A single SMS can boost sales by up to 23% or... make a customer block the sender's number. The difference lies not in the content of the message but in the timing of its delivery. SMS marketing is a tool whose effectiveness largely depends on precisely choosing the right time—both the time of day and the day of the week.
What if there were golden hours when your customers are most likely to take action? Moments when the likelihood of opening and responding to a message is at its highest? In this article, we will provide tips to help you unlock the full potential of SMS communication.
Imagine the typical day of an average recipient. In the morning, they check notifications during breakfast, focus on work throughout the day, and spend the evening with family. SMS campaigns need to perfectly fit into this daily routine. Research shows that messages sent between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM on weekdays achieve up to three times higher effectiveness than those delivered at the wrong times. Why? During these hours, the recipient has already started their day but is not yet tired from work—this is the best time for effective customer interaction.
However, there are times that should be strictly avoided. Weekends are for rest, and sending messages then may have the opposite effect. The same applies to early morning hours (before 9:00 AM) and late evenings (after 7:00 PM). A good marketing strategy should consider these 'silent' hours.
Holiday and sales periods follow their own rules. While Monday morning is typically not ideal for sending SMS, on Black Friday, an early morning message can be the key to success. On this special day, customers often plan their purchases before starting work, so SMS campaigns launched at 8:00 AM can achieve up to a 65% response rate.
During the holiday season, the average consumer receives up to five times more promotional messages than usual. Therefore, SMS marketing during this period requires a well-thought-out strategy. Instead of bombarding buyers with promotions at the peak of the season (December 15–23), it is better to start communication earlier. Stores that launch holiday SMS campaigns at the beginning of December achieve, on average, 40% better results than those that wait until the last minute.
An online store serving customers across the country faces the challenge of different time preferences—some finish work at 4:00 PM, while others at 6:00 PM. Automating SMS sending allows businesses to adapt to each audience segment's daily rhythm.
The integration of CRM systems with SMS sending enables not only precise scheduling but also personalization of delivery times based on a customer's activity history. For example, if a shopper browses your store’s offers in the evening, the system will schedule a reminder for a similar time the next day. Research shows that automation increases campaign efficiency—on average, generating 34% more responses compared to standard mass SMS.
Consumer behavior analysis reveals that the same offer sent at the same time can yield vastly different results depending on the audience group. Therefore, personalization in marketing today goes far beyond simply inserting the customer's name into an SMS. Effective customer interaction is based on understanding their shopping habits and time preferences. Dog owners are most responsive to promotions during their walking hours, while young parents react when their children are at school. This approach to segmentation, combined with content personalization, increases campaign effectiveness by up to 56%. Customers primarily appreciate relevance and timing—both of the offer and the moment they receive it.
An SMS campaign can significantly boost sales if it is based on a well-structured marketing strategy. At the same time, it is essential to stay within budget—finding ways to optimize SMS costs is crucial:
Systematic optimization of SMS sending helps not only reduce costs but also significantly improve marketing effectiveness. The key lies in continuously refining marketing strategies, adopting a flexible approach to campaigns, and managing budgets wisely.