How to Increase Retail Foot Traffic with SMS Marketing
A printed voucher for 10 pounds off any purchase – valid in store one month from now.
That’s what I found in my shopping bag after purchasing some clothing for my daughter. Great! I thought, but that’s so far away I’ll never remember to go back to the store.
Then I read the voucher again, just to double check the dates it was valid, and I saw the retailer had added a “text redemption code”.
If I send a text message to the retailer with the 12 digit code on the voucher, they will send me, by text, up to two “Supercash redemption alerts” during the week of the sale.
Brilliant! Now I will be sure to get back into the store during the week of the sale thanks to a couple of text reminders.
What They're Doing Right
This retailer is doing everything right (well almost) when it comes to using SMS marketing to drive people back into the local retail store. Let’s look at how they did it:
- Gave out printed vouchers at the store for a future event. They know customers responding to this offer are already people who visit the local store in person.
- On the voucher they boldly printed the code and instructions to receive text alerts about the sale. Anyone reading the voucher would have a hard time missing the opportunity.
- They clearly stated how many times a person that opts in would receive text messages. By letting people know that they are signing up for a limited number of texts they will be more likely to sign up. No one likes the unknown, or wants to be spammed about other sales in the future they may not want to know about.
What They Could Be Doing Better
If I could suggest one thing to their SMS marketing team it would be to make the redemption code something easier to type in. The random mix of 12 digits and numbers printed on the voucher could be difficult to type in correctly. How would someone know if they typed it in wrong? A verification, or error message from the retailer would help, but why make it difficult for your customers?
Next time you’re looking to increase foot traffic to your store, why not try this approach – only use a simple text keyword code to help your customers (especially those who might be typing on a small keyboard!).
Related Articles
SMS Messaging Still Seen As A Differentiator In Retail – For Now
How many retailers use SMS messaging? According to a recent survey, not that many. And that isn’t the only surprising result shared in the survey conducted by Internet Retailer. Companies large and small know how useful SMS can be. Read on to see why now is the perfect time to start.
SMS Messaging Makes for Great Customer Service
It was late Thursday afternoon on a busy week when I heard the familiar jingle. I received a text message from the company I rented a DVD from about a week prior (I know, who rents DVDs these days - but stay with me). They wanted to ask if I’d forgotten about it, since I hadn’t yet returned it. Indeed I had forgotten.
B2B Needs to Get Mobile and Digital
Businesses that sell to other businesses (B2B) are having trouble keeping up in the digital and mobile age. That’s according to a couple of eMarketer articles. The reasons for it are varied, but it may be mostly because they’ve been slow to acknowledge a change in culture.
Do Your Customers Trust You?
I think for much of the last decade, people used the Internet and then mobile devices, without giving too much thought about what they were doing. Or more accurately, what other people were doing with their information. But then came Edward Snowden in 2013 who revealed governments were collecting and using our personal data in ways we hadn’t imagined.
How to use SMS for Highly Targeted Marketing
While brevity might be one of the keys to good advertising, perhaps the most important is to make sure your message reaches the right people. The goal of targeted marketing is not to bombard so many people that some will inevitably listen, but rather to target and nail down your core demographic.
How SMS Can Help Your Local Business Optimise Your Local Campaign
One of the great advantages of SMS: it's completely trackable so you know exactly how your campaigns are engaging your opted in customers and clients. And if you’re a small business, operating in a specific geographical location, then that local knowledge can be invaluable in targeting your campaigns to a local audience.
SMS Marketing for Home Shopping in the Mobile Age
SMS Marketing for Garden Centres
Insights Into The Best SMS Marketing
It’s been said that to be successful at something, you need to find someone that’s already done what you want to do, then emulate them. You don’t need to create or rewrite the rulebook every time. This is true of marketing too. While it’s a creative field, there are tried and true examples of what works. This is why case studies are so important to helping you understand how something like SMS marketing can work for you.
What to do When Your SMS Campaign is Failing
Here's some ideas on what you can do to help your SMS campaigns to do better. Use the following checklist to see if you’re using all your possible channels.