Ecommerce SMS Marketing: 29 Strategies and Tips for 2024

If you have ever run a business, you would know how crucial it is to market your products or services to your audience. After all, people cannot buy something they don’t know exists. 

This fact is even more true for e-commerce businesses because of the wide variety of products they offer. Providing accurate information about your products to customers and keeping them in the loop about stock availability. 

Exploring various ecommerce marketing opportunities is essential, but leveraging the right marketing tools for ecommerce can significantly attract and retain more customers. For example, you can use WhatsApp marketing to engage your customers and inform them about your products. 

However, in this article, I’ll shed light on one of the traditional and lesser-used marketing techniques, SMS marketing, and share with you 29 e-commerce SMS marketing strategies to improve your bottom line. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

What is e-commerce SMS marketing?

E-commerce SMS marketing is a solid way to interact with your customers. It revolves around using SMS as a means to market your products, boost sales, and deliver tailored customer service. And even though SMS is a traditional marketing channel, it is still effective in today’s day and age. 

In fact, as per a study, 75% of participants of the age of 44 or younger, choose SMS as their favorite channel to communicate with a business. 

What makes SMS marketing stand apart from other marketing channels is that it lets you get in touch with your customers without them being connected to the internet. Because of this factor, you can ensure that your marketing messages are delivered almost 100% of the time no matter where they are. 

Best e-commerce SMS marketing strategies 

When it comes to e-commerce SMS marketing, you can use numerous kinds of content to enhance sales engagement and showcase your products to your potential customers. These texts will help you nurture your prospects from initial contact to post-sale support.

That being said, let’s explore some of the best SMS marketing strategies for your e-commerce store starting with welcome messages.

Sending welcome messages

Just as the name suggests, welcome messages allow you to onboard new customers and give them all the necessary information about your e-commerce store or its products. Using these messages, you can greet your customers warmly and use a relationship-selling methodology to build a loyal customer base.  

Offering exclusive deals

One of the key aspects of running an online e-commerce store is sending specialized deals to your customers, and encouraging them to make a purchase. And what better way to achieve that than using SMS marketing? 

Sending personalized offers tailored exclusively to the needs of individual customers will increase your likelihood of getting repeat business and boost revenue.

Running flash sales

Flash sales are a great way to quickly get a lot of purchases. By offering a flat percentage off on all or selected collections of products, will allow you to leverage the sales psychology technique of FOMO to close more deals. 

Notifications regarding seasonal offers

Another excellent e-commerce SMS marketing strategy is sending seasonal or festive offers throughout the year to keep your customers coming back and in the back of their minds. 

 For example, Black Friday is one of the most anticipated holidays, where businesses around the world offer a huge discount on their offerings. You too can use this opportunity and inform your customer about this seasonal delight using SMS marketing. 

Sending payment confirmation

Sending order confirmation details to your customers is a good practice to ensure they are aware of the status of their purchase. Transactional messages involve payment receipts, order placed messages, and remaining balance information. 

Informing about shipping details

Once a customer places an order, the next thing they are waiting for is the information about shipping. Knowing how far their order is and exactly when it will arrive, will give them peace of mind. 

Providing real-time shipping details to your customers via text messages, will ensure they are not in the dark and eliminate the need for them to reach out to you to learn when their order will be delivered. 

Abandoned cart reminders

Managing abandoned carts and compelling prospects to complete the checkout process is a crucial facet of running a successful e-commerce business. 

Many times your customers will add products to the cart but leave without making a payment. This can be due to many reasons like something else came up, they were just saving a product for the future, or they were comparing their options.

Seeing your prospects come so close to completing a purchase but leave without doing so can be tough. This is why, you can send personalized abandoned cart SMS messages to give them that final push they might need to finalize the transaction. 

For instance, in your abandoned cart reminders, you can offer an exclusive discount if a prospect completes the purchase within a specified time. This will give them the incentive to get the product at a much cheaper price. 

Product launch announcement

SMS marketing is an amazing channel to inform your customers about new product launches or new product additions to your catalog. Sending a well-thought-out product launch message might compel your customers to check it out right away, boosting sales engagement and increasing the chances of them giving it a try. 

