5 WordPress SMS Marketing Plugins in 2020

When it comes to digital marketing, you have a surplus of options for connecting with your audience. Email and social media are popular and effective methods but are not without their flaws. Spam folders and the ability to hide activity on Facebook make it easy for users to ignore your campaigns.

If you’re having trouble reaching leads, you may want to look into WordPress SMS marketing plugins. You can send texts to your subscribers regarding eCommerce orders, appointments, new posts, and more. This provides a direct line to your leads as well as existing customers and clients.

This post will give you a complete guide to sending SMS messages to subscribers via WordPress. We’ll discuss how it works, why you may want to do it, and how to enable this type of notifications with or without a plugin. Let’s get started!

WordPress SMS Marketing Plugins

1. Formidable Forms + Twilio SMS Add-On

Since you’ll need a method for collecting phone numbers from your subscribers, integrating WordPress SMS gateway plugins with form builders makes perfect sense. Formidable Forms can help you do just that with its Twilio SMS add-on.

Twilio is a digital communications platform. Using an Application Programming Interface (API), it can send and receive SMS messages via your WordPress site. In order to use the Formidable Forms Twilio add-on (as well as the other plugins and extensions in this post powered by this platform), you’ll need to create an account and retrieve an API key.

If you choose to combine Twilio and Formidable Forms through this add-on, you’ll be able to:

Receive texts via your forms (for example, accepting poll votes by SMS)
Send texts to subscribers whose phone numbers who’ve collected in your forms
Create conditional notifications and automated responses (such as birthday wishes)

2. Gravity Forms + Twilio Add-On

The Formidable Forms add-on is a handy solution if you’re already using the plugin on your site. However, those who prefer the popular alternative Gravity Forms will be happy to know that this form builder also has a Twilio add-on. Once you have your account, integrating the two platforms in WordPress is fairly intuitive.

It also includes a variety of helpful features for keeping track of form submissions and engaging your customers, such as:

Automated notifications sent to you via text whenever someone completes or form or makes payment
Bitly integration for creating short links that won’t eat up your 160 character limit
Integration with the Gravity Forms PayPal extension to send payment notifications to your customers

3. Appointment Hour Booking + Twilio Add-On

When you’re busy trying to juggle work, keeping up your home, and whatever other commitments you have, it can be easy to let things slip through the cracks. That’s why combining Appointment Hour Booking and its Twilio add-on is a smart move when you’re providing services to clients.

By sending reminders about upcoming reservations, you can minimize the likelihood that your client will end up being a no-show. It also gives them a last-minute chance to cancel or reschedule, helping you avoid wasted time waiting on someone who forgot you were coming to repair their refrigerator.

The combination of Appointment Hour Booking and Twilio provides several helpful features:

Incorporates a phone number field into your booking form to collect contact information from subscribers
Sends automated booking and reminder notifications
Provides easy integration of your booking system and SMS notification process

4. Joy of Text

If a premium form builder isn’t the right fit for your site, never fear. Joy of Text is the most flexible of the WordPress SMS plugins on this list and focuses solely on the task of sending text messages from your site. Like the previous tools we’ve mentioned, this plugin also uses Twilio to fuel its features.

One of the best things about Joy of Text is that it’s highly versatile and can meet the needs of almost any WordPress site. Key features include:

Integration with many popular plugins such as WooCommerce, BuddyPress, MemberMouse, and Easy Digital Downloads
WhatsApp integration for international digital communication capabilities
Scheduler and Notifier extensions so you can set messages to send at a later date and automate SMS notifications

5. Twilio SMS Notifications for WooCommerce

One of the most convenient features you can offer your e-commerce customers is automated text updates regarding their purchases. Fortunately, there are several WordPress SMS plugins that can help you implement this functionality, including Twilio SMS Notifications.

As an official WooCommerce extension, you can rest assured that this tool will work seamlessly with its parent plugin to deliver accurate and timely notifications to customers. Other key features include:

Enable customers to opt-in to SMS updates during the checkout process
Send notifications for various order status updates including processing, completed, canceled, and refunded
Test your messages before sending them to customers by delivering an example to yourself first

Final Thoughts

Email and social media marketing can sometimes feel like shouting in the void. SMS marketing provides a direct line to your users’ phones so you can capture their attention and build your platform.

WordPress SMS plugins make incorporating text messages into your marketing plan easy. Online retailers can keep customers updated with the WooCommerce Twilio extension. Service providers, however, may prefer using Easy Appointments to create an all-in-one booking and notification system.

Plus, having an impressive support team behind your WordPress site can free up your time to make the most of your marketing efforts.

