SMS marketing is a digital marketing strategy that, combined with email marketing, allows ecommerce businesses to transmit information to customers effectively and immediately. It is one of the most effective means, since we are currently hooked on mobile devices 24 hours a day and, furthermore, the volume of text messages we receive is less than the number of emails, so we tend to pay more attention to the SMS that we receive. they send us

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Benefits of SMS marketing

Below, we are going to list some of the benefits of using this channel and why you should include it in your digital marketing strategy.

• Great reach: through text messages you can reach a very high percentage of the population, since today most people have a mobile phone.
• High level of interaction : people who receive a text message open it almost immediately, few text messages remain unopened.
• There are no bounces : once the customer has given their consent to receive the SMS, there is no type of bounce. Even if the device is turned off or out of coverage, the message will end up arriving.
• Different uses : you can use them to register an account in the online store, to track an order, to inform about new products... As we see, the use of messages can be very broad.

• Mass mailings without spam : it is easier to send links to an online store via SMS, since mobile phones do not usually have any spam filters, so you ensure that your message is received directly in the inbox.

Steps to create a good SMS marketing strategy for your ecommerce

It is essential to follow certain steps so that the SMS marketing campaign is developed correctly and obtain the best results.

• Define the objectives : it is very important to be clear about what you want to achieve with an SMS marketing campaign, that is, to be clear about the problem we want to solve. From here, you can begin to define the different goals that you want to achieve, around the resolution of this objective. Some of them may be: increase visits to the online store, increase sales, improve the shopping experience...
• Design the strategy based on the target audience : once the objectives are clear, you must start planning possible solutions to achieve them. To do this, it is essential to take into account the target audience you are going to address. It is necessary to collect information from customers, to be able to segment them and offer the most appropriate message to each of them. Some data that may be interesting are: gender, age, country, profession, interests....
• Choose a sending platform: there are different SMS sending platforms. It is advisable to select a few and see what each one of them offers us, to be able to choose the most complete and in line with what we are looking for. This choice can make working with the messages we are going to send much easier. Two key points that it is recommended that the chosen platform have are: personalization of the sender and being able to know if your messages have been delivered.
• Create and clean the database : it is really important to have the consent of the people to whom we are going to send the text messages. The best thing is to use the databases that have been generated and not have to resort to third-party databases, this way we ensure that we are impacting users who are truly interested in our brand. It is also important that customers who no longer want to receive SMS can unsubscribe.

Also, the existing database must be cleaned before sending messages. This will allow us to: remove those senders whose data is incomplete, duplicated or simply not relevant for the shipment we are going to make, and reduce the cost of the shipment.

• Writing and customizing the SMS : Messages are limited to 160 characters, so the message must be clear and to the point. Since it is short content, most clients do not mind receiving it, even if it is well-crafted it will fulfill its objective perfectly. When creating the message, the following points must be taken into account:

1. Identification of the sender : Including the name of the company is very important, so that people identify the sender and open the message.
2. Personalization : If the messages are personalized, a greater bond is achieved with the audience you want to impact, since the person who is receiving it feels special and important. In addition, it is a form of differentiation with respect to the competition. Clearly, receiving a message that is intended for the masses is not the same as one that specifies the name of the recipient.
3. Presentation of the value proposition and conditions : Having such limited space, a clear and concise value proposition must be made. In addition, we must make very clear the conditions of the offer that is presented and the steps to follow to obtain it.
4. Urgency bias : It is highly recommended to add an urgency bias, so that customers see when this promotion ends and also to create a feeling of prompt completion.

• Establish the shipping schedule : You must always establish a calendar determining the shipping days, but above all the hours. You should never send a message at dawn or at inappropriate hours, this can damage the brand's reputation. As we have already mentioned, the messages received are usually opened immediately, which is why choosing the sending time is extremely important. It is advisable to focus on a time slot between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., within this slot we should use the hours that best convert among our customers or the time when the user is closest to the purchase.
• Measuring results: After launching any SMS marketing campaign, the results obtained must be analyzed to know if it has been effective or what things can be improved for future campaigns.

Some KPIs that can be used to measure campaign results are:

• The deliverability rate , that is, how many messages have reached users correctly. If the database is cleaned well, this rate should be almost complete.
• The click rate , it is very important to know how many people have clicked on the link that we have put in the SMS. Based on this data we will know if you liked the content or if it should be improved.
• Conversion rate , thanks to this metric, the percentage of people who have carried out the action proposed in the message is measured. Whether it is the purchase of a product, the download of an app...

Types of campaigns to carry out through SMS marketing.

This marketing tool allows you to be in contact with customers at different times and with different objectives. Next, we are going to give some examples in which this tool could be used effectively.

• Keep the consumer informed : when a user makes a purchase, you must accompany them and inform them of the status of their order. This way, the customer will see that you care about them and that you inform them of any circumstance that may arise with their package.

• Build customer loyalty : when you have managed to collect data from your customers and you have, for example, their birthday, one of the recommendations is to send them an SMS with a congratulations and a small percentage discount. Actually, it is a very good way to create a special bond with the people who have purchased from your store.
• Specific campaigns : there are special dates on which e-commerce stores make some discounts in their stores, such as Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday... It is a good idea to send a text message to your customers reminding them of these dates and the promotions.
• Confirmation of actions : whether the customer has made a purchase, subscribed to the newsletter, registered on the website or any other action that needs to be confirmed, it is a good opportunity to be in contact with your customers and keep them informed.
• Suggestions to increase the value of the order : through text messages you can propose to customers improvements to the products they have purchased or the purchase of similar or complementary products to those they have purchased.

SMS marketing campaigns with Klaviyo.

Klaviyo allows you to easily and simply obtain your clients' data through forms. Users will be able to enter their phone numbers and quickly and easily confirm that they want to receive information from your store through this medium.

In addition, the Klaviyo platform, as with emails, allows you to automate the SMS process. Finally, with Klaviyo you will be able to obtain the results of your campaign immediately, it will provide you with analytical reports in a really clear and understandable way for everyone.

Without a doubt, combining email marketing and SMS tools will allow you to obtain greater effectiveness in your digital marketing campaigns, in this way you will achieve the best results.

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