Short message service (SMS) marketing, or text message marketing, has been disrupting marketing strategy for a couple of years now. SMS marketing is especially primed for e-commerce, which is on the rise and hit $768 billion in 2021; that number is estimated to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025.

Within e-commerce, there is a growing trend of mobile commerce. Mobile commerce happens exclusively on a smartphone; it’s expected to hit $710 billion by 2025. 

That is why the SMS channel is an ideal location to connect with your customers. It provides a seamless line of communication directly to your customers, with better open and view rates compared to other marketing channels like email. Plus, with the right ecommerce platform, integrations, and setup, customers can transact directly from messaging through their phones.

While SMS marketing represents a huge opportunity for ecommerce brands, there are some pitfalls to avoid. To increase your success with SMS marketing, here are three common mistakes and how to fix them. 

What Is SMS marketing?

SMS (short message service) marketing uses text messages to communicate with your customers. 

 
There are two varieties of texting: SMS and MMS.

SMS: SMS messages are inexpensive (about $.01 a message) and have very high open rates compared to email. Text messages are great for things like appointment reminders, shipping notifications, opt-in confirmation, discount offers, product drops, reorder reminders, and other straightforward information. 

Even the most basic cellular plans allow SMS messages, so your reach can be high, given that 97% of Americans own a cellphone. You are limited to 160 characters with SMS and if you exceed that, it’s likely the message will be broken up into several text messages of 160 characters each, and it may or may not send them in the order you intended. 

MMS: MMS messages are more expensive (about $.03 and up), and not every plan allows MMS, so your bounce rate could be higher. MMS messages are best for messages that need to deliver high impact, such as a product launch, welcoming a subscriber or announcing a special sale or incentive. 

Whether you use SMS or MMS, customers must opt-in before you can start to send them messages. They must also have the option of opting out at any time. 

For more, read:

Now let’s look at three common problems with the SMS marketing channel and how to fix them.

Problem 1: Poor Timing

Anyone who has ever received a marketing promotion for an item they just paid full price for understands about the importance of message timing. 

Most people check their phones 58 times a day. Sixty-nine percent of customers want to receive texts from businesses, but no one likes to be spammed.

Twilio found that 29% of its clients only want to hear from businesses once a week via text, while a further 29% were fine with once a day. It can be a balancing act to hit the sweet spot. So what’s the perfect balance?

Solution: Get Message Timing Right

There are two components to timing the message: frequency and time of day / day of the week. 

Frequency : Try to find the perfect medium of how many messages are needed. Too many messages can annoy your customers, but too few might cause you to miss potential customer engagements. 

The right message frequency depends on the products you offer. For example, sending out new skincare campaigns everyday can be seen as annoying, whereas new food advertisements everyday may be reasonable. Try to space out your messages so they remind the customer of your brand and offerings without overwhelming them. 

In addition, try to personalize the time to the products you’re marketing. For example, skin products generally last about 90 days. A good time to notify a customer to reorder a product would be when they’re running low, potentially around 80 days after their purchase. 

Tailor your messages to match a specific product (e.g., skincare product) and timeline (e.g., 80 days) so that you notify customers who have a purchase need.

Time of day, day of week: The TCPA has legislated when companies can send text messages. According to the rules , SMS campaigns can be sent from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the recipient’s timezone. 

In practice, that equates to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time to be on the safe side, because no one ever wants to be woken by a notification at the crack of dawn.  

But think about the timing by type of message. If you are sending an appointment reminder or delivery confirmation, 48 hours ahead is optimal. However, if you have a cancellation policy, make sure you send the message within that time frame. 

Or, if you’re advertising a lunch special, you need to catch them mid-morning, before they make plans for lunch.

Our research here at Radiance Commerce has found the best time to send SMS/MMS text messages is around 11 a.m. local time, although anytime between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. works, and that includes the weekend. 

For retail brands, we’ve found that Wednesday through Friday are the best days to send out campaigns. Conversely, people aren’t in the shopping mindset on Monday or Tuesday, and Sundays are family time or gearing up for the week ahead. 

Problem 2: Ineffective Messaging

While SMS is a great way to reach customers quickly, the content of your message should be tailored towards your customer, or you risk losing them. A “good” opt-out rate is less than 3% for a text message. If you are seeing higher opt-out or lower CTR, it’s time to evaluate your messaging.

Solution: Think Carefully About the Message 

Personalization: E-commerce allows for a lot of data about your customers, so make use of that data to customize the SMS message to make it more personal. If you use conversational chatbots, you can gather a wealth of data from those interactions to help personalize your messages. 

The content of your message should be tailored towards your customers such that it fits the individual’s needs or wants. A message that is too broad will come across as irrelevant. 

For example, sending a discount on jackets to customers who live in Florida is not applicable. Try to tailor that message to people who are interested in purchasing the jacket, like people who live north.  

Clarity: Your audience should never be confused about what to do after receiving a text. A clear message should always include a verb like “Reply YES to add to cart” or “Buy now to save 10%.” 

Format: It’s difficult to make multiple selections via text, so that is better suited to a different form factor, such as a webview. It’s easy enough to take customers to your website from the text. 

Spelling, grammar, tone: Every message a customer receives from you must reflect positively on your brand and reputation. Misspelling, grammar errors and inappropriate tone for your brand have no place in any of your marketing communications, including SMS/MMS. 

A quick and easy trick to engage customers is to use “I” and “you,” and include personalization, such as the customer’s name in the message. 

Visuals: Polish your message visually. The last thing anyone wants to receive is a huge block of text. Use techniques like shortening URLs, include eye-catching emojis or test different images. 

Each message you send should make the customer feel valued and special. That’s how you build brand loyalty. 

Problem 3: Incorrect Audience

If you send the right message to the wrong people, you won’t achieve success. Finding the right audience starts with how they found you and opted-in. Was it through a pop-up on the website, an in-store promotion, a widget or QR code, a quiz or some other form of opt-in? 

Technology Advice found the top three reasons why people unsubscribe included irrelevant content. While that survey discussed email campaigns, the same can be said for SMS. People want relevant content, and they will opt-out if they don’t find value in your messages. 

Solution: Define Your Audience 

With the right SMS marketing platform, you can segment your audience by things like prior purchase history, location, behaviors and more. Then you can use that data to send personalized recommendations, reminders of upcoming sales and suggest additional items.   

Here are ways to segment: 

Location: Segment your database by geographic location to maximize your ROI. What types of products might your Texas audience be interested in versus your New Jersey audience? 

Past purchases: Use prior purchase history to send product restock updates, warranty expiration notices and reorder reminders to specific customers. If they clicked through for information about a product that is running low on stock, or has gone on sale, their prior browsing history can personalize a message quickly.

Loyalty programs: Hold special VIP-only events by SMS invitation.

Engagement: Track low engagement and use it as an opportunity to send a special message or promotion. While it’s true that 20% of your customer base will make 80% of the purchases, that leaves 80% who opted-in for a reason. Do some research, such as last click date or last purchase date and reach out to the occasional buyer with a special offer.

For more, read: 

What Opt-in Locations Are Effective 

Which Messaging Platform to Bet On

Take some time to get to know your customers, and tailor your message to them, including who it goes to, what it says and when you send it. With the right platform and some savvy marketing tips, you can easily alleviate or fix the common problems with SMS.