KPIs For Promotional SMS: How to Optimise Your Next SMS Campaign

There’s no doubt that SMS marketing has a higher open rate than any other marketing channel. But you still have to measure the KPIs for promotional SMS to make it work. 

If you don’t measure the SMS metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), you’re setting your campaign up for failure.

And you wouldn’t want to waste your effort, time, and money, right?

So what SMS KPIs should you measure, and what are the best practices to measure them? 

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We’ll answer those questions in this blog post. 

Let’s begin.

4 promotional SMS KPIs to measure 

There are different promotional SMS KPIs, each of which depends on the goal you want to achieve for your SMS marketing campaign. For instance, your goal could either be for your promotional SMS marketing to achieve higher CTR, or you want your customers to convert more, and the list goes on. 

So, there aren’t any universal promotional SMS KPIs for everyone. We have highlighted some commonly used SMS marketing KPIs that will help you adjust your SMS marketing goals. 

1. Click-through rate (CTR)

Marketing campaigns like online ads and email marketing rely on click-through rates to measure success. So, this promotional SMS KPI will help you track the success of the CTA that you incorporated in your marketing SMS.

Marko Pilisner, the sales specialist at Messante, says CTR is the most critical KPI for promotional SMS. According to him, the click-through rate indicates that your SMS content is exciting and relevant to the recipient. This guides them to the next step, such as visiting a website to learn more.  

Therefore, the CTR of an SMS marketing campaign represents the number of users who followed your call to action (CTA) among all SMS recipients

Here’s how you can measure CTR: 

Why should you measure CTR? 

Well, you measure CTR for the following reasons: 

• It helps you to track the quality of your campaign.
• You’ll know if your CTA is compelling enough. 
• You’ll know if the discount offers you are offering are relevant enough. 
• You’ll see if you are targeting the right audience. 

Best practices to boost CTR

Boost your CTR by following the below-mentioned practices: 

• Grab your audience’s attention: Do it by calling your customers by their names. 
• Be brief yet concise: Make your offer compelling and direct.
• Use FOMO: You can do it by adding words like hurry up, limited-time offer, etc. 

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2. Conversion rate 

This metric is closely related to CTR as it indicates how many people who clicked on your link did the desired action (purchased, signed up, responded, installed, etc.).

For example, if you send an SMS offering 30% off your entire store, your conversion rate will chart the number of people who took advantage of it and bought something from your store. 

Here’s how you can measure the conversion rate: 

Why should you measure your conversion rate? 

You measure your conversion rate for the following reasons: 

• It helps you calculate the average campaign value.
• It enables you to know if your promotion SMS is crafted well.
• It helps you track if your customers have great UX, for example, the speed of the website link you put in, the readability of your text, etc. 

Best practice to improve your conversion rate. 

You can improve your conversion rate by implementing the following tips into your promotional SMS: 

• Add proper link: Always add the appropriate link to your website in the promotional SMS. 
• Eye-catching offer: You can improve your conversion rate by adding offers like free shipping, buy one get one free, or 50% off for today only. 
• Easy check-outs: One of the reasons why your customers leave your site without purchasing is difficult check-outs. So make your check+outs easy to get more conversion rates. 

3. Unsubscribe rate 

Unsubscribe rates and opt-out rates are some other crucial promotional SMS KPIs. An opt-out rate is calculated by multiplying the number of people in your marketing list by 100 and dividing that figure by the percentage of people who unsubscribe. 

Here’s how you can calculate the unsubscribe rate: 

Why should you track the unsubscribe rate? 

Tracking unsubscribe rate will help with the following:

• You will have a chance to enhance your subscribers list.
• You will be able to set more targeted goals.
• You can identify where you can put more effort to make your campaign stand out. 

Best practices to reduce unsubscribe rate

People can opt out of your marketing SMS, and that’s alright. But there are always ways to keep your subscribers. Here’s how you can do it:

• Tell people what they are signing up for.
• Send a welcome email to your customers with personalised offers. 
• Make your text sound personal. 

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4. SMS marketing ROI 

The return on investment, or ROI, is another promotional SMS KPI to gauge the success of a text marketing campaign or your overall SMS marketing strategy.

You can calculate ROI relatively easily. To calculate revenue from SMS marketing campaigns, just divide the total revenue by the total cost and multiply it by 100.

Here’s how you can measure SMS marketing ROI

Why should you measure ROI? 

Measuring ROI will help you with the following: 

• You’ll identify if the money you spend on SMS marketing is bringing any results. 
• If you fail to meet your SMS marketing campaign goals, you will know where you are lacking. 

Best practices to Improve SMS ROI

SMS marketing can be beneficial if you know how to use it. Our next article will cover many SMS marketing best practices that improve ROI; however, let’s look at a few you should never forget.

Create a unique value proposition: As Marko Pilisner says, “Everyone receives a lot of marketing content through various channels, but only some are remembered.” Therefore, always create a unique value proposition for your audience in the SMS message content.

Segment your audience: “Consider segmenting your audience. Based on geography, age, gender and income. Remember certain messages work for only certain people.” says Marko. 

Personalisation: With personalised text messages, subscribers receive the most relevant information. A successful SMS marketing campaign relies on relevance. 

Kumud Sharma, sales and account manager at Sinch India, says, “Do not contemplate SMS as just another messaging channel. Just because you have the mobile numbers, you cannot flood them with random SMS. Always personalise the SMS before target segments”. 

Manage your budget: “Manage your budget for promotional marketing campaigns by learning your campaigns’ CTR and conversion rate. This allows you to effectively manage the budget and understand the revenue stream for profitable future projects”, says Marko. 

Also read: 3 ways to send promotional SMS to DND numbers

Ready to increase your SMS ROI? 

Promotional SMS KPIs give you a bigger picture of your SMS marketing campaigns. It also allows you to make data-driven decisions. that effectively achieve targeted goals. 

Bulk SMS platforms like SMScountry make it easier for you to track important metrics. With our detailed analytics and smart reporting feature, you’ll achieve your marketing goals faster and easier.

Contact us with any enquiries or signup today. Also, request a demo to experience SMSCountry.