If your business isn’t engaging with your customers via SMS text messages, you’re running behind.
Text is now the preferred communication method for consumers, with a reported 85 percent of smartphone users saying they’d rather receive text messages over emails or phone calls. Plus, 65 percent have a more positive view of businesses that communicate through text.
Not only do your customers want to receive texts, they are much more likely to read your text messages than other brand communications. Text messages have a 98 percent open rate and a 95 percent response rate (compared to a six percent response rate for email). Most customers read texts within just three minutes of receiving them.
That said, engaging your customers through text isn’t just about earning their goodwill––there are many benefits of SMS marketing for businesses of all types.
Read on to learn how to make SMS marketing work for your business and get inspired by 16 sales message examples—including sale SMS messages from top brands—that are sure to help your bottom line and increase your sales opportunities.
When should you be sending sales text messages?
There are many touchpoints throughout your customer’s lifecycle that present a valuable opportunity to send SMS messages. But you shouldn’t bombard your customers with text messages for everything. Strategically plan your SMS and email campaigns to capture attention and drive your customers to take action when it matters most.
Below, we’ll share some of our favorite sales message examples grouped by stage of the average customer journey, with a focus on ecommerce SMS marketing examples.
The awareness stage
Customers in the awareness stage are just starting to get familiar with your brand. They haven’t decided if they want to make a purchase yet. In many cases, they’ve signed up to receive communications from you but are waiting for the right time to buy—and these messages can push them to make a purchase.
Cart abandonment
It’s common for customers to eagerly add items to their cart and then get pulled in another direction or leave your site without making a purchase. If a customer abandons their cart before purchasing, a simple automated text, like this one by Lillian Vernon, is clear, simple, and to the point. In this example, the retailer offers a gentle nudge while providing a clear call to action.
If you’d like to kick it up a notch and sweeten the deal, the above example by Jambys can be an even more effective way to drive a sale. Here, the retailer offers a coupon code in exchange for the customer completing the order. Use this strategy sparingly, though—customers could come to expect a cart abandonment discount.
Product launches
Text messages announcing a new product launch could theoretically be sent at any point in the customer funnel. But deploying them to customers in the awareness stage is a good way to gain market share and attract previously unresponsive customers.
Send sale messages that spotlight new items, and products that may encourage them to revisit your brand, like in this example from clothing retailer Chubbies.
Chubbies doubles up on the FOMO in their message by framing their sale SMS message about a new product launch as a secret that the customer is “the first to know.” What’s great too is that this new training shorts line may appeal to customers who are not interested in other shorts options from the brand.
Birthdays
Birthday discounts are one of the essential sale text messages brands should share. After all, who wouldn’t want to treat themselves to a birthday present (with an added discount)?
A personal touch like a birthday message is a great way to put a smile on a customer’s face. And, as this example from Jennifer Miller Jewelry shows, it’s also a great way to drive purchases. A 20 percent discount is significant for customers, and the retailer makes it clear that customers have just seven days to make their purchase, driving a sense of urgency.
The consideration stage
Moving past the awareness stage, customers in the consideration stage know your brand well but aren’t wholly devoted to you yet. The following sales message examples show how you can use this opportunity to remind them why they shop from you in the first place, at a price they can’t refuse.
Back-in-stock
Your most popular or exclusive items are sure to sell out, which creates excitement when your items are back in stock.
The Inside treats its SMS subscribers by alerting them that their popular throw pillows are back in stock. You can even pre-order one to ensure you don’t miss your chance!
You can also send sale messages to customers that alert them if products are selling out fast and are soon to be out of stock. The above example from Great Jones quickly explains that bakeware is selling fast and two products are already out of stock, so customers should act fast. Talk about a convincing text!
Flash sales
We previously shared that text messages have an incredibly high open rate and text messages are often read within just three minutes. That makes text messages perfect for time-sensitive opportunities, like a flash sale.
BHFO effectively alerts customers about its flash sale in the above message, adding details about when the sale will end so that customers can plan accordingly. The image they included also adds a nice touch to ensure nobody misses the 25 percent off discount code.
