Email marketing has been around for decades, and for good reason. But as the competition in e-commerce increases, it is becoming tougher for brands to cut through the inbox-noise, and that’s where Shopify SMS marketing comes in. 

In this post, we will share how businesses can combine the power of these two channels to drive higher engagement and conversions from every campaign. 

Understanding the power of SMS and email marketing 

Email marketing is a well-established channel for most businesses. Known for its ability to deliver in-depth content, nurture leads, and maintain 1-on-1 customer relationships, emails have helped brands leverage storytelling for promotions to keep their customers engaged. In fact, despite the various digital touchpoints consumers have with brands today, email continues to deliver an ROI of $36-$40 for every dollar spent. When strategized well, most marketers report an average email open rate of 46-50%. 

SMS marketing, on the other hand, offers an immediate and personal touch to the communication between brands and consumers. Owing to the nature of delivery on mobile devices, text messages have a 98% open rate and an average of 47% click-through rate for most businesses. This has quickly made SMS marketing a go-to strategy for e-commerce businesses to promote products, deals, and discounts. 

MORE NEWS: Read the latest business news here

Why should you combine Shopify SMS and email marketing 

Each of the channels has its forte. But here’s why we recommend using the two in tandem: 

  • Higher customer engagement – Brands can use emails for campaigns such as detailed product launches, followed by an SMS reminder. The two-pronged approach ensures the message reaches the customer in different yet preferred formats, increasing the engagement on the same. 
  • Re-engages inactive customers – With an increased number of online stores to shop from, consumers are finding it harder to remember the brands they purchase from. When you compliment the usual email newsletters with SMS follow-ups when a customer hasn’t interacted with your brand for a while, it helps you build brand recall and re-engage buyers more effectively. 
  • Maximizing audience reach – By integrating SMS and email marketing, brands can build a more cohesive strategy to ensure they’re reaching their target audience. For example, you can announce a flash sale via email and follow it up with SMS reminders with a countdown to drive urgency. This maximizes the reach of your promotional strategies, driving more sales. 
  • Better customer journey personalization – Whether it’s sending tailored product recommendations via email or personalized SMS alerts about restocked items, you can use data from both channels to create highly personalized customer journeys. 

How to integrate your Shopify SMS and email marketing campaigns 

With different nuances to each channel, it’s important to approach this integration strategically. Here are some best practices we recommend to Shopify stores: 

  • Build a unified contact list – Encourage customers to subscribe to both email and Shopify SMS updates. You could do this by clearly stating what type of communication they can expect on each and even incentivize with exclusive discounts or early access to future sales. 
  • Segment your audience – Use data from both email and SMS platforms to segment your subscribers. Categorize shoppers based on demographics, behavior, preferences, and purchase history. This can help tailor your messages to make them more relevant and engaging. 
  • Maintain consistent branding – Ensure that your email and Shopify SMS campaigns carry the same tone of voice for the brand, visuals, URL customization, business name, and more. This helps build brand recall, creating more trust amongst customers and leading to more engagement on campaigns. 
  • Automate your workflow – Create a customer journey map to identify when, where, and how to use the channels in order to not spam them. Automate the workflow based on custom triggers like engagement on the campaign. 
  • Test and optimize – Use the two channels in a complementing manner and continually optimize the approach based on the results. It’s also a good idea to use the channels differently for customers at different stages in their lifecycle with the brand. 

Example of integrating SMS and email marketing for e-commerce 

Here’s an example of how the two channels can be used together: 

  • Email announcement – Start the campaign with an email detailing the new product features, benefits, and launch discounts. 
  • SMS reminder – Send automated text reminders for the launch date, encouraging customers to get their wish list ready or create a calendar alert. 
  • Post-launch follow-up – Send out an email post the launch to highlight customer reviews and testimonials, followed up with an SMS to offer a limited-time offer to those who haven’t made the purchase yet. 

Conclusion

When the competition for consumer attention is increasing – especially during the sales season, it’s the brands that can stay on top of their audience’s minds that win. The integration of SMS and email marketing can help Shopify stores achieve that presence, driving higher engagement on their campaigns – all without overwhelming consumers with over-communication on one channel. 

If you haven’t already, it’s time to integrate your Shopify SMS and email marketing campaigns.