5 WooCommerce SMS Marketing Plugins 2020 (Free and Paid)

According to the research, mobile SMS has “98% Open Rate” as compared to email marketing which has only a 22% open rate.

So, why don’t you also adopt the same SMS marketing strategy and create your own successful campaigns with the help of these Woocommerce SMS marketing plugins?

5 WooCommerce SMS Marketing Plugins 2020

1. WordPress SMS Marketing Plugin

WordPress SMS Marketing plugin makes sending messages so easy and convenient to any network whether it is local or international. It enables you to send unlimited SMS without any extra charges.

This plugin is incorporated with all the rich functionalities like Bulk SMS/MMS, campaign scheduling, autoresponders, and so on. With the help of this plugin, you can send automated information about your products. It also allows you to send promotional SMS, offers, and discounts in bulk.

2. WooCommerce SMS Customer Notifications

WooCommerce SMS Customer Notification helps you to send bulk SMS to your customers. For example, if you have an online e-commerce store and you want to send messages about products, offers, and discounts, etc then, this plugin is perfect for that.

It is integrated with four popular SMS gateways APIs such as ClickSend, Nexmo, Twilio, and MessageBird. Before getting started, you have to create an account on the desired SMS gateway and get your API keys and then you are ready to send SMS.

3. Gravity Forms SMS Pro

Gravity Forms SMS Pro is one of the best SMS plugins for WordPress. The plugin is specifically crafted for the Gravity Forms form builder. In this tool, WordPress SMS integration enables you to add subscribers to the groups after filling the form.

This plugin supports numerous SMS gateways some of them are Twilio.com, BulkSMS.com, ClickSend.com, Nexmo.com, OneWaySms.sg and the list goes on.

4. Joy Of Text Lite – Finest in Free WordPress SMS Marketing Plugins

With the help of this plugin, you can connect with your subscribers, customers via SMS. It allows you to send text as well as voice messages to an individual or to a group.

This plugin is totally based on the Twilio platform. So, to access it you’ll need the following things-

A Twilio account.
Twilio phone number.
Unique “Twilio Account SID” and “Twilio Auth Token”.

You’ll have to enter these details in the plugin’s settings.

5. Marketing Automation by AZEXO

It is an all in one marketing plugin. The plugin has three main integrations of Form Builder, Page Builder, Popup Builder by AZEXO. Moreover, it has few add-ons through which your marketing campaign can be boosted such as WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing and Discounts, Facebook Live chat, and so on.

It has the functionality to send SMS notification and an autoresponder to send automatic replies. Consequently, you’ll achieve a successful SMS marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Well, above are the top Woocommerce SMS marketing plugins. We’ve hand-picked freemium as well as premium plugins. So, you can pick the one which offers your required functionalities.

Hopefully, our list helps you in finding the best SMS marketing plugin for your website.

What is SMS Marketing and How Does it Work?

SMS marketing is just another way to reach your potential customers and keep them in the loop about your services.

What is SMS Marketing?

Before we dive into the benefits of SMS marketing, let’s first give an explanation as to what exactly it is.

SMS marketing is shorthand for short message service marketing. You send and receive text messages every day on your phone… well, an SMS message is a text message… they are the same thing.

SMS advertising is a form of mobile marketing that lets your business appeal to users on mobile devices. It’s a way to text your prospects, customers, and VIPs. It’s a tried and true marketing technique that lets you share text messages to an individual or a group of users.

How it works is simple. Your customers, prospects, and VIPs opt-in to your marketing campaign to receive updates, specials, and important information. It’s a form of inbound marketing that lets you target users who have already expressed interest in your business.

The goal of SMS marketing automation is not only to make sales. It’s also to build your brand and increase customer retention!

You can notify people of upcoming promotions, events, and sales.

The Basics of SMS Marketing

You’ve likely been part of an SMS campaign before. But let’s take a quick look at the basics and terminology.

SMS campaigns revolve around a keyword and a shortcode. People will opt-in to a campaign will receive a welcome message with the keyword and shortcode.

For example, let’s say a hockey team wants to promote their upcoming deals and games.

They might promote the following message through ads, banners, flyers, or any other marketing channel.

Does SMS Marketing Work?

Does SMS marketing work? You tell me…

Do you read text messages that are sent to your phone? Did you test out our example above… did you read what we sent?

Of course, it works… want more proof? Keep reading.

There’s no denying that SMS marketing can be beneficial. But just how effective is this type of marketing?

64 percent of modern consumers think businesses should use SMS messaging more often. Consumers aren’t the only ones who like SMS marketing.

