“Cute shoes, where did you get them?”
I’m not sharing. What I will tell you, though, is how smooth my journey was to buying said cute shoes.
I was scrolling through my Pinterest feed one evening when I came across a pair of royal blue, suede loafers that were calling my name. Using Pinterest’s nifty visual search, I quickly identified what online retailer carried this product and, without hesitation, I visited their website.
When I landed on their page, I got a pop-up with a discount offer in exchange for signing up for texts. I had my heart set on the shoes, and who doesn’t like a good offer? I didn’t even feel like the pop-up disrupted my interaction with the site because it provided value that was worth the momentary interruption.
Clicking on the web modal’s CTA opened my phone’s native Messenger app, and I was delighted to see that the text message was already composed and awaiting send. Having a shorter attention span than a goldfish, I loved that the brand didn’t ask me to temporarily memorize a keyword. Because let’s face it: Some brands over-complicate their coupon codes. There was nothing else left for me to do but hit send.
Within moments, the brand responded with the industry standard opt-in confirmation and the obligatory opt-out instructions. Beneath was my welcome message and a link to my discount offer.
The second message was a delightful example of what a Promotional SMS should look like: The copy contained the brand’s name, it offered value, had a clear call to action, and included a link.
When I clicked on the link, my code appeared on the screen and, once again, the brand made it easy for me to apply the code by letting me copy it to my clipboard or by requesting a text message with it. I simply copied it and proceeded to apply it to my purchase as I was checking out with my shoes.
As a Marketer, I appreciate a well-coordinated campaign that lends itself to a smooth customer journey, and I’m sure you do too. These experiences remind us to put ourselves in our customers’ shoes (pun intended), and inspire us to improve our own marketing efforts. If you’ve been inspired to recreate this quick, yet effective campaign, consider the following:
- Drive sign-ups, email and SMS alike, by launching a web modal with a discount offer in exchange for your shopper’s information and consent.
- Follow industry guidelines: Gain consent properly and provide clear opt-out instructions.
- For SMS, auto-generate your shopper’s first text to you. (Here’s how to do it.) This is especially smart because you don’t have to worry about not having a short code number. If you take care of the first send, your shopper doesn’t have to remember your phone number.
- Always provide value in your messages. While you can’t afford to give away 15% off left and right, value can be access to exclusive content, limited product availability, or sneak peeks into what’s coming soon.
- Finally, enable multiple channels and coordinate them to optimize engagement with your shoppers: If your shopper is engaging with you through your website, don’t hesitate to drive their buying decision both via email and SMS.
This article originally appeared in the Zaius blog and has been published here with permission.
