Imagine sending a product recommendation that your customer was already eyeing, along with a special discount. What do you think has a higher chance of conversion, this or sending any product trending in the market randomly to your customer?
No brainer, right? The former situation will work wonders for your business.
This is called personalization and it is important for every marketing campaign.
In this blog, learn everything about SMS personalization with key tips and best practices to make it easy for your business to get started.
What is SMS personalization?
SMS personalization is customizing the text’s content to give your customer an individual experience. Personalization is based on SMS segmentation, where people are grouped as per their demographic, purchase behaviors, and preferences. Personalized messages include names & relevant deals increasing the relevance of your messages.
The top two personalization uses in marketing are
1. Product recommendations
2. Predictive customer service
To put things in perspective, here is one example:
Personalized text messages
Non-personalized text message
Recommended read: Ultimate Beginners Guide to Shopify SMS Marketing 2024
Why should you focus on SMS personalization?
SMS personalization is important because:
- 3 out of 4 business leaders believe that personalization is significant to success.
- Almost 9 in 10 industry professionals claim that customers expect some personalized content.
- 76% of consumers say they’re more likely to purchase from brands that personalize.
But that’s not it, personalization serves more benefits. Understand these benefits in more detail:
They contribute to high open rates (98%)
Personalized SMS messages have an open rate of 98% compared to emails and non-personalized text messages.
It is because when you personalize your SMS, it captures the recipient’s attention. After all, it feels tailored specifically for them.
Imagine receiving a message that starts with your name or mentions a recent interaction you had with the sender. It immediately stands out from generic messages and prompts you to open and read it. This personal touch significantly boosts the likelihood of your message being read.
It caters to a positive user experience
When the text message coming from a brand includes what you need, it makes the recipient feel more valued and understood, creating a rich experience. This not only increases the likelihood of positive user outcomes but also strengthens the relationship between businesses and their customers.
Gives you better return on investment
89% of marketers report a positive return on investment when including SMS personalization in their marketing campaigns.
When your audience feels a personal connection, they are more likely to respond positively, whether it’s making a purchase, engaging with your content, or taking the desired action. This positive response leads to a better return on the investment made in crafting personalized SMS campaigns.
Recommended read: How To Drive More ROI From Your SMS Marketing Campaigns 2024
Helps in building trusting relationships
SMS personalization shows to your customers that you know and understand them. This understanding creates trust, as people notice how you are paying attention to their needs.
Imagine receiving a text message that not only knows your name but also comes with a product recommendation that was already in your mind and interest, you will start trusting their further messages. This level of SMS personalization also shows how much the brand respects your individuality and they know about it.
It provides rich value
Personalized SMS messages go beyond generic promotions. These messages carry content that is specifically relevant and useful. Rather than sending a generic discount to all your customers, SMS personalization allows you to include targeted offers that align with each customer’s preferences.
This type of communication increases customer engagement.
Helps in increasing the brand loyalty
When your customers are already purchasing from your brand, and when they are not, they are receiving messages that they are finding helpful, it will create a more intimate connection.
For example, if you receive a birthday message from your favorite brand with a personalized discount or special offer. This will only make you feel valued and strengthen your loyalty to that brand.
And if you consistently deliver such personalized experiences, on birthdays, and holidays, brands can cultivate lasting relationships with their customers.
Significantly contributes to customer retention
If a customer had a positive shopping experience via one of your personalized SMS, he/she is likely to give your brand the next chance. They are more likely to become repeat buyers.
Reasons behind this could be due to either the convenience they experienced with receiving a good recommendation without any actual effort or feeling a sense of loyalty towards your brand for understanding their preferences.
Recommended read: 5 Ways to Use SMS Marketing for Customer Retention
Best practices and tips for SMS personalization
There are some specifics that every business should consider before working on SMS personalization campaigns. Here are most of them:
1. Collect Customer Data
Start by collecting information about your customers, like their names, preferences, and purchase history. This data will help you categorize customers into different groups for SMS segmentation.
2. Segment Your Audience
With the data collected, divide your customers into groups based on common characteristics, like age, interests, or location. This way, you will be able to send them messages that closely match their expectations.
3. Craft Compelling Messages
Start working on your message content. Start by including the name of the recipient along with strong emotional words for engagement. Add an urgency factor in the message to drive the desired actions faster from your customers.
Make sure to write in short sentences and highlight important words with CAPITAL letters.
