6 High-Impact SMS Marketing Strategies to Improve E-Commerce Retention

A consumer goes online and gets to your eStore after searching for a laptop. They go through a few pages, view some products, but end up leaving without taking any action. It is a natural thing to do, and it begs the question of how to bring them back.

Email marketing is the first thing that comes to mind. Since your customers’ inboxes are overloaded with promotional emails, there’s a higher chance your email will go unopened. What is the smarter alternative then?

The answer is SMS marketing.

A concise, timely, and personalized message can help you stand out from the crowd, emphasize relevant offers, and convert a casual visitor into a customer.

But what is the real process of e-commerce SMS marketing? And why do the industry pundits reckon it is one of the most potent customer retention strategies at present?

That is what we have discussed in this blog.

What Exactly Is SMS Marketing? A Simple Explanation

SMS marketing is a form of mobile marketing that involves sending text messages to customers who have subscribed to your SMS updates. It is a personal, one-to-one channel that allows you to connect instantly with people with personalized updates and offers.

Compared to email, SMS is highly effective. More than 90% of text messages are opened within minutes. This makes SMS one of the most trusted channels for communication. It’s especially effective for time-sensitive promotions, urgent alerts, and fast customer updates.

Simply put, SMS marketing will allow you to deliver your message to customers in a manner that is quick and efficient.

Why SMS Marketing Works: Key Benefits for E-commerce Brands

Let’s see why implementing SMS marketing will be beneficial for your e-commerce business.

• High Open Rates: The open rate of SMS messages is astounding, with an open rate of 98% plus compared to email or other mediums. This implies that most of your audience actually sees your message.
• Instant Delivery: It delivers the texts in real-time, and thus it is ideal in cases of time-critical updates and time-sensitive communications.
• Personalization: Messages are customizable according to the preferences, behavior, or purchase history of customers, which creates a more valuable and interesting experience.
• Increased Customer Interaction: Since the SMS is more intimate, it assists in developing a stronger relationship, and your customers will remain interested in your brand.
• Higher Conversions: Drafted offers, reminders, and promotions through SMS tend to increase the rate of conversion and sales.
• Ideal Time-Sensitive Campaigns: Flash sale, low stock notice, or last-minute offer: SMS is the best channel to convey the urgency.
• Better Customer Service: Customers can be made very satisfied through quick updates, order notifications, or support messages through SMS.
• Measurable Results: SMS campaigns are simple to monitor and get an insight into the performance and how to improve further messages.

If you want to communicate with your customers quickly, SMS marketing is a great option. It helps reduce abandoned carts and encourages more people to complete their purchases. Adding it to your marketing mix can significantly boost your eStore’s sales.

If you run into any difficulties while setting it up, you can always reach out to a professional e-commerce development team for help. They’ll guide you through the process and make things easier. You can also follow the step-by-step instructions in the next section.

How to Set Up SMS Marketing for Your E-commerce Store

SMS marketing might appear straightforward, but it is a strategy and a focus to set up in the right manner. Here’s how the process works:

Build an Opt-in List

The key to effective SMS marketing is having a powerful opt-in list. Customers interested in updates – here are the best means of increasing that list:

• Website Forms: Have an easy and obvious form on your site where customers are asked to provide their mobile number and allow them to get the messages.
• In-Store Sign-ups: When you are physically present, sign-ups should be encouraged by giving these little incentives, such as little discounts or SMS exclusive offers.
• Social Media: Advertise on your social media and provide a clear CTA and purpose of being on the SMS list.
• Email Campaign: Add a button to your SMS opt-in page within your email newsletters, asking current subscribers to take part.
• Point-of-Sale: When processing a checkout, inquire of the customers whether they would like to be notified through SMS – only with their permission.

The other thing to do after creating your list is customer segmentation. Segment your subscribers by demographics, buying behavior, browsing, or even preferences. This would enable you to send out personalized, specific messages that are not so impersonal.

Such a mix of considered opt-in gathering and clever segmentation builds a powerful base of successful SMS marketing.

Choose an SMS Marketing Platform

The selection of the appropriate SMS marketing platform is extremely important for the success of your campaigns. In the process of making decisions, the following are some of the key factors to consider:

• Personalization: Select a platform that allows personalization of messages with customer data – this is important to engage better.
• Integration: It should be able to integrate well with your e-commerce site and any other marketing tool that you currently utilize.
• User-Friendly Interface: Your team and you will find it easy to control campaigns without going through unnecessary complexities in a clean and intuitive dashboard.
• Uptime & Reliability: This must have high uptime. Messages should be issued at the right time.
• Pricing Structure: Check the pricing of the platform to ensure the platform fits your budget through reviewing its base fees, charges per message, and the charges associated with additional functionality.

