What happens if I send SMS marketing without proper consent?

Sending commercial SMS without consent violates the Australian Spam Act 2003, which can result in fines of up to $2.2 million per day. Build your list through clear opt-in mechanisms — website forms, point-of-sale sign-ups, keyword campaigns — and document consent so you can prove it if challenged.

What is the best time to send SMS marketing messages?

Stick to 8am–9pm in the recipient's local time zone. For marketing messages, 10am–12pm and 5–7pm on weekdays generate the highest engagement for most Australian businesses. Avoid early mornings, late evenings, and Sunday mornings before 10am.

Are you required to include an opt-out in SMS marketing?

Yes — every commercial SMS must include a way for the recipient to unsubscribe. This is a legal requirement under the Australian Spam Act. 'Reply STOP to opt out' is the industry standard. When someone opts out, you must process it immediately and never send another marketing message to that contact.

How long should a marketing SMS message be?

A standard SMS is 160 characters. Messages beyond this are split into segments and billed per segment. Write your message, then cut 20%. If you need more detail, link to a landing page — a URL does more work than multiple SMS segments.

Why is it important to identify your business in SMS messages?

Recipients should know who's texting them within the first second. If they don't recognise the sender, they will delete or report it as spam. Set up a Sender ID (your business name as the sender) or a dedicated number. If neither is immediately available, start every message with your business name.

Why shouldn't I send every SMS campaign to my entire contact list?

Blasting your full list raises opt-outs and lowers engagement. Different customers have different relationships with your business. Segment by purchase recency, frequency, or interests to make messages more relevant — relevance is the single biggest driver of SMS engagement.

What makes an effective SMS call to action?

A call to action tells the recipient exactly what to do next and makes it easy to do. Every SMS should have one explicit action — 'Shop now', 'Book here', 'Reply YES' — not three competing ones. Shorten any URLs and make phone numbers clickable.

How can I avoid sending irrelevant SMS content?

Use the data you have. Segment by purchase history, location, or preferences before every campaign. Sending a promotion that doesn't match the recipient's profile destroys trust. Relevant SMS is an asset; irrelevant SMS is perceived as spam.

Why should I track SMS campaign results?

Without measuring, you're guessing. Delivery rate, link click rate, opt-out rate, and conversions are all measurable with a modern SMS platform. Check your campaign report within 24 hours of every send and compare results over time to improve future campaigns.

How often should I send SMS marketing messages?

Most B2C businesses find 2–4 promotional SMS per month is sustainable. Too often and opt-outs climb; too rarely and the relationship fades. Watch your opt-out rate as an early warning — if it climbs above 2% on any campaign, reduce frequency and review content relevance.

What should I do when customers reply to my SMS messages?

Ignoring SMS replies damages customer experience. Use two-way SMS and assign a team member to manage replies during business hours, or set up automated responses for common queries. Treat your SMS inbox with the same urgency as your phone line — if someone texts back a question, they expect a timely answer.

11 Common SMS Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

With a 98% open rate, SMS should be delivering results for every business that uses it. And yet, plenty of businesses run campaigns and wonder why conversions are low, opt-outs are climbing, or customers are complaining. In almost every case, the culprit is one of these 11 mistakes.

Mistake 1: Sending without proper consent

This is the most serious mistake because it has legal consequences. Under the Australian Spam Act 2003, you cannot send commercial SMS to someone without their consent. Consent must be either express (they actively opted in) or inferred (they're an existing customer with a relevant relationship).

Purchasing contact lists, adding people to SMS lists from business cards they gave you at a networking event, or assuming that a customer who gave you their number for a delivery update has consented to marketing — all of these are non-compliant.

What to do instead: Build your list through clear opt-in mechanisms — website forms, point-of-sale sign-ups, keyword campaigns. Document your consent so you can prove it if challenged.

Mistake 2: Sending at the wrong time

An SMS arrives with a notification. If that notification wakes someone up at 6:30am on a Saturday, they're unlikely to feel positively about your brand. Time of day matters more with SMS than with any other channel because messages interrupt — they demand attention the moment they arrive.

What to do instead: Stick to 8am–9pm in the recipient's local time zone. For marketing messages, 10am–12pm and 5–7pm weekdays generate the highest engagement. Most SMS platforms let you schedule sends to specific time windows.

Mistake 3: No opt-out mechanism

Every commercial SMS must include a way for the recipient to unsubscribe. This is a legal requirement under the Spam Act, not a courtesy. "Reply STOP to opt out" is the industry standard — it's simple, universally understood, and easy to implement.

