If you’re looking for an effective way to grow your sales that doesn’t break the bank then one of the best strategies you can have is growing an SMS marketing list.
Why use SMS?
- 98% open rates
- 97% of recipients responding to an SMS within the first 3 minutes
- 19% of recipients will click-through on a link inside your SMS
- Almost everyone owns a mobile device
SMS is also not an online marketing channel so is not affected by things like:
- SEO updates
- SPAM filters
- Ad blockers
- Crazy pay-per-click costs (it’s only a few cents per text)
This makes SMS one of the best marketing strategies available and the best part is that most retailers still don’t use this advertising channel making it a good time to build up your own list and generate more sales.
Here Are 5 Ways To Generate More Sales With SMS
-
Attract more subscribers with an irresistible offer
Getting one person on your list can equate to hundreds or thousands of dollars in sales of the lifetime of that customer so don’t be afraid to create an irresistible offer in exchange for their mobile details.
Offer types include:
- Buy One, Get One Free
- Free Delivery
- Gift Vouchers
- Standard Discounts (10% off etc.)
- Demographic-Based Discounts (student, elderly etc.)
- Free ‘A’ If You Buy Before ‘B’
- Free Trials
- Try Before You Buy
- Free ‘A’ When You Buy ‘B’
- Package Deals
- Better Payment Terms
The more attractive your offer the faster and larger your list will grow.
The biggest mistake retailers make with SMS is that they treat it like building an email list and so they use weak offers to get people to subscribe.
Email is incredibly attractive to freebie seekers because it’s nothing to give you an email address but when someone gives you their mobile number you’ll find that they have a very high interest level in what you are selling and will be more responsive.
-
Leverage existing marketing channels
Chances are you’re already have a good looking website and are using Facebook, Instagram, email marketing etc. so the first thing you need to do is place your SMS promotion on these channels.
This will help you drive your existing traffic into your SMS list but it is recommended that you use a strong offer to get them to subscribe perhaps sending them offers that they will not see anywhere other than via SMS.
Common marketing channels include:
- Website
- Specific articles or blog content
- Email list
- POS
- Paid ads
- Social media
- Sandwich board
- Loyalty cards
- Gift cards
- Receipts
- Traditional advertising (Radio, flyers, newspaper etc.)
- Special events
-
New stock notifications
Your best customers will want to know of any new stock that has arrived and especially what new items are coming soon to the store.
This helps you to “presell” your products helping to boost sales as soon as the product drops.
This is also useful for letting your list know about stock that is running low to help move remaining stock.
-
SMS remarketing
If you own an online retail store then you know that abandoned carts are one of the greatest frustrations but it also presents one of the best opportunities to recover more sales.
By integrating SMS into your ecommerce platform you can trigger an email to be sent out as soon as someone leaves your website with items inside their cart.
Timing is especially critical with abandoned carts.
When a person is adding items to their cart they are imagining themselves getting the benefit from that product and so when they leave that though slowly leaves as well so by sending out an SMS shortly after they leave you can reignite that excitement and encourage them to complete their purchase.
With 98% of SMS messages are opened and are read within 3 minutes of the recipient receiving that message so you know for certain that they are going to see your remarketing SMS.
-
Send targeted offers
Not all of your customers are equal which is why segmentation is essential.
Just like with email one of the worst things you can do is send one general offer to the entire list because it reduces open rates and increases unsubscribes.
And, just like with email the best way to increase conversions is to ensure that you’re sending the right offer to the right person i.e. highly relevant offers.
