SMS Automation

The channel with a 98% open rate, run properly.

SMS is the most direct line into your customer's pocket. Done well, it drives a serious chunk of revenue. Done badly, it burns your list and gets you reported. We set up the flows, segments and compliance so your messages get opened, clicked, and actually appreciated.

Book a free SMS audit See how we work
98%
Typical SMS open rate, versus 20-30% for email
90 sec
Average time before an SMS is read after it lands
3-4 wks
To audit, rebuild and launch your first automated flows
100%
Spam Act compliant, Australian privacy aligned
Why this matters

Most brands treat SMS like a megaphone, not a channel.

Sending the same 10% off blast to everyone on the list is the fastest way to kill SMS performance. Done right, SMS is a series of well-timed, personal messages that each do one job. Done right, it is usually the highest ROI channel you own.

  • 01
    Generic blasts to the whole list

    Same message, same offer, same time, to every subscriber. Unsubscribes spike, open rates drop, and the channel slowly dies.

  • 02
    No automated flows at all

    Welcome, cart abandonment, post-purchase and win-back are all missing. The revenue compounding effect of SMS never gets off the ground.

  • 03
    Opt-in is broken or non-existent

    Checkout does not capture numbers, pop-ups are email-only, and the small list you do have is not growing. Every new customer walks away uncontactable.

  • 04
    Compliance is a ticking time bomb

    No clear opt-in records, no STOP handling, no consent trail. One ACMA complaint and the account gets suspended at the worst possible moment.

What we set up

Four workstreams that cover the full SMS programme.

Most clients start with the flows, add campaigns once the foundations are solid, and build out list growth and compliance alongside. You do not need to launch everything at once.

01

Automated flows

The revenue engine. Triggered messages that do the same job every day, for every customer, without anyone lifting a finger.

  • Welcome and opt-in confirmation series
  • Abandoned cart and checkout recovery
  • Post-purchase, review and replenishment
  • Win-back and lapsed customer reactivation
02

Campaigns and broadcasts

Sales, launches, and the occasional well-timed nudge. Segmented so your VIPs do not get the same message as someone who joined yesterday.

  • Promotional and launch campaigns
  • VIP, early access and loyalty drops
  • Event, appointment and booking reminders
  • Back-in-stock and low-stock alerts
03

List growth and opt-in

More subscribers, collected properly. Every touchpoint that could be capturing a phone number, actually capturing it.

  • Pop-ups and teaser bars with SMS opt-in
  • Checkout and post-purchase capture
  • Landing page and ad-driven list building
  • Keyword and short code opt-in flows
04

Compliance and deliverability

The boring but essential bit. Opt-in records, STOP handling, sending windows and sender ID setup so your account stays healthy.

  • Spam Act 2003 and Privacy Act alignment
  • STOP, HELP and consent logging
  • Sender ID and number registration
  • Deliverability monitoring and carrier checks

Messages that sound like a person, not a coupon code.

Every SMS we write has one job: one clear offer, one call to action, and a reason the subscriber actually opened it. Short, specific, and respectful of the fact that you just buzzed someone's pocket.

We also write in Australian English, we use first names where consent has been given, and we never send between 9pm and 9am. Small details, big impact on unsubscribe rates.

Who we build for

Different businesses need different flows.

SMS plays a different role for a Shopify brand doing a thousand orders a week than it does for a service business booking appointments. Both work brilliantly when the flows are designed for the job.

Ecommerce and DTC

The highest ROI channel you already own.

For ecom, SMS sits alongside email as the two owned channels that compound over time. Done together, they usually beat any paid channel on return.

  • ✓
    Welcome and first-purchase discount flows
  • ✓
    Abandoned cart and browse recovery
  • ✓
    Post-purchase, review and replenishment
  • ✓
    VIP, early access and loyalty drops
  • ✓
    Back-in-stock and low-stock alerts
  • ✓
    SMS and email coordinated on one calendar
Service and appointment businesses

Fewer no-shows. Faster re-bookings. Happier customers.

Clinics, studios, tradies, agencies and B2B services all live or die by booking reliability. SMS is the quiet workhorse that makes the calendar run on time.

  • ✓
    Booking confirmations and reminders
  • ✓
    No-show recovery and rebooking prompts
  • ✓
    Review and referral requests after service
  • ✓
    Quote and proposal follow-up sequences
  • ✓
    Renewal, inspection and recall reminders
  • ✓
    Internal staff and dispatch notifications
Tools we work with

We build inside the stack you already use.

You do not need a new platform to run good SMS, you need the one you already have set up properly. Here are the platforms we deploy into most often.