SMS Marketing Best Practices

You might feel tempted to send out a bunch of text messages to your list of subscribers… But hold off.

Keep reading before clicking that send button.

You need to foster a relationship with your SMS advertising list. No one likes being overwhelmed with texts. No matter how loyal a customer is, if you annoy them with too many texts, you’ll lose them forever.

Every business is different… but most text once a week… and some a few times a day – around a special event.

You should also be aware of the time you are sending out your texts. If you send a message too early in the day, it will be ignored or forgotten. Sending messages late at night can also be a problem. Again, this is business dependent. I know of a nightclub who sends texts on Friday and Saturday night after 9:00 PM.

Remember to respect people’s time!

Want a quick tip?

Work to engage with the people on your text marketing list. The best way to get good engagement is to enhance your SMS campaigns by learning how to write great text marketing messages.

Heres a few tips:

Always let your customers know who is sending the text message. You may craft the wittiest, amazing text message only to forget to let your audience know who sent it. Don’t let that be you.
You should also include a call to action in all texts. This will encourage your customers to take action and move down the sales funnel.
Your content needs to be something that is actually valuable to your customers. Cater texts around discounts, promotions, or sweepstakes.
You can also send your customers photos of new products, surveys to get their feedback, and even create a drip campaign.

There’s no wrong way to text. But remember that a little bit of etiquette goes a long way. Follow these best practices to make the most of your SMS marketing campaigns.

40 SMS Marketing Statistics Every Marketer Should See

As 95% of people own mobile phones and short messaging system (SMS) does not need an Internet connection, businesses are bound to make the most of these technologies. SMS marketing statistics show SMS is indeed increasingly becoming a core feature of mobile marketing software.

In this SMS marketing research, we’ll look into SMS marketing market size, the effectiveness of SMS with consumers, how businesses use SMS, and what the future holds for text marketing.

After you’re done with this reading, you just might consider boosting your other channels with SMS marketing. One thing is for sure; you’ll see SMS in a whole new light.

General SMS Statistics

Since the first text message was sent in 1992, SMS has remained largely the same – short (160 characters) and straightforward. This simplicity has driven its massive use, adoption, and staying power. How are developments in the texting landscape? Let’s find out.

In 1995, the average American user sent 0.4 texts per month. As phones and networks became more advanced, and texting could be done between networks, SMS usage increased. By 2000, the average number of text messages sent in the US grew to 35 per person each month.
By 2007, texting hit 1 billion daily messages and became the most widely used form of communication, overtaking phone calls.
In 2010, an estimated 6.1 trillion messages were sent globally or around 193,000 messages per second.
No exact SMS usage can be arrived at because data from mobile carriers are hard to get. There is also now heavy usage of WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat, and similar text messaging apps. However, we put together available figures for SMS and in-app, and we’re looking at an estimated 145 billion messages sent each day around the world.

Demographics & Usage

Among 13 to 17-year-olds in the US, the favorite way of communicating in 2018 was texting (35%). It was followed by in-person (32%), social media (16%), and video chatting (10%).
In comparison, adults have preferred texting as the top form of communication for at least six years now.
American adults in 2018, on average, sent and received 32 texts per day. Considering there are 250 million US adults, the total adds up to 18 billion texts per day, 541 billion texts each month, and 6.5 trillion texts every year.
Text is the single most used feature of a smartphone. In fact, 97% of all smartphone users have texted within the last week. Despite mobile devices taking up the majority of web traffic, people text more than they use the Internet.
59% of US adults say they have used their cellphones to call or text someone while inside a store to discuss purchases they’re planning to make.
96% of adults in the US own a “cell-phone” of some kind. But 15% of the American population does not have internet connection via a smartphone and has access only to basic SMS services. That’s roughly 52.5 million Americans that can only be reached by text messaging.
On a global scale, 5 billion people own a cell-phone of some kind, and 2.29 billion can be reached through SMS/cellular and not via the Internet.

Is SMS Marketing Effective?

SMS is now becoming an integral feature of leading mobile marketing solutions. You can send text messages online or offline, from mobile devices, and from desktop or laptop computers to boost SMS campaigns. How effective is it? The SMS marketing data below, with a focus on customer impact and preference, provides some insights.

