SMS Marketing Solutions for E-Commerce Businesses

The e-commerce industry is constantly growing. It is absolutely amazing how each day, dozens of new online stores are emerging around the world. Considering that over half of all internet users shop online from time to time, there is no doubt that good money can be made with an online store.

However, seeing that there is so much profit in eCommerce, the competition is growing on a daily basis. 

And, when an industry gets saturated, you have to be really creative with your marketing efforts. It’s tough to stand out from the crowd when there are thousands of other stores similar to the one you run.

But, there is one relatively unknown channel that is becoming really popular. It’s SMS marketing and you won’t believe how good it is.

What is SMS Marketing Really?

When you use SMS marketing, you are promoting your business, products, or services to your customers via text messaging.

This kind of marketing is quite effective, since it allows you to engage with your customers where they’re spending more and more time—on their mobile phones.

You probably own a phone and all of your friends have phones too. So, the equation is quite simple. On top of that, did you know that a whopping 90% of all text messages are read almost immediately? That should be a clear sign that you seriously need to consider SMS marketing.

However, bear in mind that this kind of marketing is permission-based and requires explicit consent before you can send any messages. Since sending unsolicited texts can become a legal issue, you should adopt this marketing channel only if your customers allow it.

Before you start using SMS API services, make sure to check the legal stuff. You don’t want to find yourself in hot water over sending messages to people who don’t want to receive them. 

After all, you wouldn’t want to receive messages from an unknown business, right?

Benefits of SMS Marketing

It is clear that as a store owner, you need to use every tool at your disposal to stand out from the rest. That is the only way to grow online.

Seeing that this kind of marketing has numerous benefits, let’s try to narrow down the list to some of the more prominent ones. By going through the list below, you will see that digging up more about SMS marketing will be worth your time.

Incredible open rates

If you did hear something about SMS marketing before, you already know that the open rates are outstanding.

Well, the exact figures stand somewhere around 99%, which is stunning. To make this fact even better and more attractive, this happens in the first five minutes upon the arrival of a message.

When compared to email marketing, for instance, this is clearly a better option. Email marketing still works and it’s worth considering, but SMS marketing is more effective. After all, numbers don’t lie.

You would be a pioneer

Entrepreneurs that have started using this marketing tool claim that the best bit about it is the fact that SMS marketing is still not that popular.

It’s crazy, but many entrepreneurs still haven’t even considered it. Obviously, it’s your time to act since this is a clear advantage over your rivals, who either don’t have the time to research text marketing or just don’t want to do so.

Click-through rates

Did you know that click-through rates for emails stand at a miserly 3%? On the other hand, the average click-through rate for an SMS marketing campaign is somewhere around 36%.

In addition to these figures, some eCommerce business owners claim that they split large text messaging lists into segments. The reason for this is that a single large text blast attracts too much traffic in one go.

Global reach

You can send text messages to people all around the world. Also, rare are the providers that could stop your message from finding its way to a potential customer.

With this ability, you can target people from other countries, not just your home country. And, you don’t have to worry if that person will receive your message because there is no spam folder for text messages.

Mobile-friendliness

Remember that a lot of people only use their mobile devices to roam the internet. They also shop from their phones, they visit social media platforms from their phones, and they read the news in the same way.

Moreover, popular search engines such as Google have stated that they are now putting an emphasis on the mobile experience. And since SMS is still the main form of mobile communication, this is clear proof that you can’t engage your customers better than through this channel.

How to Use SMS Marketing?

It’s clear that you should use this kind of marketing, but let’s see how to actually make it happen. Take a look at some ideas that could be useful for you.

Coupon codes

Have you considered SMS for sending unique coupon codes? In a single text message, you could provide each of your subscribers with a unique coupon code that can be used only once.

There is no way to abuse this offer and your subscribers will undoubtedly like it. This is also a great way to show that you appreciate them and the chances are that these people will remain on your text list for a long time.

Birthday reward

Get personal and send happy birthday text messages to your customers. On top of that, make sure to offer a special deal on their special day.

To make things even better, it is possible to automate this entire process and you will do wonders when it comes to engagement. Just make sure that these rewards are not shared among friends.

Shipping notifications

Texts with shipping notifications bring value. And, you could also include links with delivery status updates.

Even though these texts are not strictly marketing-related, they will help your customers become more comfortable with your brand. Also, you could allow people to respond since that would give them an opportunity to contact you in case something unexpected happens.

This means that you will provide support in a really unique way and your customers will definitely appreciate that.

Final Thoughts

In order to be different and better than the rest, you have to think of ways to outperform your rivals.

By learning about novelties such as SMS marketing, video testimonials, or eCommerce software such as CS-Cart Multi-Vendor, you will have a chance to get one step ahead of your competition.

Dave Schneider is the founder of LessChurn, churn reduction app. In 2012 he quit his job to travel the world, and has visited over 65 countries. In his spare time, he writes about SaaS and business at DaveSchneider.me