14 Best Practices for Retail SMS Marketing + Examples

Do you leverage the power of retail SMS marketing?

With the rise of social media channels, many businesses thought they no longer needed SMS. In this blog post, we will prove that they’re wrong!

SMS is still one of the most effective customer service and promotional campaign tools. That’s why we’ve gathered 14 successful retail SMS marketing practices to help you boost your business.

We can also help you run your SMS marketing campaigns for your retail business with our WordPress SMS plugin, WP SMS. So why wait? Try the demo of this plugin to see if it can help your retail business.

Does SMS Marketing Work for Retail Businesses?

The short answer to this question is a big YES!

It’s good to know that 72% of retailers consider SMS and omnichannel marketing their first priority in 2024.

SMS marketing has some advantages that no other marketing channel has. Here is a summary of the pros of SMS marketing:

• High Open Rates: SMS messages have a whopping 98% open rate, which is way higher than that of email. This is a great opportunity to reach a high engagement rate.

• Immediate Communication: Also, around 90% of people read messages within three minutes. This makes SMS great for time-sensitive events and flash sales that are common among retail businesses. SMS marketing ensures rapid delivery and action, leading to more sales.

• Broad Reach: SMS is used by almost everyone in the world. More than 7 billion people around the world have a mobile phone and they use SMS as well. No other marketing channel has such a broad reach.

• Cost-Effective Marketing: Although you have to pay for each SMS sent, the overall cost of SMS marketing is low. So you can expect a high ROI from your retail SMS marketing.

Therefore, you need to include SMS marketing in your marketing strategies for your retail business.

14 Best Practices for Retail SMS Marketing + Examples

Now, let’s see how you can maximize your SMS marketing ROI. Here are the successful ideas in retail SMS marketing with applicable examples. Try to implement them in your marketing approach to get the best result:

1. Build a High-Quality SMS Subscriber List

First and foremost, you need to recognize your audience and encourage them to subscribe to your SMS list.

In fact, you must get clear consent from your potential customers and collect their phone numbers. You might have to run opt-in SMS campaigns to build your subscriber list.

Here are some methods to increase your opt-in rates:

1. Website Sign-Up Forms
2. In your store, use a POS system to encourage sign-ups
3. Event Registration
4. Social Media Promotions
5. Recommendations from Friends & Family 

Of course, you need to reach out to those who are highly likely to buy something from your business. Remember that the relevance and quality of your SMS subscriber list are much more important than the number of subscribers.

Building a laser-targeted SMS marketing list will impact all of your SMS marketing efforts. So try to do your best in this regard. You’d better offer discounts or any other perks to entice your potential customers to join your subscription list. 

Take a look at the following opt-in SMS template for a clothing retailer:

2. Leverage Exclusive Promotions and Flash Sales

As said earlier, SMS is ideal for time-sensitive promotions and flash sales. Retail businesses can benefit from this. Many times retailers have to run campaigns with limited times that customers need to decide quickly.

If you offer exclusive offers via text messages, you’ll highly likely grab the attention of many customers.

Of course, you need to write a compelling text message and also use urgency triggers like “Hurry!” or “Limited Time Only!”

Look at the following SMS example of a flash sales promotion for a retailer:

3. Write Personalized Messages

Personalization is key to reaching higher engagement rates in your retail SMS marketing. Please bear in mind that sending generic messages to all people is less likely to attract their attention.

You need to make your customers believe that you’ve written the message specifically for them. This way, you can gain their trust and build a long-lasting partnership with them.

Here are some tips to personalize your text messages:

• Use the customer’s first name.
• Recommend products based on the past purchases of your customers.
• Segment your audience based on their preferences and send tailored offers.

4. Send Your Messages at the Best Time

Timing is critical when it comes to SMS marketing. If you send you text messages, your customers might get annoyed and unsubscribe.

So you need to focus on the times when your customers are most likely to read and interact with you.

Please consider the following tips before running your retail SMS campaigns:

• Do not send texts early in the morning or late at night.
• Try to find your audience’s daily routine.
• Use A/B testing to determine the optimal time for your campaigns.

There is no single formula to determine the best time to send your text messages. However, you can find a period when the majority of your customers are ready to reply.

5. Use Clear CTAs and Short Links

One of the most important parts of a business text message is your request from the customer.

You need to write a strong and compelling CTA and clearly ask them to do what you want. Of course, you need to be polite and explain its benefits for them like discounts, early access, etc.

You can use action-oriented verbs like “Shop,” “Buy,” “Claim,” or “Redeem” to ask them what you want.

Also, try to include shortened links using tools like Bitly or TinyURL to redirect them to your website for further information or shopping. This is a great method to drive traffic to your website.

Take a look at a sample SMS with a strong CTA and a short link:

6. Integrate SMS with Other Marketing Channels

SMS is good, but it’s not enough! You need to include SMS in your marketing strategy and integrate your retail SMS marketing campaigns with other channels.

Fortunately, SMS works best when it’s integrated with other marketing methods like email, social media, and in-store promotions.