9 out of 10 consumers prefer to communicate with businesses through text messages, whether through alerts, reminders, back and forth communication, etc.
In fact, 80% of people use SMS for business communications, finding it convenient, unobtrusive, and fast with near-instant delivery of messages.
More than 50% of consumers would prefer text messaging over phone calls for customer support rather than phone calls. Moreover, US consumers are 5x more likely to send and receive text messages than phone calls.
75% of customers would like special offers sent to them through text messages. Furthermore, CTR for text messages is much higher (9.18%), compared to other marketing channels such as Google Adwords (1.91%) and Facebook (0.90%).
A third of Millennials prefer SMS messages for deliveries, promotions, and surveys.
Among the channels preferred by consumers for receiving loyalty updates from brands, the top spot went to SMS (48%). Other channels include email (22%), app notifications (20%), and direct mail (8%).
SMS is the preferred channel for consumers because opting in is easy. Furthermore, they don’t have to download a brand’s app to receive notifications. Also, SMS is a more direct push notification that won’t get lost in the inbox like email.

Open & Response Rates

SMS marketing beats email marketing with a 98% open rate and only 1% spam.
In contrast, email only has a 20% open rate but 49.7% spam.
90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of being received.
It takes just 90 seconds for the average person to respond to a text message.
While only 20% of people answer calls they don’t expect, texts are read in 5 seconds on average.
There is a 45% response rate for SMS messages compared to just 8% for email. Interaction is also much higher, with a click-through rate of 36% for SMS and a mere 3.4% for email.
Another source puts the response rate for email at just 6%. If SMS is at 45%, then that would mean a staggering 750% response rate over email. In other words, when promos and offers are sent via SMS, they are much likely to be opened, responded to, and lead to sales.

SMS Marketing & Business Statistics

How are businesses and companies leveraging SMS for marketing? And what have been business responses to consumers’ seeming preference for SMS marketing? Our SMS marketing report found some interesting details.

Despite the SMS boom, 61% of businesses have yet to embrace the platform.
But it’s about to change. Businesses are increasingly adopting text messaging as a communication tool. Today, 39% of businesses use some form of texting to communicate with customers. Certain industries such as real estate (73%), agriculture/veterinary (65%), and entertainment/leisure (63%) are expanding their use of SMS.
Pursuant to more SMS adoption, 73% of businesses plan to increase their SMS budgets in 2019.
47% of marketers believe the retail industry uses SMS most effectively.
Over 50% of consumers have tried to reply to a missed call via text. For businesses that are not text-enabled, those are missed messages from potential customers.
Furthermore, 75% of consumers are frustrated when they cannot respond to a business text message because of limitations with certain kinds of testing tools such as short-code texting.
81% of professionals say they use texting for business.
Using branded links or vanity URLs in SMS marketing campaigns can increase brand visibility and boost CTRs by up to 39%.
33% of businesses pan to target loyal customers via SMS rewards.
77% of consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers to text.
Sending business appointment reminders to customers through SMS reduced missed appointments by 26%.
Up to 80% of consumers preferred to track their orders via text when products were shipped.

The Future of SMS Marketing

What awaits texting in general and SMS marketing in particular in the years ahead? Here are developments and projections shaping up SMS for business.

3.5 trillion SMS business messages will be sent in 2023, up from an estimated 2.5 trillion in 2019.
By 2021, Rich Communication Service (RCS) is projected to be worth $75 billion, driven by greater adoption. RCS will combine SMS with other chat apps to provide a messaging channel that will feature group chat, video, read receipts, and other high-level functionality features.
Chatbots will utilize AI technologies like machine learning and natural language programming to effectively converse with customers via SMS. They can send customers instant replies, reminders, and answers to FAQs.

Include Texting in Your Marketing Mix

Marketers consider SMS as the Twitter of digital marketing. Which is kind of ironic – an analog tool in the digital age. But it is indeed the SMS attribute of not requiring the Internet to send and receive messages that make it a convenient tool for marketing.

While our separate mobile marketing statistics show there are billions of mobile device owners, not all cellphones they carry are Web-capable smartphones. That means there is a huge untapped audience for businesses and an overlooked and underutilized tool in SMS for marketers.

However, as our SMS marketing data indicates, there is a resurgence in the utilization of SMS for business. Major industries, such as real estate, entertainment, construction, automotive, and education, among others, are reaping the benefits of SMS marketing.

Even the banking and finance industries can provide instant account notifications to clients via SMS.

The good thing with SMS is that you don’t have to use it as a standalone marketing tool. It can be used to support your email marketing software, for example.

Other companies setting MS in tandem with their sales or marketing automation software.

The point is that you can include SMS in your marketing mix to make your campaigns more effective. If you haven’t been leveraging SMS for promotions and marketing, now is the opportune time to do this.

Email Marketing vs. SMS Marketing: Which Channel Should You Choose?

