Email marketing is without a doubt the most effective marketing channel for emerging D2C brands. Now, email has a new sidekick: SMS marketing. By pairing email with SMS, eCommerce marketers have the potential to double the sales figures. We asked Mason’s Director of Email, Brian Poole, to share his insights and SMS marketing tips for emerging D2C brands.
Email + SMS = The Power Duo in D2C Marketing
Is SMS already part of your D2C marketing strategy? It should. “It’s 2021, every eCommerce brand must use SMS marketing to stay relevant. It’s not a matter of whether you should do it – you definitely should – but how to do it”, Brian said, “You’ll be able to leverage SMS more than you think. My advice for emerging brands is to start collecting SMS early. Pop ups and landing pages are good ways to collect mobile numbers. Or, collect them at the checkout.”
SMS marketing is an extension of email marketing efforts, and it works best when aligned with your email strategy. Essentially, SMS is very similar to email in terms of tracking, segmentation, and scheduling campaigns. There is one significant difference, however. Volume. How many promotional emails do you get to your inbox every day? 10, 50, even more? Would you like to receive the same daily number of text messages directly to your phone? Probably not. Brian recommends sending no more than two text messages per month. Sending messages too frequently, you’ll run a risk of bothering people.
Only Send Worthwhile and Relevant Content
Before hitting the send button, always ask yourself: Is the message worth sending? Am I giving the recipient something worthwhile? Brian shared an important piece of advice, “Use SMS marketing to announce new launches or other exciting events. And, share the announcements on SMS before any other channel. Early access will add exclusivity.”
90% of all text messages are read within 3 minutes of being received.
Consider using text messages also for customer service. SMS is a personal and highly effective channel to have direct conversations with your customers. According to Gigaom, 90% of all text messages are read within 3 minutes of being received, making it a great way to communicate in real time. The same study shows that text messages have an average open rate of 98%, whereas the average open rate for email is 22%.
“SMS marketing is very cost-efficient and has great return on spend. In fact, I’ve never seen anyone spend more than they make with SMS, ” Brian sums up his email and SMS tips for D2C brands, “In addition to new launches, use marketing automation to send SMS shopping cart abandonment reminders and resell to existing customers. Just as you would through email marketing.“
Ready to launch your SMS marketing campaigns? Klaviyo is a great platform for seamless email and SMS marketing. For expert advice with your email marketing strategy, book a consultation with our digital marketing experts today.