How to Increase Lifetime Value (LTV) With SMS Marketing

It’s no secret that smartphones are the preferred way to communicate these days. In fact, according to Yotpo, 82% of consumers have SMS notifications on. This opens up an avenue for DTC brands to remind customers of abandoned carts, advertise sales and promote new merchandise drops.

Marketing has changed substantially over the past few years and email marketing efforts are no longer enough to reach your audience. The ability for customers to receive fast service at just a tap on their device is unparalleled in today’s society where mobile use has surpassed desktop use as our primary means of accessing information online. Marketers have turned towards SMS as an effective form of marketing, due in part from its ability for personalization, which can connect brands with their customers on a unique level. Texts are instantaneous and personal, bringing customer experience and engagement within direct to consumer marketing to an all new level.

SMS is a powerful, but simple marketing tool that can be used to significantly increase your consumer’s lifetime value. Whether you are brand debating on investing time in SMS marketing or looking to improve what you already know about personalized and automated messages, this article will give insight into how to increase lifetime value with SMS marketing.

This channel gives businesses the opportunity to send time-sensitive content, concise reminders along with personalized conversations, while cultivating relationships with engaged VIP’s. Unlike other channels, text messages are expeditious and personal. A successful SMS strategy elevates DTC marketing because there is a 6-8x higher engagement rate of SMS in comparison to email.

Did you know that SMS is the fastest growing revenue channel for eCommerce brands? Brands are tracking their lifetime value through KPI’s such as click rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, AOV and ROI.

SMS is a great way to improve customer lifetime value as it easily allows you to build awareness, encourage action, and retain engagement, while delivering tailored messages at every step in the consumer lifecycle. Whether you’re looking to get to the next phase of your business, improve customer experience, or simply need a better understanding of the needs and wants of those already buying from you to increase AOV and ROI — SMS can help.

When implementing SMS into your marketing strategy, you’re able to talk to your customers starting at the beginning of their journey by sending branded and time-sensitive content. You can then encourage them to purchase by sharing new releases or offering discounts on certain products that appeal specifically to them. Then, once the consumer transacts, SMS makes it easy to implement retention strategies by sending personalized and relevant automated texts that can give the customer a chance to move down the marketing funnel and become VIP.

Scenario: If you are a beauty brand, you can ask your customers via SMS which products they are most interested in hearing about: skincare, makeup, or haircare. The consumer may respond by choosing ‘skincare’. You can follow up by sending a text message about a new face serum launching today, or alert the consumer about your upcoming 30% off face cleanser promotion.

In order to maximize CLTV, SMS allows you to employ 1:1 conversations. According to Yotpo, 89% of consumers are interested in texting with their favorite brand. This not only increases the customer experience, but it gives you a chance to share recommendations and advice in real time.

Flow Timelines

SMS is a great tactic for flow optimizations. Let’s be honest, some recipients might not check their email inbox often, so sending another reminder email might not be effective. With SMS you can send a follow-up text message to those users who did not open your email. If your goal is to increase repeat purchases, inserting text messaging in your flow would be highly beneficial. Text messages allow you to send relevant messages based on specific events to guide customers to re-engage and purchase through their lifetime cycle. For instance, let’s say it’s time to follow up with customers about purchasing a product again. Since 90% of text messages are actually opened within the first 3 minutes, a text is a more guaranteed way to encourage the customer to make a quick repeat purchase. The long-term benefits of these text reminders include customer retention and an increase in their revenue value.

The Stable utilized SMS in an abandoned cart flow to send a message to the customers who did not engage with the prior email. We were able to create urgency with a limited time discount code for free shipping that only targeted the subscribers who did not already qualify for free shipping. According to Mobile Marketing, people read 95% of all texts they receive, so this last reminder for free shipping was best sent via SMS.

We are excited to announce that The Stable has been acquired by The Stable. Learn more at this link and stay tuned for more info as we work to fully integrate our teams and our offerings.