Text Message Marketing for Retail: First Steps

Marketing is always difficult.

It’s a never-ending series of trying, failing, succeeding, testing (rinse & repeat)...

It’s often difficult to have confidence about what’s working, what’s not working, or what you should or shouldn’t be trying.

That all being said, there’s 1 confidence-boosting marketing tool that’s not given enough thought, even though it should be a no-brainer.

Texting.

You intuitively know that everyone reads their texts (and the data backs it up, with the reported 98% read rate).

This high read rate gives texting powerful potential in your retail marketing as you really REACH your customers…

• Imagine the revenue boost you could get from almost 100% of people actually SEEING the promotion you blast out
• Imagine the customer loyalty you could foster from being able to personally follow-up with customers via text
• Imagine the customer experience you could provide from being able to text customers with helpful notices like order confirmations, receipts, and delivery notices

All of that is why a texting platform is the 1 tool you’re missing in order to round out your marketing efforts for your retail business.

And don’t worry! It’s not hard to get started.

We’ll walk you through…

1) Get a Free Consultation with an SMS Expert Before Diving In

You can get a free 1-on-1 Zoom consultation with an SMS expert to help you get off on the right foot as you begin your text marketing journey.

They’ll walk you through how everything works and can give you advice specific to your situation and your business.

They’ll also answer any questions you have and can address any lingering concerns, to help give you some direction as you get started.

2) Set Your Goals and Develop Your Target Audience

To get started with text message marketing, set some clear goals around what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase conversions? Improve customer loyalty? Increase sales and ROI in a specific area or product?

Once you have your goals set, develop your target audience. This includes segmenting your customers based on their location, interests and past purchase behavior.

By segmenting your list, you’ll be able to create more personalized messages that resonate better with potential and existing customers.

3) Write an Irresistible Offer

Crafting a stellar offer to send in your text message marketing campaign is key to increasing conversions.

Try to make it difficult for customers to say no by delivering an irresistible value proposition.

Incentivize a purchase with a discount code, or throw in a free shipping voucher for loyal customers. If you’re offering information rather than product sales, make sure the content you’re sending via text messages adds substantial value.

Ultimately, you want people to remember your brand because of the excellent offers and information you provide - and that means making people feel like they’ve gained something for engaging with your business.

4) Monitor, Test, and Revise Your Campaigns Frequently

Monitoring and analyzing your text message campaigns is essential to optimize results.

Take advantage of dashboards that measure metrics like delivery rate, open rate, click-through rate, engagement, conversion rate and ROI. You can use these metrics to try different modifications in your campaigns.

For instance, you could test different headlines or call-to-action messages to attract more people and improve response rates. Follow up on the most successful tests until you reach a desirable outcome for each campaign.

To help you visualize the potential power of texting for your retail business, here are some specific examples…

1) Notify Customers Instantly About Your Promotions

So you’re running a BOGO deal, or 20% off a particular product, or a doorbuster sale?

Blast out a text about it and most people will see your promotion in less than 5 minutes.

Include a convenient purchase link right there within your text so that people can easily follow through and purchase.

"Today only! Buy one get one FREE for all items $20 or less. Enter code BOGO20 at checkout or mention the code in person: [link]"

2) Build Hype for Your New Product or Inventory

Got any new products you think your customers will be interested in?

Let them know… via text message.

It’s the surest way to make sure people actually know about your new product—so that you can get them more interested in it.

(This can be especially effective if you have a targeted segment that you know is particularly interested in a certain type of product.)

New! Quality leggings for children, available now! Check ‘em out here: [link]

3) Chat with Customers 1-on-1

Texting is the new phone call—especially for younger consumers.

Take advantage of that opportunity to engage your customers 1-on-1 via SMS.

You can ask them how they’re enjoying a recent purchase, or allow them to text in with any questions or issues.

The personal touch can help encourage repeat business (and help you get some good feedback on how to improve your business).

Hi! This is [rep name] from [business name]. Thanks for your recent purchase! I wanted to check in to see how things were going… Did everything go smoothly with your purchase?

4) Keep Your Team on the Same Page

OK, so this example isn’t marketing. But it’s another helpful use for an SMS platform.

Use texting among your team to help make sure everyone’s on the same page regarding things like:

• IT issues
• Emergency notices
• Shift needs
• Closures
• Holidays
• Training
• Events
• Meetings

The list goes on…

Your team is much more likely to see a text quickly than an email (or even a Slack notification), so it’s an effective way to keep everyone in the know.

Get all of the following for FREE for 14 days…

• 50 FREE messages, so you can fully test out the platform and get a feel for how it works

• Personal 1-on-1 walkthrough via Zoom, so you can feel confident in getting started, and have all of your questions answered

• Web dashboard, so you can easily send messages and manage your account from all of your devices

• Mobile app, so you can fire off messages whether you're at home, in the office, or on the go

• Spreadsheet importing, so you can take advantage of your existing list rather than starting from scratch

• Text-to-join functionality, so you can get more people on your text list

• Automatic QR codes, so you can have even more flexibility in growing your text list

• Web sign-up forms, so you can easily collect subscriber information

• Integrations, so you can free up time and hassle

• Message scheduling, so you’re not tied down to specific times and dates

• 2-way messaging inbox, so you can enjoy personalized 1-on-1 conversations with your recipients

• Contact grouping, so you can organize your list to send more relevant messages

• Reports and analytics, so you can monitor results from your mass texting campaigns

• Automations, so that you can relax and go hands-free

• Convenient support, so that you can get the help you need, when you need it