SMS marketing delivers unmatched open rates and direct customer access, but success hinges on compliance, segmentation, and message cadence. This guide covers the strategic case for text campaigns, platform selection, list-building methods, and execution tactics that turn opt-ins into revenue without triggering unsubscribes.
Email inboxes are saturated, social algorithms bury organic posts, and display ads face rising CPMs. SMS cuts through because it lands on the lock screen within seconds and gets read almost immediately. The medium works for appointment reminders, flash sales, order updates, and abandoned-cart nudges where timing matters more than rich media. Unlike push notifications, which require an app install, SMS reaches any phone number. The tradeoff is cost—messages run 1 to 5 cents each depending on volume and country, versus near-zero marginal cost for email—and character limits force brevity. Use SMS when immediacy and guaranteed delivery justify the per-send expense. Retail, hospitality, healthcare, and service businesses see the clearest ROI because their customer actions cluster around specific time windows. For lead nurture or long-form education, email remains more economical. Treat SMS as the scalpel in your channel mix, not the sledgehammer.
In Canada, CASL requires express opt-in before sending commercial texts; pre-checked boxes and implied consent do not suffice. Record the date, method, and exact language of consent for every subscriber. In the US, TCPA mandates prior written consent for automated texts, and class-action exposure is real—settlements routinely hit six figures. Both frameworks require a clear opt-out mechanism in every message, typically "Reply STOP to unsubscribe." Include your business name and avoid sending between 9 PM and 8 AM local time. Quebec's Law 25 adds disclosure requirements around data use. Platforms like Twilio, Klaviyo, and Attentive handle opt-out processing automatically, but consent collection is your responsibility. Use double opt-in flows: subscriber enters their number, receives a confirmation text, and replies YES to activate. Store consent records in your CRM with timestamp and source. Penalties for violations range from $1,000 to $10 million CAD per contravention under CASL, and TCPA allows $500 to $1,500 per unsolicited text. Compliance is not negotiable.
Choose a provider based on native integration with your existing stack, automation depth, and pricing transparency. Twilio and Plivo offer API-first infrastructure for developers; you build custom workflows but need technical resources. Klaviyo and Omnisend bundle SMS with email in a unified platform, ideal for e-commerce brands already using their tools. Attentive and Postscript focus exclusively on SMS with advanced segmentation and A/B testing but charge higher per-message rates. Evaluate throughput—can the platform handle your peak send volume without throttling? Check carrier relationships; tier-one providers maintain direct connections to Rogers, Bell, Telus in Canada and major US carriers, ensuring faster delivery. Review analytics: delivery rate, click-through tracking via short links, conversion attribution. Pricing models vary—some charge per segment sent, others per message delivered, and a few add monthly platform fees. For Canadian businesses, confirm the provider supports French-language compliance messages and bilingual customer-service replies. Test shortcode versus long-code sending; shortcodes (five or six digits) improve deliverability but require carrier approval and setup fees.
Grow your SMS list through checkout opt-ins, in-store signage with QR codes, exit-intent pop-ups offering a discount for first-time texters, and post-purchase email follow-ups inviting customers to subscribe for order updates. Gate exclusive offers behind SMS signup to incentivize participation. Segment by purchase history, geographic location, engagement recency, and product category preference. A Vancouver retailer might send rain-gear promotions only to Lower Mainland subscribers, while excluding customers who bought rain jackets in the past 90 days. Behavioral triggers—browse abandonment, cart abandonment, post-purchase cross-sell—drive higher conversion than batch-and-blast sends. Tag VIP customers who've made three-plus purchases and send them early access to sales. Suppress unengaged segments after 180 days of no clicks to preserve list health and reduce waste. Use custom fields to personalize: first name, last purchase date, loyalty tier. Avoid buying third-party lists; consent does not transfer, and deliverability will crater. Organic growth is slower but yields subscribers who actually want to hear from you.
Keep messages under 160 characters to avoid multi-part sends that fragment readability. Lead with value: discount code, appointment link, stock alert. Place the call-to-action early—"Shop now: [short link]"—because recipients skim. Use merge tags for personalization: "Hi Sarah, your order ships today." Test sending times by segment; office workers engage more at lunch and evening, while shift workers may respond mid-morning. Frequency caps prevent burnout: two promotional texts per week is a common ceiling, though transactional messages (order confirmations, shipping updates) sit outside that limit. Monitor unsubscribe rate per campaign; spikes above 1-2% signal message fatigue or poor targeting. A/B test one variable at a time—emoji versus plain text, question versus statement, discount percentage versus dollar amount. Use link shorteners with UTM parameters to track clicks in Google Analytics. Avoid ALL CAPS and excessive exclamation marks, which trigger spam filters and feel aggressive. Include opt-out language in every message to stay compliant. The best-performing texts feel like a helpful update, not an interruption.
