Marketing automation is often used to make it easier and faster to send messages through various communication channels. Surely you have once received an SMS or email from a company whose products interested you. More and more marketers are combining the two. In this article, you will learn why you should use SMS and email marketing together.
Are there any differences between these communication channels?
Of course there are! Some messages are not effective at all due to the wrong form of reaching users, which we will explain with a simple example. Imagine that only for a few hours your site will have a promotion for the latest fall collection. By sending an email, it is likely that most of the recipients will read the message after the action is over, which will contribute to discouragement or even shopping at a competitor. Remember that some people do not have the ability to log in and check email, but they can read the SMS and shop via their mobile device. However, this form of notifications doesn’t make sense when you want to convey a lot of information at once, because SMS messages have character limits. If you’re looking to increase conversions, email is definitely a better choice, where you add a few links, as well as aesthetically pleasing graphics and an interesting font.
Together or separately
The choice of the right communication channel depends on many factors, as well as the preferences of a particular person. Someone who doesn’t use email and doesn’t read messages may be interested in an offer when they get an SMS. Sometimes you don’t have to exclude either form and make contact by different means. It’s sometimes worth combining SMS and email marketing, and we’ll tell you when it’s especially relevant.
Reminder about an ending promotion
Wanting to notify users about discounts, you can provide the necessary information via email. In addition, marketing automation allows you to segment people, so that customers who haven’t opened an email for a few days will get an SMS reminder when the promotion ends. This way you will reach more users and increase their engagement.
Order tracking
After a purchase is made from your online store, you should send an email allowing the customer to see what stage their order is at. Usually, the next messages are already delivered as SMS, so that the recipient can respond in time and pick up the purchased items. A message like, “Hi [Name]! Your order is ready and waiting to be picked up by the courier.” is sure to be read by more people at the right time.
Saving abandoned shopping carts
Emails encourage customers to read the offer and become active on the site, but some users abandon the processes and leave the store. Inundating them with more emails can have a negative effect, so it’s better to use SMS. It is worth using personalization and adjusting the content accordingly to encourage the recipient. Offering a discount code will increase the chance of returning to your store and improve the relationship with potential customers.
Special actions
Through emails, for example, you can tell interested people what products are recommended for purchase for the holidays or a specific time of year, and include a spread of themed events. Organizing contests, webinars, or introducing a new assortment are just some examples of providing information via email. SMS can play a complementary role and, for example, notify about the events of the day, week or month: “The autumn lottery has started! Win up to 100,000$! Check here: [Link]”.
Booking confirmation
When signing up for an event, such as a desktop conference, the recipient should receive feedback that everything went well and the reservation was made for the day. Such a message can be sent by email, and the most relevant information and additional materials worth using can be added there. SMS can be used to remind, for example, the day before the conference, the date and time of the meeting. This is also a useful feature in sectors such as tourism or health care, where there are sign-ups for specific (often quite distant) days and the client may forget that they have made a reservation or want to reschedule. A convenient link sent via SMS will greatly improve communication and user experience, plus increase sales.
How to combine SMS and email marketing
Of course, you don’t have to do everything manually, because that’s what marketing automation is for. With Marketing Automation scenarios, you can set what customer actions will condition the next actions and messages sent. For example, you can send a reminder SMS to a specific group of recipients after 24 hours of not reading an email. In iPresso, the scenarios have an intuitive editor with helpful templates, so linking different blocks of actions together is easy and fun.
Summary
The combination of SMS and email marketing is increasingly being chosen by companies and is perfect for communicating with recipients. Marketing automation makes it possible to quickly send messages to specific groups of users, helping to improve engagement and loyalty. Email messages allow you to include the most important information along with the necessary links, while SMS messages arrive within moments and convey specific, short content. With a high volume of openings, SMS can be used complementarily to those people who have not read email.
Want to try out SMS and email marketing tools? Click here and start a free 30-day trial. See for yourself that iPresso is right for you!
Leave a Reply