What is the best frequency for SMS messages in a campaign?

1 Why frequency matters

The frequency of your SMS messages can have a significant impact on your campaign goals, such as conversions, retention, loyalty, and feedback. If you send too many messages, you risk annoying or overwhelming your customers, leading to opt-outs, complaints, or negative perceptions of your brand. If you send too few messages, you may miss out on opportunities to connect with your customers, remind them of your value proposition, or encourage them to take action.

2 How to determine your frequency

The frequency of your SMS messages is not a one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on several factors, such as the preferences and expectations of your audience, the type and value of your offer, and the industry you operate in. For instance, younger customers may be more open to frequent messages than older ones, and time-sensitive or personalized offers may allow for more messages than generic or promotional ones. Additionally, highly competitive or dynamic industries may require more messages than those that are more stable or niche. Ultimately, all of these elements should be taken into consideration when determining how often to send SMS messages in a campaign.

3 How to test your frequency

Testing the optimal frequency for your SMS messages is essential for understanding your audience's preferences. A/B testing can be employed to split your audience into two or more groups and send them different frequencies of SMS messages, such as once a week, twice a week, or once a day. Then, you can compare the results of each group to see which frequency performs better. Surveys are also beneficial in determining how often your audience would like to receive messages from you and what type of content they are interested in. Online tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform can help you create and distribute surveys via SMS, email, or web. Additionally, offering incentives like discounts, rewards, or prizes can increase the response rate and quality of your surveys. Analyzing data from analytics tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Amplitude is also beneficial for evaluating metrics such as bounce rate, session duration, page views, conversions, retention, loyalty, or referrals in relation to different frequencies of SMS messages.

4 How to adjust your frequency

Once you have tested your frequency, you should not stop there. You should monitor and adjust your frequency regularly, based on the feedback and performance of your campaign. Seasonality, lifecycle, and segmentation should all be taken into consideration when adjusting frequency. For example, during peak seasons like Black Friday or Christmas, you may want to send more messages to capture your audience's attention. On the other hand, during off-seasons like summer or winter, you may want to reduce messaging to avoid spamming or boring your audience. Additionally, depending on the stage of the customer journey or lifecycle, you may need to change your frequency; during awareness or consideration stages, for instance, more messages may be necessary to educate and persuade customers to choose your offer. Segmentation is another factor; sending more messages to active or loyal customers can increase engagement and loyalty while sending fewer messages to inactive or churned customers can help re-engage them.

5 Best practices for frequency

Finally, when setting and maintaining the optimal frequency for your SMS messages in a campaign, it is best to start with a low frequency, such as once a week or once a month, and increase it gradually based on feedback and performance. Additionally, you should always ask for your customers' consent and preferences before sending them SMS messages, and respect their choices and rights. Furthermore, make sure your messages are relevant and valuable to your customers by avoiding duplicate or redundant messages, or messages that are too long or too short. Lastly, you should always test, monitor, and adjust your frequency based on feedback and performance, as well as the trends and best practices in your industry and audience.

6 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?