As consumer preferences for communication become more and more mobile-based, SMS marketing has quickly emerged as an effective way for brands to engage with shoppers — and a key touchpoint for strengthening personalised, one-to-one customer experiences. To help brands unlock the full potential of this channel, Attentive surveyed more than 700 UK consumers to learn how they’re already engaging with their favourite brands via text message, and where they’d like to see the conversation go. Beyond that, they’ve also discovered a few SMS opportunities marketers can leverage to build significant advantages over competitors.
The free report covers:
- What types of text messages consumers want to receive from brands.
- How communicating with brands via SMS impacts consumers’ purchase behaviours.
- Why consumers like hearing from brands via text message in addition to email.
- How often consumers want to communicate with brands via SMS.
Amid full email inboxes and social media feeds, customers are easier to find—but harder to reach—than ever before. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to get updates from the brands they love. For consumers, SMS is a convenient and engaging way to get their favourite brands into their highest priority inboxes, ensuring they don’t miss out on timely offers, product updates, and more. For brand marketers, SMS is a direct, owned channel that connects them to consumers in a personalised and measurable way—while driving revenue and loyalty.
But while 90% of consumers are interested in receiving text messages from brands, only 34% currently do so—leaving a sizable opportunity for brands to capture the 56% waiting to hear from them.
There are some surprises – ninety-seven per cent of consumers want to get text messages from the brands they’ve subscribed to at least once a week, while 40% prefer multiple times a week.
Shoppers who subscribe to SMS buy from SMS. Seventy-five per cent of consumers who subscribe to at least one brand’s SMS program said they’ve made a purchase from a text message within the last month. Timing can be everything when it comes to making a purchase, and SMS is especially effective at leveraging urgency to turn browsers into buyers. Whether you’re sending an abandoned cart message reminding a shopper to complete their purchase or a winback message encouraging a quiet customer to take advantage of a limited-time sale, brands can feel confident consumers will see—and can act on—the message in time.