Summer is winging down, which means that as an ecommerce merchant you should starting to think about this year’s holiday season. Last year saw an 8.5% overall sales increase over 2020, and e-commerce sales were 11% higher than the previous year.
With the holiday season starting earlier every year, there is no better time to get ready for the holidays. Here are three ways you can use messages to grow your business between now and the end of December.
Connect Loyalty Programs with Messaging
Loyalty programs were one of the biggest drivers of sales. According to Clarus Commerce, 81% of consumers chose brands because they were members of their loyalty program. They spent more with companies that offered rewards, and expect to see great deals during the holiday.
Text messaging is a key piece of loyalty program success. It helps keep ecommerce sites top-of-mind when they need to purchase, and updates members of rewards and other membership benefits.
Messaging through platforms like WhatsApp or Viber can include sharing exclusive loyalty club member offers with images and Buy Now buttons. These 2-way SMS messaging services can also be used to provide customer support and automated responses to questions related to shipping or other logistics.
Build Excitement with Messaging
The holidays are one of the most exciting times of the year. Sending out early messages with special holiday offers captures that excitement early in the season.
According to research firm Mobilesquared, 100% off all SMS messages are viewed on the home screen, and 55% of messages are read in the application.
Sending out messages with early bird offers, flash sales, or special bundles will generate buzz around your offering, and help push sales during the early days of the holiday season.
Use Messaging to Promote Other Marketing Materials
Many e-commerce shops view messaging as an instant sales driver. However, it can also be used to promote holiday marketing materials. For example, create a gift guide to share on social media, a blog post, or in an online pamphlet for your market, and share the link over SMS or other messaging channel. Your subscribers will enjoy looking through the guide and finding the perfect gift for their loved one.
You can also create holiday-themed contests or promotions and use messaging channels to drive traffic to those landing pages.
One thing to always keep in mind when sharing pages over SMS – make sure your landing page is optimized for mobile and will deliver a great user experience.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
Far too often ecommerce retailers start thinking about messaging customers when it’s too late. They scramble to put together campaigns and phone lists and suffer from poor results.
Building your text messaging marketing plan today will reduce the last-minute stress, and help you build a messaging relationship with your customers.
Contact us today to start planning your holiday messaging campaigns
