With the world changing greatly this past year, the holiday season is expected to be busier than ever before. Now, customers are becoming more accustomed to saying goodbye to brick-and-mortar stores and instead moving online with their purchases. Between all of the Black Friday promotions, social media content, and holiday email marketing, it can feel like a rat race to reach your customers.
However, as their inboxes are becoming crowded with retailers trying to make sales, you need to know how to catch the attention of newcomers and existing customers. This is where SMS marketing comes in and completely changes the game. With SMS marketing, you have the perfect tool to rise above crowded inboxes and increase sales.
If you’re looking to maximize your sales in a cost-friendly and easy way this holiday season, you need to consider adding SMS into your marketing strategy. By incorporating SMS marketing into your holiday strategy you have the opportunity to grow your business, revenue, and customers. Here’s a few tips to help leverage your SMS marketing this season.
Send SMS With Time-Sensitive Messages
There is no time like the present, and time is everything during the holiday season which gives marketers a short window to maximize their revenue. Time-sensitive messages are usually sent during the holiday season to help increase awareness and urgency of sales, especially during pivotal shopping periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Time-sensitive messages are often used for:
- Flash sales
- Sale extension notifications
- Coupon code or sale expiration reminders
As humans, we never want to think we are missing out. That is why time-sensitive messages are the best way to keep people intrigued. Don’t forget to consider details like time zones when sending out your messages, nobody wants a 3 a.m. text message from anyone.
Send Early Sale Access and SMS-only Offers
Now, if you’re wanting to make your SMS subscribers feel unique and special, exclusivity is the perfect recipe for success. Sending early sale access and SMS-only offers to your subscribers will make them think that they are getting something others aren’t, which they technically are. When people are scrambling to refresh their internet browsers for sales and updates to products, you can build awareness and increase positive sentiment with your SMS subscribers. For the initial announcement, you can send an enticing and interesting message that provides key information like the sales, offers, bundles, etc.
When you are following-up with customers after the holidays, a simple text with a link to your store should seal the deal. There is no need to get lengthy with an elaborate text, your customers are looking for the link to start shopping. How many messages you choose for this campaign will depend on you, but remember not to overwhelm audiences with an abundance of messages or they can become irritated and opt out of future notifications. Sending a reminder or two in the final hours of a specific sale or time sensitive landing page can definitely increase your chances of great campaign performance.
Triggered Text Messages
Triggered text messages are a great way to nurture your brand loyalists and drive revenue without having to put in too much work which is a holiday must. Triggered text messages are automatically sent out to SMS subscribers based on actions they’ve taken on your website. These actions include:
- Opting in to your text messaging program
- Abandoning an online cart
- Completing a purchase
By building these automated flows ahead of the busy holiday season, you ensure that you won’t miss any great opportunities to engage with a high-intent shopper. What would once be lost revenue can be saved by triggered text messages.
Browse and Cart Abandonment Reminders
Throughout the holiday season, shoppers are constantly on the hunt for great deals which means a lot of open windows and “add to cart” scenarios. This means that they will likely spend a large amount of time bouncing from site to site in search of them and forget or miss the opportunity to complete a sale.
Browsing abandonment reminders are one of the best ways to encourage high-intent shoppers who have had their eye on a specific product to return to your website and make their purchase. In your SMS, you should include a link back to the item they had their eye on in order to make it as easy as possible for them to add it to their online cart and complete their purchase.
As shoppers surf the web for the best deals, they are extremely likely to leave items in their online shopping carts. Triggered abandoned cart SMS reminders will help you recover revenue that would likely have been lost. With a well-timed reminder, linking shoppers directly back to their carts to complete their purchase will further drive your sales.
Keep in Touch Even After the Purchase Has Been Made
Nobody wants to think that after they have made a purchase, they’re disposable. Engage your subscribers even after the holiday season has ended by sending a series of post-purchase messages. By sending helpful transactional updates such as shipping and delivery notifications, you will help to build excitement before their items arrive.
Then, you should take the chance to nurture them with incentives such as the opportunity to redeem with their next purchase, options to join your loyalty program, or request a review.
You Should Also Consider Using SMS Messages To:
- Promote other benefits that you can offer
- Send a powerful thank you message
- Up-sell and cross-sell the customer
- Offer a limited-time-only incentive for the next purchase
The Bottom Line
There are many things you can do to get ready for the holiday season. Spend this holiday season focused on the things that will generate the greatest ROI. Using SMS in your marketing this season will do exactly that. Add time sensitivity, offer campaigns, and avoid the madness that comes along with the holiday season.
With DevShorts, you can create custom SMS short links with customer support updates, order statuses, service delays or changes so your customers don’t miss a single thing during the holiday season!