For example, if you are an online clothing store, one of your personalized SMS can look like this:
4. Include Relevant Offers
A USP of the message lies in the value it is offering to the customers. With already collected data, you have a fair knowledge of what will appeal to which of your customers. Based on that, take your call and send them the most appropriate offers that have the highest probability of conversion.
You can give people special deals on things they like or have bought in the past.
Recommended read: 11 Types of Discounts to Use in SMS Marketing Campaigns to Drive More Sales
5. Use the Recipient’s Name
Make sure to include the name of the recipient while crafting the message. It adds a personal touch, making them feel like you are directly talking to them.
6. Optimize Message Timing
Timing is crucial. Send the message only when it does not hinder their sleep cycle and family evening time. The right timing increases the chances of your customers seeing and responding to it. For example, if you’re reminding someone about a holiday offer, send the reminder shortly before the holiday discount actually starts.
7. Send Personalized Reminders
The key benefit of SMS personalization is that you can tailor deals and reminders as per your customers’ preferences. It saves you from sending a generic reminder and lets you include specific details for better conversion rates.
For example, instead of just saying “Don’t forget to shop,” you should write:
“Hi [Customer’s Name], 🎄 Last call for Christmas magic! Your exclusive code XMAS20 expires soon. Snag the style you love at a jolly discount. Happy Holidays and happy shopping! 🛍️✨”
8. Incorporate Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
A CTA is very important for giving the final nudge. It doesn’t leave a gap and tells the recipient what you want them to do next after reading the message. Although the best place for the call to action is at the bottom of the message, you can experiment with it and see which one works best for you.
Some of the CTAs that you can include in your SMS personalization campaigns are:
- Discover Your Style
- Sign Up for Savings
- Limited-Time Offers Inside
- Get 20% Off Your First Order
- See What’s Trending
9. Send Birthday Greetings
A birthday is always special to each individual. Receiving wishes not only from family and friends but also from your favorite brand builds rapport with your customers. It gets you a special place in your customers’ hearts and increases customer loyalty.
10. Send the Text in the Customer’s Preferred Language
Communicate with your customers in their local or preferred language. It not only shows respect but also reflects how much you care about their nationality or community.
11. Ask for Feedback by Name
Even when you ask for feedback, make sure to send a post-purchase SMS with the recipient’s name. This will show that you not only care about their preferences until the purchase but even after, to make the next experience better.
12. Use Emoticons
What’s fun in a plain text message? Of course, it will have some relevant deals but make it look more attractive with emojis, leaving no chance for your customer to ignore it. Emojis add emotion and personality to your messages.
Spot the difference by yourself:
13. Include Personalized URLs (PURLs)
Personalized URLs are links that are unique to each recipient. When you include personalized URLs in your SMS messages, it proves that you are really looking to cater to them with an individual experience.
For example, if you’re promoting a special offer, you can include a direct link that includes the recipient’s name or other personal information.
14. Include a Company Signature
A company signature located at the bottom of the message helps you establish credibility and lets the recipient know who the message is coming from.
15. Utilize Custom SMS Sender ID
Custom SMS sender ID means customizing the sender name that appears when the recipient receives your message. Instead of seeing a generic number or shortcode, they’ll see a name that’s associated with your brand or business. For example, instead of seeing a random number, they might see “XYZ Company” as the sender.
17. Integrate Social Proof for Credibility
Social proof increases the credibility of your marketing campaign like no one can. When we talk about SMS personalization, make sure to include either the link, ratings, or a short engaging statement from the reviews that urge your customers to convert.
Best practices to follow for sending personalized SMS
- Always double-check the personal details before sending the SMS.
- Respond quickly to any replies or inquiries coming from the recipients.
- Keep the messages short and concise to make them clear and easy to understand.
- Make sure to send messages during business hours to avoid disturbing customers in their personal time.
- Provide an opt-out option in every message to give recipients control over their preferences.
- Incentivize your customers to subscribe to your SMS list by offering exclusive discounts, promotions, or valuable content, increasing the appeal of joining your list.
- Use SMS templates to simplify the process.
Recommended read: SMS Marketing Trends 2024 – How Text Marketing Is Changing With the Times
Perform SMS personalization with TxtCart!
TxtCart, with its campaign builder tool, helps you to name your campaign, choose which audiences to include and exclude as well as craft the actual copy of your campaign.
TxtCart also gives you an easy-to-use reporting dashboard. You can view the current status of the campaign(s), the number of recipients it sent to as well as campaign-specific reply rate, CTR (click-through rate), revenue generated as well as approx ROI (Return on Investment).
Install the TxtCart app today and reach out to our team of experts for better results.
