SMS marketing is a powerful tool your e-commerce business can use to personalize communication with your shoppers. It also works great with Swym’s Back in Stock Alerts app to create a sense of urgency when the product users want is restocked. Thanks to our integrations with several of the most popular SMS marketing platforms available today, you’ll enjoy the benefits of text messaging while using the tools you’re already familiar with.
But what if you’re not already using an SMS marketing platform? Choosing the right one depends on the unique needs of your business. In this article, we’ll look at a few of the best choices, how your brand can benefit from each, and how to choose between them.
What is SMS Marketing?
The goal of e-commerce marketing is always to make connections with customers that lead to sales. Of course, no two shoppers (or their communication preferences) are the same. Luckily, there are many ways to reach them. Email marketing is extremely popular, but it isn’t the only choice today. SMS (text message) marketing has grown more common in recent years thanks to its convenience and the ubiquity of texting.
Globally, over 86% of the world’s population uses a smartphone. That’s 6.9 billion people you can reach with SMS marketing. Just like other forms of marketing, an SMS message delivered at the right time with the right context leads to positive results.
Better yet, studies show that users are far more engaged with SMS marketing than email with click-through rates soaring 10-15% higher.
Benefits of SMS Marketing
Still not convinced that SMS marketing is worth a try? Beyond increased engagement, there are a number of reasons why this medium is often successful. Here are a few more benefits of text message marketing to consider.
Excellent Open Rates
Before a shopper will return to buy a product they were interested in, they have to open your back-in-stock alert. Unlike email, where open rates fluctuate, SMS messages are almost always opened. As high as 98% of the time to be exact. Why? Because users are on their phones and a text stands out from the flood of advertising they see every day.
Importantly, users aren’t just opening their text messages—they’re taking action. Conversion rates for SMS marketing are as high as 29% on average. This is much higher than other mediums, giving you the potential to generate massive returns.
Fast Creation
How long does it take your marketing team to create an email campaign? Crafting perfect copy, finding the right images, and designing an email template is a tedious process. SMS marketing is much faster. With a lower character limit and no need for images, you can create SMS messages that convert in minutes.
Low Cost for Potentially High ROI
Other forms of advertising can get costly. Even creating emails costs time and money. SMS marketing is a great budget-friendly option for many businesses, especially those utilizing back-in-stock subscription software. You’re already gathering phone numbers from customers who show high buying intent. The cost of sending an SMS message is low, but the potential return on investment (ROI) is high because of SMS’s instant impact.
Preferred Medium
Sending SMS messages might feel a bit invasive. But don’t worry! Today, users are comfortable receiving text message marketing—so comfortable that many actually prefer getting a text over an email.
Why? Because SMS lets you deliver highly personalized messages that are useful and bring value to your customers. This is the quickest way to show that you care about forming a relationship with each and every shopper who signs up to hear from you.
Highly Personal
Your shoppers’ email inboxes are flooded with messages and offers. A back-in-stock alert can get lost in the chaos. But when an SMS alert appears alongside texts from family and friends, users are more likely to take notice. You’re able to create incredibly personal SMS messages to subscribers since they already have a relationship with your business and are expecting to hear from you. This personal touch is excellent at pushing users toward making a purchase—especially when they’re already interested.
What is an SMS Marketing Platform?
It’s no surprise you can’t use your phone to send back-in-stock SMS alerts to hundreds or thousands of users. Just like email marketing, SMS marketing needs a platform to work successfully. There are many different platforms to choose from today.
A great SMS marketing platform has features that help your business operate seamlessly and efficiently. A few key elements to look for include:
- Bulk messaging: Essential for sending SMS alerts to a list of subscribers all at once.
- Automation: Sending your messages automatically saves time and increases your productivity and reach.
- Integrations: You’ll need to integrate your SMS platform with your other tools to create an omnichannel experience and utilize your data.
- Analytics: Tracking the performance of your text message campaigns is essential and analytics tools make all the difference.
- Two-way conversation: Not all businesses need to let customers respond, but doing so creates a better experience, and more customers today expect to be able to answer.
- MMS: If you want to include product images in your SMS marketing, be sure to look for MMS support.
- Opt-out management: Users have trusted you with their phone numbers, so be sure it’s easy for them to opt out of future messages if needed.
- Segmentation: This is essential for sending the right message to the right portion of your audience. Granular segmentation features can significantly impact your success.
- Privacy compliance: Your business needs to stay compliant with all privacy laws, so features protecting user privacy and data are important to look for.
- Location support: Many SMS marketing platforms only support sending messages to some countries/territories. Be sure your target market and any future markets you intend to advertise in are supported.
