Long-term revenue starts with relationships, but how can you build high-quality relationships with customers who only engage with your brand from behind a screen? With SMS marketing, creating customer connections comes naturally.
SMS marketing brings the human, personalized experience of shopping in a retail store to mobile through 1:1 text conversations. These “conversations” can be both authentic and automated, both powering more meaningful mobile engagements that inspire brand trust and increase CLTV.
This is how to use SMS conversations to give your customers what they want, when they want, in the moments that matter most. Brands who do are 209% more likely to get a customer response than any other channel.
Conversational Flows
With Yotpo SMS & Email’s industry-leading SMS Flow Builder, you can simulate the types of conversations you would have with customers if they stepped into your retail store. Set up a series of Q&A text messages for new subscribers to get to know them and learn their product preferences. Then, trigger responses with relevant recommendations that are most likely to convert.
For example, a skincare brand asks a new subscriber about their skin type. The subscriber then responds with the keyword that is relevant to them. Based on the subscriber’s selection, the brand suggests the product formula that is designed for that unique customer’s needs. Over 43% of consumers enjoy when brands ask them questions about their needs or interests, and 34% say they would sign up for SMS specifically to receive tips and personalized product recommendations.
Use conversational flows from that first welcome to completed purchases and beyond — with triggers designed for cart abandonment, customer winback, loyalty rewards, and more — to target customers at key moments in their journey, then engage them in two-way conversations that drive them to action.
You’ll collect more zero-party data about your customers through every conversation, enabling you to build complete customer profiles for even more personalized SMS experiences and over 4x higher ROI. Have an upcoming product launch to promote? You can save your conversational flow data to use in future campaigns, so you know exactly who to target for maximum results.
SMS has been immensely impactful as a conversational channel as well. We’re able to leverage keyword responses to understand our customers. Identifying their gender through flows has allowed us to create segmented campaigns — with messages that are relevant to each shopper — to drive purchases. — Doris Neufeld, Head of Email & SMS, CURIO
SMS Chat
To more thoroughly understand and address your customers’ needs (and do so quickly), go a step beyond these automated conversations with SMS Chat. SMS marketing has an average 46% reply rate, making it the perfect opportunity for brands and customers to have real-time, interactive conversations too. Empower your subscribers to reach out to you directly when they have a question or concern, then provide live assistance via text.
With key insights pulled from unified shopper profiles and segments, you can deliver thoughtful responses to every customer and always leave a positive lasting impression. And with our powerful help desk integrations, you can streamline this workflow for your customer service representatives.
Connect with your team’s preferred solution (like Re:amaze, Gorgias, and Zendesk) to easily manage your replies all in one place, so you can deliver the direct and fast communication mobile consumers have come to expect. Over 41% of consumers say they would sign up for SMS to get faster responses to customer support queries, and Yotpo SMS & Email will ensure you get back to them at the right time, every time.
There’s so much value in having one-on-one conversations with our customers via text. It’s really become a relationship-building channel for us. With the integration, we can manage replies directly in Zendesk, enabling us to be even more personalized. We’ll send out a text promoting a new product launch, and people engage with the message right away or reply back. They appreciate our direct outreach on their preferred channel — it’s helping us increase sales. — Loulou Milligan, Customer Experience Coordinator, Evelyn & Bobbie
Start Talking
Gone are the days of brands and customers playing tag via email — with SMS marketing, you’ll never miss an opportunity to connect and have meaningful, timely conversations that drive revenue. Now is the time to elevate your customer experience with texts.
Ready to start talking? Click here.
