Level Up Your Retention Marketing Strategy With SMS

Which is more important to long-term business success: Lead generation or customer retention? If you’re determined to continuously acquire new customers while ignoring the ones you already have, you’re probably increasing churn – and disappointing your loyal customers. 

Studies show that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. But how often does your company turn a first-time customer into a repeat customer? Improving your customer relationships in today’s marketing landscape often boils down to one thing: communication.

Is SMS messaging part of your marketing plan? If not, why not? Today we’ll talk about customer retention marketing tactics and how incorporating SMS texts into your strategy can build a loyal customer base.

Table of Contents

What is Retention Marketing

6 SMS Customer Retention Marketing Tactics

1. Offer Customer Loyalty Programs
2. Provide Helpful Information
3. Improve Brand Recognition
4. Collect Customer Feedback
5. Provide Customer Service
6. Deliver Personalized Messages

DOs and DON’Ts of SMS Text Messaging

What is Retention Marketing?

Strengthening relationships with current customers should be the first objective of any business, and SMS messaging is an essential part of the process.

Retention marketing strategies focus on increasing engagement with your current customer base over acquiring new customers. Many studies have shown how expensive customer acquisition is vs. retaining existing ones; however, there’s more to it than that.

Striking a balance between acquiring new customers and serving existing customers is a battle that successful companies are constantly waging. However, looking past short-term gains and considering a customer’s lifetime value (CLV) to build a solid customer base is vital. Playing the long game by prioritizing customer potential ends up paying off more reliably.

6 SMS Customer Retention Marketing Tactics

So, what part does SMS play in a successful marketing strategy? Here are six common SMS customer retention marketing tactics businesses use to build their customer base.

Read The Complete SMS Compliance Guide before you get started!

1. Offer Customer Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs offer perks, coupons and special offers to customers who sign up for them. Did you know that up to 75% of customers would actively engage with loyalty programs if the rewards were accessible on mobile? Text-based loyalty programs nurture your most loyal customer relationships by reaching them where they are, 24/7/365.

2. Provide Helpful Information

Do your customers come to you with important questions about your industry or how your product can help them? Texting the latest product or service information and tips and enabling them to respond via text provides unparalleled convenience. 

3. Improve Brand Recognition

Does your brand have an identifiable persona or are you lost in the sea of sameness? Creating a brand image that stands out from the crowd helps make your company hard to ignore. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, and double down on those efforts with an on-brand text marketing campaign.

4. Ask Your Customers How You Can Improve

How do you know what your customers want if you don’t ask them? Collecting customer feedback via text messaging helps you learn about your customers – how to meet their needs, refine your offering, and expand your reach.   

5. Provide Outstanding Customer Service

Communicating helpful information via SMS is a fast, easy way to connect with customers. Texting payment and appointment reminders, order confirmations and shipping updates provide convenient customer support that customers value.

6. Meet Their Needs by Getting Personal

Sending targeted, personalized messages increases engagement and sales by giving customers the right offers at the right time. Whether you suggest items customers might like based on previous purchases or send birthday or holiday greetings, never miss an opportunity to reach out in unexpected ways. 

DOs and DON’Ts of SMS Text Messaging

Given SMS’s many benefits (including sky-high open rates), make sure that you use text marketing to provide value to your customers – not annoy them. Here are some business texting etiquette tips to improve your text marketing outcomes.  

DO

• DO use buyer personas to craft targeted messages that appeal to your customers. Personalized, targeted messages make customers feel seen and enable you to create campaigns for products and services they’ve already expressed interest in.
• DO focus on creating value. If your messages are only trying to sell, your customers will start feeling disconnected from your brand. 
• DO keep your messages short and to the point. Include a clear call to action or link that directs customers to take the next step.

DON’T

• DON’T send your messages too early in the morning or late at night. Choosing the best time to text usually depends on the information it carries. 
• DON’T text too often. If you text too much, you will annoy your customers and tempt them to opt out of receiving your messages. 
• DON’T text sensitive information. Consider sending customers critical information via email, then follow with a text reminder to check their email inbox.

Level-Up Your Customer Retention Marketing Strategy with Textedly

Retaining customers is extremely important for any successful business. Unfortunately, many companies’ marketing strategies are failing because they’re putting most of their efforts toward lead generation and customer acquisition, leading to increased customer churn.

Choosing the right tools can make or break your customer retention strategy. Textedly is the trusted choice of world-class businesses and organizations, sending millions of text messages around the globe daily. Built with powerful features, Textedly offers text message marketing services for every need. 

Whether you use SMS marketing to send mobile text messages for sales alerts, events, discounts, or notifications, Textedly makes communicating with your contacts easy and efficient.

Text message marketing has never been easier with Textedly. Sign up for a free Textedly trial today!