Want to take advantage of the SMS marketing to attract new customers and strengthen your customers' loyalty? You're right! This communication channel is very effective, even in the age of social networks and emails.
62% of consumers agreed to receive SMS from a brand or company in 2020. As a result, 57% of business leaders and marketing specialists increased the budget dedicated to this channel in 2021.
And they were right, since text messages have an exceptional open rate of 98%. The same goes for the conversion rate, which rises to 45%.
Moreover, 90% of SMS are read within 3 minutes compared with 29% for tweets, 22% for email and 12% for a Facebook post.
However, to attract customers via SMS, you need to hit the mark! Here are 15 types of messages to persuade, convert and retain your subscribers.
1. The welcome message
Welcome messages enhance the customer experience while preparing them to receive future information.
In addition to welcoming them, offer something to learn more about your brand or products: content, a trial offer, a link to request a sample, a phone number to contact an advisor…
2. Promoting your content
Use SMS to share useful content with your prospects and customers. Direct them to your blog, your white papers, landing pages or popular resources to guide them in their purchases or showcase your expertise.
To promote your content effectively:
- Add relevant figures, an engaging quote, or a punchy line in the SMS.
- Make sure your blog and content are optimized for mobile.
- Segment your contacts to send personalized content that best meets their needs.
3. Weekly or monthly tips
Send weekly or monthly tips to provide even more value to your subscribers.
For example:
- A home decor store can promote DIY projects to do over a weekend, tied to the season.
- A clothing store can send tips on the latest trends or outfits to wear based on the day's weather.
- A software provider can offer tips to improve weekend productivity (an SMS to be sent on Thursday or Friday, of course!).
4. Text-to-win
Text-to-win refers to an SMS contest. The goal is to increase engagement and enrich your database.
To promote your contest, send your contacts to a landing page or invite them to reply by SMS.
You can also advertise the campaign on your website using a banner or a pop-up form that asks participants to provide their mobile phone number.
After the contest ends, follow up with subscribers who didn’t win. You can send them discount codes as consolation prizes.
5. SMS drip
Literally, "drip" means "drop." It means sending SMS messages drip-style, at regular intervals, to achieve an objective. Generally, it aims to encourage purchases.
It's the same principle as lead nurturing by email.
You can start with a welcome SMS, for example, then send a buying guide a week later, and a discount or referral code some time after that. The goal is to stay top of mind with the consumer while being helpful.
This type of SMS is also used for recurring products or services. For example, an auto repair shop can set up drip SMS which is like a vehicle's annual maintenance, such as the technical inspection.
Or, as in the example above, used by veterinarians to remind you to vaccinate your pet:
6. Tease new products
Product launches are very effective at engaging your subscribers and attracting new customers. You can use the drip SMS technique to build anticipation until the product's official arrival.
Each day, present features or functions of your product/service via short messages. Short enough to keep the mystery, but long enough to generate interest around the new release.
7. Transaction messages
Very useful in the e-commerce sector, transactional messages reassure the customer. Sent after a purchase is completed, they have two objectives:
- Inform the customer about the status of their order
- Maintain the relationship with a view to customer loyalty
However, they must remain short and simple, like all SMS. Even if you have to share difficult information, such as delayed deliveries, do it without embellishment. If needed, link to a blog post or site page to provide more details.
The customer experience is always better when they can anticipate the progress of their order. Don’t forget that SMS are opened within seconds of receipt. In the event of bad news, the customer can prepare accordingly.
These messages are also an opportunity to carry out a satisfaction survey to improve your services, as Apple does when the product is delivered:
8. A personalized promotion
Personalized marketing is always more effective than other forms of marketing! 94% of marketing specialists believe in content personalization. And this applies to SMS campaigns.
If you want to improve conversions and attract customers, target them based on their interests or purchase history.
9. Cross-selling messages
SMS is a quick, effective, and low-cost way to do cross-sellingYou can easily send offers for complementary products to the customer's purchase.
A catchy one-liner is enough to grab attention. For example: "Now that you have this trendy dress, how about these matching pumps…"
The goal is to pique the subscriber's curiosity to encourage them to return to the site. You can accompany the message with a discount offer to increase conversion rate.
10. Win-back campaigns
As their name suggests, these SMS campaigns help to re-engage inactive customersThey combine techniques of retargeting, ofupselling and cross-selling.
The concept is simple: you identify customers who haven't visited your store or bought a product in the last 60 or 90 days. You can then send messages containing:
- Discount codes for recently viewed products or items added to their wishlist.
- Your latest releases endorsed by an influencer or an expert in your field.
- A promotion on a product they have already ordered, if you sell renewable goods/services, or on a complementary product.
- Buying guides for your new products.
11. A VIP campaign to celebrate loyal customers
To attract customers and boost your sales, run a promotion aimed at subscribers who recently purchased your products. You can also include your regular customers.
The goal is to strengthen their loyalty by giving them the feeling that they are part of an exclusive community.
Celebrate their loyalty by giving them access to private sales, exclusive discounts, previews of new products… You can also run a flash sale and send the link by SMS only.
In this message, the brand clearly states "Member Offer" to reinforce customers' sense of exclusivity and belonging:
12. SMS to find brand ambassadors
Find influencers and brand ambassadors can be easy via SMS. Ask your subscribers to rate you on a scale of 1 to 10.
Then ask those who rated you highly to recommend you to their family or friends. You can use those who brought you the most customers for future campaigns.
Make sure to give them specific affiliate links and reward them with discount vouchers or free products.
13. "Text an expert" messages
With this technique, it's the subscriber who sends you a message and therefore feels like they're contacting you (which makes conversion easier).
Except that you will have sent a first SMS in which you provide a number to write to in order to get expert advice.
These can be questions about how to use your product/service or achieve a goal related to your activity.
For example, if you sell an SEO tool, you can offer an appointment with an expert to learn how to improve a website's ranking in search engines.
In sectors like healthcare, the anonymous nature of SMS can ensure the success of this campaign and thus attract new customers.
14. SMS to reduce churn rate
Another way to re-engage your audience, or to reduce the unsubscribe rate, is to send a promotion to targeted audiences.
Imagine you have a restaurant and a competitor opens nearby. To prevent your customers from being unfaithful, you can send an SMS like: "Hello, children eat free on Sundays when you show this SMS!" Such a promotion will certainly get high response rates and immediate results.
This good practice is even more effective with customers who did not respond to you on other marketing channels.
You can also use it to clarify a context, as this wine merchant did during the lockdown:
The aim is to avoid losing customers by reminding them that it is still open during the health crisis.
15. Gaming SMS
In addition to regularly reading SMS, mobile users like to play games on their phones. You can combine business with pleasure by taking advantage of the gaming.
On your website, create an easy game with instant prizes: products, gift vouchers, discount coupons, big prizes… Send the link by SMS to your subscribers to engage them. Also ask them to forward the SMS to their friends to attract new customers.
Send a message with a link to a game on your site. It should match your offer. For example, gamers can win discount vouchers to use on your site. It's the perfect way to engage your subscribers and attract other customers, SMS being easily shareable.
Conclusion
Faced with the saturation of many marketing channels, SMS is a powerful alternative to get closer to your consumers and attract new customers! Through these 15 types of messages, you can engage your audience and improve your conversion rate very quickly.
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