How to create a personalized customer experience through SMS marketing
As the eCommerce space continues to see growth and new businesses enter, differentiating yourself from the competition is an absolute must. However, while digital marketing has often been touted as one of the best ways to stay ahead, the truth is, it isn’t the only way. As customers are inundated with more and more social media ads, email newsletters, and other communication, it’s difficult to cut through the noise and effectively reach customers.
It’s been shown that personalization is one of the best ways to capture customer attention, with continuing research reinforcing this.
For example, 71% of consumers say they are frustrated with impersonal shopping experiences, and 36% say retailers need to do more to offer a personalized experience. It’s clear that customers have higher expectations of retailers, and that’s only set to increase as more businesses increase their marketing efforts.
So how do you stand out?
One of the most effective and personal ways of communicating with customers is through text message marketing or SMS marketing. Not only do you get a more direct connection with the customer, but you can personalize the communication much more effectively than other marketing methods. Here’s how:
Create tailored campaigns
One of the most effective ways to get customers back to your business is to offer tailored and exclusive deals. For example, you can create SMS campaigns specifically designed to give customers special deals and exclusive discounts. Doing so can serve as a reward for signing up for text message marketing. Not only does this make customers feel like the offer is a little more personalized, but it also provides positive reinforcement around the value of enrolling in this type of marketing.
Plus, offering exclusive discounts through SMS marketing also gives you a data channel to analyze effectiveness. You can get an idea of how many people look at the text, click the link, and/or use the code over time to improve future campaigns.
Reduce cart abandonment rates through personalization
One of the major frustrations for retailers is high cart abandonment rates. While it’s difficult to get to the exact root of why customers do this as it’ll differ for businesses, there are ways to incentivize buying. But, unfortunately, many customers tend to forget or get distracted and end up abandoning their carts.
With SMS marketing, though, you can reduce that behavior to a degree. For example, you can create personalized text messages to remind customers of the items in their cart and offer them a quick link to purchase. For additional value, you can also provide an exclusive SMS-only discount code for cart items as another way to incentivize purchases and measure the value of these types of campaigns.
Start segmenting
The best way to communicate that you care? Don’t send the same blast to everyone. Through segmentation and customer grouping, you can create campaigns that are far more personal and resonate with customers. Not everyone has the same needs or the same buying intent, and it’s important to create different types of marketing to appeal to more customers.
You can start by segmenting through general demographics such as age, gender, and location and offering exclusive incentives. You can also segment based on past purchasing and browsing history and seasonal offers based on various buying habits to create campaigns to appeal to a wider base.
It’s becoming abundantly clear that businesses must do more to offer customers a personalized, tailored experience. Rather than spending lots of time and money on different resources, finding the right method and perfecting it to create a better customer experience can make a huge difference. While most marketing methods may come off as impersonal, it’s clear that SMS marketing can help customers feel more connected to a business and more likely to purchase if they feel it’s an authentic experience. To learn more about the benefits of SMS marketing for your business, please get in touch today!