Getting started with SMS Marketing

SMS marketing has come to Klaviyo customers in Ireland, but if SMS marketing is new to you, it might just give you the ick - will your subscribers be open to text messages, are they intrusive, will it damage our brand?

First off, text messages get near 100% open rates. In other markets, SMS has proven to be one of the most direct and effective ways to engage with subscribers.

If you are a Klaviyo customer, or a customer of a competing service that enables you to send send SMS marketing messages, then here are 13 quick tips to get you started.

1. Get consent.

This isn’t just advice, but a legal requirement. If customers have entered their mobile number in checkout for order and delivery updates, that’s not the same thing as consent. You’ll need additional explicit consent for additional marketing messages. And if you sell adult products, like alcohol, you must also ask for date of birth. This is called “age-gating”, and good platforms will not just support, nor encourage, but insist you use it.?

2. Sender ID.

Decide if you’re going to send from a short name, or a number. Numbers will allow you to engage in conversational marketing where you can have a two-way conversation with customers, as well as segment customers based on their responses using short codes.

3. Segment your audience.

Like any medium for marketing, segment, segment, segment. Group your subscribers based on their preferences or behaviours. Just like email, tailoring your messages to specific groups increases the likelihood of conversion.

4. Determine your frequency

Be very, very careful about your sending frequency. SMS is far more personal, so err on the side of caution, and send less frequently than email, for starters.

5. Determine your send time

Like frequency, do not send at inappropriate times. Never too early, nor too late. No one will thank you for waking them.

6. Incentivise your sign-ups

Mobile numbers are often closely guarded and deeply personal, so you need to entice people to sign-up with a worthwhile incentive. In exchange for sharing their number, you’ll have to let them know what they can expect to receive and how it benefits them. One idea is to treat SMS subscribers as VIPs who receive better or earlier offers than anyone else.

7. Keep it short.

SMS can be a distraction, so make it short and relevant. In as few characters as possible, clearly state your offer and call to action. This will also save you money - the longer your message, the more expensive it will be to send.

8. Personalise.

It’s a very personal channel so address the recipient with their first name and frame your message based on their preferences, if known. See point 3. on segmentation.

9. CTA FTW.

You can only include one link in many SMS marketing platforms, so choose wisely. Do you link to a product page, or deeper into the checkout (e.g with a Shopify checkout link)? Depending on your message, and your segment, you need to make it clear and easy where the link take them.

10. Easy opt-out

Like the first point on consent, this a must, not a should. You must include a clear and easy way for subscribers to opt out of receiving SMS messages, whether that’s a STOP response or a link. This is not only a regulatory requirement but also builds trust with your audience.

11. Start simple with plain text.

Thereafter, you can layer in emojis (which reduce the number of characters you can send in a single message).

12. Track and analyse

Just like email, you’ll want to monitor the performance of your SMS campaigns, but the metrics aren’t quite the same. While email allows you to measure open rates, most SMS platforms do not. For SMS, you’ll want to look at click-through rates (CTR), conversions, and opt-out rates to measure your success.

13. Integrate with email

Don’t think of SMS on its own, but integrate your SMS marketing efforts with email marketing and social media, for a coherent message.

Did I miss anything? If so, add it below ??