SMS marketing does not come cheap, so when you’re communicating an offer or promotion to a broad customer base, you want to do so in a way that is going to recoup your investment. This will require a certain amount of guesswork as there are no guarantees when it comes to customer behaviours, but with some actions it is not difficult to forecast whether they will strike a chord with customers or antagonise them.

As with many things in life, timing is huge in SMS marketing, as these insightful statistics show. As text messaging is an immediate medium where messages are read (and usually replied to) almost instantly, you want to hit customers at a time when they are most likely to act. If you’re a pizzeria, for example, sending offers to your customer base around teatime will be far more effective than contacting them in mid-morning, as it is in early evening when they are most likely to think ‘yes, a 10-inch margarita would be lovely right now’.

You need to be active but not overbearing. Researchers deduced that the best-performing SMS marketers send an average of four messages per month – enough to maintain constant visibility but not so excessive as to irritate customers.

Timing is crucial but so is the content. With only 160 characters at your disposal, you need to make your message count. Cut to the chase and don’t be afraid to capitalise your call-to-action verb. Invite customers to buy your product without explicitly selling to them, as they will see through hollow sales pitches. Oh, and avoid text speak. SMS marketers can achieve a casual, friendly tone without restoring to childish misspellings that customers would not appreciate.

To find out more about the main do’s and don’ts of SMS marketing, check out the infographic below from Neon SMS.