SMS Automation Strategies for Marketing

📲 I spent over 5 years in SMS marketing for eCommerce. After analyzing/working on dozens of programs... Here's how I'd approach it from the ground up if I were starting from zero👇 Phase 1: Build the shell 🐢 Set up core behavioral automation & list growth strategies to increase revenue. If you don't get these right, you'll never scale it. - Two-tap opt-in onsite + at checkout to capture subscribers - Welcome Series + set up day 1 two-way messaging expectations w/ subscribers - Abandoned Cart - Browse Abandonment - Post-Purchase ( Educational onboarding and reorder reminders) - Transactional Updates (97% of consumers want these & they are VERY low hanging fruit to drive engagement + revenue. I've seen brands drive $50k/mo from these messages) Phase 2: Add more fuel 🚀 Start leveling up your strategy - Start sending SMS campaigns as your retargeting list grows. Campaigns are great... but remember unsubscribe rates go up a lot and segmentation is your best friend🙂 - Begin behavioral segmentation inside of your automations to personalize messaging/increase relevancy. - Integrate your Customer Service platform to start handling replies (fast if you can)... These are often buying questions that can lead to more sales and happy customers - Test more list growth strategies like adding SMS opt-ins to your order tracking pages, interactive email, package inserts, and test paid ads/influencer funnels that go to SMS funnels Phase 3: Optimization & Conversational 🧪💬 Focus on 2% improvements... - A/B test EVERY automated flow with at least 2 variations per message. Test copy, timing, mms vs sms, personalization, etc... - A/B test your sign-up units. Whether it's behavioral or the look/feel of the sign-up unit... don't settle for one. Let the data tell you what is the top converting path. - A/B test your campaigns. Figure out the best send times for your respective segments, what voice works best for copy, mms vs sms, top converting offers, etc... Don't just test revenue here (think unsubscribe rates, click-through rates, etc...) - Implement 2-way conversational automation across key flows. Look for key moments to engage in more conversations with your customers to build relationships, collect more zero-party data, and deliver personalized content. My favorites are the welcome series and post-purchase... but I've seen cool examples even in places like the abandoned cart to handle objections (we built a whole business off of this at Tone). Bonus: If your vendor does human-powered texting like Concierge or Sales, this might be the time to consider it (only after everything else is in place!). 👉 Great SMS programs are not built overnight. The best programs are built in phases... with constant evaluation, testing, and optimization. Those 2% improvements over time compound and set you up for long-term success and growth. Hmm maybe we should name a podcast about that? 🤔 #smsmarketing #ecommerce

I've generated nearly 9-figures in revenue through SMS Marketing for brands. Here's everything I've learned 👇 1. Avoid sending nurture content. No one wants a 3-paragraph life lesson on text. These messages get the highest unsubscribes in my experience. Save that for your blog or your email list. Use SMS strictly for important messages: – New drops – Low stock alerts – Restocks – Flash sales 2. You don’t need complex SMS systems. The exact SMS setup that generated $500k/mo for a client: We sent an average of 1.5 sms campaigns per week. And we had these simple automations:  – Welcome flow: 3 texts – Site abandon: 1 text – Browse abandon: 1 text – Cart abandon: 1 text – Checkout abandon: 1 text – Winback: 2 texts – Back-in-stock: 2 texts That’s literally it. Don't get overwhelmed, a little bit goes a long ways with sms. 3. SMS is NOT email. You can get away with 4–5 emails a week. With SMS I prefer a max of 2 per week. It’s more intrusive, more expensive, and more risky. If you are scaling hard on acquisition and new traffic, I'm cool with sending daily texts to your non-buyers. But be really careful with your buyer segments. Send to them less often and only on important events. 4. Your texts should be boring as hell Avoid including images, emojis, and long messages Texts with images cost 3x more than without... and they never generate 3x the revenue to justify the increase costs. Keep every message under 160 characters. If you go over 160 characters, you’re charged twice as much. Avoid emojis. They take up 30–50 characters each, eating up your already small amount of character space. With all these restrictions, your messages should be pretty plain. But these plain messages will deliver you the best ROI. 5. Send times – Avoid early mornings (before 10am) – Avoid late nights (after 7:30pm) – Midday (11am–2pm) and post-work (5–6pm) hit best – Flash sale final calls work great at 6:30–7pm Every list is different, but in general these hold true. 6. Pop-up forms need to be done right Don’t ask for phone + email on the same step... that's viewed as too much work for the customer and they will close out of the form. Split your steps. Ask for email first. Then ask for the phone number with copy, “finish signing up with text to activate your discount” Do NOT push for “get SMS-exclusive deals”... The first one feels required. The second one feels optional and will get much lower opt-ins.. Big difference. 7. You don’t need to hyper-segment SMS. There’s no spam folder or deliverability to worry about like you do with email. Just blast your sms list and exclude dead weight (people who haven’t been active on site or clicked in sms in 12 months+). Keep it simple and you'll print.. Final thought: SMS works best when it’s simple. Don't overcomplicate it. Less sends, less segmentation, and only send stuff when it's important. Just tell them what’s dropping and give them the damn link.

