Whoop, whoop we are now into the final countdown for when shops are able to re-open! So, here at FireText, we thought it would be helpful to put together some ideas of how SMS messaging could be utilised by retailers when their shop doors re-open again.
One use could be to send out a bulk SMS message to your customers providing them of any important store updates, such as your official re-opening day. Sending out a bulk SMS message is a great way to reach lots of people quickly and directly.
A fun fact about sending SMS messages is that it has a 98% open rate. This means that when you hit send on your message you can be pretty confident that you will reach the majority, if not all, of your target audience.
Another possible way you could use SMS is to send out stock alerts to your customers. If a customer has registered an interest in a product, that you currently don’t have in stock, then just dropping them a quick SMS message would be a great way to let them know that is back in store.
One feature within our system that could help to make this easy, is the SMS template feature. Using the template feature would mean that you simply need to select the contacts that you wish to send the SMS to and then choose the message template that you have already created, then hit send.
A further use for SMS could be to send out a bulk text marketing campaign to draw your customers back in and encourage them to make a purchase. Sending out a bulk SMS marketing message to your customers, with an enticing discount code included within it, would be a great way to tempt them to pop in-store and get them to buy a product.
If wanting to add an extra pop within your text message then you could look to include emojis within your SMS. By simply adding an emoji to your message content you can really break up the text and give your SMS message a bit more personality.
Alternatively, you may wish to use SMS to have internal communications with your employees. Currently, we still face unpredictable times so more frequent or last-minute messages to your staff may be required. As an example, you may need to send out staff rotas more regularly, or send an urgent message requesting more staff to come in for a shift.
A handy feature in our platform that could be used when sending out a bulk SMS to your staff, could be the SMS personalisation tool. This would allow you to send out a general SMS message to all your staff in one go but when the employee receives the text message it will be personalised to them. For example, you could include each staff member’s name at the start of the SMS message.
These are just a few suggestions for ways in which you can utilise SMS when your shop doors finally re-open, and some possible features within FireText that could help you out. However, if you wanted to chat through any ideas or get some possible SMS inspiration then please just give us a shout – we are always on standby to help out!