The SMS open rate is the first indicator of the overall success of your text marketing efforts. After all, opening your message is the first step toward taking the intended action.
Knowing how many people cross this first step can give you valuable insights. A low open rate might mean your content isn’t resonating with your target audience. It could also mean your sender’s reputation is at stake or you’re not complying with the policies. Improving these things won’t be possible without tracking your open rates.
As a result, you’ll be relying on guesswork and might waste multiple resources. To avoid this, let’s explore the ideal number, how to track it, and some techniques to improve it!
How High Is the Open Rate for SMS?
Anyone who wants to track and improve SMS open rates often wonders, “How high is the open rate for SMS?” According to SMS marketing statistics, the average number is a solid 98%.
Alternatively, email marketing only has an open rate of 22%, almost five times lower than SMS marketing. This is one of the reasons why people often choose SMS over email.
You or your recipients don’t require Internet access, which makes SMS a direct and immediate communication source.
Moreover, push notifications make it easier for customers to notice your messages. Because they’re short, they can easily capture attention and generate customer engagement.
How To Track SMS Open Rate
Now that you know how high SMS open rates are, you must be wondering how to track SMS open rates. Fortunately, you have four different ways to track this number.
- Link tracking: If you want to track open rates for free, try this method. This means including unique links in your SMS message and tracking the number of people who click on them.
- SMS trackers: These tools give you real-time information about your SMS marketing messages, including open rates and conversion rates.
- Analytics tools: Besides dedicated SMS trackers, you can use analytics tools like Google Analytics or Mixpanel.
- SMS marketing tools: Dedicated SMS marketing tools, like EZ Texting and Twilio, help automate and track SMS campaigns.
5 Effective Strategies To Improve SMS Marketing Open Rates and Increase Engagement
Achieving high SMS open rates is a great start, but maintaining them can be tricky. A business with high open rates in one month might see a steep decline in the next.
This means messing these numbers up is easy if you’re not careful. The following sections will prepare you for this by exploring improvement marketing strategies.
You’ll get actionable tips for everything from maintaining a good sender’s reputation to using the right tools. So, let’s dive right in.
1. Work on Your Sender Name and Reputation
The first thing your recipients will notice in your message is the sender’s name. They likely won’t open your message if they can’t recognize you immediately. They might even delete it right away.
Therefore, use an authentic and easily recognizable name. Make your recipients trust you by using your business name and an authentic-looking number.
You’ll also need a good sender reputation to ensure your messages are consistent, engaging, and deliverable. You can also use this strategy when sending a marketing email using multiple marketing channels.
Simultaneously, complying with SMS guidelines also helps your sender’s reputation.
2. Personalize the Message
An SMS marketing strategy is nothing without personalization. Your recipients will only open your SMS if it resonates with them. They’ll likely delete the message if there’s nothing special or valuable for them. The same applies to email marketing campaigns.
Therefore, add something personal, like the recipient’s name, at the start of the message. You can even use information like customer history and behavior to personalize your message.
For example, you could say something like this when sending appointment reminders:
“Hi [Name,] they say three times is a charm. We’re ready (and excited) for your third appointment on [Date] at [Time.] See you there!”
3. Leverage A/B Testing
Testing might seem like an expensive idea at first. However, it can save you a lot of money in the long run. They’ll also help you eliminate guesswork and base your improvement strategies on solid facts.
Therefore, test your SMS campaigns by sending different versions to segments of your audience. Then, compare the results and see which campaign brings the best open rates.
But what elements of the message do you experiment with? You can try tweaking the content, timing, frequency, and calls to action (CTAs).
4. Start With the Call-To-Action (CTA)
CTAs generally appear at the end of a message, whether on social media, email, or SMS. However, improving SMS open rates involves leveraging unique and creative techniques. So, you can consider starting the message with the CTA wherever appropriate.
It’s all about making a good first impression to encourage recipients to open your text. Since recipients only see the first few words on their devices, leading with a strong, actionable CTA can grab attention.
It also sets clear expectations and encourages recipients to open the email by making them curious.
However, make sure your CTA is engaging and actionable. It should also provide some value right off the bat to get customers to open your text.
The last improvement strategy is to use SMS marketing platforms and other tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
SMS marketing platforms offer dedicated tools for your campaigns. They can automate and design texts, help with content, and track results. These features can help you create messages your recipients find engaging and valuable, prompting them to open the texts.
However, there might be a difference in the features when you compare multiple tools, so choose carefully.
Conversely, CRM database systems have rich data about your customers. They store customer communications, demographics, behavior, history, etc., helping you personalize your messages.
Frequently Asked Questions About SMS Marketing Open Rate
At this point, you have almost everything you need to calculate and improve your open rates. However, let’s add a bit more value to this discussion by answering some frequently asked questions.
How is SMS open rate calculated?
Calculate your SMS open rate by dividing the total number of opened messages by the total number of delivered messages. You can find these numbers through the analytics feature of your SMS marketing tool.
The next step is to take this number and multiply it by 100 to get a percentage.
What is a good open rate for SMS marketing?
A good open rate for SMS marketing is generally around 90% or higher. This is because people open almost all text messages within three minutes of receiving them.
However, the exact rate you get will depend on your industry and the type of message you send.
How expensive is SMS marketing?
SMS marketing is generally not expensive. It costs between $0.25 to $0.50 per message. However, it also depends on your service provider and the SMS marketing tool you use.
If you want to remain within budget, there are some steps you can take. For example, you can opt for pay-as-you-go instead of dedicated long codes.
Track SMS Open Rates To Improve Your Campaigns
Your SMS campaigns are successful when people perform the required action after opening your message. That’s why tracking your SMS open rate is so important. Without measuring it, you might as well just guess. With proper data, you can implement strategies like personalization to improve open rates.
Send valuable content, and don’t bombard customers. If you want to automate marketing campaigns with SMS, try Beambox. Beambox is a WiFi marketing platform that streamlines marketing initiatives. You can use it to automate SMS campaigns and grow your online reputation.
Moreover, Beambox helps with compliance in all your campaigns. Start your trial now!
