SMS advertising and marketing is likely one of the simplest methods to speak with clients, boasting excessive engagement and conversion charges. It’s additionally extra cost-efficient and private than many different advertising and marketing channels, nurturing stronger buyer relationships with out draining your price range.
This weblog put up will information you thru the fundamentals of SMS advertising and marketing, with some finest practices and examples that will help you construct an efficient SMS advertising and marketing program.
What’s SMS advertising and marketing?
Quick message service (SMS) advertising and marketing makes use of textual content messages to construct relationships with clients and talk promotional info. The targets of SMS advertising and marketing embody producing leads, persuading recipients to click on a hyperlink, and sharing details about a buyer’s order or profile.
SMS advertising and marketing messages usually comprise copywriting, emojis, eye-catching photographs, hyperlinks, and different simple choices for making a purchase order. They’re sometimes despatched to giant lists of subscribers.
How SMS advertising and marketing works
Strategically, e-mail and SMS advertising and marketing are comparable. The objective of SMS advertising and marketing, like e-mail advertising and marketing, is to promote, educate, or construct loyalty. SMS is an owned advertising and marketing channel—the sender absolutely controls the listing of cellphone numbers and distribution—and companies can ship one-to-one or one-to-many messages, relying on their targets.
Identical to e-mail advertising and marketing, it is best to make sure you’re capturing consent from clients earlier than sending a advertising and marketing message through SMS.
Shopify makes it simple to gather SMS consent throughout checkout. To show this characteristic on, comply with these steps.
When you get permission from a subscriber, you’ll be able to take a look at completely different SMS advertising and marketing campaigns:
- New product bulletins
- Particular provides like limited-time gross sales and free transport
- Subscriber-exclusive provides
- Flash gross sales
- Textual content-to-win competitions
- Loyalty applications
- Product drop alerts
SMS advertising and marketing requires a shortcode, the SMS equal of an organization e-mail tackle. A shortcode is an abbreviated, easy-to-remember cellphone variety of 5 – 6 digits.
To choose into receiving your SMS messages, consumers textual content a key phrase (like HOTSAUCE) to this shortcode. As a result of subscribing to SMS messages requires this deliberate act, it’s a great way to construct a high-intent subscriber listing with few bogus numbers:
Earlier than you begin sending promotional messages in a cellular advertising and marketing marketing campaign, you’ll must construct an inventory of cellphone numbers with opt-in consent to ship.
Usually, this listing is gathered from prospects and clients, so if you happen to aren’t producing visitors to your web site, it could be too early to contemplate SMS advertising and marketing. First, make investments your time in constructing a contact listing.
Right here’s an instance of how athleisure model Alo Yoga builds its SMS subscriber listing, by providing new web site guests a reduction:
SMS advertising and marketing works properly throughout peak procuring seasons when e-mail spam is excessive, paid promoting is pricey, and shopper consideration is strained. It’s additionally an effective way to automate your buyer communications. Write a textual content and arrange a set off, then let your advertising and marketing instrument ship out texts on the good second.
Finest SMS advertising and marketing software program
For Shopify retailer homeowners, getting began with SMS advertising and marketing is straightforward, due to a spread of purpose-built apps.
All SMS advertising and marketing platforms out there on the Shopify App Retailer have built-in compliance options. Listed here are 4 in style choices:
- Postscript. Use Postscript to construct automated and customized mass SMS messages. Pricing varies by utilization.
- Klaviyo. Ship SMS texts to viewers segments with Klaviyo’s triggers that use historic and real-time knowledge.
- Attentive. Huge manufacturers with a whole lot of hundreds of subscribers use Attentive, together with Sephora, Coach, and Williams-Sonoma.
- Yotpo. With pay-as-you-go pricing, Yotpo is a well-liked SMS advertising and marketing app.
9 examples of excellent SMS advertising and marketing messages
Let’s have a look at some examples to encourage your SMS advertising and marketing technique.
1. The flash sale message
A brief and snappy SMS is an effective way to advertise one-off flash gross sales or main promotions. Since you’re speaking with voluntary subscribers, there’s a superb probability that the majority recipients will probably be responsive.
Line breaks, emojis, and product photographs ensure that the promotion could be simply understood.
2. The hype-up textual content
Don’t launch a flash sale with out some hype. A few promotional textual content messages, despatched just a few days earlier than the occasion, may help with conversion. Many individuals like to consider their purchases forward of time, so it’s sensible to present your favourite clients a heads-up earlier than your sale goes reside.
3. The suggestions message
SMS is an acceptable format for conversational commerce, making it an efficient option to enhance interactions with clients.
For instance, when creating new product concepts, you might ship an SMS to clients asking their opinion. In the event that they reply, there’s a chance for a priceless 1:1 dialogue that brings them behind the scenes and makes them extra prone to make a purchase order.