Seasonal sales
Seasonal sales are a staple of the retail industry, especially during busy shopping seasons like back-to-school, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
Thinking outside of the box, Sand Cloud Towels takes the opportunity to remind customers to take advantage of spooky season with a 25 percent discount, giving them a great opportunity to make a purchase if they were previously on the fence.
Bottom of funnel
Customers at the bottom of your funnel are the ones who purchase from you regularly or have shopped with your brand for a considerable amount of time. There are plenty of ways you can engage these shoppers through text to enhance their experience with your brand.
Post-purchase promo
Your interactions with customers shouldn’t end after they buy. After customers make a purchase, you can text them about a few different things, such as asking them to review their product(s) or suggesting complementary or similar items based on their purchase.
The above text message from Ariat International encourages customers to leave a review of their purchase, with the chance to win a $500 gift card. It’s a simple and direct message that can go a long way in getting reviews of your products (which will help fuel future sales).
Referrals
Referral marketing can be an effective way for you to activate your loyal shoppers and help them spread awareness of your brand.
Referral text messages like the above from CarParts encourage your customers to invite their friends to shop with you while providing a discount for everyone!
Loyalty
Your loyalty club or rewards members want to take full advantage of your program benefits, and text messages can be used for everything from welcoming them to the club, notifying them of members-only sales, and reminding them of their benefits.
Jelly Belly rewards its members with a 20 percent discount through the above text message example, while thanking them for being a loyalty member. What a sweet deal!
Best practices for sending sale messages to customers
We hope the above sales message examples have you excited to engage your customers through text. Do you already have ideas for your next campaign?
However, before you start texting your customers, there are a few best practices you should be aware of:
Get consent
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) limits SMS marketing to people who intentionally opt in to receive messages. That means you cannot text a customer until they give you explicit permission to do so. Much like your email marketing, you need customers to sign up to receive your text messages. Get their consent when they sign up for your loyalty club, at the point of purchase, and at other stages across the customer journey to grow your text subscriber list.
Promote SMS via email
One of the quickest ways to grow your SMS list is to tap into your existing channels. Your email subscribers are a perfect group to introduce your new SMS capabilities to. Send a standalone email that announces your new texting capabilities and explain what types of messages you will send to customers, focusing on the value the program will provide them. Make sure to throw in some SMS-only benefits for your SMS subscribers too, to justify them handing over their phone numbers. It’s useful to add their phone number to your business phone system for future communications too.
Make it personal
Personalized marketing outreach is essential to earn your customers’ trust and loyalty. This applies to your text messages, too. Segment your text subscriber list as you would your email list to send customers relevant messages tailored to their unique needs and shopping behavior.
An easy way to personalize your text messages is to include your customer name. But the content of your message and what you’re offering is the main thing you can customize. For example, you might want to send an automated SMS message triggered by cart abandonment that reads: “Hi Jessica, we noticed you left something behind in your cart!” Follow that up with a link to shop (or throw an extra discount in there to sweeten the deal).
Don’t overdo it
SMS is a highly personal channel. Respect your customers’ time and limit the number of text messages that you send. Industry guidelines suggest sending two to six texts per month is ideal, but text frequency will vary based on a retailer’s reasoning for the texts. Studies show you should be able to send five messages per subscriber without seeing a substantial hit to your unsubscribes.
So, as you start your text strategy, pay attention to when customers unsubscribe from your program and what may have caused them to do so. If possible, we recommend allowing customers to customize how often they hear from your brand, about what topics, and over which channels via a preference center. This will help ensure they don’t get tired of hearing from you.
Get more sales message examples
There are plenty of reasons why you should text your customers. A smart SMS strategy can help you drive more sales than ever while also improving your customer experience—talk about a win-win situation!
The sales message examples we shared in this post are just a small glimpse at what you can accomplish with text. You can use SMS to support customer welcome campaigns, customer support needs, and much more.
Create a free MailCharts account today to access thousands of brand text message examples and inspire your next SMS marketing campaign.
