How an online store can instantly increase conversions using regular SMS marketing for business

How to increase conversion? Or more precisely: how to increase sales? After all, usually the owners of online stores, when asking their marketer the first question, really want to hear the answer to the second.

In most cases, the familiar SEO, contextual advertising, promotion on social networks, and targeted advertising are used. To improve the conversion metric, it is advisable to apply all methods comprehensively, and if any of them does not work, remove it from the marketing strategy and not waste resources.

But are these measures enough to get results, that is, hot leads in the future?

Advertising in the modern world will not surprise anyone. According to Ukrainian telecommunications provider Granat, on average one user sees more than 400 advertisements per day. Bright, provocative, with intrigue – most of them for the client mean only information noise. So what is the likelihood that among hundreds of other promotions, yours will stand out and reach its target audience?

Communication with the consumer is what is really important in modern Internet marketing. By engaging in dialogue with your customer, you make their experience with your brand unique. Nobody wants to be “one of”. It is important for the user to feel important and important to the seller.

SMS messaging for business is one of the best ways to build communication, gain the trust of the target audience and increase sales. Let’s talk about how to create effective SMS messaging that will really increase the conversion of an online store.

What is conversion?

Conversion is a key web analytics metric, measured as a percentage, that indicates what percentage of your site’s visitors complete the desired action.

The following main target actions can be distinguished:

• order on the website;
• registration;
• request for a call back;
• go to page;
• subscribe to the newsletter;
• make an appointment, etc.

However, when it comes to the conversion of online stores, what is most often meant is the percentage of sales.

How to correctly calculate the conversion rate

The impossible dream of all marketers and online store owners is 100% conversion. But, unfortunately, this indicator has nothing to do with reality. Moreover: a figure of 2.5% to 4% is already considered a good conversion rate.

In 2023, Ruler Analitics examined the average Ruanal Analytics. Conversion Rate for fourteen industries and marketing sources. It turned out that the retail and premium services sectors have a lower conversion rate than the average in similar industries. The average conversion rate across all industries was 2.9%.

Here is a table with average conversion rates in different areas of activity:

These figures give an approximate understanding of the average coefficient, because it should be noted that the result is influenced by many factors, from region to time of year.

We see that e-commerce has the highest rate. However, even among online stores there is a mixed picture:

Can you take these metrics into account? Yes, but there is a nuance here: even if you compare the conversion of online stores that are in the same industry as yours or related to it, this will not create a correct picture. Different e-commerce sites have different traffic sources, specifics, brand building, customer interaction, etc.

To find out a good conversion rate for your online store, you need to:

1. Explore the local market.
2. Analyze the performance of direct competitors.

And only then do you start making calculations.

The conversion rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of users who completed the target action to the total number of visitors to the site or page.

Let’s say your online store had 5,000 visitors during the month and of those visitors, 250 made purchases. To calculate the conversion rate, we use the formula:

Therefore, the conversion rate for your online store is 5%.

How SMS marketing and e-commerce combine

Who needs SMS in the era of instant messengers, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things? Indeed, compared to modern technologies and methods of communication, messages through mobile operators seem somewhat outdated and irrelevant. They are, for a moment, over 30 years old. From the point of view of many marketers, this channel has long passed its shelf life.

In fact, during its existence SMS mailings for business is popular with our clients because it provides a reliable way to interact with the audience.

In fact, during the existence of Decision Telecom – which is more than 10 years – the demand for this type of communication has not subsided. The SMS messaging service for business is popular among our clients because it provides a reliable way to interact with the audience.

SMS mailings are one of the most important online marketing tools. Remember how many mobile SMS messages you have already read today?

Agree, not everyone regularly checks email, even if it is on their smartphone. There is not always a desire to visit social networks. But you can hardly miss a traditional message – it attracts attention instantly.

The average SMS open rate is 98%, and the average conversion rate is 45%. Compared to similar email distribution rates (20% and 2% respectively), SMS messages appear to be much more effective.

According to Gartner forecasts, by 2025, most companies in the world will prefer to use SMS messages and instant messengers in customer service over developing their own applications. This trend is due to a number of reasons, since short advertising messages are highly effective in achieving conversion.

