Top Three Things Retailers Should Do to Keep Customers on Their SMS Opt-In List
You’ve run a successful SMS opt-in campaign for your retail store. Now that you have your list, do you have a plan to keep them from opting out? Wait, you mean there’s more to this than just sending out coupon codes? There is if you want to keep your customers from opting out.
Though you don’t want your customers opting out, it’s the law to make sure every SMS message includes a way to do so. That makes it really easy for a customer to get off your list – that’s a good and a bad thing. If you have a high opt out rate then you’re probably doing something wrong. Here’s a short list of what that might be:
- Your messages are too frequent
- You’re sending irrelevant offers or information
- The messages arrive at odd hours, or “after” hours
- You didn’t have permission after all, or the person forgot they opted in
It’s easy though, to avoid losing customers for these reasons (except for the last one. Scrub your list and make sure you have valid opt ins for everyone!). Here are three easy ways to keep people on your list.
- Always tell customers how often you’ll send messages – and stick to it! In mobile, it’s hard to find something more annoying than too many text messages. And though you might not tell them when the messages will be sent, always set it up so messages arrive during appropriate hours.
- Make the offers you send valuable. Everyone wants a deal, especially younger generations where price has shown to be the dominating factor in what and where they decide to purchase. Use email for less valuable, or less immediate, sale messages and announcements. Save your SMS opt-in list for when it counts most.
- Provide a way to let the customer set preferences for what messages to receive. You can do this using reply codes or integrate your messaging with a user profile on your website. User profiles let customers get very specific about what messages they want, which means they’ll probably stay on your list longer. It also is a way for you to gather more information on your customers so you can make sure what you send is relevant to them.
A little planning for long term opt in list management can go a long way towards maximising sales and minimising opt outs. Do you have any other suggestions for retailers to keep their customers from opting out?
Related Articles
Do Your Customers Trust You?
I think for much of the last decade, people used the Internet and then mobile devices, without giving too much thought about what they were doing. Or more accurately, what other people were doing with their information. But then came Edward Snowden in 2013 who revealed governments were collecting and using our personal data in ways we hadn’t imagined.
SMS Marketing for Home Shopping in the Mobile Age
Proof SMS Messaging Gets Results: Increase Sales
Can SMS marketing increase sales numbers? In the next entry of our Results Series you’ll see the kinds of results that real companies achieved. We’ve rounded up sales numbers and timelines to show you how well, and how fast, SMS marketing can improve your sales.
SMS Messaging Makes for Great Customer Service
It was late Thursday afternoon on a busy week when I heard the familiar jingle. I received a text message from the company I rented a DVD from about a week prior (I know, who rents DVDs these days - but stay with me). They wanted to ask if I’d forgotten about it, since I hadn’t yet returned it. Indeed I had forgotten.
5 Reasons to Receive SMS Online
Technology And Text Messaging Support In-Store Shopping Experiences
Shoppers are very tech savvy. Even when they shop in store they are using their mobiles to do price comparisons, look up reviews or post on social media. And while your customers are busy using tech, your store needs to be using it too. SMS is one of those technologies that can really enhance the shopping experience whether your shoppers are in store, or not.
How to Increase Website Traffic with SMS Messaging
Read some practical advice on how you can use SMS messaging to drive more traffic to your website. Include a shortened url in your SMS marketing message that sends the recipient to a special offers page or a how-to video or even a top-up page for consumables. But make sure the page is mobile friendly.
5 Ways to Use SMS to Save Money and Improve Your Retail Business
Every good retail business owner knows that the key to success is keeping his or her customers happy. Your level of customer service should be all encompassing to succeed and should consist of more than just being polite to the customer at the till.
SMS Marketing for Jewellers and Jewellery Makers
How to Avoid Failing at SMS Marketing
For many businesses it's often a knee-jerk reaction to create an app, or to run mobile ads, or to start an SMS list. But without really understanding what it’s all about, you can waste a lot of time and money before realising what you actually need to do.