Black Friday, the beginning of a hectic holiday shopping season, is a must-do for retailers and marketers. When used an appropriate way, SMS marketing is a powerful channel to nurture commitment and loyalty from your contacts and is particularly well suited to successful communication at this moment of the year. Here are some hands-on tips to create effective SMS campaigns that will leave a lasting impression on your customers and prospects before, during and after Black Friday.

3 good reasons to use SMS marketing for Black Friday

Unrivalled performance compared to other channels

With a deliverability of around 95% and an opening rate of around 98%, SMS marketing is one of the most effective communication channels to communicate with your customers and prospects.

Tremendous efficiency

The fact a SMS is almost instantly read is one of the main assets of SMS marketing. According to a study conducted by Mediametrie, 92% of promotional SMS messages are read within 4 minutes of receipt. Moreover, in terms of message effectiveness, SMS is far ahead of other communication channels with an outstanding memorization rate of around 60%.

An unstoppable drive-to-web effect

SMS marketing is the ideal channel to boost your online sales.

7 tips to make your SMS campaigns a success for Black Friday

Personalize your messages

Make your customers feel unique and privileged. Give a special touch to your campaigns by personalizing them with the first names of your contacts, for example. Also customize the sender name with your brand name so that the reader can identify you even before the message is opened.

Get to the point

With only 160 characters, your SMS marketing should be straightforward and powerful. This may seem too short to you, but it is this feature that contributes to the high memorization rate your message triggers.

Deliver a mobile-friendly customer experience

Use enriched SMS by including a link to your mobile landing pages to offer your customers a route designed exclusively for mobile. You will be able to highlight your best special offers for Black Friday with content that is both responsive and visually appealing.

Target your sends

Segmentation is a key point of any marketing campaign and SMS is no exception, especially for your campaigns dedicated to Black Friday. A good knowledge of the customer will allow you to target your audience more accurately and send personalized messages that fit your contacts’ needs and expectations perfectly. This will allow you to improve the performance of your campaigns, increase your conversion rate and build customer loyalty.

Combine SMS with other communication channels

SMS campaigns are powerful. But implementing a multi-channel communication strategy, with a consistent message regardless of the channel, is proving to be a particularly effective approach. In addition to SMS, consider using email marketing, social networks, banners on your website, AdWords or other external actions.

Send your message at the right time

Whether SMS marketing or email, the timing of the sending plays a great role in the performance of your campaigns. Be sure to respect the times and days allowed by the legislation in force to send SMS marketing messages.

Make sure you comply with the GDPR

It is absolutely necessary to obtain the permission of your customers to send them promotional campaigns (both SMS and email). When you collect their phone numbers, inform them that you will use it to send your communications. Also give them a way to easily oppose it. Beyond the obligations associated with the GDPR, this good practice is essential to build trust and loyalty among your subscribers.