4. The back-in-stock message
This message informs clients concerning the availability of sold-out stock. It’s a mild but efficient option to re-engage previous guests. Encourage engagement by combining it with a free transport provide or choice to pre-order a product. Transactional messages are impactful and easy to automate.
5. The giveaway message
If you wish to get extra leads out of your SMS advertising and marketing efforts, host a text-to-win giveaway or contest. These kinds of advertising and marketing methods increase your buyer base with minimal effort in your half.
Some research counsel that as much as 46% of contestants will share contests with none further incentive, however you’ll be able to enhance natural sharing of your giveaway by providing a reward, equivalent to further entries.
You may arrange a giveaway shortly throughout your present advertising and marketing channels. Simply add your shortcode to any of the next:
- Advertisements (print and digital)
- Social media accounts
- Product packages
- Webinars
- Blogs or characteristic articles
- Touchdown pages in your web site
- In-store signage
When a person indicators up in your giveaway, they mechanically turn into a subscriber whom you’ll be able to attain with future SMS campaigns.
6. The BFCM message
Schedule messages round in style procuring dates and occasions, equivalent to Black Friday procuring season. Time-sensitive SMS advertising and marketing campaigns leap on the thrill surrounding an occasion and encourage recipients to behave quick earlier than the sale is over.
7. The welcome message
Every time somebody indicators up in your listing, you’ll be able to ship them a sequence of welcome messages. Use quick, concise language to inform them about your merchandise, present hyperlinks to additional content material or in style merchandise, and provides them a coupon.
Entry to reductions and coupons rank among the many commonest causes to join advertising and marketing textual content messages. Information suggests {that a} 10% low cost is a ample incentive to seize most subscribers.
8. The deserted cart message
An deserted cart SMS is shipped to individuals who added merchandise to their cart however didn’t full the acquisition.
You need to use SMS or e-mail to comply with up with abandoners and encourage gross sales. Nonetheless, since persons are extra prone to see an SMS push notification than discover an e-mail in a crowded inbox, deserted cart SMS messages could result in higher outcomes.
9. The cross/upsell message
Strategic upselling and cross-selling can enhance your common order worth and buyer lifetime worth. It entails sending suggestions to clients based mostly on their previous purchases, a typical tactic in e-mail advertising and marketing you’ll be able to replicate by means of texts.
SMS advertising and marketing finest practices
Get permission
If a prospect or buyer doesn’t provide you with consent to textual content them, you might face authorized issues. SMS textual content advertising and marketing is regulated underneath US regulation and entrepreneurs should comply with codes of apply enacted underneath the Phone Client Safety Act and CAN-SPAM Act. Furthermore, texting with out permission feels spammy—not a superb search for your organization.
Folks usually overlook after they join mailing lists, so be sure you hold a file of opt-in agreements.
Make it simple to choose out
Greater than some other channel, SMS advertising and marketing requires purchaser belief. This belief could be constructed by making it simple for purchasers to choose out and in of your SMS listing.
Whereas accessible unsubscribe choices can scale back your variety of recipients, in addition they be sure that those that stay are genuinely thinking about your choices. This results in a extra engaged viewers and, finally, higher conversion charges.
Search to tell, not (at all times) to advertise
Because it’s simple to choose out of promotional SMS messages, it pays to be thoughtful of your consumers’ endurance. Most of your messages ought to be informational—associated to orders and noteworthy dates or occasions. Promotional messages ought to be few and much between, ideally not more than as soon as per week.
Hold context in thoughts
When designing SMS advertising and marketing campaigns, resist the urge to ship random messages to subscribers. Contextually related texts usually tend to generate clicks with out draining subscribers’ goodwill.
For instance, if in case you have a promoted occasion on Friday evening, ship a textual content on Friday afternoon. If you wish to run a bar particular, ship your message at 3 or 4 p.m. on a workday. Hold it easy—you’ll keep away from getting pinged as spam, and also you’ll see higher outcomes.
Personalize
Many SMS advertising and marketing instruments harness the info you accumulate about your clients to section your SMS listing and personalize messaging. Segmentation could be based mostly on previous purchases, searching conduct, location, and even the time a buyer normally retailers. By segmenting your listing, you’ll be able to ship extra customized messages which can be prone to end in larger engagement and conversion charges.
For those who run a clothes retailer and know {that a} group of loyal clients beforehand purchased summer time attire, you might ship them a textual content when your new summer time assortment arrives. Or, if in case you have a gaggle of shoppers who normally store within the evenings, you might schedule your texts containing promo codes to ship after they’re prone to be searching.
SMS advertising and marketing vs. e-mail advertising and marketing
E mail and SMS advertising and marketing are each highly effective instruments in your advertising and marketing arsenal, however they serve completely different functions and are efficient in numerous eventualities.
When to make use of e-mail
E mail is a flexible medium that enables for wealthy content material, together with textual content, photographs, and hyperlinks. It’s excellent for sharing detailed or in depth content material, equivalent to:
Relying in your viewers’s preferences, you might need to embody this content material within the e-mail physique for instant consumption and cellular accessibility. For a extra streamlined expertise, nonetheless, use the e-mail to current an summary and embody a hyperlink to the total content material in your web site.