For businesses, email has been a tried-and-true method to reach audiences and send mass messages. However, as the use of mobile phones increases, SMS marketing for eCommerce is quickly becoming a great new way to connect with customers.

SMS stands for short messaging service, also known as a text message. Businesses today use SMS marketing to communicate with their customers directly on their mobile devices about new promotions, exclusive discounts, appointment reminders, and time-sensitive updates.

According to Twilio, 9 out of 10 text messages are opened within the first three minutes of being received, making it a great opportunity for brands to capture attention.

While email and SMS marketing are both effective ways to communicate with your customers, there are certain messages that are best suited for each channel. Email is a great medium for sending longer, richer messages that include images and attachments, and can be saved for a later date.

SMS marketing, on the other hand, is the perfect communication channel for concise, timely information or discounts. Email and SMS are complementary channels, and if you use them correctly, you can create a seamless customer communication experience.

Take our quiz below to test your knowledge on when to use email and when to use SMS marketing. Then, continue reading for more insight on SMS and email best practices, and how both channels can help you make a lasting impression in the eyes of your customers.

Combining SMS and email marketing: what’s the best approach?

There is no magic bullet when it comes to integrating your digital and marketing campaigns, but many communication strategies can be even more effective when SMS is used in addition to email.

For example, you can send your customer an appointment confirmation receipt via email, and follow up with an SMS message reminder on the day of the appointment. Likewise, you can send a brief mass text message to encourage your customers to subscribe to your email list for exclusive offers and promotions.

Creative approaches like these provide your business with more opportunities to begin or continue rewarding conversations with your customers.

When deciding between sending an email or SMS marketing, it is important to ask yourself these questions:

How time-sensitive is the communication?
Does the message require two-way communication?
Will the message contain rich media?
Will your customers have to access this message at a later date?

The main criteria to take into account when incorporating SMS marketing to your existing email program are archival and urgency. If your message requires urgent action or is time-sensitive, SMS is the more effective communication channel. If your message needs to be saved by your customers for a later date, email might be the best way to go.

It’s also important to consider using both channels for important information, but remember not to message too frequently on either channel.

Striking the perfect balance

By incorporating SMS into your existing marketing strategy, you can reach customers at every stage of their engagement lifecycle with your brand on the channels that they prefer. By optimizing your marketing efforts to meet customer preferences, you demonstrate your dedication to providing top-notch service and empowering your customers.

Leveraging SMS marketing with email is a great way to build brand awareness and award customer loyalty. So, what are you waiting for? Start sending!

Comparing SMS Marketing and Email Marketing

SMS marketing and email marketing have roles to play in your overall marketing strategy. Each holds unique benefits in the way they deliver information to your current and future audiences. But, it can be confusing to know which will give you the most return on investment for each campaign that you’re running. Let’s compare the advantages and disadvantages of using SMS marketing and email marketing.

Comparing SMS Text Message Marketing to Email Marketing

We compared SMS text message marketing to email marketing on key variables that marketers weigh campaign decisions on in the following categories:

Open Rate
Deliverability
CTR
Cost
Customization

1. Open Rate

Consumers today are more distracted than ever. Think about it, have you ever been watching TV while scrolling through your phone, or reading work emails while listening to a podcast? As a marketer, you’re constantly facing the challenge of trying to grab the attention of your audience. Text message marketing has their attention. The average open rate for text message marketing campaigns is 98% compared to just a 20% open rate from an email marketing campaign. Not to mention the average person replies to a text message within 90 seconds, compared to 90 minutes for an email. Even though the world is distracting, text message marketing is a direct route to the attention of your audience.

2. Deliverability

Since SMS marketing requires the customer to either opt in or out, your list is made up of only engaged customers. On the other hand, marketing emails typically have larger lists, with more frequent sends. Even if you’re not doing it intentionally, emails have a higher chance of being sent to the spam folder, damaging your reputation, and breaking trust with your customers. With statistics like 49% of all emails being marked as spam, you’re already having to work much harder to even get your message into your audience’s inbox. On top of that, someone working in an office receives over 120 emails a day, where the average millennial only receives 67 texts each day.

Since there are fewer texts being received, the likelihood of seeing these messages is higher. Overall, using text message marketing means there is a higher chance of your message being delivered to your audience.

3. Click-through rate

For both SMS marketing and email marketing, click-through rate has the potential to be high, but, it depends on how well you craft your call to action. The click-through rate of any campaign is determined by the call to action. The average click-through rate of an email hovers around 4%, meaning that your email was opened, and the customer followed through a link based on your CTA. A good call to action lets your audience know what’s on offer and a good enough reason to click-through.

