SMS marketing consistently posts some of the highest open rates of any channel, but it also carries some of the strictest compliance requirements and the lowest tolerance for being used carelessly. Getting both the compliance and the conversion side right is what makes SMS sustainable as a channel.
Consent Requirements Are Not Optional Fine Print
Explicit opt-in consent, clear disclosure of message frequency, and easy opt-out are legal requirements in most jurisdictions, not best-practice suggestions. Build consent capture and documentation into your process rigorously — the penalties and reputational damage for non-compliance are severe relative to the channel’s cost.
Frequency and Timing Discipline Protect the Channel Long-Term
SMS’s high engagement rate is precisely why overuse burns it out fast — unlike email, an intrusive text feels far more personal to receive too often. Cap frequency deliberately, and respect reasonable send-time windows rather than optimizing purely for immediate open rates.
Reserve SMS for Genuinely Time-Sensitive or High-Value Messages
The channel performs best for messages where immediacy adds real value — order updates, flash offers, appointment reminders — rather than routine promotional content better suited to email. This selectivity is what keeps subscribers opted in rather than churning out.
SMS rewards restraint: a smaller number of genuinely valuable messages will outperform a high-volume approach that burns through subscriber goodwill.