What has two thumbs and looks at her phone 150 times a day?
Your customer, of course!
All jokes aside, with 95% of text messages being read within the 5 minutes of receipt, the effectiveness of text messages in marketing is undeniable.
SMS is the perfect channel for delivering time-sensitive messages, like delivery updates, birthday and anniversary greetings, and flash sales. It also adds a powerful touch of urgency to your content, which drives people to take action on your message, simply because they are used to engaging with texts.
Our customers who are just starting with SMS often ask us what campaigns we recommend they run on this channel. We have a number of favorite campaigns, but we wanted to start with the top 5 must-haves:
1. Flash Sales
In these campaigns, you truly have a chance to capitalize on urgency. Use phrases like one-time only, limited time offer, and while supplies last to double-down on conveying time sensitivity. You should consider adding a colorful, exciting image to your message to entice your recipients and increase your conversion rates. (MMS messages have an average click-through rate 15% higher than standard texts!)
2. Order Updates
The shipment of an online order is like the advent of a holiday. In the era of Amazon, shoppers not only want to keep track of their orders, but they also want to get proactively notified of any news regarding their packages. You can offer to send your shoppers detailed order updates in your first order confirmation message. If they opt in, you can start sending additional order updates, like where their package is currently located and what their latest estimated delivery date is. By sending automated order updates via SMS, you eliminate the extra steps your customers need to take to check on their shipments.
3. Back-in-Stock Alerts
Back-in-stock alerts are a great way to win back customers you may have lost earlier due to an out-of-stock product. You can ping your customers when the items they’ve been looking for become available again. We recommend adding a button or link to your product pages your shoppers could click to indicate their interest in the out-of-stock item. This would allow you to create a list of customers you could quickly message when your stocks are replenished.
4. Product Launches
If you want to make a big splash with your new product and get your shoppers’ attention, an SMS announcement is the way to go. An MMS would be even better! Add an image to your message to showcase your product and get your recipients clicking on your links. Or, if you’re launching a new service and it’s difficult to portray it with a photo, use a bold GIF to get people pumped. Make sure to include the value of your new offer and reiterate its benefits!
5. Cart Abandonment
Some Marketers are hesitant to send Cart Abandonment messages because they don’t want to come across creepy for knowing what their shoppers have or haven’t done. It’s true that subtlety is key to these types of messages. For instance, try saying “Good news! The fleece jacket you love is still available” instead of “We saw you were checking out our fleece jacket ”. You shouldn’t entirely give up on Cart Abandonment messages because, with the right phrasing, you can turn your abandoners into shoppers. If possible, include a discount offer –a percentage off or free shipping– in your message to nudge your shoppers toward completing their purchase.
This article originally appeared in the Zaius blog and has been published here with permission.