Use cases for SMS marketing in e-commerce:

• messages about promotions and discounts;
• order confirmation and notification of changes in its status;
• providing personal recommendations;
• invitation to events and sales;
• reminder to complete purchase
• notifications about new arrivals of goods, etc.

Intended for use both separately and in combination with other communication channels, SMS mailing opens up wide opportunities for business development, sales growth and expansion of the customer base.

Mobile marketing trends – 2024, which will enhance the effectiveness of SMS messaging

The e-commerce and retail industries are undergoing incredible changes thanks to rapid technological advancements that are making selling easier and more convenient for both business owners and consumers. The introduction of automation and modern marketing tools allows online stores to leave competitors far behind, increasing conversion and sales.

I won’t talk about trivial ways to increase the read rate of your emails, such as attractive headlines, clear CTAs, or the use of embedded hyperlinks. Here are five modern solutions that can really make a difference to your email marketing performance in 2024.

Advanced personalization

One of the key trends in mobile marketing in 2024 is advanced personalization. SMS addressed to a specific user have a higher conversion rate compared to mailings in general.

But unlike regular personalization, advanced personalization requires more than just using a personal message in a message. It provides for the provision of individual recommendations and offers based on data on purchases made and interactions with preliminary mailings. This personalization often includes other parameters such as geolocation, demographics, and user touchpoints with the site and in-store products.

The deeper and more precise the personalization, the higher the likelihood of a positive customer response to your messages.

AI targeting

When it comes to advanced personalization, it’s impossible to do without AI targeting. This is a mechanism by which the target audience is segmented into several groups depending on a certain criterion.

For example, the target audience for an online sports equipment store is likely to be athletes, coaches, etc. However, these consumers can be divided into separate groups:

• those who are interested in sports equipment;
• those for whom healthy eating is important;
• those who need professional vitamin supplements and proteins.

The store’s priority will be the first group of users, so it is advisable to send out a mailing promoting the brand’s main products to this audience.

How does AI come in handy here? Artificial intelligence facilitates the processing of customer information. It helps you analyze audience behavior and preferences without the need to involve an entire team of marketers.

AI also helps determine the most important moments to contact customers, such as the time when they are most open to receiving offers or information about promotions.

According to the IBM Global AI Adoption Index 2022, 35% of companies have already begun to use AI technologies in their work. So don’t waste time. After all, while you are conducting audience research, your competitors are already increasing their conversion.

Two-way communication

The future of advertising SMS mailings is associated with interactivity and the possibility of response from customers. Turning to 2-way technology cannot be called know-how, but now this thread is only gaining momentum.

The essence of two-way communication is simple: subscribers can not only receive information, but also interact with it through outgoing messages. SMS chat bots are becoming widespread and are used for operational support and user service.

Engaging customers in two-way communication is a key aspect of SMS messaging. Most modern consumers want to be able to interact with brands via SMS, and such communication can increase their loyalty.

Discover the power of RCS

RCS (Rich Communication Service) technology is a new era in the world of mobile messaging. The technology developed by Google opens up endless possibilities for expanded interactive content in newsletters.

This means you can create incredibly compelling and engaging campaigns that will capture the attention of your audience. You can not only verbally, but also visually demonstrate your product or service to customers.

Automate processes

Automation is becoming not just important, but even critical in modern mobile marketing. Using special tools and platforms to automate SMS mailings helps simplify the process and increase the effectiveness of campaigns.

Marketers can set up integrations with various systems such as ClickSend, Decision Telecom, Twilio and many others to fully automate SMS advertising campaigns. This means you can easily schedule and launch campaigns, set SMS triggers in response to specific events or customer actions, and analyze campaign results in real time.

Automation helps save marketers time and effort and reduces the risk of errors. You can create schedules, send personalized messages, and integrate SMS campaigns with other marketing channels.

Summing up

The use of SMS messaging for the development of an online store remains very important. By incorporating the trends discussed here and generating high-quality content, you can improve the performance of your emails and increase website conversions.

It should be emphasized that a successful SMS marketing strategy requires constant adaptation and updating. The e-commerce industry is constantly changing and your audience is also evolving. Therefore, it is important to regularly monitor changes in trends, customer preferences and the competitive environment.

Don’t get tired of experimenting and improving your mailings – this is the only way SMS mailing will become a powerful tool for the success of your business.