With text message marketing it’s more challenging to craft a compelling call to action because you’re limited to 160 characters. Since the whole point to the marketing effort is to motivate your audience to act on your offer, the link is the most important asset. When you use a branded link, the customer immediately understands what the CTA is, and is more likely to follow through.

Mobile phone provider, 3, sends out SMS messages to inform customers when their plans are close to expiring and of promotions, they are running. The use of branded links in their messages is multipurpose. First, it increases trust and the chance of click-through, because the audience knows exactly where the link will lead. Secondly, a branded link acts as the clickable CTA. Instead of forfeiting space in your message, branded links help you to get your message across and capture your audience’s attention ins less time.

4. Cost

The cost to send an SMS message varies by country if its local, the length of the message and the number of messages sent, overall it does cost more than an email marketing send. Email marketing is the most cost-effective way to send non-time sensitive messages to a large audience. Since the customization in email marketing varies from business to business and send to send, the direct cost of each campaign can vary completely.

5. Customization

Email was the clear winner here, because of its ability for personalization. Whether you’re using HTML or text only sends, email lets you add attachments, hyperlinks, images, and videos. Email marketing gives you more freedom to customize messages to fully connect with your audience as your brand, from the colors you use to the type of copy, to the use of images, gifs, or video.

Email and text marketing should both play a role in your overall marketing strategy. The biggest takeaway is to weigh the costs and benefits of each, as both of these programs are both time and money investments that should be done with care and precision. Use email marketing as a “slow burn” to build relationships and communicate complex information and keep text message marketing for quick updates and reminders that require action.

4 Use Cases Of Web Push Notifications

The proliferation of smartphones and the explosion of application usage have created a phenomenal opportunity for marketers to adopt and implement personalized push notification messaging strategies.

Mobile apps and push notifications can have significant implications for sales.

Research shows that 29 percent of U.S. consumers have made purchases from mobile devices, and Bank of America data shows there will be $67.1 billion in revenue from smartphone and tablet retail purchasing by European and U.S. shoppers in 2015.

So, the time has arrived to deliver truly personalized messages to mobile devices in an effort to increase sales. There are four different use cases for personalized push notifications, each offering a unique opportunity to reach consumers in real-time via their mobile devices.

Use Cases Of Personalized Push Notifications

Event-triggered messaging

Through mobile app usage, marketers have the ability to really learn about their customers and connect with them on a personal level.

Mobile app user events such as birthdays, upcoming expiration dates (product release, deals, promotions, or other events potentially selected in a preference center) and shopping cart abandonment can all play into the marketers? hand.

Wishing customers a happy birthday through their mobile device or simply sending a reminder about expiring services will show interaction on a more personal level.

Cart abandonment marketing messages specifically can serve as one of the most financially beneficial event-triggered notifications sent to customers.

Research shows 56 percent of abandoned carts were done so because the consumer was not ready to purchase at that moment in time, but wanted to save the cart for later.

While cart abandonment messages have traditionally been sent via email, push notifications are a great way to reinvent this classic remarketing technique and offer another touchpoint.

Marketers can send push notifications to individuals who have? abandoned? shopping carts as a reminder, and redirect them to an in-app page where they can complete their order in seconds.

Transactional messaging

Examples of transactional messages include order confirmations, shipping, and delivery notifications, welcome emails, and password reset links.

Smart marketers not only include the pertinent transaction information (e.g. order details), but also provide product recommendations based on what similar consumers have purchased or other relevant offers.

According to Epsilon?s Q3 2011 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results report, transactional email messages generate an average open rate of 42 percent, highest among all message types, and an average click-through rate of 8.9 percent, second only to editorial emails.

Like event-triggered messages, transactional messaging strategies can be supplemented with mobile push notifications.

For instance, a brand could send an order confirmation notification that redirects customers to an in-app page where they can review order details and receive recommendations on what other people bought.

Promotional marketing

Offering deals and promotions to consumers is one of the most basic forms of marketing.

Thanks to mobile apps and personalized in one-on-one pushes, marketers now have the opportunity to bring these promotional messages to the next level.

For example, an online purchaser could show trends of specific behavioral habits. By leveraging this information, the marketer could push a promotional message with special offers or bargains specific to her preferred? as identified through online behavior tracking or a preference center? product category.

Marketers do not need to worry about being invasive with these messages, as research shows that 43 percent of smartphone owners are open to receiving in-app promotional messages at least once a week, and an additional 11 percent once a month.

By studying customers? online behavior and preferences, marketers can offer promotional messages that will pique their interest with hopes of converting a sale.

