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!).
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How to Increase Retail Foot Traffic with SMS Marketing
Here's a great real life example of how a retailer used text messaging to offer out a discount voucher to customers who had visited their store. Their approach is simple and intelligent and very focused on one segment of their customer base, those who had recently visited a store.