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You don’t have to spend more to see results. You just have to send smarter. Here's how to use segments, automation, and A/B testing to make your spend do more for you.
When it comes to SMS, you don’t have to spend more to see results. You just have to send smarter. Many SMS platforms will encourage you to blast your SMS lists constantly, which makes sense because SMS is billed per message sent. We recommend that brands take a different approach. Sending smarter SMS through segmentation, automation, and testing can help control SMS costs and create more effective messaging to get better ROAS.
So, here are three ways to make your SMS spend go farther:
The goal of any SMS marketer is to send the right message to the right person at the right time.
SMS has a 98% open rate, which means nearly every subscriber will read every SMS message. Continual list blasts can fatigue your subscribers and bring in subpar results. The key to delightful and effective SMS messaging is using segmentation and personalization to make sure the content is tailored to the right audience.
Segmenting your SMS subscriber can range from personalization to micro-marketing. But don’t get cold feet! Although there are a million possibilities for segmentation, you don’t have to do anything too crazy to see amazing results.
Birthdate Co., a company that crafts one-of-a-kind astrology candles and books, knows that anyone interested in their product is into astrology. Ajay Mehta, the CEO and co-founder of Birthdate Co. said on a recent podcast the key to his brand's success is, “personalization, customization, and a really excited and vibrant community of people that loved astrology and sharing astrology content.”
Focusing on what they know their customers love, Birthdate Co. segmented their customers based on their zodiac sign. By sending weekly horoscope SMS campaigns, they saw CTRs of over 20%. There are only 12 zodiac signs, so that’s 12 segments to create a personalized and effective campaign for their entire SMS list.
👀 Watch Ajay Mehta discuss why Birthdate Co.’s products have been such a success, Ajay’s journey as an entrepreneur, and much more here.
The sky is the limit when it comes to segmentation—VIP customers, non-purchasers, recent customers, abandoned browse, and so on. By segmenting your SMS list, you’ll be able to hyper-personalize and effectively send messages to the right people.
So now that we’ve covered sending a message to the right people, let’s get to the right time part. Using SMS automation will allow you to never miss an opportunity with your customers and send messages at the perfect time. If you don’t currently have SMS automated messages set up, we recommend that brands start with abandoned browse and checkout. By targeting these high intent customers, you can recapture the attention of your recent visitor, bring them back to the product, or offer a small discount to seal the deal.
Now, it’s time to test to get the right message. A/B testing will make sure your marketing is the most effective. Generally, A/B testing will be performed on a subset of a total list (10-20%). Results are measured for the key decision variable (CTR or conversion rate), and the winning variant is sent to the remaining list. Every brand has its own personality, nuances, and target markets, which is why it’s vital to test what works for you. That being said, here are a few different SMS variables that we suggest testing:
By A/B testing and sending the winning variable, you're ensuring that your SMS spend is doing the most by sending the best message possible.
Customer lifetime value (CLTV) is a key marketing metric to track your customer experience and how your customers contribute to your company as a whole. This is the total amount spent by customers throughout the period of their relationship with your brand. It’s more cost-efficient to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones, so increasing the value of your current customers is important to the growth of your brand.
If you are trying to manage your ad spend, you don’t want to do it at the expense of your customer relationships. SMS is an intimate communication channel, so to only send campaigns about sales or only engage your VIP segment puts your CLTV at risk.
Voyage is powering leading retail and DTC brands to quickly scale their SMS subscriber list, drive revenue sustainably, cultivate customer loyalty, and increase customer lifetime value.
“With Voyage’s powerful and user-friendly Segmentation tools, we can confidently target the right customer at the right time leading to increased engagement and maximized conversions.” - Ajay Mehta, the CEO, and co-founder of Birthdate Co.
Our innovative SMS platform (with the most advanced SMS-first segmentation builder on the market) is paired with expertise from our team of accomplished eCommerce founders and best-in-class technical product managers — so you can achieve true SMS success and send the right message to the right person at the right time.
See what the most powerful SMS marketing and message commerce platform in the world and expert eCommerce guidance can do for your brand. Request a demo today!
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