In recent years, eCommerce marketers have found that traditional tactics to reach customers may not be as effective. As marketing strategies shift to meet current customer expectations and economic and technological realities, one channel that is worth revisiting is SMS. Marketers are using SMS marketing to deliver high-impact communications that support engagement and brand growth. Combined with other marketing strategies, SMS could be a valuable channel – but are you making the most of it?
The Benefits of SMS Marketing
Engagement
SMS marketing has a 98% open rate, compared to email marketing, which usually has around a 20% open rate. Since the vast majority of your customers own a mobile phone (and are likely already shopping on mobile), SMS marketing can get you much closer to your customers than any other marketing strategy. Consumers touch their smartphones a shocking 2,617 times a day, so it’s no surprise that brands that run full segmented SMS campaign typically see an 8-12x ROI. This strategy is highly engaging because users have an urgency to open every text message, making it one of the best ways to engage customers instantly.
Improve the Customer Experience
Reaching your customers instantly and providing an additional channel for communication allows you to strengthen those relationships and build loyalty. It’s not only a valuable marketing tactic, giving your customers more support improves their experience and builds trust and credibility for your brand. Additional communication opportunities like SMS marketing allow you to engage customers, learn more about their preferences, offer incentives, and create a tailored, personalized experience to encourage them to buy in a way that is efficient and seamless.
SMS Marketing Challenges
Gathering Consent
To remain legally compliant and to ensure customers aren’t bothered by unwanted communication, you must always get clear consent before gathering customer information and using it in your campaigns. Additionally, you should allow customers to opt-out of communication at any time if they decide they no longer want to receive messages. To take it one step further, you can offer preference centers where customers can choose which specific types of messaging they want to receive, so you can still maintain a relationship even if they don’t want text communications.
Marketing Integration
The best way to integrate SMS marketing into your strategy is to combine it with your other marketing efforts, for a well-rounded campaign strategy that covers all your bases and provides a seamless experience for your customers. Use SMS marketing to build urgency and start the conversation, while email marketing can foster long-term relationships and create a loyal customer base.
Legal Compliance
When registering with U.S. cellphone carriers, you’ll have to use a 10-digit long code, (10DLC) or short-code depending on your business needs. Each option comes with it’s own requirements, and the use cases for each vary, for example, 10DLC is easier to set-up but is more suitable for conversational, two-way messaging. Short codes can be more expensive and difficult to obtain and are typically used for mass messaging and instant brand recognition. Further, there are certain restrictions for what time of day and frequency to send promotional messages, to remain compliant with the law, ensure your SMS strategy follows these regulations.
Best Practices
Personalization
One of the most effective tools for marketing is personalization and segmentation, all of which can be automated, so you don’t have to use valuable resources to provide a better experience for your customers. Segmentation divides your audience into smaller, more relevant groups while personalization allows you to be even more precise with every message. For example, you can send abandoned cart messages to retarget customers or send follow up messages asking for product feedback after a customer receives their order to continue the conversation.
Timing and Frequency
It’s important to make sure you aren’t sending too many messages, as this can leave your customers feeling frustrated and annoyed. To avoid intrusive or ineffective communication, use segmentation to target the most relevant audience and only send messages with clear, high value information. Additionally, factor in your customers’ time zone to schedule messages appropriately, so you aren’t sending messages at a time where they won’t be available to act immediately.
Incentives
To maximize the impact of your promotions, you can offer exclusive discounts only available to customers who opt-in to receive SMS marketing. This added exclusivity combined with personalized offers can increase urgency and drive conversions. Using segmentation, you can target first-time buyers with a welcome offer, to set the tone for a strong, deep relationship that lasts. You can even offer discounts in exchange for customer feedback, to stretch your marketing efforts even further with ratings and reviews. The key here is relevant and timely incentives guided by data, so every message is meaningful and engaging.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of how you plan to invest in your marketing strategy, you’ll need an eCommerce platform to help you seamlessly connect with vendors without the additional energy and cost of building integrations from scratch. Virid can help you set up your online store and optimize your tech stack to meet your business’s unique needs. To learn more about how to strengthen your eCommerce strategy, schedule a consultation today to get started!
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