How to Find the Best Time to Send Bulk SMS Messages for Your Industry

How to Find the Best Time to Send Bulk SMS Messages for Your Industry

Bulk SMS marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customers, prospects, and stakeholders. It allows you to send many recipients fast and reliable text messages at once.

But how do you ensure that your bulk SMS messages reach your audience at the right time and get the best response? 

The answer to this question is complicated because different industries have different optimal times for sending bulk SMS messages. However, in this blog post, we will share some tips on how to find the best time to send bulk SMS messages for your industry. 

But first, let’s find out why it matters.

Why Timing Matters for Bulk SMS Marketing

Timing is crucial for any marketing campaign, but especially for bulk SMS marketing. This is because text messages are more personal and immediate than other forms of communication. People tend to read and respond to text messages within minutes of receiving them.

Therefore, if you send your bulk SMS messages at the wrong time, you might miss out on opportunities or annoy your recipients. 

For example,

  • If you send your bulk SMS messages too early or late in the day, you might interrupt your recipients’ sleep or personal time, making them ignore or delete your messages.
  • If you send your bulk SMS messages during busy work hours, you might distract your recipients from their tasks, and as such, they will postpone or forget about your messages.
  • If you send bulk SMS messages when your recipients are uninterested or ready for your offer, you might waste your resources and efforts. This will make you lose potential customers or conversions.

Do it right, and you will increase your chances of getting positive results. 

How to Send Your Bulk SMS at the Right Time

Finding the best time to send bulk SMS messages for your industry depends on several factors, such as your target audience, goals, and industry. 

Here are some general guidelines that you can follow:

  1. Know Your Audience

The first step is to understand who your target audience is and what their habits and preferences are. You can use tools such as surveys, polls, feedback forms, social media analytics etc., to collect data about your audience’s demographics (age, gender, location etc.), psychographics (interests, values, attitudes etc.), and behaviour (phone usage patterns, purchase history etc.). This way, you can segment your audience into different groups based on their characteristics and needs.

  1. Know Your Goal

The second step is to define your goal for sending bulk SMS messages. You should have a clear and specific objective that aligns with your overall marketing strategy. 

It would help if you also had a clear and measurable way of tracking your performance, such as metrics like delivery rate (DR), open rate (OR), click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate (CVR), unsubscribe rate (UR) etc. This way, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns and optimize them accordingly.

  1. Know Your Industry

The third step is to research your industry’s best practices and trends. You can use tools such as Google Trends, Celcom Africa’s analytics tools, online forums etc., to see when people are searching for keywords related to your industry or clicking on links in your messages.

Similarly, look at what your competitors do by subscribing to their newsletters or following their social media accounts. This way, you can learn from their successes and failures and find out what works and doesn’t for your industry.

  1. Test and Optimize

The final step is to test different times and days for sending bulk SMS messages and measure their performance. You can use tools such as Celcom Africa’s analytics tools, A/B testing tools etc., to track metrics such as delivery rate (DR), open rate (OR), click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate (CVR), unsubscribe rate (UR) etc., and compare them across different segments, campaigns, and time periods. 

By so doing, you can find out what time and day works best for your industry and audience and optimize your campaigns accordingly.

Some General Rules of Thumb for Finding the Best Time to Send Bulk SMS Messages

While finding the best time to send bulk SMS messages depends on your specific industry, audience, and goal, there are some general rules of thumb that you can follow to get started:

  • Weekdays tend to perform better than weekends because people are more likely to be at work or have their phones with them.
  • Midday performs better than early morning or late evening because people are more likely to be awake and alert.
  • However, these rules may vary depending on your industry, audience, and goal.

For example,

  • If you are in the education industry, you might want to send messages before school starts, during lunch breaks, or after school ends.
  • If you are in the healthcare industry, you might want to send messages before appointments, after treatments, or during health awareness days.
  • If you are in the entertainment industry, you might want to send messages before events, during peak hours, or after shows.

Send Your Messages at the Right Time with Celcom Africa

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to boost your bulk SMS marketing results with Celcom Africa, one of the leading Bulk SMS provider in Kenya.  Sign up for a free account today and enjoy free trial SMS credits to try the service. You can also request a free consultation with one of the company’s experts to help you find the best time to send bulk SMS messages to your industry.

Josephine