Table Of Contents:
Introduction
Companies need to find innovative ways to connect and engage customers in today’s increasingly competitive business climate. Until recently, email was one of the most effective marketing channels to engage customers. It allowed businesses to deliver a variety of content, including invites to new product releases, early access to a product, special offers, discounts, coupon codes, cart reminder messages, and transactional notifications.
Although email is still useful, the rate of engagement has dropped dramatically. It could also be linked to the fact that many businesses now practicing email marketing, and email service providers allow users to mark/flag promotional and marketing correspondence.
The click-through rates are around 1%, and the current iOS operating system has a lot of privacy constraints to perform eBlasts, making marketers’ lives more difficult.
As a result, there is an urgent need to identify better and more personal communication methods that instantly capture customers’ attention and engagement.
SMS/Text marketing is rapidly expanding because it allows marketers to directly market to customers and gives the flexibility to run segmented and highly personalized campaigns.
What is SMS/Text Marketing
Sending transactional messages or promotional campaigns for marketing reasons via text messages is the best definition of SMS marketing. The primary purpose of these messages is to inform individuals who have agreed to receive text messages from your business about time-sensitive deals, updates, alerts, and so on.
Why SMS/Text Marketing is so popular
Many retail companies are creating E-Commerce storefronts today, and optimizing their websites for mobile is one of their top concerns.
Companies have recognized that mobile commerce is the future. They also began developing mobile apps in order to better reach customers.
SMS messaging is very personalized. It is used to communicate with friends, family, coworkers, and peers because the text shared is unique to the individual, a strong connection is formed.
Companies can benefit greatly from it since messages are delivered directly to clients; SMS/texting has the highest opening rates of any marketing channel.
Customers, according to surveys, prefer to get promotional messages that provide them with value in addition to transactional messages.
When utilized appropriately, it is a fantastic marketing tool in many ways. Many businesses, however, have yet to participate. It could be because they don’t know how to use it or are unwilling to replace their current marketing methods.
7 Reasons SMS/Text messaging is an excellent marketing channel
1. 55% of mobile device users send texts using native messenger
2. 34% of people read texts within five minutes of receiving them
3. 55.9% have already signed up with their favorite brands to receive texts
4. Text messaging has six times the engagement of email
5. Customers find updates and reminder messages create a positive experience
6. The No.1 reason customers convert thru text is the dollar-off discount
7. 96% of marketers using text messages said it helped them drive revenue
Read this informative blog to discover more about how messaging can enhance sales conversions – 25 Ways Messaging and Chat Apps Improve Ecommerce Sales
Types of text messages that can engage customers
1. Welcome messages
Once a visitor has agreed to receive SMS communications from you, the first welcome message you deliver is critical in convincing them to continue engaging your channel. As a result, such as calling customers by their first names, utilizing emoticons, sending simple and straightforward messages, and so on will help engage them better. Furthermore, you can include a surprise reward, such as a redeemable coupon code with an expiry date, to convert customers as soon as they reach your SMS marketing channel.
2. New product or collection
SMS is an excellent channel for introducing a new product or collection. Consider putting an image in your first launch text message that highlights the main characteristics of your product, followed by offers and discounts.
3. Browse abandonment messages
Browse abandonment is a prevalent problem for E-commerce businesses. All of your efforts to bring traffic to your website are futile if customers leave without taking any action. As a result, browse abandonment text messages can assist in re-engaging your customers.
4. Cart abandonment reminder messages
Cart abandonment is one of the most common issues that E-commerce businesses confront. They are high-intent customers who are on the verge of making a purchase but are unable to do so due to an unclear reason. SMS channels enable businesses to send cart reminder messages that encourage customers to complete the transaction.
5. Connect customers with support teams
Knowing the cause clearly is one of the best strategies to recover abandoned carts. As a result, businesses can send cart reminder messages informing customers that the support team is ready to assist them with checkout. This allows you to better persuade customers while also learning the reason for their abandonment directly from them.
6. Payment links
If customers who have abandoned their carts are convinced after seeing a discount or speaking with your support team, send the payment link through SMS to complete the purchase as soon as possible.
7. Build loyal customers
A happy customer is someone who appreciates your products, but a loyal customer is someone who returns to you regularly and also recommends your brand to others. By occasionally sending them personalized messages via SMS, you can increase the number of loyal customers you have.
8. Cross-sell or upsell recent shoppers
With SMS marketing, you can use post-purchase messaging to cross-sell or upsell relevant product recommendations or new arrivals to recent customers.
9. Holiday or seasonal sale messages
SMS campaigns such as flash deals and product recommendations are ideal for sending during Black Friday, events, and holidays. It is vital to note that seasonal or holiday promotions should be designed ahead of time so that you have enough time to nurture your customers.
10. Educational content
Not every message has to be a discount or an incentive; instead, provide your customers with some informative content regarding product feature updates, company news, announcements, and so on.
11. Transactional messages
SMS channels can also be used to send transaction messages such as order confirmation, shipment tracking, refund status, and so on. This increases customer happiness and strengthens bonds with your brand.
12. Customer support
SMS is another emerging channel to automate customer support. Your customers can use SMS to raise tickets and troubleshoot problems. You can also answer customer questions or service requests and provide faster resolution.
Download Ebook
If you are interested in learning more ways to include SMS/Text marketing into your customer engagement strategy, loyalty programs, and customer support platforms, and create more revenue, download our insightful ebook – 55 Tips to use SMS/Text Marketing to Improve Customer Engagement and Revenue.
Final thoughts
Leading e-commerce enterprises are already using SMS/text marketing. The rationale for this is that the channel provides the highest ROI.
However, if your business must use it, it should not be limited to transactional communications such as order status, return process, and so on. You should attempt to engage customers prior to the sale and take the required steps to convert high-intent customers.
RoundView SMS/text messaging platform provides the greatest flexibility and customization for scaling E-Commerce companies. With the platform, you can automate two-way SMS conversations with your customers, convert high-intent customers with automated messages, and boost customer satisfaction levels as well.
To learn more about the RoundView SMS/Text marketing platform, visit this page.
To discover more about how RoundView can help you engage your subscribers at every stage of the customer lifecycle, request a demo.
