How to increase holiday sales with SMS marketing
Are you planning your holiday promotion campaigns and want to make sure you get optimal results?
The solution is simple: send SMS messages that complement your eCommerce newsletter, campaigns
social media campaigns or Google ads. Although based on old technology, SMS marketing is
more relevant than ever, and a high-performance platform helps you deliver campaigns quickly and
efficiently.
In this article we tell you why it’s a good idea to integrate SMS campaigns into your promotional mix and give you some ideas on how to do it successfully this winter.
Why send promotional SMS
Mobile phones have become essential in everyday communication for more than half of the global population, according to Statista. Although many other smart apps have emerged to facilitate communication, text messaging remains one of the most effective and underused methods of promotion.
Here’s what more market research shows:
● 9 out of 10 consumers prefer to receive text messages with offers and other information from businesses, compared to other ways of communicating, such as phone calls.
● SMS is the preferred channel for receiving information about loyalty programs.
● Most SMS campaigns are read within 90 seconds of sending.
● The open rate for SMS marketing is on average over 80% and the open rate for click-through rate of over 35%.
● The conversion rate for SMS campaigns is also high, from 17% (SEJ) to 45% (Salesforce). Different retailers report 25% (Whisker Seeker) or even 200% (Toroe Eyewear).
As you can see, if you only send SMS to customers with payment or delivery information, you miss the chance to increase the efficiency of your communication campaigns and even sell more.
In the following section, we give you some ideas for SMS campaigns that can help you increase the number of conversions.
SMS campaign ideas for the holidays
The winter holidays are a great time to text customers, as they are already open to buying gifts for loved ones and themselves.
Below are some of the most popular types of messages you can send:
● Discount or exclusive offer. Show your subscribers that they benefit from they have agreed to receive SMS messages from you with a campaign dedicated only to them.
● Promote content on your website, whether it’s an article with seasonal ideas, an ebook recipes for the Christmas table or a tutorial for the ingenious assembly of the lights. Even if you’re not selling directly, valuable content builds brand trust and appetite for shopping.
● Announce a competition with prizes. The SMS can include a landing page link where subscribers can participate in a Christmas or New Year prize draw. Offer a large prize, but also several smaller prizes (such as seasonal gifts from the store or 5% discount coupons), to give more people the chance to enjoy rewards.
● Reminder about an active in-store campaign. After an eCommerce newsletter with detailed information, send a short SMS to remind subscribers about the campaign.
The timing of the sending depends on how you have designed the campaign, but make sure you deliver it strategically, such as a few hours before closing time or when stock becomes limited.
● Abandoned cart SMS for those who have added products to the cart but have not completed order. This can be sent by itself or some time after you have sent an email abandoned cart email. Practice shows that both are very effective for completing transactions, even more so when you think of them together.
● “Happy birthday” message that may also contain a gift voucher.
● SMS requesting feedback or review of the order, a few days after the order is placed. Customer feedback helps you not only to improve your products and services, but they are also important for potential customers who come to your website.
As already mentioned, SMS campaigns are a great way to increase the efficiency of other communication strategies, such as email marketing. Learn more about how to combine email and SMS marketing for impactful campaigns.
Opportunities to send SMS campaigns
Whether it’s an SMS with holiday greetings or you want to create a special campaign like this as we’ve exemplified above, here are some of the important moments celebrated in weeks ahead:
● Christmas Eve – December 24
● Christmas – December 25 and 26
● St. Stephen’s Day – December 27
● New Year’s Eve – 1 and 2 January
● St. Basil’s Day – 1 January
● Saint John – January 7
Of course, you can send SMS on any day, depending on the store’s promotional campaign of your shop. Whatever the time, keep in mind the best practices below.
Best practices for SMS marketing
Here are some ways you can make sure you send an effective SMS campaign:
● Write a short and compelling text and add a link to the landing page or page relevant page of your campaign.
● Emphasize important and concrete information such as discount code, date of date or the limited stock of the promoted product.
● Include a clear call to action in all messages: what you want the subscriber to do and what the steps are?
● Try to fit into one message. In this case, the length of the SMS should not exceed 153 characters, but also take into account the link and other elements that can effectively reduce the text space.
● Create a sense of urgency to ensure subscribers act immediately.
● Includes holiday-themed emoji or other attractive images. Send graphic SMS for extra impact.
● Provides a way to unsubscribe, so anyone can opt out of receiving messages at any time.
● Choose strategically when you send SMS messages. Use them intelligently to bring people to your website and persuade them to buy, but be careful not to send messages too often, because you can get the opposite effect. Also take into account holidays, when customers may want to stay away from technology.
How to create an SMS marketing campaign
Creating an SMS marketing campaign does not require advanced knowledge in the field, if you choose the right technology. With the NewsMAN email marketing platform, you enjoy the same functionality as with email campaigns, but for SMS (import, list segmentation, message automation and reporting), and creating a campaign is quick and intuitive, as shown below.
Also, for graphical SMS, you have an interface where you add elements with drag & drop and then quickly customize them.
NewsMAN offers customers ultra-fast SMS sending speed (over 7000 SMS per minute), so that all recipients receive messages within two minutes, on any network in the EU or worldwide.
Messages are sent from short numbers, but you can also choose to personalise the sender’s name to increase brand affinity.
Curious to learn more features and try creating your own campaign? Try NewsMAN for free and enjoy successful campaigns for the holidays and in 2023.