- SMS rates: Some platforms charge you a flat rate based on the number of users while others charge you by the message so have a clear understanding of how you’ll be charged before getting started.
Uses of SMS Marketing
The most important factor driving conversions from back-in-stock messaging is creating a sense of urgency. You want shoppers to drop what they’re doing and return to your site to make a purchase. This makes SMS marketing an important channel for sending back-in-stock alerts.
Most shoppers read a text message within five minutes of it being delivered. Not only does this allow them to act quickly, it means your message gets across right away. Since urgency is everything when it comes to back-in-stock alerts, such swift engagement is highly beneficial
As noted, SMS has a much higher open rate than email and stands out from other marketing messages in your shoppers’ inboxes. But that’s not all.
The majority of shoppers who subscribe to marketing text messages return to make a purchase with that brand within three months. Your contacts that have signed up for alerts are ready to buy. You just need to connect with them. SMS is arguably the best way to do so.
What are the Best SMS Marketing Platforms in 2023?
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of SMS marketing, it’s time to choose the right platform for your business. Remember, the tool you choose needs to integrate with your back-in-stock alerts software. These platforms are some of the best available today. Better yet, they all integrate seamlessly with Sywm’s Back in Stock Alerts app!
1. Twilio
Twilio offers APIs for customer engagement with a focus on SMS messaging. Unlike many SMS marketing platforms, Twilio users are able to interact with customers and vice-versa. Twilio also offers multichannel communication so you can reach your users where they want to be reached. Plus, you don’t need to be a developer to use Twilio’s powerful APIs and communication workflows.
Swym’s Back in Stock Alerts app works with the Twilio API to automatically send alerts with your desired template once products are restocked. This is a great choice for businesses of any side since pricing scales with the number of messages you send.
(Available for Swym Pro plans and above)
2. Postscript
If your e-commerce store uses Shopify, look no further than Postscript. This powerful SMS marketing platform has everything you need to connect with customers via two-way conversation, run highly-targeted campaigns, and sync your data. Plus with 40 unique user filters, you can segment your audience with granular perfection.
The integration with Swym’s Back in Stock Alerts app lets you send messages when users subscribe for alerts, when products come back in stock, and follow-up with reminders. Like other platforms, Postscript features pricing plans that are suitable for any size business. However, medium-to-large brands will get the most out of the platform’s tools. Keep in mind that Postscript caters primarily to brands using a Shopify store. Using Postscript with other platforms may involve some development work using Postcript SDKs.
(Available for Swym Pro plans and above)
3. Klaviyo
Since launching its SMS service in 2019, Klaviyo has been a go-to platform for both text and email marketing. It offers an array of self-serve customization options, allowing businesses to tailor their experience independently. The platform features powerful data science tools that will let you better understand your audience and the success of your campaigns.
This is a great choice for businesses of all sizes but is especially ideal for brands looking to start with their first marketing platform. The Sywm Back in Stock Alerts integration lets you create a number of user context-based automations to engage shoppers with targeted SMS messages.
(Available for Swym Starter plans and above)
4. Omnisend
Like Klaviyo, Omnisend offers both email and SMS marketing in one combined platform. This is ideal for creating an omnichannel experience for your customers while maintaining your data and workflows in one place. Omnisend lets you sequence emails and SMS messages in the same campaigns and automated workflows so you can experience the benefits of both channels side-by-side. Pre-built workflows are the perfect starting point and help you get your automations running in minutes. Notably, Omnisend also supports international SMS messaging to all country codes so you can connect with your audience no matter where they’re located.
Omnisend is a premium marketing tool with plenty of features that medium-to-large-sized businesses need. SMS is only available on Omnisend’s Pro plan and above, which may be too expensive for smaller brands just starting their marketing journey. Notably, if your brand serves a large global audience, Omnisend’s international SMS support is an essential feature to have.
5. Listrak
For established brands with custom omnichannel marketing needs, Listrak is a great choice for SMS messaging as well as email and customer insights. High-volume users benefit from the enhanced marketing features the platform offers, including personalized support, advanced reporting tools, and unique acquisition tactics. Listrak also works with Tier 1 Aggregators, which means messages are sent securely and reliably with a direct connection to top wireless carriers.
As mentioned, this premium tool is best for large brands with an existing omnichannel marketing strategy and high send volume. Pricing is custom-tailored to each brand based on its unique needs.
Are you ready to start collecting the benefits of SMS marketing for your e-commerce brand? Reach out to us at support@swymcorp.com and we’ll help you start sending back-in-stock SMS alerts with the Swym Back in Stock Alerts app.
