Sell more with better email & SMS

Get ecommerce-focused email & SMS marketing that makes it easier to grow your brand, get sales & build better relationships.

Drive sales on autopilot with ecommerce-focused features

See Features

SMS analytics success: Which metrics to track for higher ROI

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Many marketers believe that SMS analytics guarantees actionable insights. 

Digging into your SMS data will show you specific repeated patterns, but you need a lot more precise information and content to turn these patterns into insights. 

The fact is SMS analytics provide the groundwork to achieve SMS marketing success. It doesn’t give a definitive answer alone.

Therefore, marketers need to identify the main metrics to track for higher ROI. Doing so will directs you toward the most impactful insights, and transform data-driven analytics into actionable strategies.

So, how can you identify the metrics that track higher ROI?

This article will explore the main metrics to track in SMS analytics, and share tips to increase ROI from SMS campaigns.

Let’s get started. 

Start using Omnisend SMS marketing and make data-driven growth decisions

The main metrics to track in SMS analytics

Tracking metrics provide a comprehensive view of campaign effectiveness. 

Different metrics in SMS analytics can offer a distinct perspective on different stages of your marketing journey. This helps you fine-tune your strategies for optimal impact and ROI. 

These metrics include:

  • Open rates
  • Click-through rates (CTR)
  • Conversion rate
  • Opt-in and Opt-out rate
  • Response rate
SMS performance

Open rate

Open rate offers insights into how engaging your subject line is, as well as how useful your subscribers have found your previous messages that they’ve read. This provides a measure of the initial audience response.

The open rate also reflects the quality of your contact list. A higher open rate indicates a more receptive audience while a lower rate might suggest that your list needs refining. 

Tracking open rates helps you fine-tune your strategies by showing what grabs your audience’s attention. Also, it guides you through creating more compelling content and ultimately improving your overall campaign performance.

Learn key stats and tips

SMS is easier to use and more cost-effective than ever. Discover the real impact behind SMS marketing and why you should incorporate this valuable channel.

Get my copy

Click-through rate (CTR)

Click-through rate (CTR) refers to the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link in an SMS marketing message.

The CTR measures the engagement and interest generated by your messages. A higher CTR signifies that your content resonates with your audience, compelling them to take action. 

Monitoring click-through rates help you gauge the effectiveness of your call-to-action. In addition, it enables you to gauge your links and overall messaging strategy. This allows you to refine and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact.

Conversion rate

The conversion rate indicates the percentage of people who have successfully completed a desired action. This can include making a purchase or completing a form in response to a specific SMS marketing campaign. 

Analyzing the conversion rate helps you gain valuable insights into how compelling and persuasive your SMS content is, motivating recipients to take the intended action.

Opt-in and opt-out rate

The opt-in rate refers to the percentage of recipients who willingly subscribe to your SMS messages, while the opt-out rate represents the proportion of recipients who unsubscribe. 

Monitoring these rates is crucial as they provide insights into the effectiveness of your content, messaging frequency, and audience targeting. 

Adjusting your strategies based on these rates helps maintain a solid subscriber base. Also, it ensures that your SMS campaigns align with your audience’s preferences.

Response rate

The response rate refers to the percentage of recipients actively engaging with your messages. It can be through actions like replying or taking a specific desired action, such as clicking a link. 

This metric indicates how well your SMS campaigns prompt immediate engagement.

A higher response rate means your messages are compelling and incite recipients to interact. 

This could include showing interest in a product, confirming attendance, or simply replying to a question. 

Analyzing and optimizing this rate can guide you in tailoring your messages for increased interactivity. Also, it can foster a deeper connection with your audience.

How to use SMS analytics to boost ROI

SMS analytics play a vital role in promoting return on investment (ROI). They offer invaluable insights that can refine strategies and enhance SMS marketing campaign optimization. 

Here’s how you can use SMS analytics to boost ROI:

Refine strategies through data-backed insights

SMS analytics equip businesses with the ability to understand customer behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns. 

Companies can tailor their strategies to align with customer interests by analyzing open rates, click-through rates, and response rates. 

For instance, a company may notice higher engagement rates for certain SMS promotions, such as discounts and flash sales. The same might be different for product updates. Therefore, companies can restructure their messaging strategy to emphasize offers, or change their expectations for product update messages.

By precisely targeting customers, businesses can deliver more relevant and personalized messages that are more likely to be seen and acted upon.

This can lead to increased customer satisfaction, conversions, and ROI.

Optimize campaigns for maximum impact

SMS analytics enable marketers to optimize campaigns in real time. 

Consider an ecommerce platform launching a flash sale. When the company closely monitors open and conversion metrics, it can adjust its campaign timing and content.

If an unusually high opt-out rate is detected, that may indicate message fatigue and the company can promptly revise its approach to avoid further attrition.

Such adjustments preserve the subscriber base and enhance campaign effectiveness. This results in heightened ROI.

