8 Killer Mailchimp SMS Strategies: How to Reach Customers

Imagine you want to invite a friend to hang out. Do you send them an email or a text?

Chances are you’ll text them. Texting is a quicker, more direct way of communication, and it has become a preferred method for many.

What many businesses don't fully realize is that SMS can be an excellent channel for marketing communications, too. Done right (and not too often), sending messages to your contacts can make the customer experience more personal and can increase engagement with your brand.

The data proves it, too: SMS has an open rate of 98%, considerably higher than the 20% open rate for emails.

Mailchimp SMS is an easy and effective way to build a highly engaged audience for your business by starting conversations between people rather than one-way communication bridges between businesses and people.

So how to use Mailchimp SMS to sell more and retain more of your existing customers?

Read on to find out more.

Can Mailchimp send SMS?

In short, yes, Mailchimp allows you to send SMS campaigns. However, it is worth mentioning there are two ways to do this:

Order confirmations & transactional SMS

Mailchimp has an SMS order confirmation feature you can use to send customers SMS order notifications via text message. This feature allows you to quickly confirm orders and provide customers with tracking numbers and delivery information. Although more limited, this feature is useful to keep SMS communications transactional.

Marketing campaigns

Mailchimp doesn't allow you to advance marketing campaigns right from the tool. It does, however, allow you to use any of the SMS/ text integrations available (and Mailchimp does integrate with most of the popular SMS marketing tools).

If you want to send anniversary campaigns, special offers, and other communications of this type, using one of the SMS integrations is your best option.

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Advantages of Mailchimp SMS campaigns

Sending SMS campaigns can be quite useful, especially, but not exclusively, in eCommerce. Here are some of the benefits of using SMS for your marketing:

Timeliness

People tend to be more compelled to reply to SMS messages than emails. Phone message marketing can trigger faster customer engagement, especially for busy people whose email inboxes may be permanently full.

As such, SMS campaigns can be particularly effective when you want to communicate time-sensitive information, such as sales, discounts, and special offers. Done right, sending marketing messages to customers can enhance the customer experience and persuade your target audience to buy from you.

Easy to create

Once you've integrated Mailchimp with your preferred SMS tool, sending marketing text messages will be very easy. You actually don't need to write SMS-specific code, which could otherwise be tedious and time-consuming.

Personalization

Personalizing SMS texts is a piece of cake with Mailchimp's SMS integrations. Each of these mobile marketing platforms works differently, but you can include all kinds of information, such as names, locations, product preferences, etc.

This allows you to create more personalized messages for your audience and increase the likelihood they convert into paying customers.

Disadvantages of Mailchimp SMS campaigns

SMS campaigns aren't necessarily perfect. While they can be great for reaching out to your customers, there are a few drawbacks you should consider:

Higher costs

SMS campaigns can be expensive, especially if you're dealing with a large subscriber list. This is because SMS campaigns require sending messages to individual numbers, whereas emails can be sent in bulk. As such, you should factor this into your budget if you plan on sending SMS campaigns.

Can get spammy

Sending SMS texts to your customers can be a great way to create a personal connection. But one too many messages and emails can quickly become overwhelming – and in some cases, downright annoying. As such, make sure to review how often you're sending messages and adjust your frequency accordingly.

Insufficient analytics

Unlike email marketing campaigns, SMS marketing doesn't give you access to as many data points as you might like. You can look at basic analytics (opens, clicks, etc.), but you won't be able to track more detailed metrics such as journey velocity or user engagement.

8 Killer SMS strategies to use with Mailchimp

Want to make the most out of your Mailchimp SMS strategy? Here are some tips you should keep in mind:

1. Pick the right software

Remember that you will need to use third-party SMS software in order to create marketing campaigns with Mailchimp. When choosing the right tool, make sure you consider factors such as pricing, features, and integrations.

2. Keep your messages short & informative

Remember that SMS messages have character limits and you don't want to bombard your customers with too much information. That means you'll want to keep your messages concise but make sure they include all the pertinent information.

