It's 2021 and there are over 1 million eCommerce businesses around the world, with new businesses and products being launched every day. With escalating competition, it’s now more important than ever for businesses to increase brand visibility and stand out amongst competitors. Old school marketing techniques just aren’t cutting it in 2021. Sorry FOMO and Flash Sales - there's a new guy in town.
Enter: Human connection. Customers are actively seeking out brands they can relate to and fall in love with. This is the core of our business at Emotive: helping you communicate more authentically with your customers and build better relationships via SMS.
Here are just a few ways building relationships can help your business:
Increase customer lifetime value (LTV) - Loyal customers = a lifetime of sales
Develop brand advocates - Once customers fall in love, they’ll be singing your praises from the rooftops (and on all their social media channels)
Lower your advertising costs - Once a relationship is built it will be easier to close a sale organically
Offer fewer discounts - Price becomes less of a barrier when your customers love you and your product
Ready to start implementing relationship-building marketing into your business now? We’re on it.
We’ve put together 5 strategies for building better relationships via SMS 👇
Communicate more
You read that right—more! While you may hesitate to send more SMS messages to your customers, in fear of overwhelming them or scaring them away, establishing a relationship is key. Plus, your customers want to hear from you! Rather than reaching out only when you need something from your customers (e.g. a sale or a review), balance these opportunities with messages that help your customers feel valued and in-the-know. The key is to educate, nurture, inform, and engage them as much as possible so that when you’re ready for the sale, your customer is, too. We’ve found that our brands actually generate more revenue and have fewer opt-outs when they send more broadcasts (6-8 per month) to their customers that aren’t just sales based. Go ahead and keep sending those broadcasts, we’re rooting for you!
Ask questions
To build a relationship, it’s important to know who your customer is on an individual level, and to understand the problem you’re solving for them. Fortunately, SMS is the quickest way to get to know your customers and get the feedback you need! You’re perfectly equipped to help guide a customer’s purchase via conversational texting, too. Here are just a few examples of questions that will help build a trusting relationship, and drive sales: Do they have any questions about your products or buying experience? What interested them about your brand? What objections (if any) do they have to buying? Do they need more education on your products? You’ll also want to follow up with customers post-purchase to continue the conversation and further solidify brand trust: How was their order experience? Do they have any feedback on the product(s)? What do they love most about your brand/product? What problem does your product solve for them? Asking questions also shows your customers that you value their opinion, and it makes them feel like they are a part of your business.
Be relatable
Once you’re able to tap into your customers wants and needs, you’ll be able to relate to them even more—think human to human! Implementing this strategy in your SMS marketing can have a huge ROI. In your broadcasts and experiences, speak to your customers' problems and how you can help solve them. Show them you understand their struggles and have heard their feedback. Sprinkle in humor and sarcasm (when appropriate) to show them you’re human, too! The more relatable you are as a business, the more your customers will trust you.
Show appreciation
Never underestimate your customers’ (totally human) desire to feel seen and appreciated!. As a customer yourself, you’re likely familiar with the feel-good impact a little appreciation can have on your day, and your overall perception of a brand. We recommend you implement an appreciation message into your monthly broadcast strategy, and into conversational flows built with xperiences, too Remember: Rewards and referral programs that include discounts and free gifts are also a great way to show your appreciation for (and raise lifetime value of) your customers.
Get personal
Speak to your customers as if you are speaking to them individually. This crucial strategy goes far beyond just adding in the <name> field to a broadcast and calling it a day. Once you know your customers needs and interests, you can take your SMS strategy to the next level. You have the power to personalize your broadcasts and experiences by purchase history and communicate based on customer behaviors. These strategies will make your customers feel understood and like they have a personal connection with your brand. In doing so, you’ll also be able to fine-tune your broadcasting strategy to maximize ROI.
In implementing all of these strategies together, you’ll achieve a highly personalized SMS strategy that will help you develop better relationships with your customers. This will help you generate more revenue through the SMS channel, and help you build a more valuable business. Your Emotive team will be at your side every step of the way. We can’t wait to see the relationships you build!
As always, we’re here to offer additional guidance as needed. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you need help with your SMS relationship building strategy.
Not an Emotive customer yet? Book a call in 8 seconds or less and see how SMS can become one of your top revenue generators.