How can you increase SMS open rates?

Know your audience

Before you send any SMS message, you need to understand who you are sending it to and what they want from you. Segment your contacts based on their demographics, preferences, behavior, and feedback. Use personalization and dynamic content to tailor your messages to each segment and individual. This will help you create more engaging and relevant SMS campaigns that resonate with your audience and increase their interest in opening your messages.

Optimize your timing

Another factor that affects your SMS open rates is when you send your messages. You want to choose the best time to reach your audience when they are most likely to open and respond to your SMS. This may vary depending on your industry, niche, and goals. For example, if you are a restaurant, you may want to send a promotional SMS before lunch or dinner time. If you are a retailer, you may want to send a reminder SMS before a sale or an event ends. Experiment with different days and times to find the optimal timing for your SMS campaigns.

Craft a catchy sender ID

Your sender ID is the name or number that appears on your recipient's phone when they receive your SMS. It is the first thing they see and it can influence their decision to open your message or not. Therefore, you want to make sure that your sender ID is catchy, recognizable, and trustworthy. Avoid using generic or random numbers that may look like spam or scams. Instead, use your brand name, a keyword, or a short code that reflects your identity and purpose. For example, if you are a pizza place, you could use "PizzaHut" or "PIZZA" as your sender ID.

Write a compelling message

Your message is the core of your SMS campaign and it should be clear, concise, and compelling. You only have 160 characters to convey your value proposition, call to action, and urgency. Therefore, you need to use simple and direct language, avoid jargon and abbreviations, and emphasize the benefits and incentives for your recipient. For example, instead of writing "Get 20% off your next order with code ABCD", you could write "Save big today! Use code ABCD and enjoy 20% off any pizza. Hurry, offer ends at midnight." This way, you create more curiosity, excitement, and urgency for your recipient to open and act on your message.

Track and measure your results

Finally, you need to track and measure your SMS open rates and other key metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your SMS campaigns. You can use SMS analytics tools to monitor how many people opened your messages, how long it took them to open them, how many people clicked on your links, how many people converted, and how much revenue you generated. You can also use A/B testing to compare different versions of your messages and see which one performs better. By analyzing your data, you can identify what works and what doesn't, and optimize your SMS campaigns accordingly.

Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?