The holiday shopping season is upon us. From Black Friday and Cyber Monday to last-minute gift shopping, this time of year is extremely lucrative for businesses of all sizes. 2021 was the first $200B holiday season in the United States. However, consumers’ inboxes are flooded with offers and deals from numerous brands, burying your content and reducing the effectiveness of your holiday marketing campaigns. To get a leg up on the competition, brands must find more fruitful ways to engage with customers. That’s where SMS marketing comes in handy. SMS has a 98% open rate compared to email at just 24.8%. Furthermore, most SMS texts are read within three minutes of receipt. And in 2021, 43% of holiday spending was done from smartphones. This statistic proves that SMS is the perfect solution for brands who want to cut through crowded inboxes to reach consumers and drive sales. Want to boost your sales this holiday season? Here are five powerful SMS holiday shopping marketing campaigns that will do just that.
1. Deep discounts
As prices continue to spike due to supply chain issues, holiday shoppers are looking for ways to save. Lend a helping hand by sending your SMS subscribers deep discounts, personalized promotions, and offers. It’s important to send relevant offers to the right customers. A person who lives in Canada probably doesn’t want to receive a sales offer on a new A/C unit during December. Use browsing history, demographics, and past purchases alongside current trends to segment your customers to ensure you’re always sending the right messages. Mitto Integrations makes sending SMS to segmented subscribers a breeze.
2. Make them feel special
One of the best ways to encourage a customer to take the desired action—such as purchasing your products—is to make them feel special. Make consumers feel like VIPs by sending them exclusive early sale access or SMS-only offers. This is also a great way to beef up your SMS subscriber list. Share a post on social media or send out an email letting customers know that SMS subscribers will get access to special discounts and deals. You can then segment your new subscribers to send them relevant messages later down the line.
3. SMS loyalty programs
Loyal customers are the bread and butter of your business. Show them your appreciation with an SMS loyalty program. With 71% of customers believing that loyalty programs significantly enhance their experiences, this campaign will have them banging down your digital door. An SMS loyalty campaign can be incredibly effective around Thanksgiving. Since this holiday is all about gratitude—and the gateway to the holiday shopping season—sending special offers to your returning customers will definitely grab their attention. And with some clever copywriting, you can send relevant messages tied to Thanksgiving.
4. Re-engagement SMS campaigns
As any savvy marketer knows, it’s far more cost effective and easier to retain customers than attract new ones. However, some shoppers might need a gentle nudge in the right direction. Encourage previous customers to make holiday purchases from your store with a re-engagement campaign. You can lower cart abandonment rates by encouraging customers to complete their purchases with enticing deals. Or, you can retarget previous customers who haven’t engaged with your brand in a while. Send discounts and offers as incentives.
5. Last-minute deals
Some customers put off their holiday shopping until the last minute. Use their procrastination to your advantage by sending out last-minute deals via SMS. You can also send time-sensitive offers on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Research shows that 9pm was the busiest time on Black Friday. On Cyber Monday, it was 10pm. You can also extend your Cyber Monday discounts into Tuesday, giving busy customers more time to buy.
Accelerate holiday sales with SMS
Ready to see your sales soar this holiday season? SMS marketing campaigns can vastly increase customer engagement, and Mitto makes the process easy. Our Campaigns platform lets you send mass campaigns to your contacts in minutes. Or, if you’re looking for something more customizable, our SMS solution and Integrations allow you to manage your messages better, craft customized SMS marketing campaigns, and add SMS to any user flow or CX with API connectivity to your existing tech stack. To learn more, contact us today.
