.
• Response rates: You can use this metric when you initiate marketing engagement through things such as polls or surveys. It’s the percentage of recipients who respond to this action.
• Opt-out rates: This is the percentage of recipients who unsubscribed from your service upon receipt of a message. Unsurprisingly, you need to keep this as low as possible.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): This metric will tell you how much money you’re spending per conversion. You can calculate this by dividing your total SMS campaign cost by the number of successful conversions.

How Do I Integrate SMS With Other Marketing Channels?

SMS marketing is a highly effective marketing strategy, but it shouldn’t be used in isolation. As we’ve covered, it’s great for engaging your customer base with urgency-led initiatives and real-time updates that are designed to hit hard and fast.

However, many customers appreciate the broader information that a business can generate from something like an email newsletter, where there isn’t a high level of urgency involved. This regular, informative means of keeping customers in the loop can be used in tandem with SMS messaging.

You should also incorporate your social media channels into your overall marketing strategy. This is where you can actively interact and engage with your audience to build your brand recognition and business story.

Final Takeaways

So is SMS marketing effective, even in 2025?

There is no question that SMS marketing still plays a crucial role in driving traffic and revenue for businesses when utilized effectively. It’s often still a misunderstood medium, particularly for newer businesses who see it as a passive means of marketing. But, like any business strategy, it’s something that needs to be refined and perfected over time with good practices until it suits the very specific needs of your business.

Once you’ve fine-tuned your approach, you’ll have a highly-effective, dynamic marketing strategy at your disposal.

At Influize, we are a multi-service digital marketing agency with over 20 years of delivering world-class campaigns across dozens of industries. Our success is driven by industry experts creating tailored strategies with clear, actionable objectives.

If you’re looking to kickstart your own marketing efforts, or if you have a query on anything related to marketing and development, then contact us today. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!