Text too little and your customers forget you exist. Text too much and you’re racing toward the unsubscribe button faster than you can say “exclusive offer.”
So what’s the sweet spot? To find out, we analyzed over 30,000 SMS campaigns from top DTC brands across 12 weeks. Our AI shopper subscribed to thousands of SMS lists, tracked every message, and logged every send pattern to reveal exactly how the most successful brands navigate the frequency game.
The answer isn’t a magic number — it’s a strategy. And it changes based on your brand size, your industry, and even the time of year. Here’s what we discovered.
How Many Messages Do Brands Send Each Month?
Brands send a fairly steady volume of SMS campaigns throughout the year — averaging 3–5 messages per month, or about one text per week.
The data shows a slight peak in March (5 messages), followed by a consistent rhythm of 4 messages per month from April through July. This steady cadence suggests brands lock into a predictable weekly send pattern once their campaigns are up and running.
A small dip in August (3 messages) indicates a seasonal slowdown — likely tied to quieter summer shopping periods — before activity picks back up in September (4 messages).
In short, while the overall frequency doesn’t fluctuate dramatically, the subtle month-to-month shifts reflect how brands adjust their SMS cadence around key retail moments and consumer attention cycles.
Frequency by Brand Size: Bigger Stores, Bolder Strategies
Not all brands message equally – and this data makes that crystal clear. When broken down by StoreLeads rank (platform for ecommerce data), the top-performing stores are far more aggressive with SMS frequency than the long tail.
The biggest 500 stores send 5+ texts per month, keeping customers engaged with near-weekly touchpoints. Mid-tier brands (ranks 501–5,000) average 4-5 texts, maintaining a steady weekly rhythm. Smaller stores trail behind with just 3 sends, often saving SMS for big promos.
Across all tiers, frequency peaks in spring and dips through late summer — proof that seasoned brands treat SMS as always-on, while smaller ones still use it seasonally.
How Often Top Brands Text?
Here’s how brands break down by how often they text per month:
Over half of the analyzed brands fall into the 2–5 messages per month range, establishing a typical once-a-week cadence. Around a quarter of brands send 5–10 texts monthly, indicating more active campaign cycles. A smaller share, 14.8%, keep messaging minimal at 1–2 texts per month, while 4.9% of brands message most frequently, sending 10 or more messages each month.
This distribution shows a clear mid-range concentration, with fewer brands operating at either extreme of the frequency spectrum.
Who Texts the Most (and Most Often)?
The most active brands in the dataset — including Original SOE Gear, Sol de Janeiro, Bark, Diff Eyewear, and We the People Holsters — send 10 or more messages per month, averaging 2–3 texts per week.
These brands span multiple categories, from beauty and fashion to pets and accessories, showing that high-frequency SMS isn’t limited to one vertical. Message volumes remain consistently high across the board, with median counts between 7–9 messages monthly.
Despite the heavy send volume, their subscriber bases stay engaged — a sign that these brands have strong brand affinity and finely tuned segmentation strategies that support frequent communication.
Want to See the Full Picture?
This is just one chapter from our complete State of SMS Report, where we analyzed 30,000+ text messages from the biggest DTC brands.
Inside the full report, you’ll discover:
- The exact popup strategies top brands use to capture subscribers
- What offers actually convert (hint: it’s not always discounts)
- Peak send times that drive the highest engagement
- Welcome series breakdowns from brands crushing it with SMS
- Campaign types that keep subscribers engaged month after month
Download the full State of SMS Report and see how your brand stacks up against the competition.
