With people checking their phone an average of 58 times a day, SMS Marketing has become one of the best communication channels to reach subscribers. However, the attention of subscribers isn’t the same throughout the day, which leads everyone to beg the question: When is the best time to send SMS Marketing in 2022?
As you might have guessed, the answer is: A universal best time to send SMS marketing doesn’t really exist and what works for one store and its list of subscribers will not necessarily apply to another store and its own audience. Thankfully there are some key take-aways and things to consider in regards to when your recipients might be most interested in your message.
Considering that 62% of people check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up it comes as no surprise that text messages have an open rate of 99% with 97% read in the first 15 minutes of receiving.
Text messaging is the one channel where people can be reached throughout their day but the optimal time to send SMS Marketing is during business hours (10 a.m – 8 p.m.), as lifestyle-oriented activities such as apps and Web browsing dominate evening hours.
So, when SHOULD I be sending my marketing messages?
General Marketing Messages – Not too early to wake customers up and annoy them, but not too late that it digs into their personal time with loved ones. Some people have found fantastic results from sending their SMS Marketing campaigns at odd times such as 10:32am-11:28am or 2:31pm – 3:23pm, this is due to them not landing on the hour or half hour as most SMS messages are sent.
Weekend sales/special events – Thursday before the weekend or the morning of the special event is a good time to send sms messages.
Overall however, the most popular time to send SMS campaigns is 12:00 pm regardless of the day of the week.
In general, the most helpful tip for deciding when to send messages is determining when you’re most interested in your customers taking action. If your message has information valuable for the start of the day, aim to send a text between 8 am and 12 pm.
If you think people will have a better chance of taking action on your message when they’re winding down from their day, try to send or schedule your campaign between 5 pm and 9 pm.
But whatever the case, make sure you take the time and research your customers, their time zones, markets, events in their life, etc. Make sure you then aim at maximum conversion, make the message relevant, and your business marketing campaigns will be good to go.
On the flip side of all of this maybe you are wondering “then, when is it not a good time to send texts”?
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When should I NOT be sending my messages?
First, let’s state the obvious: 2am is not a good time to send texts. Wake up your subscriber, and you can be sure that you will not see him again.
Likewise, if you have to send your message on a weekend day, your sms messages open rates will be higher if you schedule your campaign to send after 11am. This is especially true if you are targeting a younger audience.
The next point might surprise you, but you should avoid mass texting at certain times of year such as widely celebrated holidays like Easter and Christmas with Sunday being the least popular day of the week to send SMS Marketing. Instead, consider sending your Christmas offers a couple of days before these key Ecommerce dates.
As a rule of thumb, try to consider your customers ‘private’ times of the day to avoid negative reactions and low open rates. Simple considerations can go a long way!
Conclusion
All in all, choosing the best time to send SMS marketing messages to your customers depends on many different factors, from the product you sell to the call to action you want your subscribers to follow. The rules that you have to follow are similar to the rules applying to email marketing campaigns.
Get to know your audience, consider their preferences, use segmentation, don’t be afraid to test a few different options, and track the performance of your texts. This will allow you to see what works and what doesn’t, thus helping to identify the time when your audience is the most responsive to your texts and use this information for further improvement.
Your customer base has given you their phone number, this means they want to receive text message marketing from you! Using our sms marketing software you are able to give customers shipping updates, introduce them to a new method of customer service and improve your conversion rates.
If you would like to unlock the power of SMS Marketing and add this to your other marketing platforms as well as being able to communicate with your customers in a more direct and effective way, make sure to try out SmartrMail and send out your SMS Marketing campaigns or pricing go here and to get started go here.
About the Author: Jack is a fan of working collaboratively and thinking outside the box to create fantastic solutions for customers. Outside of work he is a musician, outdoor enthusiast, food lover and boxer. Passionate with curiosity for all things.
