Post-Cookie Marketing: SMS Marketing for Beginners with Elena from Yotpo SMSBump (episode 081)
by April Buencamino-dyElena has spent the last few years helping retailers and brands leverage the power of SMS in their marketing and customer communications plans.
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About Elena
Elena says curiosity drove her to get into SMS marketing.
When she got into how the channel actually works, she got hooked and she’s excited to see how it will develop in the future with advancements in technology.
What Makes SMS Marketing Work
SMS, along with email, is a way to get first-party data from your customers. This means that it’s a great channel for communicating with your audience at a high level of personalization.
It’s also a market that’s not yet saturated, but consumers are adapting to it quickly and respond to the messages positively by taking action.
And while some consider it a spammy channel, Elena says it is actually one of the most regulated marketing channels today. This makes it valuable relative to the privacy issues and concerns businesses are trying to address.
A Unique Approach
Because it is communicating via short messaging, make sure you only send messages that matter and when they’re relevant.
Build a good strategy with trigger-based or automated messages. Combine it with other strategies like email marketing to optimize its impact.
When To Use SMS Marketing
Elena’s favorite way of using SMS marketing is for abandoned cart reminders because it is instant and can drive a consumer back to your website immediately.
Another good automation is the win-back sequence to remind customers about what you’re offering. One other area where SMS can be an effective tool is in sending shipping updates
Finding The Right Balance
Elena recommends starting out with trigger-based messages and progressing to SMS blasts.
There should be a focus on trigger-based messaging because it gives the highest ROI, but one-off campaigns are equally important if you want to stay on top of your audience’s mind.
Things To Remember
It may be a new channel but don’t be afraid to try out SMS marketing because it can really highlight your brand’s personality.
And since it is regulated, it can actually help you optimize your strategies in the best way possible without overdoing it.
Insider Tips
If we’ve inspired someone to take their first step with SMS marketing – what do they need to know to give themselves the best chance of success?
- First, don’t be afraid to use the channel, and use it based on what’s best for your brand.
- Second, make sure you’re using other customer touch points to let your customers know about your SMS platform.
- Third, only send meaningful messages and be careful not to over-spam your customers.
Once you’ve started of course you’ve got to ‘keep optimising’! So what’s your favourite way to improve SMS marketing performance?
Track the main metrics of ROI and click-through rates. Both will tell you how well your SMS campaign is doing and how you should improve it.
As you get more confident with SMS marketing, segment your audience based on different factors and send them messages relevant to the relationship they have with your brand.
If someone listening wants to learn more about SMS marketing is there one cheap/free resource you’d recommend?
If you want your message analyzed, go to Yotpo and access their free SMS analyzer to find out how you can improve your messaging.
You can also check out Yotpo’s A+Texts to find examples of the best SMS marketing campaigns from around the world.
Crystal ball time – what’s coming up in the next 6-12 months that we should be getting ready for in SMS marketing?
Elena says that conversational commerce is the upcoming trend in SMS marketing.
More automations and more advancements in two-way communications will:
- Enable the buying facility within SMS
- Allow customers to text back
- Give better insight to retailers about their customers
Interview Links
- Business
- Start your SMS journey with Yotpo SMSBump and get a month of text messages for free
Elena on Social media:
Sponsored by…
Klaviyo is a leading customer data and marketing automation platform dedicated to accelerating revenue and customer connection for online businesses. Klaviyo makes it easy to store, access, analyze and use transactional and behavioral data to power highly-targeted customer and prospect communications.
The company’s hybrid customer-data and marketing-platform model allows companies to grow by fostering direct relationships with customers, without giving up their valuable data to popular big-tech ad platforms. Over 80,000 innovative companies like Unilever, Custom Ink, Living Proof and Huckberry sell more with Klaviyo. Learn more at www.klaviyo.com.
