Use two-way text messaging for conversational SMS to drive revenue and customer loyalty

You’ve started using SMS for its high engagement rates and huge return on investment (ROI). But what do you do when a customer receives a text about their abandoned cart and they reply with, “Is this shirt true to size? Should I get a medium or large”? 

Do you set up an automated reply asking them to rewrite their question in an email and send it to customer service? Or do you reply with an answer via text, securing the purchase and creating a loyal customer by building a connection?

That is where SMS conversations come in to drive revenue and customer brand loyalty.

The problem with one-way communication on a two-way channel

With engagement rates as high as 98 percent, SMS has quickly become an essential tool for digital marketers. But think about why SMS has such a high engagement rate—it’s because people use their phones every day to have real-time conversations with friends and family. 

SMS was always meant to be a two-way channel.

Using SMS to blast one-way messages isn’t what your customers want or expect—especially considering 72 percent of customers are more likely to purchase from an ecommerce store that communicates with them about their products with an employee via chat messaging. 

You’ve put time, energy, and money into growing your SMS list, but if you’re not receiving and replying to your audience’s incoming SMS messages, you won’t have the same opportunity to answer their questions or support them during the buying process—and this could lead to frustrated customers. 

Don’t risk losing customers and prospects that you’ve worked so hard to earn by treating SMS as a one-way channel. 

Difference between email and sms marketing and how to win text message marketing

What are SMS Conversations?

SMS Conversations are a mode of communication that gives your brand the ability to see incoming texts and instantly respond to subscribers. 

Additionally, when someone does respond, you can see their customer profile and quickly get context so you have all the information you need to reply immediately. 

Improve your customer engagement and retention rates by moving from one-way SMS blasts to two-way conversations. 

SMS marketing platforms like Klaviyo, provide this feature within their platforms.

Learn why SMS marketing and how it can elevate other marketing channels

How to use SMS Conversations in ecommerce

Not only does SMS Conversations allow you to see incoming texts and respond, it also allows you to improve engagement on the existing SMS messages you’re already sent by inviting a reply. SMS campaigns you may have set up can now have more engagement.

Here are a few examples:

• Abandoned Cart – Proactively ask customers if they have questions about the items in their cart in the initial abandon cart message.
• New Product Announcement – Invite customers to reply with questions they have about the new product you just launched via SMS. 
• Birthday/Anniversary Discount – Text customers on their birthday or first purchase anniversary to ask if they’d like a discount to celebrate. 
• Order Delivered Questions – Follow up after a customer receives their order, asking them if they’re happy with their purchase. If they are, ask them for a referral or review.
• Product Detail Page – Add a block of content to your ecommerce store’s product detail page (PDP) template, inviting customers to text questions about the product.

These are just a few ways you can use SMS Conversations, but you can two-way texting to improve engagement in any campaign where you want to communicate back and forth with your subscribers.

Top SMS and Email marketing campaigns

Prompt more engaging conversations with your customers

SMS marketing strategies like SMS Conversations makes it easy for you to have conversations with your customers where they already are—in their text message inbox. 

Engaging with subscribers through SMS Conversations removes barriers to purchase and increases your customers’ connection to your brand.

Maximize your investment in text message marketing by utilizing SMS two-way messaging.

Still considering text message marketing for your business? Find out you can combine email with a platform like Klaviyo and its SMS services to create exceptional customer experiences.