SMS marketing means sending short promotional or informational text messages to customers' phones. In Bangladesh it reaches people that social media and email can miss, including customers with basic phones and those in areas where mobile data is patchy. Doing it well comes down to three habits: only message people who agreed to hear from you, send at times that respect their day, and keep every message short, clear and worth reading. Skip those habits and your messages become the ones people delete unread, or block.

The phone numbers you collect for delivery are not automatically a marketing list. A customer who gave a number so the courier could call did not necessarily agree to receive offers.

Ways to collect consent properly:

  • A tick box at checkout or on a form, such as "Send me offers and updates by SMS", left unticked by default.
  • A question at the counter or during a delivery confirmation call: "May we send you an SMS when new stock arrives?"
  • A sign-up form or keyword promoted on your page or in your shop.

Keep a record of who agreed, when and how. Do not buy number lists. Rules on promotional messages, sender names and sending hours can be set by the telecom regulator and by your SMS provider, and they can change. Ask your provider what currently applies before you start, and take legal advice if you are unsure.

Choose the moment

Timing is part of respect. A few principles:

  • Avoid late nights and early mornings. A promotional message that wakes someone is remembered for the wrong reason.
  • Think about the rhythm of the day: Friday prayers, iftar time during Ramadan, and exam periods for families with students.
  • Send close to the action: a reminder the day before an offer ends works better than one a week before.
  • Do not send too often. Occasional messages tied to something real beat a steady stream. If you would not phone the customer about it, do not text them about it.

Transactional messages are different. Order confirmations, delivery updates and appointment reminders are expected and usually welcome. Keep them separate from offers, so customers keep trusting both.

Write messages that respect the reader

An SMS has very little room, so every word must earn its place. A good marketing SMS includes:

  1. Who you are, at the very start, so the reader knows instantly.
  2. One clear message: the offer, the news or the reminder.
  3. What to do next: a short link, a number to call or a code to quote.
  4. How to stop: a simple way to opt out of future messages.

Compare these two:

  • Weak: "Dear valued customer!!! Mega sale going on hurry limited stock visit our page for more details"
  • Better: "Shop name: New winter jackets in stock. Easy exchange. Order: short link. To stop these messages, reply or call this number."

Avoid ALL CAPITALS, strings of exclamation marks and vague claims. Never pretend to be a bank, a courier or a government office, even as a joke. It destroys trust and can break the law.

Bangla or English, and message length

Write in the language your customers read most easily. Bangla feels personal to most local customers. English may suit business contacts or some urban audiences. Banglish, Bangla written in English letters, is common in SMS too, but some customers find it harder to read.

Length affects cost. Bangla text uses a different character encoding from English, so a single SMS holds far fewer Bangla characters than English ones, and longer messages are split into parts that are usually charged separately. Ask your provider how they count, and test a message on a few different phones before sending it to your whole list.

Measure and adjust

  • Use a unique short link or code in each campaign so you can see what each message brought. UTM links make this easy for website visits.
  • Track opt-outs. A jump after a particular message tells you something was wrong with its timing or content.
  • Compare orders or visits on days with and without a message, while noting anything else that happened that week.

Common questions

Can I send offers to everyone who has ever ordered? Only to those who agreed to receive offers. Use delivery numbers for deliveries.

Is SMS better than WhatsApp? They do different jobs. SMS reaches every phone and suits short alerts; WhatsApp suits conversations and photos, and has its own business messaging rules. Many businesses use both, for different purposes.

Can SMS help with cash-on-delivery cancellations? A confirmation message before dispatch helps; see automatic COD order confirmation.

Before your first campaign, check your consent records, write one message that fits your provider's single-message length, schedule it for a sensible hour, and include a way to stop. Appointment-based businesses can start with automatic reminders, which customers usually welcome. If you want SMS planned alongside your social media and ads, see social media and ads management.

Related service Social media and ads management Facebook page management, Meta Ads and Google Ads, with tracking so you can see what every taka brings back.