Reminder advertising is a marketing strategy that aims to remind the audience about a product or service they have previously shown interest in or purchased. This type of advertising is typically implemented on various channels like social media, email marketing, display ads, and search ads.

Reminder advertising aims to keep a product or company top of mind for potential customers, increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases or brand loyalty.

Why is reminder advertising necessary?

Reminder advertising helps businesses retain customers, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Some of the key reasons why reminder ads are important include the following:

  1. Reinforcing brand awareness: By reminding customers of a business's products or services, reminder advertising can help keep the brand top-of-mind and boost brand awareness over time.

  2. Maintaining customer loyalty: Reminder advertising can also strengthen customer loyalty by reminding customers of previous purchases, upcoming sales, or other relevant information that may encourage them to make another purchase.

  3. Driving repeat sales: Reminder advertising is crucial for businesses that rely on repeat purchases, such as subscription services or consumable products. Companies can increase revenue and improve customer retention by reminding customers to re-order or renew their subscriptions.

  4. Capitalizing on seasonality: Reminder advertising can also help brands to capitalize on seasonal trends or events, such as holiday sales, back-to-school promotions, or summer discounts. By reminding potential and existing customers of these events, businesses can create a sense of urgency and drive sales during peak periods.

Overall, reminder advertising enables business growth over time. By leveraging various channels, including email newsletters, social media platforms, display advertising — and SMS — businesses can create effective reminder campaigns that deliver results and support long-term growth.

Types of SMS reminders

SMS reminders keep customers engaged with an ecommerce or retail brand and increase conversions by reminding them of relevant products, services, or opportunities. Here are some common SMS examples of reminder advertising:

  • Abandoned cart reminders are messages sent to customers who have added products to their online shopping carts but still need to finish the purchase. The reminders usually encourage the customer to return and complete purchases and include links to their shopping carts to make resuming the checkout process easy. The goal of abandoned cart SMS alerts is to limit cart abandonment rates and boost sales for online retailers.

  • Sales and promotions reminders are follow-up messages sent to customers to remind them of ongoing sales or promotional offers. These SMS reminders often include a discount code or coupon that customers can redeem at checkout to incentivize them to buy. Ultimately, companies use sales and promotions reminders to increase sales and customer engagement by providing a time-limited offer.

  • Product launch reminders are sent to customers to announce a new product or service they're introducing. These messages usually include a brief description of the product or service and any special features or benefits. The essence of product launch SMS reminders is to build excitement and interest in the new product or service and prompt customers to make purchases or try it out.

  • Loyalty program reminders are text or multimedia messages sent to customers who are part of a loyalty or rewards program. These reminders usually include information about the customer's rewards points balance and any available incentives. Loyalty program SMS reminders encourage continued engagement with a brand and incentivize customers to purchase or take other actions to earn additional rewards points.

  • Seasonal reminders are SMS marketing messages sent to customers to remind customers about seasonal products or services, as well as any seasonal promotions or events. Examples of seasonal reminders include holiday-specific sales or promotions, special offers for the back-to-school season, or reminders about seasonal menu items or products. Seasonal SMS reminders generate interest and excitement around a particular time of year and encourage customers to purchase or take advantage of special offers.

  • Referral program reminders are sent to customers who are part of a referral program, inviting them to refer friends or family to the brand. These reminders often include information about the rewards or incentives available for successful referrals and instructions on how to do it. With referral program SMS reminders, ecommerce businesses can incentivize customers to spread the word about the brand and attract new customers through word-of-mouth marketing.

7 best practices for SMS reminders

SMS reminders can be a powerful tool to improve engagement with customers and clients. Still, it's important to use them wisely and follow best practices to avoid sounding spammy or intrusive. Apply these SMS reminder best practices for optimal results.

1. Be selective

Being selective helps to reduce the risk of annoying or alienating customers with too many messages. Hence, focus on sending reminders only for important events or promotions and limiting the number of messages sent to avoid overwhelming the customer's inbox.

