Why SMS Marketing?

One of the biggest roadblocks for e-commerce businesses is to get their products in front of the right people at the right times. That is where SMS marketing comes in handy. Sadly, it’s an underutilized marketing channel. Now, imagine getting a read-rate of 98% within minutes of hitting “Send,” that too without an internet connection. That’s SMS marketing for you.  

Not convinced? 

Then, take a look at the top eight rewards of SMS marketing below.

Consumers Are Hooked to Their Mobile Phones 

Mobile phones have become like an extension of our bodies.  

Do you think I’m kidding? 

According to Ad week’s survey, 79% of people aged 18-44 years are on their phones 22 hours every day. Clearly, text messages are the best way to reach these hyper-connected consumers. 

SMS messages are Read Faster Than Emails 

According to a Gartner study, SMS messages have a read rate of around 98%, while emails languish at 20%. Even if people find the time to go through their cluttered mail inboxes, they take 90 minutes or more to respond to an email. The average response time for text messages is just 90 seconds! 

Obviously, text messages are a more efficient way to communicate in-the-moment offers and critical business information.

SMS Marketing Lets You Reach a Wider Audience

If you think that texting is restricted to younger people, you’re way off the mark here. Pew Research found that texting is the preferred activity of most mobile users. This makes SMS marketing intergenerational. You can reach people of all age groups, genders, professions, races, and nations through text messaging. 

The best part? 

You can even reach people in remote corners of the world that are yet to be internet-wired. For e-commerce businesses with a global presence, SMS marketing offers huge opportunities in this way.

SMS Messages Are Delivered Fast

Since texts are ISP-agnostic, they are delivered super-quick. This makes them an ideal channel for delivering time-sensitive information like flash sales or end-of-stock deals.  

Not only are text messages delivered fast, but they are also received better too. Their average response rate is 45%, with most messages responded to within 3 seconds. That’s effective marketing communication!

SMS Marketing Can Be Integrated with Other Marketing Forms 

Most consumer journeys are distributed between online and offline channels. That means brands need to offer a homogeneous and seamless experience across channels if they want to retain customers.  

SMS marketing can be integrated with emails, social media, and advertising to provide an omnichannel experience to consumers. 

SMS Marketing Boosts Customer Engagement

Customers like it when businesses shower them with personalized attention. If you keep your customers informed about news, offers, and updates that matter to them, you strengthen the bond between you and your consumers. All of this boosts customer loyalty and engagement in the long run. 

SMS Marketing Keeps Customers in a Controlling Position

Permission-based systems like SMS allow customers to opt-in and out at any time. At first sight, this might seem like a risky deal to you. But do you really want to waste your marketing budget nurturing customers who don’t want to hear from you? 

Since customers are managing their text communication preferences independently, you can be sure that your service subscribers are actually interested in your products and services. You will neither be alienating potential customers nor intruding on anybody’s me-time with your texts.

3 SMS Marketing Tactics to Grow Your Ecommerce Brand’s ROI

1. Combine Emails with Text Messaging 

There are email marketing platforms that allow you to send text messages in response to your subscribers’ actions on sent emails. For example, if a person signed up for your newsletter, you can welcome them to the club by sending them a warm welcome message. 

You can keep in touch with your customers by informing them about their order and shipping status and delivery timelines. This way, you can keep them in the loop after they have converted. 

Asking for feedback through texts is another way to endear yourself to customers, especially new ones. Make it super easy for them to submit their feedback. A simple rating system will find more takers than a redirect link that takes them to a lengthy form. 

3. Broadcast About New Product Arrivals

If your customers have activated push notifications, you can send them product updates from time to time.  

By monitoring your customers’ and visitors’ browsing histories and cart additions, you will get insights into their interests and needs. Leverage this information to send alerts when similar products arrive in your store or when prices of carted items fall. This way, you can retarget lost customers and earn repeat sales.  

If you power your SMS platform with AI, you can also send replenishment reminders to existing customers like Kiehl does below:

For More Information: Earifin.com

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