3. Adhere to data privacy regulations

Never send SMS messages if your contacts have not agreed with them – not only is this legally problematic, but it can also affect your relationship with potential customers.

Also, always make sure to provide them with an unsubscribe link or a way to opt out of future messages. You don't want to violate any data privacy laws, and you certainly don't want to risk damaging your reputation.

4. Test & monitor your campaigns

Always test, monitor, and adjust your SMS campaigns to ensure you're getting the most out of them. This means you should be analyzing the results and making changes in order to maximize your ROI.

5. Choose the right timing

There's no universally good or bad time to send a marketing SMS, but testing out different options can help you determine the best time for your campaigns. You should also consider when (and how often) customers would like to receive your messages.

6. Use a content calendar

A content calendar can help you plan your messaging in advance and create a consistent strategy. It will allow you to keep track of all your campaigns, better combine SMS with Mailchimp drip campaigns, and make sure you don't miss any important dates or occasions to send messages.

7. Employ conversational SMS marketing

Unlike one-way SMS marketing communications, conversational SMS marketing messages engage customers in a dialogue. This type of approach to marketing focuses on building relationships with customers and creating a personal connection.

As a result, marketing efforts like these can boost engagement, conversion rates, and loyalty, and they can even turn customers into brand advocates.

8. Maintain data hygiene

Healthy contact management practices are essential for regulatory purposes. But more than that, they help you make sure your messages reach people who actually want to hear from you – and are more likely to engage with your texts, too.

Mailchimp SMS integrations

Mailchimp provides users with several SMS marketing software integrations. Some of the most popular options include:

EZ Texting

EZ Texting is one of the most well-known SMS marketing tools on the market. They offer a wide range of features, including drip campaigns, access to a Shutterstock image creator, QR codes, and high-volume A2P numbers. They also claim a 95% deliverability rate, higher than that of their competition.

This tool is available in four pricing tiers:

• Launch – $20 per month, includes 500 SMS messages, cost per SMS $0.027, max 500 SMS messages per day
• Boost – $60 per month, includes 500 SMS messages, cost per SMS $0.025, max 2,000 SMS messages per day
• Scale – $100 per month, includes 500 SMS messages, cost per SMS $0.018, max 50,000 SMS messages per day
• Enterprise – $3,000 per month, includes 300,000 messages, cost per SMS $0.010, max 1 MM SMS messages per day

SimpleTexting

SimpleTexting is one of the leading SMS platforms. They offer a wide range of features, such as text-to-vote, autoresponders, scheduled texts, and more. Their pricing options are more flexible, and they are overall considered a more affordable alternative compared to, for example, EZ Texting.

Their entire pricing model is based on how many messages you send every month. For example, for 500 messages, you will pay $29 per month, for 7,500 messages you will pay $229 per month, and for 50,000 messages, you will pay $889 per month.

If you need to send more than 50,000 messages, you will have to request a quote. Alternatively, you can also build your own plan based on how large your contact list is and how many times you want to message them every month.

Text Marketer

Text Marketer also has a lot of fundamental features for SMS marketing, such as bulk sending, shortcode SMS, email to SMS, surveys (to request opinions or customer reviews, for example), and virtual mobile numbers.

Unlike the other two options mentioned above, Text Marketer will charge you on a per-message basis, according to the different credit available categories.

For instance, if you need up to 10,000 credits, every SMS will be 4.9 cents. If you need 100,000 – 249,999 credits, every SMS will be 3.6 cents. And if you need 500,000 – 999,999, every SMS will be 3.4 cents.

It is worth mentioning that these costs are available for the UK, if you want to send messages outside of the UK, every SMS will cost two credits.

Should you implement Mailchimp SMS?

Text messages are a great way to stay in touch with existing customers, move your potential audience down the funnel, and increase your average conversion rates. They're especially effective for announcing special events and discounts.

While it may be pricier than, say, email marketing, SMS communications can yield more significant results. They can drive sales, retain existing customers, and even generate potential sales through advocacy.

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