By carefully selecting the timing, content, and frequency of SMS reminders, ecommerce brands can ensure that their messages are relevant and helpful to the customer and not seen as spammy or intrusive. Selectiveness also helps to ensure that SMS reminders are seen as valuable and engaging rather than annoying or unwanted.

2. Keep it short and sweet

Keeping your reminder messages short and sweet helps ensure they are clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. SMS messages also have a limited character count, so using simple language and getting straight to the point is essential. Plus, keeping reminders short and sweet can increase engagement because it makes it easy for customers to read and reply to the message on time.

Avoid unnecessary details or jargon, and focus on the most critical information, ensuring your practice SMS reminders are effective and well-received by customers.

3. Personalize the message

Personalization helps to create an engaging and tailored experience for the customer. By using the customer's name, previous purchase history, or other relevant information, businesses can customize their messages to be more relevant and impactful.

This strategy can increase engagement and response rates, as customers are more likely to pay attention to and act on a message that feels personalized to them. Also, message personalization can help build stronger customer relationships and increase loyalty to your ecommerce or retail brand.

4. Provide value

Providing value in SMS reminder marketing ensures that your messages are helpful, relevant, and engaging for the customer. When customers receive SMS reminders that offer them something of value, such as a discount, reward, or exclusive access to a promotion, they are more likely to engage with the messages and take action.

Also, providing value can help to build stronger relationships with customers and increase loyalty to the brand. Customers who feel they are receiving something of value are more likely to have a positive perception of the brand and be more willing to engage with future messages or promotions. 

5. Include a call to action

Tell the recipient the next step they should take, whether that's completing a purchase, scheduling an appointment, or renewing a subscription.

Including a call to action (CTA) encourages customers to take action and engage with the message. With a clear and compelling CTA — like "Click here to claim your discount" or "Reply YES to confirm your reservation" — in the message, businesses can guide the customer towards the desired action and make responding easy.

CTAs also contribute to higher engagement and conversion rates, as customers are more likely to act when prompted to do so. Plus, including a CTA can help to create a sense of excitement or urgency around the message, which can help to increase the impact and effectiveness of the SMS reminder. 

6. Timing is key

Timing ensures successful SMS reminder marketing because it ensures that you deliver key messages when customers are most likely to receive them well — helping increase engagement and conversion rates.

For example, sending a reminder about an upcoming sale a week or two in advance can help customers plan their purchases and ensure they don't miss out on the promotion. Also, sending a reminder shortly before an event or appointment can help ensure the customer is ready.

7. Obtain consent

Get consent from customers before adding their contacts to your SMS marketing list because it is a best practice in ethical marketing. In several parts of the world, like the United States and Canada, sending unsolicited text messages to customers without their consent is also illegal and can result in significant penalties.

Also, obtaining consent is vital for building customer trust and maintaining a positive brand image. When customers provide their contact information and opt-in to receive SMS reminders, it shows they are willing to engage with the brand and its messaging. This mindset contributes significantly to higher engagement and conversion rates and builds stronger relationships with customers.

It's also important to allow recipients to opt out quickly if they no longer want to receive messages, preventing them from getting frustrated and overwhelmed with text messages they don't want or need.

Up your reminder advertising game with Emotive

An SMS marketing software like Emotive helps ecommerce brands successfully use reminder advertising. With the ability to automate and personalize messages and segment and target customers based on their behavior and preferences, Emotive helps ecommerce businesses deliver highly relevant and impactful reminders that drive engagement and conversions. 

Along with using a custom-built tool like Emotive, keeping messages short and sweet, providing value, using CTAs, and timing reminders strategically can maximize the effectiveness of your SMS reminder marketing campaigns. 

Ready to reach and remind customers about relevant updates and offerings quickly, conveniently, and effectively? Try Emotive today.