Klaviyo SMS
Ecom email and SMS in one
Attentive
Enterprise SMS and MMS
Postscript
Shopify-native SMS
Omnisend
Email plus SMS for ecom
Yotpo SMS
Reviews and SMS combined
ActiveCampaign SMS
CRM plus SMS for B2B
HubSpot SMS
Sales and service SMS
Twilio
Custom and developer-led

Also working in SMSBump, Drip, Customer.io, Brevo, Mailchimp SMS and most Australian SMS gateways. If your tool supports two-way SMS and a clean opt-in flow, we can build into it.

How we work

A four-stage build. No black boxes.

You see the message plan and the flow map before a single SMS is scheduled. Everything we write gets approved in copy before it goes anywhere near a subscriber.

01

Audit

We review your current list, flows, opt-in setup and compliance posture. You get a written report of what is working, what is broken, and where the biggest wins are.

02

Map

We design the full SMS programme on one canvas: every trigger, every segment, every message. You sign it off before we touch the sender account.

03

Build and launch

We write the copy, build the flows, configure the opt-in surfaces, and launch in a staged rollout. Every message is tested on a real phone before it goes live.

04

Optimise

We watch open rates, click rates, unsubscribes and revenue per send every month. Copy gets tightened, segments get refined, and new flows get added as the list grows.

Our guarantees

Six promises we put in writing.

No lock-in contracts
Month-to-month work. Leave any time and keep every flow and template.
Senior specialists only
The person writing your SMS is the one who designed the strategy behind it.
Spam Act compliant
Every opt-in, STOP and consent log meets Australian privacy law.
100% Australian team
Built in Adelaide. No offshoring, no shared inboxes, no account handoffs.
You own everything
Every flow, template and subscriber stays in your account if we part ways.
Live in 3-4 weeks
Your first set of SMS flows is usually mapped, built and running within a month.
Clients and results

Real flows. Real revenue. Real clients.

These are ecommerce clients where SMS and email run as a coordinated programme. The numbers reflect what happens when owned channels are treated as the compounding revenue engine they are.

UTV Parts Guy
+181%
Revenue growth across paid, email and SMS working together.
The Skin Science Co
+121%
Revenue lift after rebuilding flows alongside the ad programme.
B Free Australia
+77%
Revenue increase with coordinated multi-channel execution.
★★★★★

Within the first week of bringing them on, our ads were working and spending much more efficiently. Net profit drastically increased immediately and has continued to increase with their recommendations and ad tweaks. They reply quickly and have exceeded my expectations.

UTV Parts Guy
Google Review
★★★★★

Stuart is an unparalleled expert in managing our SEO, Google Shopping and PMAX ads, YouTube ads and Bing ads. He's always been willing to support us on other platforms like Meta and TikTok when required. His professionalism is exceptional, and his efficiency consistently remarkable.

Yael Carmeli, B Free
Google Review
★★★★★

The best in the business. Stuart and the team at Digital Choice are highly professional in every manner and have delivered amazing results for our e-commerce operation. We couldn't be happier.

Sonax Australia
Google Review
FAQs

The questions most clients ask before starting.

Is SMS marketing actually legal in Australia?
Yes, with clear rules. You need express or inferred consent, a functional STOP option in every message, identifiable sender details, and a sending window that respects the recipient. We build every programme to the Spam Act 2003 and the Australian Privacy Principles. The first thing we audit is your opt-in and STOP handling, because that is where most accounts have legal exposure without realising.
How big does our SMS list need to be for this to work?
Automated flows start paying back almost immediately, because they fire on behaviour rather than list size. Even a few hundred subscribers can generate meaningful revenue through abandoned cart and welcome flows. Broadcast campaigns get more interesting past a few thousand subscribers, which is usually a three to six month goal from the point we switch opt-in on properly.
Will this work alongside our existing email programme?
Yes, and it should. We run SMS and email as one coordinated owned-channel programme on a single content calendar. Subscribers never get hit twice with the same offer in the same hour, and each channel plays to its strength: SMS for urgent and short, email for richer storytelling.
How much does SMS actually cost to send in Australia?
SMS send costs in Australia typically sit between 4 and 8 cents per message, depending on volume and platform. That cost is easy to offset when your flows are earning 20 to 50 times that per message, which is the norm for a healthy ecom programme. We will model expected cost and revenue as part of the audit, so you have realistic numbers going in.
How much does the service itself cost?
Setup projects for a core flow suite and opt-in buildout typically start from around $3,500. Ongoing management, including campaigns, copy and monthly optimisation, usually sits inside a broader email and SMS retainer. You get a fixed quote after the audit, so there are no surprises.
Will we own the list, flows and account?
Always. Every SMS platform we work in is set up in your name, billed to your business, and owned end to end by you. If we part ways, you keep every subscriber, flow, template and integration. No held hostage accounts, no exit fees.

SMS should be one of your top three revenue channels.

Book a free 45-minute SMS audit. We will review your current flows, opt-in, compliance and list health, and send you a short fix list, whether you work with us or not.

Book a free SMS audit See client results