8/10 DTC brands I audit have NO clue how to use SMS to generate revenue. Here are 7 things we do to make millions/mo with it: (BOOKMARK THIS) (1) How to Get Opt-Ins Without Being Pushy:   - Checkout Opt-In - Exit Intent Popup - Post-Purchase Flip - Email-to-SMS Bridge ---- (2) SMS Flows Welcome Series (3 texts): - Welcome + intro offer (15% off, valid 7 days)  - "How's your experience with [brand]?" + bestsellers - Urgency reminder (24 hours left on discount) Andoned Cart (2-3 texts): - "You left something behind" + cart link - "Still thinking? Here's 10% off to help." - "Last chance—cart expires in 6 hour.s" Post-Purchase (3 texts): - Order confirmation + tracking - "How to get the most out of [product]" - Cross-sell based on their purchase ---- (3) Content strategy: Value Content (send daily): - Restock notifications - Behind-the-scenes - Product care tips - Customer spotlights Campaign Content (2-3x per week): - New product launches - Flash sales - VIP early access - Limited-time offers ---- (4) Personalization : Generic "Hey [name], here's 20% off" kills loyalty. 4 ways to use personalization: - Purchase-based: "Hey Sarah, your usual [product] is 20% off today." - Behavior-based: "Noticed you browsing our new collection. Here's early access." - Lifecycle-based: "Happy 1-year anniversary as a customer! Here's 10% off." - Geographic: "You're in Chicago. We have local pickup available." ---- (5) Build Two-Way Conversations: Most brands fear replies. But replies are just engagement and feedback that promote relationship building. So you should encourage it: - Ask questions: "What's your biggest skincare challenge?" - Use for support: "Issue with your order? Reply here" - Create polls: "Reply A for [option] or B for [option]" - Actually respond when people text back ---- (6) The Metrics Metrics to track: - Opt-in rate: 10-15% is good - Conversion rate: How many buy after getting SMS - Churn rate: How many unsubscribe - Revenue per subscriber ---- (7) Advanced Tactics - SMS-Exclusive Products: Make subscribers feel special with products they can't get anywhere else - Birthday/Anniversary Campaigns - Pre-Cart Abandonment: If someone viewed a product but didn't add it to the cart, text them. - Cross-Channel Coordination: Let email and SMS work together. ---- Things to avoid: - Treating SMS like email - Bad deliverability setup - Discount addiction - Ignoring replies - No list growth TL;DR SMS is the most personal way to build loyalty with customers who actually want to hear from you. Done right: 40-60% higher LTV than email-only customers.

The power of audience segmenting shines with this retail dispensary. Let’s take a look: A single-location cannabis store in an industrial area struggled with low foot traffic and inconsistent SMS marketing. The goal was to increase customer visits and basket sizes. The strategy: 👉 Consistent Messaging i.e. Scheduled SMS twice weekly for midweek deals and weekend promotions. 👉 Segmentation i.e. Focused on recent buyers (last 30 days) and win-back campaigns for lapsed customers. Created category segments for each win-back campaign, further targeting based on preferred purchasing habits. Results: ✅ SMS Database Growth: +372% organically. ✅ Website Traffic: +122%, with new visitors up 90% and returning visitors up 101%. ✅ Social Media Engagement: Impressions grew 607%, followers 205%. Takeaways: ✅ Consistency in communication drives engagement. ✅ Targeted messaging reduces opt-outs and re-engages lapsed customers. ✅ Collaboration between marketing and retail teams is essential for success. Smart, consistent, and personalized SMS campaigns can transform customer engagement and retail performance. For 2025, I encourage you all to look through your contact lists and see how you can make them work more for you. The next big win could come through with just a touch more organization. #casestudy #smsmarketing