Geo-location

Building further on promotional offers based on customer behavior and preferences, mobile now arms marketers with the opportunity to use physical location as a parameter to trigger messages.

With the help of geolocation services, foursquare, or Facebook check-ins, marketers can set a perimeter around a location, that when entered, will trigger a message to the mobile user in that area.

Nearly half (47 percent) of mobile consumers want retailers to send these messages, including coupons and promotions, when they are in or near a brick-and-mortar store.

This provides marketers the opportunity to deliver messages that will potentially drive sales to willing mobile device users who are in the right place at the right time.

Such techniques could help brick-and-mortar retailers combat the showrooming trend.

Mixing mobile marketing efforts with social data can create the perfect personalization potion for marketers.

Event-triggered, transactional, promotional, and geo-targeted messages are four great opportunities for marketers to use push notifications to capitalize on mobile device users? willingness to interact with brands that take the time to personalize messages.

So do not miss out on the chance to connect with on-the-go customers on a personal level.

5 SMS Marketing Ideas to Generate More Sales

SMS marketing is a great way to interact with consumers, especially when 95% of adults in the US own a mobile phone.

Not convinced yet? Look at these SMS statistics:

82% of people keep notifications turned on for SMS messages
95% of texts from businesses are read within 3 minutes of being sent
The average response time for a text message is 6,000% (60X) faster than email
The average SMS campaign conversion rate is 45%

But once you have the phone numbers of your target consumers and then what will you send to them?

You need to constantly deliver value, and give them a reason to engage with your text messages.

That’s why I’m sharing 5 SMS marketing ideas for eCommerce to generate more sales.

5 SMS marketing ideas to generate more sales

1. Ask for Permission

Asking for customers’ permission isn’t mandatory, but it’s good for you. Instead of creating SMS marketing campaigns that customers never read, you’ll need to spend time nurturing relationships with customers who want to receive notifications.

You can get this permission in 2 ways:

Create a campaign by asking consumers to text an opt-in keyword to a short code, for example, “Text YES to 12345 to receive exclusive promotions!”
Ask customers to check an opt-in box — similar to opting in to receive a newsletter — when they check out, request information, or sign up for another service on your website.

Include the following 3 sections when you send text messages to your target customers:

Expectations. Tell customers about how frequently you plan to send text messages and what kind of content will they receive.
Opt-out option. Make sure that it’s always clear how your customers can stop receiving text marketing messages from you.
Call to action (CTA). Each text message should include a brief message with a clear CTA that encourages customers to act. For example, “Click here to confirm subscription.”

2. Personalize Your Messages

SMS marketing gives you a unique opportunity to personalize text messaging and connect with customers one-on-one via SMS. Make sure that your recipients feel like a special contact, not just another one on a mailing list. Customers prefer to receive personalized messages and are more likely to move through the sales funnel when they do.

3 ways to incorporate personalized SMS marketing campaigns:

Include the customer name in text messages
Mention customer activity — like a recent purchase, or a shipping update

Take your personalization further and segment your customer list so that only certain customers receive highly relevant messages. For example, you could send discounts exclusively to customers who purchased from a group of products, like sneakers. Or to customers who bought a specific product, like black-striped shoes.

3. Make the Value Clear

Just sending a text message isn’t enough. If you want your customers to take action on your SMS they must see value in your message — either in information you are giving or in the offer they receive.

To create SMS campaigns that your customers will engage with, try:

Creating discount coupons and offers unique to your SMS marketing list
Targeting offers based on customer segments and behaviors

4. Integrate Rich Media into Your SMS Marketing Campaigns

Mobile messaging includes more than just plain text. It’s now possible to get higher engagement rates of text messaging by providing customers with the experience of an app or email campaign. By using SMS marketing tools, you can set up mobile landing pages with all the features of an email or web page and integrate them into your SMS marketing campaigns.

The following is an example showing a survey shared using rich media.

Rich media text messages can also be used to share appointment scheduling and payment processing.

5. Lead with Your Offer

With only 160 characters to get your customers’ attention, make sure the most interesting part of the message, your stellar offer, sits upfront.

Text messages don’t have subject lines, so by including your offer to the top of the message, customers quickly see the selling point. Even before they open the message, customers can see the offer when previewing the first few words of the message on their phone.

Over 90% of text messages are opened within 3 minutes of being received. Don’t waste the opportunity to convert customers by burying the offer below lots of text.

Among recipients of SMS marketing campaigns:

75 percent of people targeted by SMS marketing don’t mind receiving offers.
47 percent of people who respond to SMS messages go on to buy something.

