Seasonal sales
Avurudu, Vesak, Christmas and back-to-school offers, sent the day before they start.
SMS marketing in Sri Lanka.
Offers your customers read.
A text message lands on the phone in your customer’s hand, with or without mobile data and without an app. Send offers, launches and reminders to your own customer list, personalised by name and timed for the moment they matter.
Rs. 0.60lowest rate per SMS
By nameevery message personalised
Scheduledfor the day and time you choose
Rs. 0setup or monthly fee
Campaigns
Plan a promotion in minutes.
Everything a small marketing team needs, without an agency.
- Your own customer listKeep customers in groups such as loyalty members, branches or interests, and send each group the message that fits.
- A greeting by nameWrite {name} once. A message that starts with the customer’s name reads as if it was written for them.
- Timed for the momentSchedule the campaign for payday, the morning of the sale or the week before Avurudu.
- Templates for repeat campaignsSave the messages you send every month and pick them from the composer.
Results
See what your campaign did.
Measure the two things that matter: who received the message, and who acted on it.
- Delivery for every numberEach customer’s message is marked sent, delivered or failed, so you know how many people you reached.
- An offer code for each campaignPut a short code such as AVURUDU20 in the message and count how many customers use it at the counter or the checkout.
- Volume and spend reportsDaily volumes, delivery rates and spend, with CSV export for your own records.
- A second attemptMessages the network refuses are refunded, and one click resends the campaign to the numbers that failed.
Ideas
SMS marketing ideas for local businesses.
Campaigns that suit a shop, a restaurant, a salon or an online store.
Loyalty rewards
A thank-you discount for regular customers, or a reminder before their points expire.
New arrivals
Tell the customers who bought before that new stock is in.
Event invitations
Shop openings, exhibitions and members’ evenings, with the date and the place.
Last-day reminders
A short nudge on the final day of an offer.
Win-back offers
A reason to return, for customers you have not seen in months.
Good practice
Rules of SMS marketing worth keeping.
- Send only to your own customers. Build the list from people who bought from you or signed up with you. Never buy a list of numbers.
- Give a reason to act. An offer, a date and a place. “20% off until Sunday at our Kandy shop” does more than “Visit us soon”.
- Do not overdo it. A few useful messages a month are welcome. A message every day gets a business blocked.
- Make leaving easy. When someone asks to stop, add them to the block list and they are skipped in every future campaign.
- Write in the customer’s language. Sinhala and Tamil messages are sent as Unicode automatically and counted as you type.
Cost
What an SMS campaign costs.
You pay per message part, and the rate falls as your monthly volume grows. All taxes are included and credit never expires.
Up to 999 SMS / month
Rs. 0.79 / SMS
Starter rate
1,000 – 2,999 SMS / month
Rs. 0.74 / SMS
Save 6% vs. starter
3,000 – 6,999 SMS / month
Rs. 0.69 / SMS
Save 13% vs. starter
7,000 – 14,999 SMS / month
Rs. 0.64 / SMS
Save 19% vs. starter
Best rate 15,000+ SMS / month
Rs. 0.60 / SMS
Save 24% vs. starter
How much does SMS marketing cost in Sri Lanka?
With AVC SMS each message part costs Rs. 0.60 to Rs. 0.79, depending on your monthly volume, with all taxes included. There is no setup fee or monthly fee, so a campaign costs the number of messages multiplied by your rate.
Where do I get phone numbers for SMS marketing?
From your own customers: purchases, sign-up forms, loyalty cards and enquiries. AVC SMS does not sell lists of numbers, and messages to people who never gave you their number are ignored and reported.
What is the best time to send a marketing SMS?
When the customer can act on it: during opening hours for a shop offer, and a day or two ahead for an event. Scheduling lets you write the message in advance and choose the time.
How long should a marketing SMS be?
One part: 160 characters in English, or 70 in Sinhala or Tamil. That is enough for your name, the offer, the date and a phone number.
Can customers reply to the message?
Messages arrive from your sender ID, which is a name and not a phone number, so customers cannot reply to it. Put a phone number or a link in the text for replies.
Can I send marketing SMS in Sinhala or Tamil?
Yes. Type or paste the message and it is sent as Unicode automatically, with the part count shown as you type.
More from AVC SMS
Send your first promotion.
Open an account, upload your customer list and schedule the campaign.