Relevant product recommendations

When a customer buys a product from your e-commerce store, you can suggest complementary products that are usually bought together with their original purchase. 

Take mobile devices for example, if a user purchased a smartphone from your platform, then you can recommend accessories, such as screen protectors, back covers, or audio attachments. This way, you can not only get additional sales but also give your customer the ability to customize the look of their phone. 

Limited stocks alerts

It is a common event in e-commerce, when a certain product is in high demand, whether due to a shortage of supply or increased sales caused by a sudden surge in buyers (a sale). In this situation, you can send a limited stock alert SMS to your customers, signaling a limited number of units available. 

These kinds of messages are perfect for urging customers to jump into action or risk missing out on an opportunity to get a popular product by inducing a sense of urgency.

Pre-order booking

Engage customers by offering exclusive access to upcoming products through pre-order bookings via SMS. By using this strategy, you can create anticipation, secure sales ahead of launch, and foster a sense of exclusivity among customers. It lets you drive excitement about your new offerings and facilitate early adoption.

Asking for feedback

Asking for feedback from your customers allows you to grow in the areas you might be lacking and keep on doing the things that you are doing right. 

Not just that. By asking for customer feedback, you can gain valuable insights and strengthen your customer relationships even further. This strategy demonstrates your commitment to improving the customer experience you deliver and shows that their opinions are valued, enhancing overall satisfaction and loyalty.

Providing customer support

SMS is not only a medium for promoting your business but also a channel for handling customer inquiries. Using text messages, you can offer timely assistance and resolution to their queries. 

Being an offline medium of communication, SMS serves as a convenient and efficient support channel for your customers, enabling them to seek help or information from you quickly, leading to higher retention rates.

Share educational content 

Even though you are running an e-commerce business, you still need to share valuable content with your customers. After all, delivering informative content, such as tips, guides, or tutorials on how to use your offerings, will allow your customers to solve their problems themselves without having to reach out to you. 

This helps in enriching customer knowledge and establishing your brand as a trusted authority in its field, fostering a deeper connection with your audience by providing value beyond just your products or services.

Back-in-stock notifications

Oftentimes your customers might not be able to get the product they want because of availability issues. To solve this problem, you can send back-in-stock SMS, notifying your customers when items are restocked promptly.

This strategy maximizes revenue potential as soon as you restock, allowing you to win back the missed opportunities, and drives sales by creating urgency so as to not miss out on the product again. 

Contests and giveaways

Hosting SMS-based contests and giveaways enables you to spark engagement and boost your brand visibility. Also, giving free products or trials of your offerings encourages your audience to participate and share these events with their friends and family, helping you expand your customer base.

Event invitations

Personalized event invitations over SMS will make customers feel valued and keep them informed about any upcoming events. Whether it's product launches or sales events, event invitations create a sense of excitement and anticipation among customers. 

By extending invitations, you can ensure that messages are delivered directly to customers' mobile devices, maximizing visibility and increasing attendance rates. 

Follow-up texts

Sending follow-up texts allows you to drive repeat purchases and nurture leads. Whether it's post-purchase thank-you messages or scheduled follow-up texts across the stages of the sales pipeline, you can keep your customers engaged and ultimately, boost your bottom line. 

Moreover, follow-up texts provide you the opportunities for upselling and cross-selling for maximizing customer lifetime value. Plus, by leveraging SMS for follow-up communication, you can make sure SMS messages are delivered straight to customers' mobiles.

Birthday discounts

Nothing beats the feeling of receiving a surprise birthday gift. That is why, providing personalized birthday offers is a thoughtful way for you to celebrate customers and drive sales. By acknowledging customers' special days and offering exclusive discounts or rewards, you can strengthen emotional connections and foster loyalty. 

In addition to that, you can tailor birthday discounts based on customer preferences or purchase history, ensuring relevance and increasing the effectiveness of your SMS outreach. 

Referral programs

Incentivizing referrals is a powerful way to acquire new customers for your e-commerce business and drive sales. By offering rewards for successful referrals, you can encourage satisfied customers to spread the word and bring in new business. 

Using referral programs, you are able to leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing, tapping into existing social networks to expand reach and establish yourself as a trustworthy brand in the industry. 

