SMS Marketing Handbook for Australian Businesses

Most businesses that try SMS marketing run a few campaigns, get good results, and then plateau. They keep sending the same message to the same list at the same time — and wonder why returns start to diminish. This handbook is for those businesses: organisations that already understand the basics and want to build a proper SMS strategy that compounds over time.

Start with a strategy, not a campaign

A campaign is a one-off message. A strategy is a system. The businesses that get the most from SMS think about it the same way they think about email: as a channel that needs an audience strategy, a content calendar, segmentation rules, and performance benchmarks.

Before you send another message, answer these four questions:

1
What is SMS's role in our marketing mix?
Is it your primary outbound channel, a support channel for email, a transactional layer, or all three? Clarity here shapes every decision that follows.
2
Who are we texting, and what do they want from us?
A loyalty customer expecting exclusive deals is different from a new lead who's just opted in. Different audiences need different content and different cadences.
3
What actions do we want SMS to drive?
Bookings, purchases, referrals, reviews, survey responses? Each action requires a different message type and different measurement approach.
4
How does SMS connect to our other channels?
Does a sale SMS lead to your website? A reminder SMS trigger a calendar invite? SMS works best as part of a connected customer journey, not an island.

Segmentation: the multiplier

Segmentation is the single biggest lever in SMS marketing. A message sent to your entire list performs at an average. A message sent to the right subset of your list at the right moment performs far above average.

Segments worth building

Purchase recency — customers who haven't purchased in 60/90/180 days are ideal for win-back campaigns.
Purchase frequency — your top 20% of buyers by volume deserve different content (VIP offers, early access) than one-time buyers.
Product category — customers who bought product A are more likely to be interested in related product B than product C.
Geographic — customers within 5km of a specific store get different messages than those further away.
Opt-in date — new subscribers need a different nurture sequence than long-term contacts.
Engagement — contacts who consistently click links should be in a different segment to those who never respond.

You don't need to build every segment at once. Start with purchase recency — your lapsed customers are your easiest revenue opportunity and the clearest demonstration of SMS ROI.

Campaign types and when to use each

Broadcast campaigns

One message sent to a large group. Best for: sales, product launches, events, public holidays, service announcements. The workhorse of SMS marketing.

Triggered messages

Automated messages sent in response to a specific action or time event. Examples: a reminder 24 hours before an appointment, a follow-up 3 days after a purchase, a birthday offer 7 days before a customer's birthday. High engagement because they're contextually relevant.

Drip sequences

A pre-planned sequence of messages sent over days or weeks following an opt-in. Common for: new customer onboarding, trial nurturing, event lead-up. Low effort once built; compounds over time as new contacts enter the sequence.

Conversational SMS

Two-way exchanges where customers reply and a team member or automated system responds. Best for: support, sales qualification, appointment scheduling. Requires two-way messaging capability and inbox management.

Transactional messages

Functional messages triggered by system events — order confirmation, shipping update, payment receipt, 2FA code. These have the highest open rates of all because they're expected. Ensure your platform can integrate with your CRM or e-commerce system to automate these.

Timing and frequency

Optimal send windows

10am–12pm weekdays — peak engagement for most industries.
5–7pm weekdays — second best, particularly for B2C retail and hospitality.
Saturday 10am–12pm — works well for retail, hospitality, and leisure.
Avoid: before 8am, after 9pm, Sunday mornings before 10am.

Frequency guidelines

There's no universal right answer, but here are evidence-based starting points:

Retail and e-commerce: 4–8 per month is sustainable if messages are relevant and valuable.
Healthcare and professional services: 1–2 per month for marketing; as needed for transactional.
Hospitality: 2–4 per month for promotions, unlimited for bookings and operational messages.
B2B: 1–2 per month maximum — respect that your contacts are busy.

The signal that tells you frequency is too high is your opt-out rate. If it climbs above 2% on any campaign, reduce frequency and review content relevance before your next send.