Track delivery rate (percentage of messages that reach the carrier), open rate (inferred from click activity since SMS lacks read receipts), click-through rate on short links, and conversion rate tied to revenue. Compare SMS-attributed revenue against total send cost to calculate ROI. Segment performance by message type: promotional versus transactional, discount-led versus content-driven. Identify which product categories or offers generate the highest per-message revenue. Monitor list growth rate and churn rate monthly; healthy lists grow faster than they shrink. Use holdout groups—send to 90% of a segment, withhold 10%—to measure incremental lift versus organic purchases. If holdout-group revenue matches the send group, your targeting or offer needs refinement. Review time-to-click: messages that drive action within 30 minutes indicate strong urgency and relevance; delayed clicks suggest weaker fit. Audit compliance metrics: opt-out rate, complaint rate to carriers, and any CASL or TCPA inquiries. Continuous testing—send time, message length, CTA phrasing, segmentation logic—compounds improvements over quarters. Treat SMS as a precision tool, not a volume channel, and performance scales with discipline.
SMS amplifies other channels when triggered by cross-channel behavior. A customer opens an email but doesn't click? Send an SMS two hours later with a direct link. Someone adds items to cart on desktop but abandons? Text a reminder within 60 minutes. Post-purchase, layer SMS into your email drip sequence: send a review request via text on day seven, a replenishment offer on day 30. Sync your SMS platform with your CRM so sales reps see text engagement history during calls. Use SMS to re-engage cold email subscribers; a single text to dormant contacts can revive 5-10% of a list. Coordinate send timing across channels to avoid overlap—don't email and text the same offer simultaneously. Feed SMS conversion data back into paid-media platforms for lookalike audience building. In retail, train in-store staff to collect phone numbers at checkout with a clear value proposition. For service businesses, automate appointment confirmations and reminders via SMS, reducing no-shows without manual effort. The channel works best as part of an orchestrated system, not a silo.
Per-message costs in Canada range from 1 to 5 cents depending on your provider, send volume, and whether you use a shortcode or long code. Higher-tier platforms like Attentive charge more per send but include advanced segmentation and analytics. Bulk pricing tiers reduce unit cost at scale, and some providers bundle SMS credits with monthly platform fees. Factor in both send cost and platform subscription when budgeting.
Grow your list organically through checkout opt-ins, in-store QR codes linked to a text-to-join keyword, website pop-ups offering a discount for SMS signup, and post-purchase email invitations to subscribe for order updates. Gate exclusive offers or early access behind SMS enrollment. Always use double opt-in to confirm consent and maintain compliance. Bought lists violate CASL and TCPA, destroy deliverability, and expose you to legal risk.
Most businesses cap promotional texts at two per week to avoid list fatigue, though transactional messages like order updates and appointment reminders sit outside that limit. Monitor unsubscribe rate per campaign; spikes above one to two percent indicate over-messaging or poor targeting. Segment by engagement level and send more frequently to highly active subscribers, less often to marginal ones. Test cadence with holdout groups to find your threshold.
Yes, and Law 25 in Quebec requires that commercial communications be available in French if your business operates there. Your SMS platform must support French-language compliance footers and opt-out instructions. Maintain separate message templates for English and French audiences, and store language preference in your CRM. Major providers like Twilio and Klaviyo support multi-language sending, but you are responsible for accurate translation and cultural appropriateness.
Use a link shortener that supports UTM parameters in your SMS messages. Tag each short link with source=sms, medium=text, and campaign-specific identifiers. When recipients click, Google Analytics captures the UTM data and attributes sessions and conversions to the SMS channel. Compare SMS-driven revenue against send cost in your analytics dashboard. Most SMS platforms also provide native click and conversion tracking, but UTMs ensure consistency across your reporting stack.
A shortcode is a five- or six-digit number (e.g., 12345) used for high-volume sending; it requires carrier approval, costs more to lease, but offers better deliverability and brand recognition. A long code is a standard ten-digit phone number, easier and cheaper to provision, suitable for lower volumes and two-way conversations. Shortcodes handle thousands of messages per second; long codes face stricter throughput limits. For promotional campaigns at scale, shortcodes perform better; for transactional messages and customer service, long codes suffice.