SMS marketing is to be on the top of the list along with email marketing for the coming years. There are other ways to target and retarget potential buyers in more cost-effective ways. Let’s start with first understanding what SMS marketing is along with clearing the doubts on compliances.
If you are relying on Facebook ads solely, this blog is a must read for you. Facebook ads are getting crazy expensive. Yes, most businesses still spend about 30 – 50% of their revenue on Facebook Ads, but one must now consider increasing competing brands, ever increasing costs, new regulations as some points to ponder about before placing a huge chunk of your budgets in one basket. As of December 2021, the average CPC (cost per click) for Facebook ads is $1.12, and the advertising costs increase by 45% YoY.
Even if Facebook ads are bringing you new customers, the cost at which they are being acquired is hurting your profit margins.
What is SMS Marketing?
SMS or Short Message Service also known as text marketing is a form of marketing that businesses now are rapidly using to converse with customers, about promotions, discounts, new product launches, surveys, reviews and opinions on products purchased etc for better consumer and brand experience. Text Marketing also includes Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) to enhance the text message, with MMS one can make SMS look splashier with Gif, Video and Audio enhancements.
SMS Marketing also follows a similar structure like email marketing, it includes triggered automations, flows and campaigns.
How to launch a strategic SMS Marketing Program?
According to Pew Research Center, 85% of Americans currently own a smartphone. 37% of consumers in America prefer to receive communications from brands via text. These days, people are so dependent on their phones that it resembles an extension of their bodies.
71% of Americans claim to check their phones within the first 10 minutes of waking up according to reviews.org.
To begin, one should first think integrations and not one-off marketing efforts. This should be a slow and steady play for your brand. When one begins, the consideration should be SMS along with email for better results and consumer experience, and not overwhelming the marketing team with varied tools and techniques. SMS strategy can start with the SMS types as below:
Transactional SMS
Transactional SMS messages contains important customer updates like order confirmation, purchase receipt, shipping details, tracking your order. This kind of transactional SMS is great to build a great relationship with your customers and drive loyalty. The top two SMS customers want to receive communication about are shipping updates (75%) and delivery confirmations (65%), as reported by G2.
Promotional SMS
Promotional SMS messages can be sent to your customers and target audience to increase sales through offers and discounts, to introduce customers to a new product, promote an event or build brand awareness. In advanced promotional message strategy, one should send messages based on triggers induced by customer behavior. It should be relevant and timely and not spam.
Conversational SMS
Conversational text messages one-to-one texts, are used to create relationships with customers by addressing their concerns and questions about products offered or the purchasing process.
How to Build, Optimize and Grow Your SMS List?
To make the most of your SMS strategy, you must build a healthy list by encouraging subscribers to join in. Incentivizing and keeping your customers engaged is essential and SMS requires consent, and that means it is also easy to opt out. Thus, its extremely important to not spam and have a two-way conversation that is meaningful for both the brand and the customer.
1. Website Opt-in Pop Up:
Your website should be considered a gold mine when it comes to raking in an SMS list growth tactic. This is where your most qualified leads come in being aware of your brand. Therefore, they are most likely to opt- in for communications. Pop ups encourage visitors and subscribers to submit their contact details, signing up for consent for an incentive or offer in return.
2. Convert Your Email List:
Many businesses who are just getting started with SMS have previously invested a lot of time and energy into growing an email subscriber base. They make the best SMS subscribers since they are people who are already invested in your company and its products. Best practice would be to send a dedicated email for SMS subscription, with a CTA button that links to a TCPA compliant opt-in form. Learn seven steps to grow your SMS list with email here.
3. Through Social Platforms:
Today consumers are most likely to check your brand via social communities before actually visiting your website. Thus, its important to capture these visitors through stories and short links in bio for SMS opt- ins. There are different ways to get Instagram followers to opt-in some brands that have more than 10,000 followers have access to add the short link within the story to click through, for others there is no need to fret as there are means and ways to capture subscribers.
a. Instagram stories for brands with less than 10,000 followers you can have a swipe up in on your story that helps to directly land to a subscription page you create. For brands with more than 10,000 followers you can showcase a click through link as shown in image.
b. Instagram bio short link added to bio for SMS subscription, making sure compliance language is clearly stated. We recommend having a dedicated landing page for best optimisation.
c. Instagram grid post these are great to promote giveaways and VIP club access via subscribing to SMS.
d. facebook when it comes to social media one cannot ignore Facebook, some brands have found their ideal customer profiles on Facebook and thus it becomes important to capture SMS subscribers here via FB Posts, Stories and also FB Chat.
