Smart and successful companies know that after finding a customer and getting a sale, the customer relationship process is really just beginning. A good customer relation strategy must also focus on loyalty.
SMS campaigns are perfectly suited to loyalty-based marketing programs. The following tips can help you engage with your customers through a loyalty-friendly SMS campaign.
Tip 1: Let Your Customers Know They’re Privileged People
The basis of an effective loyalty program is an exclusive access to valuable bonuses that other customers can’t get. This makes your loyalty program members feel privileged and part of a special crowd.
One of the most common forms of privilege in a loyalty program is customer-only deals. You may, for example, offer your customers a loyalty-club exclusive discount on your products or services. You can also send a special communication focused on loyalty-club members, or give bonuses and additional products with their orders.
Keep your customers feeling privileged by contacting them regularly and providing exclusive offers on special occasions, such as birthdays or anniversaries.
Tip 2: Provide Genuine Value
Every SMS-based loyalty club should offer genuine value to its members. The mobile channel is a more intimate way to exchange with your customer base: the reactions are almost immediate. It is perfect to engage your target audience and improve your retention rate! When creating your SMS campaigns, you can focus on offering rewards such as:
- Good discounts: Discounts are common. Some loyalty programs use a buy-one get-one model. Whatever discounting scheme you use, it should fit the products or services offered and be generous enough to satisfy your customers.
- Free stuff: “Free” is still one of the most powerful words in marketing. If you have something you can offer for free to the recipients of your SMS campaign messages, you are more likely to get their attention.
- Tips & suggestions: Information has a tremendous value. You can share tips, suggestions, or other information with your customers to engage them. For instance, you can provide suggestions on how to use your products in a different or unique way, how to save money by using your products, or how to solve unexpected problems thanks to them.
- New collection & product display: By joining your loyalty-club, customers can have access to brand new collections and be informed, before everyone else, of their release date. This strategy can increase their feeling of being privileged.
Tip 3: Push Relevant Content
An SMS campaign directed towards your most loyal customers should be made up of relevant content. The information you’ve gathered on your customers through your CRM tool should help you create a text-based marketing campaign that addresses their real concerns, problems, and interests.
For example, a furniture store should know which of its customers are first-time homeowners and which have been owners for years. One group’s needs will be different from the other’s, and you can segment your SMS campaign in order to push relevant content to each group, according to its profile.
If some of your customers are inactive, relevant content can help awake their interest in your offers. Send them content that matches their previous purchases or meets one of their identified demands. Add a sense of urgency—with a time-based or limited-quantity promotion, for example—and you are likely to catch their attention again.
Tip 4: Push Rich Content at the Right Time
You can use your CRM tools and customer relationship data to customize rich content for your SMS-based loyalty campaign. Any specific message can be personalized to include, for example, the customer’s name or any reference to an identified need.
Moreover, make sure you send your SMS messages at the right time of day. A business customer is more likely to read your message in the morning or just after lunch on a business day than late at night on a weekend.
Keep your rich content short, concise, and dynamic. Insert a compelling call to action that encourages the readers to click on a link or a box, in order to immediately engage customers.
Tip 5: Establish Metrics and Gather Data
Don’t forget to follow the metrics of your SMS loyalty campaign. When your campaign is ready to run, use all of your information-gathering tools to collect metrics and response data. Compare this data to the information you gathered from previous campaigns and make the appropriate changes to improve your current and next campaigns.
You want to bring a clear and effective mobile campaign to life? If you’re interested in creating an SMS-based loyalty campaign, contact myElefant today for comprehensive expert counseling and professional advice with your mobile messaging needs.