Furthermore, e-mail is nice for nurturing leads over time. You may create a sequence of emails that information a possible buyer by means of the shopping for course of, offering them with incr easingly promotional info at every stage.
E mail additionally permits for extra branding and design parts than SMS, serving to to bolster your model id.
When to make use of SMS
Textual content messages are sometimes learn inside minutes of being obtained, making SMS good for time-sensitive communications. As an example, you might use SMS to ship flash sale alerts, appointment reminders, or supply updates.
SMS can also be optimum for sending quick, impactful messages that require a response, equivalent to a one-day low cost code.
As well as, SMS advertising and marketing could be extra private and interactive. Prospects can simply reply to your messages, making a two-way dialog that may flip a prospect right into a gross sales lead. Whereas replies are potential with e-mail, it’s not normal apply and will really feel much less pure to your subscribers.
Each e-mail and SMS advertising and marketing have their strengths. The secret’s to make use of every channel strategically, based mostly in your targets and your viewers’s preferences.
4 advantages of SMS advertising and marketing
1. Excessive engagement charges
Throughout advertising and marketing channels, SMS has among the most forgiving open charges and click-through charges. Since SMS advertising and marketing requires clients to choose in, your listing will solely embody clients who wantto hear from you.
Shopify service provider Bushbalm has been utilizing SMS advertising and marketing for years to generate engagement. Its automated sequence of welcome messages repeatedly sees click-through charges of greater than 50%.
As compared, the model sometimes achieves 25% open charges with advertising and marketing emails, and solely 2% click-through charges.
2. Simple to write down
Anybody who’s written a mass e-mail to clients is aware of the painstaking effort required, whether or not to craft the proper topic line or the appropriate copy that will get folks clicking.
With such a small SMS window on cellular gadgets, there’s solely room for a few traces, and maybe a picture. Design and model parts are changed with emojis and GIFs—easy!
3. Strengthen buyer relationships
SMS advertising and marketing helps construct extra private, loyal relationships with clients. Texts are inherently simpler to reply to, encouraging actual dialogue. Advertising SMS messages have an common response charge of 45%, which is many instances larger than e-mail.
Messaging is now not a one-way avenue. Your clients count on to listen to again from you shortly and wish the choice to interact in dialog. This two-way dialog goes far past conventional customer support.
Use a chat help app to:
- Study extra about clients to advocate related merchandise
- Upsell and cross-sell to extend common order worth
- Information clients to associated merchandise if one is out of inventory
- Assist clients make a fee
4. Prospects favor SMS communication
The instantaneous and private really feel of SMS advertising and marketing makes it engaging for giant and small companies—and clients. After e-mail, SMS and different sorts of smartphone messages are the most well-liked option to hear from companies. The proper SMS advertising and marketing instruments may help you join with clients and earn extra gross sales.
Utilizing textual content message advertising and marketing in your ecommerce retailer
Many on-line entrepreneurs steer away from SMS advertising and marketing as a result of they assume it’s costly and intrusive. Not so. For those who apply the rules above, you’ll lower by means of the noise, enhance your conversion charges, and enhance buyer loyalty within the course of.
Illustration by Pete Ryan
SMS advertising and marketing FAQ
Is SMS advertising and marketing authorized?
SMS advertising and marketing is authorized if you happen to acquire expressed written consent from shoppers earlier than sending them advertising and marketing texts. SMS textual content advertising and marketing is regulated underneath US regulation and entrepreneurs should comply with codes of apply enacted underneath the Phone Client Safety Act and CAN-SPAM Act.
What are the sorts of SMS advertising and marketing?
- Promotional offers and reductions
- Coupons
- Flash gross sales
- Textual content-to-win competitions
- Loyalty applications
- Product drop alerts
- Order updates
- Deserted cart notifications
How do I begin SMS advertising and marketing?
Step one in SMS advertising and marketing is to construct an inventory of cellphone numbers which have given consent to obtain promotional messages.
Why is SMS advertising and marketing efficient?
- Prospects favor SMS interactions.
- It’s simple to write down texts.
- SMS messages are cost-effective.
- It could possibly strengthen buyer relationships.
- SMS has excessive engagement charges.
What are the disadvantages of SMS advertising and marketing?
Drawbacks of SMS advertising and marketing embody the restricted character depend, which may make it troublesome to convey complicated info; the potential for messages to be perceived as intrusive if not correctly focused; and the necessity for buyer consent, which may restrict the scale of your viewers.
Why is SMS advertising and marketing efficient?
SMS advertising and marketing methods usually boasts excessive open charges, reportedly as excessive as 98%. Response charges and click-through charges are additionally sometimes excessive, making SMS advertising and marketing one of the vital efficient direct advertising and marketing channels out there.