As with any marketing program, it is essential that you continually track your text marketing campaign using your metrics. This informs you not just of the success of a particular message or the trajectory of a long-running campaign, but it also highlights areas that are weak.

Which Metrics are the Right For You?

To review your text campaign effectively, it’s important that you choose key metrics that will deliver the focused data you need. Here are some common SMS marketing metrics options:

 

• Opt-in Rate - the number of subscribers - giving you a sense of progam growth

• Opt-out Rate - also known as the Churn Rate, this is the number of people leaving the program

 

The two stand-out text marketing metrics,  they give you a good overall sense of the initial performance of your campaign - especially your promotional efforts. They also let you know when it’s time to reinvigorate things and get your campaign firing on all cylinders again. When opt-out rates are rising, or your opt-in rate begins to plateau, you know it’s time to take action. Also worth considering:
 

• Delivery Rate - this is the number of active subscribers who have received your SMS marketing

 

Keep an eye on this rate because it’ll let you know if there are any issues with messages not reaching your subscribers - this could be because a number is no longer in use, for example. You want to keep your subscriber list in good, active shape, so an occasional clean up can be required when you see this rate start to drop.

 

• Open Rate - gives you a count of how many people actually open and read your message, rather than send it straight to the trash

 

This is the metric to look at to gauge how effective your current content or offers are. If your messages or promotions aren’t engaging, people will soon start to ignore them. Remember, you always want to be creating text message marketing that people actually want to open and read, and this rate will tell you how successfully you’re meeting this vital goal.

 

• Conversion Rate - the number of people who completed a certain action after receiving your SMS

 

Another metric that helps you measure the effectiveness of your text marketing campaigns, you can split the conversion rate up into different measures depending on the actions you want to monitor. For example, you could take a look at the:
 

• Redemption Rate - the number of coupons, vouchers, discounts or offers redeemed

• Click-Through Rate - the number of people who click through to your site after being prompted to by your campaign

• Subscription Rate - the number of people who subscribe after receiving your SMS

• Cost Effectiveness - this is a measure of the cost per customer of sending your messages, also taking into account your conversion rate

By looking at your conversion rates and comparing them to the cost of your campaign, you’ll be able to determine your campaign’s cost effectiveness. First take the cost per SMS sent then divide this number by your redemption or conversion rate. This way you get a solid idea of just how much bang for your buck your SMS marketing campaign is giving you.

Start your own SMS marketing program today and try your hand at implementing these key metrics.