Leveraging personalization for enhanced engagement

Businesses can develop personalized experiences by tracking metrics such as response time and types of links clicked to personalize SMS. 

For instance, a travel agency can know destinations a customer has shown interest in and use this information to send targeted offers for those destinations. 

Doing so elevates engagement and conversion rates. This is because personalized interactions drive customer loyalty. Therefore, it amplifies the ROI by capitalizing on individual preferences.

Identify optimal sending times

SMS analytics can help you determine the best time to send SMS, as you’ll know when your target audience is most receptive to messages.

You can analyze metrics like open rates across different times and days of the week.

For example, a restaurant can leverage the insights gathered from analytics and send SMS promotions just before lunchtime. This ensures the message reaches customers when they’re most likely to make dining plans. 

This precision in timing enhances ROI by increasing the likelihood of immediate actions.

Avert costly mistakes

SMS analytics can reveal potential pitfalls. For instance, monitoring metrics like bounce rates and undelivered messages can flag issues. It can help you deal with data accuracy or mobile carrier compatibility. 

When you rectify these issues, you can avoid wasted resources and safeguard your reputation. 

A proactive approach to quality control ensures flawless execution of campaigns, which ultimately bolsters ROI.

Tips to increase ROI from SMS campaigns

Here are the tips you can keep in mind while creating your SMS marketing campaigns to increase ROI.

Use segmentation and personalization

You can leverage segmentation and personalization strategies in your SMS campaigns. Doing so can have a transformative effect on your SMS campaigns’ ROI. 

You can thoughtfully segment your audience, considering demographics, behaviors, and preferences. You can effectively create focused subsets, each with its unique interests. 

This enables you to create highly personalized text messages. It is important to tailor messages to resonate with each segment and deliver content that aligns with recipients’ preferences. That’ll help you cultivate a sense of value and understanding. 

Doing so drives engagement and conversion rates. The outcome is a collection of interactions that hold genuine meaning, culminating in a heightened ROI.

customers personalization

Use automated messages

Automated text messages can be an effective way to increase ROI.  This differs from traditional SMS campaigns because they’re strategically sent based on user behavior. This includes abandoned cart reminders or personalized follow-ups. 

Automated messages out-perform campaign messages in every metric, which makes them an essential tool for modern SMS marketing strategies.

Use clear and strong CTAs

Crafting concise and compelling call-to-action (CTA) messages helps drive SMS marketing campaign ROI. A well-constructed CTA instills a sense of urgency and purpose. 

That encourages recipients to act promptly. For instance, CTAs like “Grab your deal now!” or “Limited time offer – act fast!” leverage urgency and exclusivity. The potency of a compelling CTA lies in its ability to guide recipients toward a specific action. 

When you tailor CTAs to trigger immediate responses, you stimulate engagement—and increase conversion rates. Achieving that enhances your SMS campaign’s ROI through focused, action-oriented messaging.

Here’s an image showing SMS marketing CTA examples:

Choose SMS timing and frequency

Optimal timing and appropriate frequency play pivotal roles in enhancing SMS campaign ROI. It’s important to send messages when your audience is most receptive. This ensures higher open and engagement rates. 

You need to understand your audience’s habits and preferences. Doing so allows you to tailor your schedule to their daily routines. 

Therefore, you can quickly learn the best time to send marketing SMS.  For example, you may have better results sending retail promotions during lunch breaks but informative updates during evening hours.

Moreover, maintaining an appropriate message frequency prevents fatigue and annoyance. By striking the right balance, you cultivate anticipation and value. That results in increased responsiveness.

Consequently, it heightens ROI for your SMS campaigns.

Provide valuable content to retain subscribers

Delivering useful and relevant content to recipients is paramount. It helps maintain a healthy SMS campaign and optimize ROI. 

If you cater to your audience’s specific needs, you’ll establish a sense of trust and loyalty. 

For instance, you can send your customers exclusive offers or informative updates. The messages should directly address their pain points, which keeps your recipients engaged and eager for more. 

When you provide value, your subscribers are less likely to unsubscribe. 

By consistently delivering content that resonates, you cultivate a loyal subscriber base. They can actively participate and contribute to the campaign’s success. That’ll ultimately lead to a more robust ROI.

Wrap-up

Utilizing the potential of SMS analytics can drive a higher return on investment (ROI). However, it requires a strategic and subtle approach. 

Businesses can unlock valuable insights within their SMS campaigns by tracking essential metrics. The metrics may include open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

Hopefully, you’ll employ the above-mentioned tips to tailor your strategies, refine your messaging, and optimize your campaigns. 

Doing that will help make informed marketing decisions based on the SMS insights. That, in turn, will increase your ROI. 

Start using Omnisend today and utilize SMS analytics data to boost ROI
Bernard Meyer
Article by

Bernard is the Sr. Director of Communications & Creative at Omnisend, with a passion for good research, helping ecommerce businesses with their marketing automation needs, and beating absolutely everyone in Mario Kart 64.