11 Benefits of SMS Marketing for Brands

1. Boost customer engagement

Whereas emails can languish in spam filters, promotion tabs, or overfull inboxes, text messages are usually read and acted upon immediately. In fact, 90% of messages are read within three minutes, and texting drives 8x higher engagement rates than email. Not only that, 47% of shoppers surveyed by Yotpo said their email inboxes are overflowing, so they are more likely to see a brand’s message if it’s via text.

2. Reduce browse abandonment and cart abandonment

Browse and cart abandonment are significant pain points for eCommerce brands — but with SMS marketing, you can encourage shoppers to come back and complete their purchases. By setting up browse abandonment and cart abandonment flows through a provider like Yotpo SMS, you can trigger SMS messages to remind shoppers of where they left off and incentivize them to convert.

3. Improve customer loyalty

Having a comprehensive, personalized SMS strategy allows you to build deeper connections with your customers. Fostering these relationships helps brands build trust and turn interested shoppers into loyal buyers.

Brands can also use SMS to drive the success of loyalty programs, and vice versa. In a recent Yotpo survey, more than 42% of shoppers said they consider if they are a loyalty member before signing up for SMS, and another 46% said receiving a text with information about their loyalty points or rewards would encourage them to complete a purchase.

You can use SMS marketing to enhance your existing loyalty program by rewarding shoppers with points and exclusive perks for signing up, or simply keeping them informed about changes to their loyalty status — including what rewards they’ve unlocked, new tiers they’ve leveled up to, or how many points they’ll earn by completing their next purchase.

4. Increase conversion rates

SMS has a 12% higher conversion rate than other channels. And the more you can personalize your messaging, the more likely shoppers are to convert.

5. Raise open rates

According to Constant Contact, the average email open rate across industries is just under 20%. If you’re thinking that’s a pretty good number, you’re right — email marketing remains a vital and effective channel.

The open rate for SMS messages, on the other hand, is 98%. That’s a huge number. Now, imagine what a brand can accomplish by utilizing both of those channels.

6. Maximize your ROI

The more targeted and personalized your SMS communications are, the higher your ROI. For brands that use targeted SMS flows, their ROI is 4x higher.

7. Integrate with other marketing channels and campaigns

Consumers expect an omnichannel experience, and adding SMS to your marketing channels gives you the opportunity to send customers the right message, at the right time, on the right channel. Using an eCommerce marketing platform like Yotpo makes it easy to connect all of the elements of your tech stack to seamlessly build, execute, and measure your omnichannel marketing strategy.

8. Foster direct and immediate communication

SMS allows you to relay time-sensitive information, like shipping delays or delivery notifications, quickly to your customers.These types of messages can often get lost in emails — but with texts, you can ensure you get the necessary information to the customer before they have to go look for it themselves.

SMS also allows you to notify customers of important sales and exclusive, limited-time offers that they may otherwise miss out on, helping to boost traffic and sales.

9. Personalize the customer journey

Consumers want personalized experiences, and SMS gives you powerful tools to deliver them. From product recommendations to loyalty program reward updates, brands can use SMS at major touchpoints along the customer journey to accelerate business growth.

10. Improve audience understanding

Every marketing channel provides you with important data on your customers, which you can then use to deliver exceptional and customized experiences. SMS is no exception.

Communicating with your customers via this channel allows you to gather important information about their product likes and dislikes, what offers and messaging they best respond to, and how you can better leverage SMS to engage them.

11. Increase lifetime value

Because SMS has higher engagement and conversion rates than many other channels, it offers brands a unique opportunity to create connections and strengthen customer relationships. These connections translate to a higher lifetime value.

SMS holds so much potential for brands that want to scale up, especially since many brands still aren’t utilizing it to its full potential (or even at all). Those who make the most of SMS marketing are the ones that will create loyal, valuable, happy customers both today and in the future.