Essential Tip: Link your story to a dedicated landing page and keep the opt-in experience consistent and compliant for both desktop and mobile subscribers.
4. Through Direct Mailers
Using SMS as a response tool increases engagement. Easily add SMS to your direct mail campaign to drive response and start new conversations. It’s a great way for customers to discover you and your offerings. QR codes work best for direct mail SMS Opt-Ins.
5. Product Drops
Product Drops encourage users to opt-in to SMS if they want to be the first to know when new products drop. This builds hype and fear of missing out (FOMO) encouraging consumers to opt-in to subscribe for SMS.
6. Through Check-Out Page Opt-Ins:
This is an extremely important page wherein SMS opt-in can be successfully acquired, most consumers will willingly opt-in to subscribe to SMS notifications of purchase involve, shipping details and tracking delivery of their shipment. Brands should not let go of this opportunity.
7. Through Influencer Shout Outs:
Influencers may also aid in the expansion of your SMS list. Give each influencer a special keyword to use when sharing your phone number with them, and then monitor the effectiveness of each keyword using your SMS platform.
8. Through Keyword Opt-Ins:
Keeping a short and catchy keyword is effective and simple. When they text the phrase, they’re automatically subscribed to your SMS list.
9. Through Segmentation (For Best Personalization):
After one has worked on the best ways to grow your SMS list base, we must look into segmentation for best optimisation and personalization tactics. The results like click through rate, open rate and earnings per message will look healthy only if segmented properly based on interest, desire and position of customer in their purchase journey.
It enables brands to customize their marketing messages to their target audience’s qualities and behavior, segmentation is a best practice that is advised across all facets of SMS marketing. SMS segmentation allows you to target clients and subscribers based on information gathered based on user behavior. Popular segmentation options are:
a. Geography
Reaching customers at relevant time and geography is essential. For example, sending your must have coffee brands message at midnight to someone may not be as relevant as when it reaches them in the morning. It is also useful for weather related or location specific events. For example, if your brand has an offer on its tanning products, it cannot be targeted at customers who are located in cold snowy weather. This kind of irrelevance can lead to un-subscriptions and opt-outs.
b. Engaged Segment
Similar to an engaged email segment, an engaged SMS segment allows you to target those who regularly interact with your content. In your segment definition, you can include anyone who has recently i.e in the last 30 days interacted with your SMS content or subscribed to SMS.
c. VIP Segment
This segment of your subscribers are royalty, they keep your average order values high, constantly are purchasing from you and interact with your brands content. They should be treated with exclusive deals, referral incentives, quizzed on brands expectations and given first access to promotions, offers and new product launches.
d. Gender Segment
This is a simple segment and helps target products based on gender requirements.
e. Past Purchasers and Non-Purchasers:
Another effective SMS segmentation strategy is identifying groups of subscribers who have or have not purchased recently. Both represent potential marketing and personalization opportunities. For the past purchaser group, you can create effective upsell and cross-sell campaigns based on the item they purchased most recently.
The non-purchaser group represents a tremendous opportunity to generate more revenue. How should you reach out to them? Experiment with different types of content and messages to see what works best. The approach will vary based on your brand, but may include time-sensitive discounts, enticing product imagery, or rave reviews on best-selling products.
f. Target High Intent Subscribers:
A subset of subscribers who haven’t purchased yet but have shown a high level of interest in your products. These subscribers may engage with your brand without clicking or purchasing. Instead, they browse products on your site or add them to their cart, but navigate away before completing their order. These subscribers get as close as they can to purchasing without actually clicking “buy,” which makes them an ideal audience for personalized follow-ups.
10. Through SMS Campaigns
a. The Welcome Series
Make it count as this is the first text message a customer receives after opting in to your program. Most brands include a promotion with the welcome message to entice clients to join up, such as free delivery or a discount of 10-15% on next purchase. Learn 4 ways to retain and convert subscribers leveraging the welcome series here.
b. The Abandoned Cart Series
This is the most important message series as its targeting a highly potential customer who will most likely convert. There are different ways to approach this customer. Send the first SMS within 15 minutes of cart abandonment and second message a day later with a clear call to action plus an incentive to make the purchase As much as possible try and personalize the SMS based on shopper behavior with multi step message customized to each customer. Using customer data to analyze cart value, the incentive could very well increase Average Order Value (AOV)
One can send the following kinds of SMS:
i. Generic SMS mentioning that they forgot some stuff in the cart, and can complete the purchase through the link attached.
