How often should you text consumers? What day is best to send your SMS broadcasts?
Every organization that runs a mobile campaign asks itself these questions. So as a service to all of us, the SalesForce Marketing Cloud blog analyzed 14 retail SMS programs running from January to June. They came away with some fascinating findings about how retail marketers are using mobile.
Of course, just because this is how some retailers are using mobile doesn’t mean it’s what you should do. Every organization’s subscribers are different.
Still, it’s interesting to see the way many large commercial organizations – including apparel brands and department stores – are managing their messaging.
- The Average Number of Texts/Week is 1.3
Message frequency ranged from 0.9 texts/week to 1.8 texts/week. But “somewhere between 1 and 2” seems to be the norm. At Upland Mobile Messaging, we’ve found that one great way to learn how often you should message your subscribers is simply to ask them. You then can group your subscribers into different message paths, for those who want to hear from you daily versus those who only want to be in touch every month. - Most Texts Get Sent on Thursday and Friday
SalesForce suspected that retail marketers might be trying to encourage sales behavior on the weekends.Interestingly, the fewest texts were sent on Saturdays and Sundays. That may simply be because “marketers don’t want to launch a campaign on the weekend.” After all, just like the consumers they’re trying to reach, they’re out of the office!It’s a prosaic issue, but a practical one. - SMS Outreach Can Promote Other Channels
“Smart retailers are using SMS to promote other channels,” the post notes. Retailers drive subscribers to their apps, encourage people to visit their stores, and use SMS to help push their social media campaigns.“SMS can take the place of a Push notification if you do not have a Push program or if the customer didn’t opt-in,” the blog wisely advises. - Use White Space to Break Up Text Messages
When you’re trying to fit a lot of information into 160 characters, a text message can get pretty crammed. So SalesForce suggests playing with blank lines to break up your texts. “A little breathing room makes message significantly easier to read.”