What an SMS campaign is and why it's so effective
An SMS campaign is a planned send of text messages to a defined group with a clear business goal — whether that's growing sales, boosting brand awareness, retaining customers, or sharing information. Unlike social media marketing, which depends on algorithms, SMS goes directly to the customer with a 98% open rate.
But a high open rate alone isn't enough. The difference between a campaign delivering 2,000% ROI and one that wastes money is in planning, execution, and measurement. This guide takes you through it step by step.
Step 1: Define goals and KPIs
Ask yourself
Before writing a word, define:
• What's the goal? Sales? Site traffic? Store visits? Awareness?
• To which audience? All customers? A specific segment?
• What's the offer? Discount? New product? Event? Information?
• What counts as success? 10 sales? 100 clicks? 50 bookings?
KPI definition
Set measurable metrics before starting:
• Delivery rate: target 97%+
• Click rate (CTR): target 8–15%
• Conversion rate: target 3–10% (depends on offer)
• Campaign revenue
• Cost per acquisition (CPA)
• Unsubscribe rate: target under 2%
Step 2: Build and segment the list
List cleaning
Before every campaign, make sure the list is clean:
• Remove duplicates
• Remove numbers that asked to be removed
• Validate numbers (remove inactive ones)
• Make sure there's consent for all recipients
Smart segmentation
Don't send the same message to everyone. Split by:
• Purchase behavior: bought recently / hasn't bought 60+ days / VIP
• Preferences: product category, preferred channel
• Demographics: age, location, gender
• Funnel stage: new customer, returning, veteran
The more tailored the message, the higher the conversion rate.
Step 3: Write the message
Core principles
• Short and sharp: 70 characters in Hebrew = one message. Every extra character = double cost.
• Immediate value: lead with the offer, not a long greeting.
• Personalization: name, recent purchase, preference.
• Urgency: "today only," "until midnight," "last 50."
• Clear CTA: "Order now: [link]."
A/B testing
Write 2–3 versions of the message. Send each to 10% of the list, wait an hour, and send the winner to the rest.
What to test:
• Different offer wording
• Different call to action
• With/without emoji
• Different discount percentage
Step 4: Timing
Best times to send
No single answer, but guiding principles:
• General B2C: Sunday–Thursday 10:00–12:00 or 14:00–16:00
• Restaurants: 11:00–12:00 (lunch) or 15:00–16:00 (evening)
• Ecommerce: 19:00–21:00 (after work, before sleep)
• Services: early week (Sun–Mon) 09:00–11:00
When not to send
• Shabbat and holidays (both legally and for experience)
• Before 08:00 or after 21:00 (law)
• On national mourning days
• Immediately after a disaster/emergency
Step 5: Send and monitor in real time
Final checks before sending
✓ Did you send a test message to yourself?
✓ Does the link work?
✓ Do dynamic fields render correctly?
✓ Is the message not cut off?
✓ Is opt-out included?
✓ Is the sender name identified?
Real-time monitoring
After the send, track:
• Delivery rates — if under 95%, there's a problem
• Clicks — activity should begin within minutes
• Unsubscribes — if they spike abnormally, stop and investigate
• Incoming replies — reply fast to questions
Step 6: Measurement and analysis
Main metrics
Delivery rate: how many messages reached their destination out of the total sent.
Click rate (CTR): how many clicked the link of those who got the message.
Conversion rate: how many took the desired action.
Revenue per message (RPM): total revenue / number of messages sent.
ROI: (revenue - cost) / cost × 100.
Analysis and lessons learned
After every campaign, document:
• What worked and what didn't?
• Which segment responded best?
• What would you change?
• Which insights apply to the next campaign?
Step 7: Optimization and continuous improvement
What to improve every campaign
• Wording: run a new A/B test each time
• Timing: try different hours and days
• Segmentation: narrow the audience for better fit
• Offer: try different offer types (% off, ₪ off, gift, free shipping)
• Frequency: find the balance between presence and flooding
Marketing calendar
Plan campaigns ahead around:
• Israeli holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Hanukkah, Independence Day)
• Global events (Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Valentine's)
• Seasons (end of season, back to school, summer)
• Brand events (business anniversary, product launch)
A complete campaign example
Goal: end-of-summer sale — grow sales 30%
Audience: customers who bought summer clothes in the past year
Message: "[name], end-of-season sale! Up to 50% off the summer collection. Until Thursday. Shop now: [link]"
Timing: Sunday 10:00, follow-up Wednesday 14:00
Results: 14% click rate, 8% conversion, 1,800% ROI
Run campaigns with Vibrate
Vibrate provides all the tools to run successful SMS campaigns: smart message editor, advanced segmentation, A/B testing, scheduling, detailed analytics, and automatic optimization. Sign up free and launch your first campaign in minutes.
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