ii. Educational SMS talking about the product benefits giving the customer confidence and re assurance of making the purchase.
iii. A direct message asking them questions about what can they do to help make that purchase.
iv. Discount code to complete the purchase.
c. Back in Stock Series
Helps you retain your customer, when a customer sees a product out of stock the natural instinct is to look for a similar product with a competitor. Thus, back in stock SMS can notify the customer of its availability and one can also incentivize the shopper for having waited. The Back in stock series is one of the most important SMS list growth levers, read more about it here.
d. Customer Win-Back Series
When it’s been a while, this series of SMS is sent to the group of customers with the intention to get them back to purchase and engage with your brand. Their previous shopping history is used to tailor the SMS flows. Making the conversation about them by asking questions, and then making a very limited time “SMS only offer”
e. Product Cross-Sell Series
It is essential to make recommendations and enhance a buyer’s journey and increase AOV and LTV. Once a product has been purchased best recommendation would be what is usually bought along with it. Incentivize to add the additional item into the cart. Maximize Lifetime Value (LTV) of the customer by hyper personalization SMS, ask questions to know more about your customer. Making it an impactful two-way conversation.
f. Sunset or Un-Engaged Series
These texts should be sent as a last ditch effort to revive a customer. If it doesn’t help revive its best to unengaged or suppress this segment as it helps clean your SMS list, helps in maintaining the health of your SMS marketing campaigns.
g. New Product Launch
A good go to market strategy should include an SMS campaign. Test a teaser ahead of campaign launch, build a countdown day, give VIP and SMS subscribers an edge to preview launch, ask for referrals, build a UGC campaign post product launch.
h. The Best Seller Campaign
The primary goal of the bestseller campaign is to help consumers remember your brand and hero products. They are a must have in their mind space and shopping cart. Identify the high turnover products and promote them. Make your customers take the contagious effect of popularity of your hero products.
i. Show SMS Offers
Showing appreciation for your SMS Subscribers by offering an incentivised promotion only for them.
j. Launch Buy One Get One (BOGO) Offers
Use these for spikes during holidays or special days like Labor Day, Valentine’s Day, Fathers’ Day, Mothers Day etc. This also helps in moving inventory that’s lying around.
Here are six SMS marketing automations to kick start your SMS campaigns.
How to Use SMS Marketing to Influence Purchase?
SMS can help shoppers be empowered to build the confidence in their purchasing decision while in the consideration phase. This phase can be utilized to set the tone with new subscribers and help convert into your brands shoppers.
a. Make the first text memorable
When someone signs up a consent to receive messages from your brand, they are already in the consideration phase. The first message you send them is an opportunity to introduce them to your brand and build the excitement to make a purchase. Make the message relevant and attractive, use MMS with an image and longer message. An MMS may cost you a tad bit more but its worth it as its your first message and has high potential to convert.
b. Offer a discount code as an incentive
A/B testing various offers can help you understand your customer better. It is important to understand what type of incentives convert into buyers. This will help you effectively and efficiently connect with your consumers and maximize revenue potential.
c. Promote Flexible Payment Options in Early Stages of the Sales Funnel
Its good to let shoppers or new subscribers know that they can buy now pay later (BNPL) is an effective alternative to discounting. Splitting payments into monthly instalments gives a psychological feeling of paying lesser and is more easier to digest than paying a lumpsum. It gives them a sense of comfort and convenience with flexibility in payments, without interest and late fees.
d. Offer great consumer support before you upsell
Its important to nurture customers before reselling to them. SMS strategy before upsell should include, educational SMS and introduction to new products that compliment their past purchase.
e. Use customer data to personalize messages
By keeping track of your customers purchase history, purchase intent, tastes and preferences you can personalize messages.
f. Give your SMS Subscribers Early Access
By giving your SMS subscribers and exclusive offer or first access to new launches it gives them a sense of importance that can influence purchase.
Concluding Thoughts
It’s crucial to keep in mind that every new campaign is an opportunity to learn more about what your subscribers desire, whether you just recently launched your brand’s SMS channel or have been utilizing text messaging to engage potential customers for years. Investigate the data you already have and make use of it to guide your channel engagement and lower opt-out rates. Its always best practice to reassess your SMS strategy from time to time, understanding customer behavior and data.
