More People Prefer SMS Loyalty Programmes
Loyalty programmes come in all shapes and sizes. But the point of them all is to keep customers coming back to you rather than switching to a competitor. In order for it to work, customers need to see what your loyalty programme offers. To do that, you need those offers to cut through all the noise they have in their lives, in their email, and in their shopping. One of the best ways to do that is by using SMS messaging.
Customers Prefer It
Emarketer reported on a study of 3,500 US internet users who were asked various questions on loyalty programmes. As you can see in the image below, almost half of the respondents said they preferred SMS messaging for their loyalty programmes.
More than twice as many people preferred SMS over the next largest category, email. It isn’t hard to imagine why. I’ll use myself as an example. Over the years I’ve signed up for dozens, if not a hundred, email lists for stores that I’ve shopped at or was interested in. My Gmail inbox filters those emails into the “promotions” tab automatically (for the most part). So guess what? I never see them.
In fact, my eyes glaze over when I go into that section of my email. So usually I just use the search bar if I’m interested in seeing if a particular brand has a sale. Only their emails will pop up, and I can now see what’s there. Have I missed special members-only sales, point redemptions and deals this way? Yes, but I’d go crazy trying to sort through a hundred emails every day.
Could I unsubscribe to some of them? Yes, but I’m lazy. And so are most people when it comes to email. It’s much easier to just ignore the ones we don’t want than to bother with finding the options to unsubscribe – which, depending on the company, may not work right anyway.
Even for people who don’t use Gmail’s auto-sort feature, it’s difficult to review and find emails in all the clutter we get each day. Email just piles up, most of it never gets read.
So for the retailers I really care about, I sign up for their SMS message lists. Sometimes they come with loyalty programmes, sometimes it’s just a marketing list. Either way I know I’m seeing the deals that I want to see.
Benefits of Loyalty with SMS
That’s why SMS is preferred for loyalty programmes. If someone has signed up for a loyalty programme it means they care about the brand. They want to be sure they don’t miss any deals especially for loyal customers. And SMS is the only channel where you can guarantee the customer will receive and read the messages. It’s usually one of the easiest ways to redeem messages too.
Depending how a loyalty programme is set up, the customer can receive mobile coupon codes, or links to coupons they can then simply show at checkout. Or perhaps the company links to their mobile website where the coupon is already activated when customers click the link.
Some companies even take it a step farther and let customers request information about their reward account. Using keywords, they can ask for their point balance for example. This interaction creates a deeper connection between the customer and the retailer because it’s so easy for them to use. And even if it’s an automated answer, customer’s will feel like the company cares more than one who doesn’t offer the service.
I’ve seen different numbers floated about, but most people belong to at least twice as many loyalty programs as they actually use. By that I mean they sign up, but never redeem anything or make purchases from loyalty offers. Much of this is because of email overload. It’s also because the person may have signed up to get a deal at the time, but doesn’t feel any loyalty at all to the brand. But this probably happens less than you might think.
When you offer an SMS loyalty programme, you know the people who sign up are loyal customers. Yes, there will be some small percentage who sign up then either opt out or never participate. But that percentage will be lower than other channels. For now at least, most people place a value on their mobile number and won’t just give it out to anyone.
If you’re one of the lucky few who get their number, realise how special that is and keep them engaged with a great loyalty programme. And remember, they want you to use SMS messages. Why not oblige them?
Related Articles
SMS Remarketing: What It’s All About
You’ve seen or heard about remarketing online. But did you know you can use SMS to remarket to visitors who abandon their cart in your ecommerce store? According to one study, using it can double your conversion rates. Check out the blog to see the details.
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.
Growing Your Business with SMS Messaging
5 Creative Ways to Use SMS Messaging to Boost Your Marketing
SMS messaging can be a hugely productive way of developing your marketing strategy. Text messages are read - on average - in less than 5 seconds. That means you only have a short period of time in which you can impress your potential customer. People are starved of concentration thanks to hundreds of digital and offline distractions, along with the many other companies all reaching out to them through SMS. In order to be effective and get the most from SMS text messages, you need to be creative with your SMS marketing. So here's how...
mCommerce Summit 2016. Wine, Red Noses, and Mobile Marketing?
Imagine this: Someone wears a red nose, wine glasses filled before noon, and everyone’s talking about mobile marketing. That was the Mobile Marketing’s 6th mCommerce Summit in NYC last week. I’ll get to the red nose and wine a bit later. First I’ll share some takeaways about mobile marketing from the presenters by sharing it with you the way I saw it.
How to Use SMS Messaging to Improve Customer Service
Global brands are increasingly taking advantage of a Short Message Service (SMS) to connect to customers and improve customer communication and engagement. This trend is taking root amongst small companies too, as they grasp the potential to not only communicate effectively in real-time but use SMS to save time and money in their customer relations procedures.
SMS Marketing For The Equestrian Sector
The British Equestrian Trade Association’s findings from their National Equestrian Survey 2015 put the economic value of the equestrian sector at £4.3 billion of consumer spending across a wide range of goods and services, with the average spend per horse during the same year at £3600. It is an incredibly varied industry encompassing all types of businesses from sole traders making a living in remote areas to multinational companies. Their customer base typically tends to be busy people who lead largely outdoor lifestyles so the obvious and most effective means of communicating with them is by mobile phone, yet very few equestrian businesses appear to be utilising SMS text messaging marketing. So how could businesses in this sector benefit from this method of marketing?
SMS Marketing for Artisan Food Producers
3 Reasons Why SMS Marketing Is Perfect for the Holiday Season
Everyone knows the holiday season is a peak time for making sales and marketing. Predictions are that the UK will spend £73B in retail stores before the season is over. Find out three reasons you’ll want to use SMS marketing to get those shoppers into your store.
Technology And Text Messaging Support In-Store Shopping Experiences
Shoppers are very tech savvy. Even when they shop in store they are using their mobiles to do price comparisons, look up reviews or post on social media. And while your customers are busy using tech, your store needs to be using it too. SMS is one of those technologies that can really enhance the shopping experience whether your shoppers are in store, or not.