Prepare for the 2024 sales with an SMS marketing campaign

The benefits of SMS for sales

• In France, 95% of the population has a cell phone. This means that your SMS marketing campaign can reach all groups of people.
• During the winter sales, SMS can make your traffic explode, but also your turnover! The conversion rate of SMS is on average 3x higher than that of an email.
• The text message is opened 5 times more than an email. It also has a 97% read rate. This is a significant figure given the number of solicitations received by consumers in the run-up to the sales period.
• High speed in both sending and opening. 90% of SMS are read within 4 minutes of receipt.
• Personalization (Sender id) and mailing option. The SMS allows you to support the feeling of a real relationship (name, first name, buying habits...).
• An effective promotional and conversion tool. The information is crystal-clear, and the possibilities endless: link insertion, CTAs, landing pages, maps...
• Easily integrate SMS into your marketing tools. With our services, plug-ins, APIs or directly on our platform, you benefit from a new channel at the best price in just a few seconds.

As you can see, SMS is the ideal medium for clear, powerful communication in the run-up to the sales period. But it can also be a way to attract people in a store or online before D-day, which is more comfortable for consumers and therefore likely to provoke an additional purchase. In fact, private sales account for 20% of total sales during promotional periods. The marketing campaign must therefore start before the sales.

To give yourself the best chance of success, here are a few ways to prepare for this moment.

Prepare your SMS campaign well before the sales

The 2024 winter sales run from Wednesday January 10 to Tuesday February 6, 2024. The period leading up to these sales gives you the opportunity both to strengthen your bond with loyal customers and to re-engage inactive ones. With SMS as a means of reaching them, you can take advantage of the few weeks before the sales to re-establish communication between consumers and your store:

 

Offer gifts

Take advantage of an SMS campaign to offer your loyal customers something extra to make them feel appreciated: early access to available products, an invitation to a special event or an additional discount on the purchase.

Send your wishes

The winter sales follow the end of year celebrations, test the receptivity of your campaigns by wishing your contact groups a happy new year and thank them for their loyalty.

Create an emulation

Encourage your targets to share the offers contained in your mailings with their friends and family by offering them a gift or a discount for each referral/account creation, this will also allow you to increase your target base.

Do not hesitate to tease on your social networks  

Why not tell your subscribers about the benefits your database members receive? This can create a healthy frustration that will drive people to your shop or website once the offer is available to everyone.

Examples of SMS for sales

To save time, make sure your messages are clear and punchy before D-Day. These examples can be used as a reference and adapted to your brand. Get a clear idea of the structure, tone and calls to action to include in your SMS messages to maximize their impact on recipients.

See more SMS examples

Examples:

7 tips for a successful SMS campaign for the sales

With the start of the sales season approaching, it's time to add SMS to your digital marketing strategy. Here are a few things you can do to make sending an SMS ultra effective.

1. Launch separate campaigns, starting with loyal consumers

An SMS is 160 characters, so you need to be particularly catchy with few words. Start with a group of contacts, see what kind of messages work and repeat the winning communication.

The statistics from your first mobile campaign will allow you to assess engagement, which will allow you to refine your message for the second campaign and maximise your chances of customers flocking to your shop or e-commerce site. You don't need to have huge segments, this test works just as well for large retailers as it does for an independent shop.

2. Simplify the buying act (Drive-to-web and Drive-to-store)

Impressed by the conversion rate of SMS? The RCS conversion rate is twice as high!

Use this new mobile messaging channel to send a multimedia message, highlighting the most popular products on your website. Send a carousel or attach buttons leading directly to a page on your site to encourage purchase action.

Do you have a physical shop? Set up e-booking and announce it by text message! It's a great way to encourage purchases and drive traffic to your shop. Offer your customers the possibility to reserve available items or to know in advance the promotions they can benefit from.

3. Sending personalized SMS messages

Use your data to cultivate a sense of privilege among your customers. Call them by their first names thanks to the direct mail option, offer the most loyal customers exclusive offers, an invitation to private sales, with a code allowing them to benefit from special offers. Use purchasing habits to form groups and promote product ranges adapted to each profile.

4. Offer your customers exclusive SMS offers

Offer exclusive discounts and promotions by SMS to your most loyal customers. For example :

"Get an extra 10% off by showing this SMS."

"SMS Exclusive: Save £10 when you buy this weekend via this link"

They should be offers that customers can't find anywhere else, these SMS exclusives give people a reason to stay on your contact list and they also allow you to calculate the return on investment of a campaign.

5. Inform your customers about promotions not to be missed

If you're planning a flash operation, let your potential buyers know before the products are available. That way, they can be sure they'll be there to buy at the right time. Are any of your best-sellers about to go on sale? Stimulate desire and play on the fact that your offer is limited, your communication will surely stay in your target's mind once the sales are over, and you'll increase your sales.

You can also offer a reminder when the private sales are approaching. For example: "Next Monday is the opening of the private sales at My Company! Click here to be notified.

Add any customer who clicks on the link to a new contact group and send a reminder on the day.

6. Use interactive content to generate interest and information

In 2021, 85% of French people will own a smartphone (MMAF data). Why not take advantage of this opportunity? Take advantage of the excellent conversion offered by multimedia messages. Take advantage of images, buttons and carousels in your SMS marketing campaigns to make quizzes or surveys.

For example:

How do you like this product: 👍, 👎, ❤️

"Which offer would you like to see sold soon: A, B or C?".

You are asking your customer to engage in a fun and playful way, so you are more likely to get valuable information and data while creating desire in your prospects.

7. Send bulk SMS messages at the right time

It may depend on your sector, but in general, early morning or mid-day is often a good time for SMS marketing campaigns. Your customer is more likely to be available and you can capture their attention. The offer is also a factor that can influence the sending time. Does your shop offer food products? A message before noon can totally hit the spot. Don't forget to respect the legal sending hours (8am to 8pm from Monday to Saturday).

You now have all the keys to make mobile messaging your number one asset for the upcoming sales. Are you ready? Now it's your turn!

Choose smsmode^©A2P, the market leader in mobile communications, to carry out your SMS campaign.

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• Competitive prices.
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+ Account managers available to help you set up your campaigns!