Boost eCommerce Sales With SMS Marketing

SMS messages with an open rate of 98% compared to only 20-30% for email, eCommerce merchants are using SMS marketing to foster good relationships with their consumers. Text messages are extremely useful when done in the right manner. This article focuses on the basics of using SMS marketing for eCommerce.

Top 5 SMS marketing strategies to generate more sales

1. Segmentation

Hyper target your customers by using segments and send them personalized text messages, just like you do in email marketing. For example, target customers for a personalized SMS marketing campaign who haven’t purchased in the last 30 days with an average order value of $40+.

2. Abandoned cart reminders

The average cart abandonment rate is as high as 75%, so you must focus to reduce it. Your customers are juggling many things at once, and it’s up to you as an eCommerce business to remind them to take action and make it easy for them to finish checking out.

Here’s an example of an SMS cart reminder.

3. Write simple, understandable, and short messages

Get to the point and don’t make your text messages too long. Use emojis whenever possible to engage the customer and make the offering and the message that much more personalized.

4. Start a giveaway

To boost customer engagement, successful eCommerce merchants entice their customers to join their VIP club. One of the best way is to set up is a landing page for your VIP customers to give them special offers and discounts.

5. Send it at times when customers are more likely to act

Be strategic on the timing of your automated SMS marketing campaigns to ensure that you stay top-of-mind, even after the customer has left your site. Avoid sending in the middle of the night and do A/B testing to find the most optimum time to send the messages.

5 things Shopify merchants need to know about SMS marketing

For product marketers and eCommerce managers, SMS is an increasingly essential part of multi-channel marketing —, especially with a mobile-first online retail market.

In this article, we’ll summarize 5 benefits you may not know about SMS marketing. We’ll also outline how to use SMS effectively for better lead acquisition, closing rates and customer loyalty for your Shopify or Shopify Plus store.

By the end, we hope you’re ready to integrate SMS marketing right away!

1) SMS is one of the most immediate channels available

SMS (a.k.a. text message marketing) is perhaps the most direct route to customers when it comes to D2C marketing. With a 98% open rate and a 5x click rate compared to other channels (such as email marketing), SMS is a more casual and less threatening channel for customers.

Not only do standalone SMS campaigns have a high success rate and proven ROI for Shopify merchants, but they also enhance and support other marketing channels like email and social marketing. As mobile shopping activity continues to rise, shoppers expect to receive offers, discounts, consultations, and other promos through mobile messaging.

2) SMS can help you recover lost sales

Merchants not utilizing SMS as part of a mobile marketing strategy are missing out on building direct relationships with customers. As a result, this could mean sacrificing sales.

Littledata found that, on average, nearly 60% of mobile shoppers abandon their carts before completing checkout.

Many of these incomplete checkouts may be due to unanswered questions. And while automated messaging may not solve these barriers to purchase, it can certainly reengage shoppers through incentives or simple reminders to complete their checkout.

3) SMS helps you better understand your customers

You can learn more about the purchasing behavior of your customers by studying back-and-forth conversations.

For example, SaveMySales is a performance SMS marketing app that offers a dashboard showing customer conversions from which merchants can track trends, like commonly asked questions or concerns preventing them from purchasing.

This type of insight helps merchants understand the customer journey (and blockers) their customers face, which can lead to better Shopify conversion rates.

4) SMS will increase customer engagement

SMS marketing can help you directly build 1:1 relationships and trust with your customers.

Shoppers appreciate messages that make them feel valued or special, especially when messages include personalized responses from real humans that solves their barrier to purchase.

Whether shoppers are casually browsing before a first-time purchase or they are returning for a repeat purchase, shoppers are more likely to buy when they experience a level of brand trust.

5) Without proper tracking, it’s all for naught

While you’re building this high-converting engagement channel for your brand, for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants, one thing matters just as much as engagement — tracking each step of the customer journey.

Luckily, Littledata’s smart analytics app for Shopify connects your store data to Google Analytics or Segment, and tracks every event, from casual product page clicks to final purchase. It’s automatic tracking our merchants can trust.

If you’re on Shopify Plus, check out an enterprise plan to get a dedicated account manager to help with data setup, reporting and optimization.

Final Words

SMS marketing is becoming an increasingly essential channel as a direct line of communication to get in front of shoppers, recover lost sales, understand customers, and increase customer engagement.

SMS can be used as part of a multi-channel strategy for engaging with customers at each stage of the customer funnel to help increase conversions and ROI for your Shopify store.

We recommend using SaveMySales to build the most personalized SMS marketing strategy that will impress your customers and help them build a relationship with your brand.