Contact Help
Contact Register
Back to blog
SMS

Break selling records with holiday SMS marketing: 5 tips

Dec 19, 2016 • 3 minutes read

How do you make sure consumers all lay your product underneath the Christmas tree? With an average open rate of 98%, SMS is a highly effective way to stimulate sales this holiday season. Even easier now with these 5 tips for holiday SMS marketing.

Holiday SMS marketing

5 tips to improve your holiday SMS marketing

1) SMS-coupons

Coupons are a very effective marketing tool. Paper coupons however, can easily get lost. Coupons sent via SMS, in most cases are saved. Because consumers keep their phones on them almost all the time, they will also carry your coupons with them wherever they go. Therefore, an SMS-coupon is more easily used that it’s paper counterpart. Increase your sales by sending your customers an SMS with a discount offer for your (web)shop before Christmas. This way, your product will soon appear on all their wish-lists. 

2) Customer service

More and more consumers buy online. This means that, during the holiday season, products may easily be sold-out online and delivery may take longer than normal. Inform your customers via SMS when their delivery is shipped and attach a tracking link so they can follow their package. This way, you can prevent dissatisfied customers and unnecessary calls to your Is your product temporarily sold out online? Ask customers to leave their phone number so you can send them an SMS when the product is back in stock. Is the product sold out online but in stock in one of your brick and mortar stores? Send an SMS with an exclusive in store action, so their cash registers keep ringing.

3) Grow your audience for holiday SMS marketing

Though SMS is a highly effective tool, it doesn’t have to stand on its own. By promoting your SMS campaigns via social media, you will increase the brand involvement of your customers. Does your company have its own social media page? Ask your followers to subscribe to your SMS-list so they can use your social media deals, for example your SMS-coupons. Also, ask those in your SMS-list to share your deals via social media. By combining the strengths of SMS and social media, you’ll grow your audience and increase your visibility during the holidays.
Combine the strengths of your app and SMS to increase app engagement end save costs with Hybrid Messaging

4) Customer loyalty

That most gifts are bought in December, also means that the time following the holiday season offers great opportunities for customer retention. After all, the customer journey does not end after the customer has paid. So, your after sales communication deserves and demands your attention. Use holiday SMS marketing to improve your relationship with clients. For example, send a discount offer for related products, offer the help of your customer service employees to prevent holiday stress or simply thank your client for his purchase with a Christmas greeting. This way, you can use something as simple as SMS to grow a strong and long lasting relationship with your customers.


5) Build your SMS-list

Do you want to profit from all that SMS has to offer, but you do not yet have an SMS-list with the contact details of your customers? The holiday season is your chance to build or grow this list. December is a busy time in retail and therefore the time to easily reach consumers. Ask consumers who visit your (online) store to subscribe to the SMS-list (opt-in) in exchange for a discount or SMS-coupon. This way, you will quickly grow your SMS-list so you can adapt SMS in your next year's holiday SMS marketing strategy.

Want to know more about how to use SMS in your marketing strategy this holiday? Contact CM to start your holiday SMS marketing or read more about SMS.

Contact

Contact Us
Tags
Charlotte van Unen
is content marketer and makes sure our readers always have interesting blogs to read about how to engage with customers. During the day, she answers 1K questions in her role as communications advisor. At night she preferably sleeps.

Related articles

7 tips for a Black Friday & Cyber Monday text message

Sep 27, 2018 • SMS

This well-known weekend takes place every year at the end of November. Black Friday & Cyber Monday originated in the United States but has become increasingly popular in the Netherlands in recent years. Black Friday is the day when many shops offer huge discounts whilst Cyber Monday is the online equivalent. In 2018 this means; discounts, discounts and more discounts from Friday through to Monday. Both online and offline. A lot of companies capitalize on this with creative marketing campaigns to attract shoppers into their shop or onto their website. How can you snazz up your marketing campaign to ensure that customers visit your shop or website rather than the competitor's?

A world of possibilities: Add rich content landing pages to your SMS

Sep 13, 2018 • Customer Contact

A world of possibilities: Add rich content landing pages to your SMS. Did you know that in 2017, mobile devices accounted for 50% of web page views worldwide? As such, it’s clear that mobile phones are a prominent part of everyone’s lives. Now, imagine adding a rich mobile landing page as an addition to your campaign, an opportunity to stand out from your competitors and increase your ROI. In addition, you can send these pages to your target group by SMS this will increase conversion because SMS has an open rate of 98%.

Reduce no-shows easily with SMS appointment reminders

May 09, 2018 • Text

Customers, patients or clients who do not show up for an appointment are a major cost for health care. An unnecessary expense. Send appointment reminders to reduce no-shows and thus save costs. Sending business SMS messages online is now easier than ever, from our intuitive online interface.

How to: increase SMS conversion with emoji

Jan 30, 2018 • Text

There are countless ways to write a persuasive (marketing) message in 160 characters. The most challenging part writing with such a limited amount of characters, is conveying the right emotion. Emoji are here to help prevent miscommunication. With our latest update, using emoji is now easier than ever before.

How to choose between short code or long number? The 5 main differences

Jan 26, 2018 • SMS Campaigns

Getting your own short code or long number means making it much easier for you to communicate with your target audience. But should you choose a short code or a long number? This depends on the purpose of your communication as well as your target audience. Find out which to choose in this comparison between short and long codes.

From abandoned shopping cart to paid shopping cart with SMS remarketing

Jan 02, 2017 • Text

Marketing departments are making great efforts to lure consumers to their web shop. Beautiful advertisements, attractive discounts and persuasive websites, all tools are put to use. And so, the consumer puts your product in his digital shopping cart. He moves towards the cash register. But then, suddenly: an abandoned shopping cart. How can you make your consumer return to your web shop and finish his purchase with SMS remarketing?

How to make your messages worth reading: SMS personalisation

Dec 06, 2016 • SMS

As you are well aware, sending messages via SMS is a valuable tool to reach your target audience. With its high delivery and open rates, many companies still rely on SMS for notification, authentication and marketing purposes. However, since your company is not the only one asking for attention from the receiver, your messages better be worth reading. And for this, SMS personalisation is key.

Timing is key: When is the best time to reach your audience?

Oct 19, 2016 • Text

Timing is everything when it comes to marketing: if you send your message at the wrong time, it will be far less successful than if you had sent it just a few hours earlier or later. But how do you know when this perfect time is?

Using SMS? Reconsider ending your message with a full stop

Dec 10, 2015 • SMS

The role of the periode (.) in text messaging might be more more significant than previously thought. Text messages that ended with a periode were rated less sincere than those that did not, a study finds.

Products

Industries

Resources

Company

Contact

International
Select country
CM is a GSMA Member