Mobile marketing has become a leading strategy for retail businesses. The trend toward mobile marketing was already happening before 2019 as more people bought smartphones and other mobile devices.
After the Covid-19 pandemic started, the trend went into overdrive. Now, consumers have gotten used to interacting with businesses digitally, whether they’re placing orders or looking for customer support.
The statistics tell a convincing story:
More people access the internet via smartphones than laptop or desktop computers.
About half of social media users access their accounts on their mobile devices.
Mobile ad spending within the U.S. alone is expected to exceed $93 billion by 2024.
China’s mobile advertising spending reached $72.2 billion in 2020.
Convinced? Let’s see how to make digital marketing effective for you.
Mobile Marketing Tips to Boost Your Retail Business
Mobile marketing isn’t just the future of retail. It’s the present. The question is how can you make it work for your retail business?
Segment Your Audience So You Can Personalize and Target Customers
Not everyone will respond to your mobile marketing strategies in the same way. A younger person who practically lives on social media will probably enjoy interacting with your brand on platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. An older person who doesn’t get a thrill from the latest apps might prefer receiving text messages.
Segment your audience so you can target different types of people with unique, personalized messages. Consider options like:
Geographical segmentation—Where customers live could influence the deals and opportunities you send them.
Demographic segmentation—Age, education level, gender, and career can affect how people respond to marketing campaigns. For example, you wouldn’t send a young person in college texts about high-priced luxury goods.
Behavioral segmentation—Omnichannel marketing gives you opportunities to collect data about how your customers behave. Use that information to predict ongoing behaviors so you can craft your messages to motivate the right people.
Convince Customers to Sign Up for SMS Text Messaging
The average consumer does not want to get phone calls from your store. That’s actually good news since call campaigns require a lot of money and effort.
Interestingly, nearly three-fourths of U.S. and Australian consumers say that they’re more likely to respond to texts that come from real people instead of automated chatbots. That makes sense. People like the convenience of texting, but they also want the human touch that they get from a real person.
For many retail and e-commerce businesses, the challenge becomes how they can make automated text messaging sound more human. A/B testing gives you an opportunity to determine which messages resonate with your customers. When done well, you can expect nearly half of consumers to respond within 90 seconds. You don’t even get a 25% open rate from email.
Convince your customers to sign up for SMS text messaging so you can reach them without breaking regulations or annoying them. Try offering discounts and access to limited-edition products. A lot of your existing customers will accept and respond.
Improve Customer Experience (CX) With Your Own App
Launching an app for your e-commerce store might sound intimidating. It’s not as hard as you think. Plenty of services will help you put together a custom app with the features and security your customers want.
Having your own app also gives you several opportunities to improve customer experience and customer support. You can use in-app messages to keep existing customers informed about upcoming products and deals. Your app can also provide a secure place for users to place orders. Since all of the information gets stored in the app, people can view previous orders and plan for what they want to buy in the future.
Keep Customers in the Loop While You Process Their Orders
Mobile marketing isn’t just about increasing sales. It’s also about making your existing customers feel more comfortable so they become advocates for your brand.
Make sure your customers know every step along the way. You can do this by sending them messages to confirm:
That you received their orders.
You have shipped their products.
The day their orders will arrive (including a message for “arriving today” and "delivered").
These simple messages keep customers informed and increase feelings of security. You can also expect some of your customers to share updates with their friends, which essentially means you benefit from free digital marketing.
Track Trends and Adjust to Meet Customer Expectations
E-commerce trends can change quickly. Pay attention to industry trends and behaviors within your customer base. Do your customers respond more often to social media messages than text messaging? Use that information to your advantage. Do you find that certain types of messages lead to increased sales? Incorporate that approach into your next campaign.
You can count on changes within e-commerce and your customers. You can benefit from those changes as long as you anticipate them and react accordingly.
How Clickatell Can Help
Clickatell can make mobile marketing easy for your retail businesses with our SMS, live agent, or chatbot solutions. Learn more about Clickatell’s solutions to elevate your customer experience with mobile marketing today.
Reach out now to talk to a representative who can help you choose the best marketing strategies for your retail business!
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