SMS Marketing has seen rapid growth in the past few years, and for good reason. With the right implementation, it can prove to be an exceptional marketing tool for an eCommerce business. The numbers behind its success are staggering – when one considers that 98% of all text messages are opened, 90% of text messages are read within the first 3 minutes of being sent¹, and that on average, SMS enjoys a 6-8x higher engagement rates than email marketing, it’s clear that SMS marketing is a tool that many eCommerce businesses can derive value from². That’s why BORN Group and Yotpo have come together to help you navigate this channel which is acclaimed by Yotpo Customer Data to deliver a 25x ROI when successfully utilized.

This new outlet can greatly complement a digital strategy by serving as the most personalized channel for marketing updates and outreach. Given the higher rates of engagement and the fact that consumers spend twice as much time texting than answering emails, it is an excellent touchpoint within a marketing arsenal. Some may consider the practice intrusive, but according to Yotpo customer survey data, over 48% of consumers have already signed up to receive texts from a brand, with 51% reporting that they are interested in being able to have a line of text communication with a brand to check inventory and recommendations. So long as your brand performs outreach with consent by its consumer and allows them to begin the marketing by opting on, concerns of intrusion are wiped away. 

Personalized text message marketing finds such great success for a multitude of reasons. Mobile commerce has played a pivotal role in expanding eCommerce to where we’ve found via Yotpo consumer data that 65% of online shoppers choose to browse or shop online on their mobile devices, as opposed to a laptop or desktop computer. Furthermore, customers spend on average four hours a day on their mobile phones, with an average check-in rate of 150 check-ins a day. These metrics reveal how mobile commerce is essential to many eCommerce offerings, and tapping into SMS marketing is the most direct way to harness outreach to a mobile user. The 39% click through rate, sourced via Yotpo customer results, on all links in SMS messages means as well that there is a high chance the right content over a text message will find success in driving traffic.

Most SMS Marketing works via either setting up a campaign, which can be sent in bulk to consumers to promote special deals or new offerings on the site, or specific response messages for a consumer’s transaction. Yotpo utilizes SMSBump as its SMS marketing & automation app for Shopify sites with a 2x higher ROI on multiple step messages as opposed to one-off campaigns or automated responses. Building around multiple step messages has shown via Yotpo customer results a 4x higher ROI – and by highlighting SMS marketing during cart checkout, we’ve seen 47% of customers opt-in. Those numbers serve in your favor beyond promotion of sales too, as Yotpo customer data reveals how review requests via SMS  convert 66% higher compared to email due to the channel’s high engagement rates. This can transform a site’s user generated content when utilized effectively.

Altogether, SMS can play an exceptional role in driving marketing in ways conventional digital methods cannot. Given the nature of its opt-in first format, it is a key pillar when considering loyalty and customer experience for your consumer. 76% of loyalty program members will opt-in to communicate with their favorite brands via SMS according to Yotpo customer data – many businesses can stand to benefit from its array of its promotion of commerce, communication, and user-generated content.

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Footnotes

^{1. Marketing With 98 Percent Read-Rate and 10 More Compelling Stats, Adobe, 27 July 2015.  https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/07/27/marketing-with-98-percent-read-rate-and-10-more-compelling-stats.html#gs.ntun1x}

^{2. 10 Reasons Why You Need SMS Marketing While Dropshipping, DoDropShipping, 5 November 2020 https://www.dodropshipping.com/dropshipping-reasons-why-you-need-sms-marketing/}