Personalisation at scale

Basic personalisation — using a customer's first name — is table stakes. Genuine personalisation means the content of the message is relevant to that specific person's behaviour and preferences.

1
Dynamic fields
Use your platform's merge field system to insert name, last purchase date, loyalty balance, or any other stored data point directly into the message.
2
Behaviour-triggered content
Different messages for different actions. A customer who clicked a link in your last message gets a follow-up related to that link. One who didn't gets a different message next time.
3
Location personalisation
If you have multiple locations, use the customer's nearest branch in any location-specific message. 'Your local store at Parramatta' beats 'your local store'.
4
Purchase history
Reference what they've bought. 'Following up on your [Product] purchase — here's how to get the most out of it' is far more relevant than a generic product newsletter.

A/B testing SMS campaigns

SMS is an ideal A/B test channel because results come in fast — within hours of a send, not days. Here's what to test:

Message copy — test two completely different approaches to the same offer.
Call to action — 'Shop now' vs 'Claim your discount' vs 'See the sale'.
Send time — same message, 10am vs 5pm.
Personalisation — [Name] included vs not included.
Offer strength — 10% off vs $10 off vs free shipping.
Message length — short and punchy vs longer with more context.

To run a valid A/B test, only change one variable at a time. Split your list 50/50, send simultaneously, and wait at least 4 hours before declaring a winner. Then apply the winning version to the remaining contacts.

Integrating SMS with other channels

SMS + email

The most common combination. Use email for rich content and long-form storytelling; use SMS to alert your audience that the email exists ("Check your inbox for your exclusive preview — we've kept it short, it's worth it"). For lapsed email non-openers, SMS can re-engage them.

SMS + CRM

Connect your SMS platform to your CRM so that every send, reply, and opt-out is logged against the customer record. This gives your sales and support teams visibility of SMS touchpoints when they're speaking with customers.

SMS + your booking system

Automated appointment reminders are the single highest-ROI SMS use case for service businesses. Connect your booking system to your SMS platform so confirmations and reminders fire automatically without staff involvement.

SMS + e-commerce platforms

Shopify, WooCommerce, and others can trigger SMS on order confirmation, shipping, and delivery. Abandoned cart SMS sequences can recover 5–15% of abandoned carts with no ongoing effort once configured.

Measuring ROI

Every campaign should be measured against a defined goal. Here's the framework:

1
Delivery rate
Target: 95%+. Below this suggests list hygiene issues — remove bounced numbers.
2
Link click rate
Industry average: 19–36%. Below 10% suggests your message or link isn't compelling enough.
3
Conversion rate
Varies by action type. Track from click to desired action (purchase, booking, form fill).
4
Opt-out rate
Target: below 1%. Above 2% on any campaign is a warning sign.
5
Revenue per message
Total revenue attributable to the campaign divided by total messages sent. A good benchmark varies by industry but $2–$10+ per message is achievable for retail.
6
Cost per conversion
Total campaign cost (messages × cost per message) divided by number of conversions. This is your primary ROI metric — compare it against email, paid ads, and other channels.

Building your SMS content calendar

Plan SMS campaigns at least 4 weeks ahead so you can prepare lists, write copy, and schedule sends in advance. A basic content calendar for a retail business might look like:

Week 1: Promotional broadcast to full active list.
Week 2: Automated birthday offer drip (personalised, automated).
Week 3: Lapsed customer win-back (60-day non-purchasers).
Week 4: VIP early access message (top 20% buyers).
Ongoing: Appointment reminders, order notifications, reply management.

A content calendar transforms SMS from a reactive channel (you send when you have something to say) to a strategic one (you always have something planned). Plan your first 3 months, then review what worked before planning the next 3.

Ready to build a proper SMS strategy? Request more information — we work with Australian businesses of all sizes and can help you build a plan that fits your goals and budget.

The Complete SMS Marketing Handbook for Australian Businesses