Here are some tactics for creating an omnichannel marketing strategy:

• Build your SMS subscriber list using email campaigns.
• Use SMS to remind your customers about events advertised on social media.
• Use a consistent style and tone of voice in all channels to reach maximum impact.

Here is a scenario for a clothing store launching a seasonal clearance sale.

First, you can send the following SMS:

Then, you can use other channels to complete the marketing campaign as follows:

• Email: Showcase featured items, sale categories, and exclusive discount codes for loyalty members using an email.

• Social Media: Share eye-catching posts with styled outfits and sale teasers (e.g., “Your favorites are up to 50% off—don’t miss out!”).

• Website Pop-ups: Create a banner and promote the sale with a “Shop Now” button to redirect visitors to discounted items.

• In-store Posters: Last but not least, you can use a QR code linking to your online sale page.

7. Provide Opt-Out Options

SMS marketing campaigns should comply with regulations like GDPR and TCPA. A key factor for compliance is a clear and simple way for unsubscription. 

If you want to prevent future legal problems and also gain the trust of your customers, make sure your campaigns comply with these rules.

Here are some benefits of compliance:

• Preventing spam complaints.
• Showing your respect for customer preferences.
• Keeping your SMS list clean and engaged.

For example, you can include an opt-out option like “Don’t want to receive messages like this? Reply STOP to opt out.“

8. Monitor and Optimize Campaign Performance

Reaching success in marketing needs continuous optimization to remove weaknesses and maximize the ROI of your retail SMS marketing campaigns.

You have to constantly analyze data like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

To make sure you’re performing well in your SMS campaigns. Also, you can use A/B tests to find the best version of your text message according to the reaction of your customers.

9. Send Birthday & Anniversary Discounts

One of the best methods to make your customers happy and gain their trust is to send personalized celebration messages.

For example, you can send text messages for birthdays, anniversaries, New Year celebrations, etc.

Two key factors in your messages are discounts and also cheerful and friendly language. The following sample message shows how to say happy birthday to your retail business customers:

10. Incorporate Feedback

A great method to improve your retail SMS marketing campaign is to directly ask your customers.

It’s good to encourage customers to share feedback to refine your marketing approach and get better results.

You can offer a small incentive, such as a discount, to encourage them to participate in your surveys. The following sample shows this:

11. Send Back-in-Stock and New Arrival Alerts

Your customers will be more than happy if you let them know you have the product they’re looking for.

SMS is a great channel for sending updates about popular products that have been returned to stock or new items in your store.

Such text messages can drive urgency because the customer has waited for this update and this can encourage them to buy.

Look at a sample back-in-stock SMS:

12. Offer Early Access for VIP Customers

Loyalty programs are essential for your retail SMS marketing campaigns. You need to Reward your most loyal customers to show them they’re part of your business story, not just some buyers.

Try to give them early access to sales, events, or new arrivals. Of course, you have to create a segment for VIP customers in your SMS platform and offer exclusive perks to this group like:

13. Run Seasonal & Holiday Campaigns

Seasonal trends and special events like holidays are perfect for retail businesses. Also, SMS marketing is great for campaigns like:

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
• Valentine’s Day promotions for gift-giving.
• End-of-year clearance sales.

So don’t forget to run a retail SMS marketing campaign to boost your sales on special days. Here is an example:

14. Send Event Invitations

Last but not least, you have to leverage the power of retail SMS marketing to promote your in-store or even virtual events.

Try to create a sense of urgency and encourage them to participate in your event. It’s also good to offer a perk like discount or free gifts like:

Use the Right SMS Marketing Platform: WP SMS

Although having creative ideas for your text messages is essential, it’s not enough. Nowadays, you need to use advanced tools and features to outperform your competitors and get higher ROI.

One of the best SMS marketing platforms for retailers, especially those with online stores, is WP SMS.

WP SMS is a user-friendly SMS plugin for WordPress websites. It lets you run bulk messaging campaigns directly from your website’s dashboard.

You can send automated text messages with customized triggers and commands. Also, WP SMS allows you to schedule your SMS campaigns without learning any programming language.

It supports more than 300 SMS gateways and you can run international SMS campaigns at an affordable cost.

With great integrations like WooCommerce and booking add-ons, WP SMS is perfect for retail ecommerce websites. 

So don’t go anywhere else if you want to boost your sales and find new customers. Try our demo or go for the free plan to get familiar with all the features and add-ons of WP SMS.

Final Thoughts

SMS marketing is great for retail businesses. Of course, running a successful retail SMS marketing campaign is not that easy. 

You have to come up with creative SMS ideas to attract the attention of customers and also use a strong strategy to win the market. 

Moreover, you need a versatile platform with advanced features like automation, scheduling, segmentation, and WooCommerce integration to make sure about the efficiency of your campaigns. 

Here at WP SMS, we’re ready to help you in your SMS marketing journey. First, try the demo of WP SMS and also contact us if you need more information.

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