BulkSMS, ClickSend, Zoho, and Twilio are some of the reputable SMS marketing platforms that you might check.

These tools simplify the process of automating, personalizing, and increasing the scale of your SMS work as your e-commerce business expands.

Create Engaging SMS Formats

In order to maximize your SMS marketing campaign, your message structure must be simple to respond to, captivating, and concise. The following are some of the ways by which you can create SMS content that really works:

• Keep It Short: SMS messages have a 160-character limit, so your text must be concise and action-oriented.
• Keep It Simple and to the Point: Do not use jargon or complex sentences. The teaching, conversational-friendly tone is the most effective and more personal.
• Include a Powerful Call To Action: Steer the customers to a call to action, such as Shop now, Claim your offer, or Reply STOP and unsubscribe.
• Personalize Messages: personalize your message using customer details. Consider forgetting cart notices, product recommendations, or unique deals depending on previous purchases.
• Minimize the use of Emojis: Emojis are good to add some personality to the message, but excessive usage makes the message look unprofessional. Apply them when they actually add value to the tone.

In order to perfect your strategy, experiment with the message styles -change the length, the call to action, and more. The test will give you an idea of what appeals to your audience.

Develop a Strategy

An effective SMS marketing campaign is based on a good strategy. This is how you can create an effective plan with clarity and start at the ground level:

• Define Your Goals: Begin by defining what you would like to accomplish. You may want to achieve sales growth, more involvement, or more traffic to your site.

• Segment Your List: Segment your subscriber list based on suitable segments such as demographics, buying behavior, interests, or reading habits. This aids you in making more relevant and targeted messages.

• Make a Content Calendar: Schedule your SMS campaigns. Plan the message content, the target audience, the timing, and the ultimate goal. This maintains everything in order and in line.

• Keep in mind Timing and Frequency: You should consider when and how often you should message or not message your customers. Select hours that fit into their routine and do not reply too often. Remember, the aim is to remain helpful without annoying them.

In all your strategies, you should monitor major e-commerce metrics like CTR, conversions, and ROI. Apply these lessons to make the next campaigns more focused.

If starting SMS marketing is challenging, eCommerce development services can be a useful reference for navigating the process.

Top 6 Proven SMS Marketing Strategies for E-commerce

As we have talked about, SMS marketing is a potent means to increase sales and make people come back. In order to maximize it, the following are some of the strategies that are effective strategies that you can adopt:

1. Welcome Texts

One of the most significant sections of a successful SMS marketing plan is the welcome messages. They become your initial one-to-one interaction with a new subscriber – an opportunity to impress, set expectations, and motivate them to remain interested in your brand in the future.

This is what you need to include to make your welcome texts work and be interesting:

• Use Customer Data: Include the name of the customer in order to make it personal and user-friendly at the beginning.
• Reference Previous Interactions: In case they have been on your site, made an account, or have been on some of your products, it should be noted. It demonstrates that you are listening.
• Exclusive Discounts: Provide a unique discount or a coupon code in order to encourage new subscribers to buy for the first time.
• Free Shipping: The first order should be free so as to eliminate friction and get more people to convert.
• Welcome Gift: Add a small welcome gift or a sample, where you can, it is a wonderful introduction to customers in the experience of your brand.

Example:

Welcome to [Your Store Name], [Customer Name]! Thank you for joining our community. As a special thank you, enjoy 20% off your first purchase. Use code WELCOME20 at checkout.

2. Order Confirmations & Updates

Real-time updates and order confirmations are essential in providing a smooth, reassuring experience to the customer. Customers placed in the know of when their order is being fulfilled develop trust, minimize the needless calls to support, and enhance customer satisfaction by a great deal.

This is what you ought to put in your order confirmation and update messages:

• Order Number: Indicate the order number in a clear manner, allowing the customers to refer to it easily in case of necessity.
• Shipping Address: Check the shipping address to make sure that it is going to the correct place.
• Tracking Information: Provide a tracking link/number to allow customers to know the real-time location of their package.
• Delivery Updates: Inform the customers about the change(s), that is, any delays, early deliveries, or changes to delivery windows.
• Delivery Confirmation: Once the package is delivered, send a message within a few seconds.

Example:

The shipment of your order with the number [Order Number] is complete. Hi, Customer Name. Track your package here: [Link]. Expected delivery: [Date]. Thank you, you are shopping with us, [Your Store Name]!

