What's the Best Time to Send an SMS Marketing Campaign?

SMS marketing is a great way to reach out to your customers and keep them updated on your latest products and services. But when is the best time to send out your SMS campaigns? In this blog post, we will discuss the best times to send SMS messages and some tips for optimizing your campaigns.

Table of Contents

• When is the best time to send SMS Marketing?
• The best day to send SMS Marketing
  
• What is the three-day text rule?
  
• What type of message are you sending?
  
• Why you should A/B Test when you send texts
  
• Is SMS better than email marketing?
  
• A framework to decide the best time to send SMS Marketing
  
  

When is the best time to send SMS Marketing?

Generally speaking, the best time to send SMS messages is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the middle of the day. This is when people are most likely checking their phones and will be more inclined to open your message.

Some people check their phones as soon as they wake up, while others might see them right before bed. Here are a few other tips:

No one likes Mondays

Weekends and Mondays are the least popular times for sending SMS messages. Your message may get lost in a sea of Sunday night emails or Monday morning work memos.

Avoid rush hour

Nobody likes being stuck in traffic; people are more likely to open your message when they're not dealing with the stress of rush hour. Consider avoiding sending messages during this time.

Don't annoy your customers

Depending on your customer base, avoid sending messages too late at night. People don't want to be disturbed while eating dinner or trying to relax.

Be respectful

Lastly, remember to respect the time zones of your customers. If you have customers worldwide, sending a message at 8 p.m. in one country may be 4 a.m. in another – that's too early for most people!

Drive midday foot traffic

Do you want more customers during lunchtime? Consider including an offer in the advertisement! Send out your blast at 11:30 a.m. local time to reach those making lunch plans.

Drive in-store weekend foot traffic

Thursdays are popular dates to send text messages with strong response rates. Fridays between 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. have shown great success for retailers.

Test different times:

Try out different time slots and see which works best for your campaigns. Certain times are better than others, so consider testing them out on a small segment of customers before rolling them out to the larger group.

Following these tips, you should find the best time for your SMS marketing campaigns and ensure that your customers see your messages.

The best day to send SMS Marketing

The best day to send SMS Marketing may vary from business to business, so the key is to experiment and see what works best for your audience.

Consider reaching out at different times of day, testing different messages and offers, and tracking your results. With some trial and error, you'll soon be able to identify the ideal time to send SMS campaigns that get the best customer response.

With the right timing, you can create effective campaigns to build relationships with your customers, increase engagement and drive sales. So don't be afraid to experiment and find out what works best for your business!

What is the three-day text rule?

The 3-day rule is an old marketing strategy that suggests giving your customers at least three days before sending them a follow-up message. It's considered best practice because it gives customers time to think about their experience with the product or service before being contacted again.

Suppose you have customers looking for fast answers. In that case, they may appreciate a text message the same day or even an hour after their initial inquiry. This rule may only work with some SMS campaigns, so it's important to understand your customer base before sending a follow-up message.

You should always be aware of how often you text your customer base and when those texts are being sent. 

-Staggering out your messages

-Respecting their time

-Consider a 3-day window for follow-up messages 

These steps will help facilitate more effective campaigns that maintain customer relationships while getting the most return possible.

What type of message are you sending?

You can ensure that your recipients will redeem your coupon or promo code by taking the correct steps. You want to send these early enough and avoid losing urgency, but if you wait too long, people may have already missed their chance to use them.

For appointments, send your reminder text as close to 24 hours in advance as possible. That way, the recipient is more likely to remember their appointment. However, suppose you're using texts to confirm purchases or payments. In that case, it's best practice to send the message immediately after the purchase so that everything is clear about what was purchased/paid for.

Why you should A/B Test when you send texts

Time-stamping your links is a great way to monitor which times work best for your business.

Conducting an SMS A/B test is one example. By sending the same message at two different times, you can analyze which time had more engagement by examining the analytics gathered from clicked links. You could also try this approach on different days of the week.

Keep going even if your first few text marketing campaigns don't get the response you're hoping for. It's normal to experiment a bit with send times before finding success. Try various methods, and sooner or later, you'll discover how your customers tick.

Is SMS better than email marketing?

Both SMS and email marketing can be effective tools for reaching and engaging customers. Each has its benefits and drawbacks, so it's important to consider which option best suits your needs.

SMS is generally seen as more direct than email because text messages are often opened within minutes of being sent. In contrast, emails can take hours or even days to be seen. SMS also has a better click-through rate than email and is more personal, as it's sent directly to the customer's cell phone.

On the other hand, email allows for more detailed messages with longer copies, multimedia content, and customization options that may not be available with SMS.

Ultimately, the choice between email and SMS marketing comes down to your particular needs. If you're looking for a quick way to reach customers with minimal time investment, then SMS may be the right option for you. However, you need more detailed messages with customization options and analytics tracking. In that case, email may be the better choice.

A framework to decide the best time to send SMS Marketing

When deciding the best time to send SMS Marketing, there are several keys to consider.

• Consider your customers' preferences and what works best for their particular needs.
• Understand how often you're sending messages and when they are being sent.
• Staggering out your messages and considering a 3-day window for follow-up will help ensure that you're getting the most response from your campaigns.
• Experiment with different times of day to see which offers and messages are most successful. Track the results of each campaign and adjust until you find a pattern that works best for your customers.

Take the time to understand your customer base and use data-driven insights. This way, you can determine the ideal time to send SMS Marketing campaigns that will build relationships with your customers, increase engagement and drive sales. With some trial and error, you'll find the best time to send SMS Marketing messages for maximum response.

Schedule every text at the best time with Avochato

Use Avochato's scheduled texts feature to choose the best time for your audience and plan a series of campaigns around that. With our text message scheduling feature, you can freely plan your messages for any date.

Key takeaway

By understanding your customer base, experimenting with different times, and leveraging data-driven insights, you can determine the best time to send SMS Marketing campaigns.

With the right strategies and tools, you'll be able to maximize the response from your text marketing campaigns. Use Avochato's scheduled texts feature to plan campaigns around your chosen time easily. These campaigns will build customer relationships, increase engagement, and drive sales. Take a look at these marketing examples and use cases to understand more.

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