Re-engagement campaigns

Re-engagement campaigns are crucial for reconnecting with dormant customers. By sending personalized messages, you can reignite their interest and make them revisit your website or make a purchase. 

Re-engagement campaigns often include special offers, discounts, or tailored recommendations to entice customers back into the purchasing funnel. By re-engaging inactive customers, you can improve your sales metrics, like customer retention rates, and increase overall sales.

Early or exclusive access 

Offering early or exclusive access creates a sense of privilege and urgency among customers. By providing VIP treatment to your audience, you can foster a loyal customer base while driving immediate sales and engagement. 

This sales engagement model also encourages customers to opt-in to receive SMS updates, thus growing the messaging list and increasing the reach of future marketing efforts. Plus, early access can generate buzz and anticipation around new releases, leading to increased visibility for your brand.

Customer appreciation texts

Personalized customer appreciation texts show gratitude for customers' support and loyalty. After all, you are in this industry to build meaningful relationships that will help you achieve success in the long run. 

These messages can include thank-you notes, exclusive discounts, or special rewards as tokens of appreciation. This allows you to foster brand advocacy and generate repeat sales. Customer appreciation texts also humanize your business and create emotional connections with your customers, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty.

Local promotions

If you have a physical store instead of an online one, then targeted local promotions will enable you to connect with local customers. By tailoring promotions to local preferences or events, you can increase foot traffic to your physical stores and build stronger ties with the local community. 

By taking advantage of the immediacy of SMS to deliver time-sensitive offers, driving urgency and engagement among recipients, you can enhance engagement and drive sales on a hyper-local level.

Frequent shopper rewards

It feels special when a business offers you exclusive deals if you are its long-term customer. It boosts your loyalty toward that business and gives you a reason to keep on being its customer. The same applies to your customers. 

Providing your frequent customers with rewards points or freebies can encourage ongoing engagement and spending. These programs also foster a sense of belonging and appreciation among your customers, motivating them to continue patronizing with you. 

On top of that, SMS notifications about reward milestones or upcoming offers keep your customers engaged and excited about the program, improving repeat visits and purchases. 

Tailored gift guides

Sending tailored gift guides helps your customers find the perfect gifts for their loved ones, simplifying their shopping experience and increasing sales. By curating gift recommendations based on your recipients' interests, you add value and convenience for shoppers. 

Furthermore, you can leverage SMS to promote gift-related promotions, such as bundle deals or gift-wrapping services, further incentivizing purchases. Tailored gift guides boost engagement and position you as a trusted source for thoughtful and curated gifts.

Last-minute deals

Last-minute deals capitalize on the impulse buying behavior of your customers and get you immediate sales. By offering limited-time discounts, you can motivate customers to act quickly as there is a limited amount of time until an opportunity escapes. 

SMS is an ideal channel for delivering last-minute deals due to its high open and response rates, ensuring that messages reach customers promptly. It is a particularly effective strategy during key shopping periods or holidays when customers are actively seeking last-minute deals to buy their favorite products.

User-generated content

Encouraging user-generated content (UGC) involves prompting your customers to share their experiences, reviews, or photos related to your brand or products. You can then send this UGC over text messages to potential customers, you build trust and authenticity. 

UGC also provides valuable insights into customer preferences, behaviors, and sentiments, which your e-commerce business can use to refine your outbound sales strategies and product offerings. 

Skyrocket revenue with these e-commerce SMS marketing strategies 

There you have it. These are some of the best e-commerce SMS marketing techniques for you to boost brand awareness and promote your brand in front of your customers. 

However, to run personalized SMS campaigns for e-commerce, you will need a robust communication platform that comes with all the necessary features to let you connect with your customers. 

And a platform that stands out among the rest is Zixflow. It is a dynamic marketing, sales, and CRM solution that is designed for you to take your e-commerce business to the next level. With Zixflow, you can segment your customers based on preferences and behavior into lists and execute list-wide campaigns with a single click. 

Moreover, Zixflow allows you to craft tailored SMS campaigns with numerous messaging templates that are suited for all the situations I have mentioned above. 

So, what’s the wait for? Create your no-cost Zixflow account today and optimize your e-commerce SMS marketing to drive maximum ROI.