3. Abandoned Cart Reminders

Other shoppers check the shop, load them in their cart, and leave the store without buying the product due to one reason or another. It occurs more frequently than you would imagine.

That is where cart reminders are abandoned. These timely messages can be a good means of regaining lost sales by reminding the customers to go back and complete what they had begun.

The following are some of the points that should be contained in your abandoned cart messages:

• Timing: The reminder should be sent shortly after the cart has been left. Delay may end up severely limiting the possibility of the customer coming back.
• Personalization: Address the customer by his or her name and include specific things he/she left behind. It brings the message closer and purposeful.
• Clear Call to Action: In order to accomplish the purchase with the minimum effort, there should be an easy and direct link back to their cart.

Example:

Hi [Customer Name],

We saw that you have left some items in your cart. There are great picks you cannot afford to miss. Enjoy 15% off your purchase.

[Link to Abandoned Cart]

4. Date-Triggered Greetings

Date-driven messages: It is a considerate and intimate means of communicating with customers and creating a better rapport. These messages are delivered during special events such as birthdays, anniversaries, or any significant holidays and display to the customers that you really appreciate their business. This little thing can be used to generate a more memorable customer experience.

The following are some of the tips that can be used to write effective date-triggered greetings:

• Personalization: Use the name of the customer and mention the particular occasion that you are celebrating with the customer.
• Relevance: Make your message relevant to the event and add a value offer, perk, or discount.
• Timing: You can send the message a little bit before the occasion so that the customers can have time to redeem your offer.

Example:

Birthday, Welcome to Happy Birthday, [Customer Name]! Just a special present for us, receive 20 per cent off your purchase today. Check out on code BIRTHDAY20. Have a wonderful day!

5. “Back in Stock” Alerts

Whenever a customer requests a product that is out of stock, they tend to walk out of your site without making a purchase, but will not forget about it. Back in stock alerts enable them to know the time the item is available again. Such timely notifications can assist in re-capturing interested shoppers and in an extremely high number of opportunities being made to make the sale.

The following are intelligent methods of ensuring your back-in-stock messages are effective:

• Enabling Customers to Sign Up: Provide customers with a convenient way to be notified again when a product of interest is back in stock.

• Search Your List: Split up interested customers according to their preferences or buying history. This will assist you in sending more targeted, relevant alerts.

• Timing: Issue the notification as soon as the product is replenished to provide the maximum conversions.
• Make it a Sense of urgency: Add some scarcity-induced messaging or a limited amount of time to motivate the customer to take action fast.

Example:

Hi [Customer Name],

There is good news — the [Product Name] is returned! Don’t miss out this time. Last-minute shopping: [Link]

6. Flash Sales & Offer Promotions

Flash sale messages are a wonderful method of rapid traffic, selling, and creating a buzz for your brand. Offering time-sensitive deals motivates customers to visit your shop right away. It encourages them to take advantage of the offer quickly. This approach also builds a strong sense of urgency and excitement in your e-commerce marketing.

The following are some of the promotional concepts:

• Limited-Time Discounts: Types of discounts that offer a steep price cut on a limited number of products over a short period of time to impose a sense of urgency.
• Early Bird Discounts: This type of reward is given to customers who make an early purchase before a particular date.
• Deal-A-Day: Bundle more than one product at a discounted price.
• Free Shipping: Start by offering free shipping on orders above a specific price to increase the number of conversions.
• Gift With Purchase: It is a bonus that you will get as a customer after reaching a specific purchase limit.
• Tiered Discounts: Discounts can be increased according to the amount that the customer is spending – an excellent method of increasing average order value.

Example:

Flash Sale! Take 50% the price of all dresses within the next 24 hours. Use code FLASH50 at checkout. In a hurry- quantities are scarce!

If you need help implementing these approaches, our e-commerce development professionals are here to support you. They can guide you on attracting more traffic and increasing product sales. They’ll also help you create buzz around your store.

Final Verdict: Is SMS Marketing Worth It for E-commerce?

Concisely, yes, SMS marketing is so powerful in e-commerce brands. It creates a personal, one-to-one connection with your customers. You can reach them instantly with a targeted message. This approach helps increase both engagement and sales.

Welcome messages, order notifications, cart messages, date-based greetings, inventory notifications, and promotions also form some of the most effective SMS strategies.

You may contact our professionals in case you need any assistance with the implementation of any of these.

FAQs on SMS Marketing in E-commerce