Equally important: when someone opts out, you must process it immediately and never send that contact another marketing message. Your platform should handle this automatically.

What to do instead: Include "Reply STOP" in every marketing message. Use a platform that automatically suppresses opted-out contacts so there's no manual step.

Mistake 4: Messages that are too long

A standard SMS is 160 characters. Beyond that, messages are split into segments of 153 characters each — and you're billed per segment. More importantly, people don't want to read essays in their SMS inbox. The discipline of 160 characters forces clarity. Most of the time, you can say everything you need to say well within the limit.

What to do instead: Write your message, then cut 20%. If you genuinely need more, link to a landing page for the detail. "See everything here: yoururl.com.au" does more work than three paragraphs of SMS text.

Mistake 5: Not identifying your business

Recipients should know who's texting them within the first second of reading the message. If they don't recognise the sender, they're deleting — or worse, reporting it as spam. Many businesses don't set up a Sender ID and send from a random number, then wonder why engagement is low.

What to do instead: Set up a Sender ID (your business name as the sender) or a Dedicated Number. If neither is available immediately, start every message with your business name: "City Physio: your appointment is..."

Mistake 6: Sending to your entire list every time

Blasting your full list with every message is the fastest way to raise opt-outs and lower engagement. Not every customer wants every message. A lapsed customer needs a different message to a loyal regular. A new subscriber needs a different message to someone who's been on your list for two years.

What to do instead: Segment your list before every campaign. At minimum: active vs lapsed, new vs established. More advanced: segment by purchase history, location, or product interest. Relevance is the single biggest driver of SMS engagement.

Mistake 7: No clear call to action

"Our summer sale is now on!" is not a call to action. A call to action tells the recipient exactly what to do next — and makes it easy to do it. Without a clear next step, most people will read your message and move on.

What to do instead: Every message needs one explicit action: "Shop now", "Book here", "Call us", "Show this message", "Reply YES". One action, not three. And make it as easy as possible — if it's a link, shorten it; if it's a number, make it clickable.

Mistake 8: Sending irrelevant content

Sending a seafood restaurant promotion to a customer you know is vegetarian. Sending a women's clothing offer to male customers. Sending a winter jackets offer to customers in Queensland in July. All real mistakes, all avoidable with basic segmentation and list hygiene.

What to do instead: Use the data you have. If your CRM stores purchase history, dietary preferences, or location — use it. Relevant SMS is an asset; irrelevant SMS is spam.

Mistake 9: Not tracking results

Some businesses send campaigns and never look at the results. Delivery rate, click rate, opt-out rate, and conversions are all measurable with a modern SMS platform. Without measuring, you're guessing — and you can't improve what you don't measure.

What to do instead: Check your campaign report within 24 hours of every send. Track: delivery rate (target 95%+), link click rate, opt-out rate (watch for anything above 1%), and conversions. Create a simple spreadsheet to compare campaigns over time.

Mistake 10: Sending too frequently (or not frequently enough)

Too often and you burn your list — opt-outs climb, engagement drops, and customers associate your brand with annoyance. Too rarely and you lose the relationship — customers forget they opted in, your brand awareness fades, and your list goes cold.

What to do instead: Most B2C businesses find 2–4 promotional messages per month is sustainable. Transactional messages (reminders, notifications) can be as frequent as needed — they're expected and welcomed. Watch your opt-out rate as your early warning signal.

Mistake 11: Ignoring replies

Sending from a number and then ignoring replies when customers respond is one of the most damaging things you can do for customer experience. If someone texts back "Can I book for Tuesday?" and hears nothing, you've failed them in the channel they chose to use.

What to do instead: Use two-way SMS and assign a team member (or set up automated responses for common queries) to manage replies during business hours. Your SMS inbox should be treated with the same urgency as your phone line.

The common thread

Most of these mistakes come down to the same thing: treating SMS as a broadcast-only channel with no regard for the person receiving the message. The businesses that consistently get great results from SMS think about it from the customer's point of view: Is this message relevant to me? Did I agree to receive it? Is it easy to act on? Does it respect my time?

Get those fundamentals right, and the 98% open rate works in your favour.

Want to run a compliant, well-structured SMS campaign? Start a free trial — our platform handles opt-outs, two-way replies, and scheduling automatically.

11 Common SMS Marketing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)