SMS marketing can be an incredibly powerful way to connect with your customers in a natural and intuitive manner that is non-disruptive to the recipient. The open rate for SMS is almost 98%, which is incredibly high. Given that text messaging is everywhere, it’s only natural that brands would venture to use the channel for their customers. It’s also useful for a variety of use cases including promotions, need-to-know updates, and product updates.

This article covers best practices for optimizing your SMS and MMS campaigns in the following areas:

• Creative
• Targeting
• Timing

Creative

• Always get permission – Permission-based marketing is vital to making text marketing campaigns successful. It’s also imperative for compliance that protects consumers from unwanted solicitation.
• Use a unique, brand-friendly short code – To prevent carriers from blocking your messages, make sure your short code is tailored to mass communication and optimized for marketing.
• Establish keyword associations with your brand – When you ask a customer to text your short code, ensure the keyword is relevant.
• Keep it personal – Just like other marketing channels, personalization is key to driving engagement with your customer.
• Have a value proposition – Value propositions help keep people’s attention for much longer, according to Nielsen research.
• Be concise and clever – If done correctly, you may receive the same amount of attention your customer gets from a friend. Don’t over text or abuse the privilege of being able to connect with your customer—be concise, to the point, and clever.

Targeting

• To encourage users to receive text messages containing special offers, new product updates, and other valuable information, you should request they opt-in to SMS messaging via an online form, contest entries, or by asking them to text a particular keyword to a mobile number or short code during promotions.
• Set expectations accordingly – Let your customers know what to expect from opting into communications from your brand and be clear about the benefits of receiving texts from them.

Timing

• Send the right message at the right time – You don’t want to disrupt your customer’s day and standard routine, so depending on your business, send the message at the appropriate time.
  • If your message is best received during work hours, schedule delivery between 11:00 am – 2:00 pm.
  • If your message is best received outside of work, schedule delivery between 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.

Next steps

• Create a new SMS campaign in the Swrve Campaign center. For more information, see Campaign overview and channels.
• Add content to your SMS campaign. For more information, see Adding campaign content.
• View results and reports for your campaign. For more information, see Campaign reports.
• Manage your campaigns in the Swrve Campaign center. For more information, see Managing your campaigns.