SMS marketing is a powerful tool for ecommerce brands. It enables you to connect with your customers in a more personal way than other marketing channels. When used well, it can become one of your top revenue drivers.
Here are ten benefits of SMS marketing that every ecommerce brand should know when launching a text message marketing program.
1. High engagement rates
SMS has a high engagement rate when compared to other marketing channels. In fact, SMS is estimated to have an average open rate of 95% within three minutes of receipt. Compare that to email marketing, with an average open rate of 25%.
This means that your subscribers are more likely to read your text messages and take action on them.
Text messaging has such high engagement rates because many people always have their phones with them and notifications on for texts. And SMS is a direct and personal communication channel. When you land in your customer's inbox, you're among messages from their closest friends and family -- in other words, messages they care about. And finally, people are used to reading and responding to text messages, unlike emails or push notifications which often get ignored.
High engagement rates mean that your ecommerce brand can more effectively reach customers and generate more sales with SMS marketing.
2. Great for conversions
When following SMS best practices, including using personalization and behavior-based flows, text marketing can become an excellent source for conversions.
You know now that a lot of your subscribers are opening your texts. So it's just a matter of delivering the right message to the right person at the right time to encourage shoppers to buy.
For example, you can use SMS as part of your abandoned cart strategy to bring more customers over the finish line. You can integrate SMS with your loyalty program to send VIP customers exclusive discounts. Or you can run flash sales to get subscribers to shop.
3. Higher ROI (return on investment) than other marketing channels
Another significant benefit of SMS marketing is that it offers one of the highest ROIs of all marketing channels.
While data varies across the internet, a new report from the Association of National Advertisers lists SMS marketing as the channel with the second highest ROI after direct mail -- winning out over email, paid search, social ads, and digital display advertising.
In fact, Emotive customers see an average ROI of $27 for every $1 spent on text message marketing.
The reason for this difference is two-fold. First, high engagement rates lead to more conversions. Second, SMS is a relatively low-cost marketing channel. You don't need to spend much money to reach a large number of people with your message.
This makes SMS an attractive option for ecommerce brands who want to get the most bang for their buck out of their marketing efforts.
4. Helps build customer loyalty
Building customer loyalty is essential for any ecommerce brand looking to create long-term success. And SMS is an effective way to do it.
With SMS, you can send VIP customers exclusive discounts, early access to product launches, and offers they can't get anywhere else. These perks create a sense of exclusivity and belonging that encourages shoppers to return for more. And it shows customers that you value your relationship with them.
You can also use SMS to send customers helpful reminders about their orders, help with product recommendations, and offer customer support by text.
All these add up to a more enjoyable customer experience that keeps your subscribers glued to your brand.
5. Easy to track the impact
It's essential to track the impact of any marketing campaign so that you can see what's working and what needs improvement.
Owned channels are easier to track than paid channels because you have full access to data on your subscribers. You know who your subscribers are. You can see how many people clicked on a link in your message. And you can see what they did next on your website -- whether they bought, browsed, or added a product to your cart.
This data is essential for understanding the impact of your SMS marketing campaigns and making necessary adjustments along the way.
6. Helps you learn more about your customers
SMS marketing also allows you to learn more about your customers. With every interaction, you gather valuable customer data that can be used to make your campaigns more effective.
Automated text message flows can remind customers about products they showed interest in or sales they browsed that are about to end.
Over time, you learn what products and types of products each subscriber likes so you can send content that's more relevant to them.
For example, say you sell pet supplies. You might find that one subscriber always shows interest in your dog toys but never engages with texts about dog food. Spare their inbox and prevent unsubscribes by only texting them about toys. Save the dog food texts for someone else.
This is a kind of invisible feedback that your customers are giving you about what they want and need. And it's essential to listen to it to build an engaged subscriber list.
7. Increases customer retention
Retention has been a buzzword ever since acquisition costs for paid ads skyrocketed in 2021. More businesses than ever are investing in customer retention because it costs less to retain an existing customer than it does to convince a new shopper to buy from you. If you're focused on increasing customer retention this year, SMS marketing can help.
Keeping your subscribers engaged with relevant content increases their chances of sticking around long-term. And that means more revenue for your ecommerce brand in the long run.
To increase retention with SMS, send personalized marketing messages and automated flows that use the customer data you've gathered. Consider including SMS in your browse and cart abandonment flows, replenishment reminders, and winback flows to boost your retention efforts.
8. Cost-effective
SMS marketing is great for brands on a tight budget. The actual price of your SMS messages will depend on your text message marketing platform, but you can expect to pay around $0.01 per SMS per recipient -- plus any platform fees for your SMS marketing provider.
To put that in perspective, the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for Facebook Ads is $13.97 -- or about $0.014 per impression. And then you have to pay even more when someone clicks on an ad -- $0.99 per click.
You don't have to pay for clicks in SMS marketing, so it is a fraction of the cost of other channels.
9. Reach customers quickly
SMS marketing lets you reach your customers near instantly. Remember what we said about your customers opening texts within three minutes? So chances are good they'll see your text soon after you send it.
That makes SMS a great option when you need to reach your customers quickly -- for example, to let them know about a flash sale or order update.
10. Low competition
Even though most ecommerce shoppers have a phone -- and, more importantly, a smartphone they can use to browse your website, SMS marketing is still an underutilized channel. 70% of shoppers are subscribed to texts from brands, but only 55% of brands text customers.
That gives you the chance to be one of the few brands in your industry to take advantage of SMS marketing and reap the benefits.
But don't wait too long to get started -- as SMS marketing becomes more popular, the competition for customers' attention will increase.
Get started with an SMS marketing platform built for ecommerce
When used effectively, SMS can be a powerful marketing tool for ecommerce brands. Now you understand how SMS marketing can impact your business. So you'll need SMS software to get started.
Choose an SMS marketing platform like Emotive that's specially built for ecommerce brands that want to scale. With Emotive, you can send one-off texts and automated flows. You can even engage subscribers with two-way conversational SMS. In addition, white glove services will help you define your text message marketing strategy, write copy, optimize your campaigns, and respond to customer inquiries.
Elevate your customer experience and learn more about how Emotive's best-in-class features can turn SMS into your next best revenue stream. Sign up for a demo today.