Boosting engagement with WooCommerce SMS marketing

If you’re running a WooCommerce store, you most likely already know the importance of staying in touch with your customers and that your audience uses various online channels.

But one marketing method many merchants fail to employ is SMS messaging, which is a missed opportunity. After all, most customers have a phone on them at all times, meaning that an SMS message is likely to reach them whenever and wherever they are.

This is why the importance of omnichannel marketing can’t be understated. But, to run high-converting marketing campaigns, you’ll need the one of the best WooCommerce plugins available.

Omnisend allows you to handle all your marketing from one centralized location, enabling you to utilize various comms channels. For example, you could follow up on an unopened email with a reminder text message 48 hours later.

Just think of the possibilities!

The benefits of WooCommerce SMS marketing

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If you’re wondering how to harness the power of SMS messaging, read on. There are, in fact, a surprising number of benefits to utilizing this marketing strategy. After all, there’s a reason why this channel enjoys 209% higher response rates than channels such as Facebook!

Most notably, SMS messages are just as quick and easy to read as they are to create. There are no fancy designs needed, and there’s no need for lengthy copy.

Customers appreciate SMS because they’re so quick to check and follow up on, making them ideal for order notifications, time-sensitive promotions, and reminders. Not only that, but it’s often more of a unique marketing channel than what customers are used to, which works wonders for ensuring your brand stands out from the crowd.

Of course, there’s always the biggest FAQ hanging over SMS marketing …

But aren’t WooCommerce SMS messages unwelcome?

Actually, no. It’s predicted that by the end of 2020, 48.7 million consumers will have opted-in to receive SMS messages from businesses. The critical component here is their consent. So, make sure your customers actively opt-in to receiving SMS messages from your business, and you’re good to go!

How to set up SMS marketing for your Woocommerce store

Install Omnisend for WooCommerce

First off, you’ll need to follow the steps below to install Omnisend for WooCommerce:

1. If you haven’t already, create an Omnisend account. Head to the home page and select ‘start Free.’

2. Navigate to the WooCommerce plugin page, search for ‘Omnisend for WooCommerce’ and click install, followed by ‘Activate.’

3. Now, the Omnisend WordPress plugin settings should appear on your WordPress admin dashboard as seen in the screenshot below; click on the Omnisend tab.

4. Here you’ll be asked to enter your API code.

5. To retrieve your API code, log into your Omnisend account in a separate tab. Click the menu in the top right of the page, and then select ‘Connect your store.’ Then scroll down and click ‘WooCommerce’ and enter your store URL.

6. Once you’ve done that, head to ‘store settings’ and select the ‘Integrations and API’ option. Then click API keys from the dropdown menu.

7. Now, copy your API key.

8. Go back to the Omnisend SMS plugin tab on your WordPress admin dashboard and enter the API key. Don’t forget to click ‘Save.’ This will automatically trigger the confirmation message pictured below.

Once that’s done, Omnisend’s SMS API can build upon your WooCommerce automation and add SMS as a new marketing channel. This ensures you’re able to include SMS messaging at whatever stage in your customer journey you deem necessary.

For instance:

• When an order is shipped (“Processing”)
• When an order is completed
• Order updates or changes to their order/shipment/delivery.

It’s worth noting that Omnisend isn’t just for SMS! It’ll also enable you to streamline your marketing across other channels such as email, Facebook, and Google.

Collecting mobile numbers

The first step to any WooCommerce SMS messaging campaign is to gather your customers’ mobile numbers. You can do this by adding an extra field to your online sign-up forms – you don’t have to restrict yourself to just email!

Pro Tip: Offer incentives like a discount to encourage people to subscribe to your email and SMS messaging list.

Omnisend provides you with a variety of sign-up forms to make this process easier. For instance, you can collect phone numbers by adding a wheel of fortune, exit-intent or immediate pop-up, or a sign-up box to your website. Or, you can create a dedicated landing page to capture this information.

You can also connect with existing customers by sending them an email and inviting them to join your SMS list. Let your customers know that SMS notifications are an option — they might want to opt-in to stay informed about your time-sensitive sales or promotions.

Designing a WooCommerce SMS campaign

As we’ve already hinted at, with Omnisend, WooCommerce SMS campaigns are quick and straightforward to create. However, you’ll want to take a bit of time writing a short and compelling message. This is imperative for hooking the reader and inspiring them to take action.

You can either customize your own SMSs from scratch or use Omnisend’s SMS templates. These lay the perfect foundation for your marketing copy.

You’ll also want to consider how SMS will work alongside your other marketing channels. For example, you could combine them with your email campaigns. Perhaps you could use SMS to accompany your abandoned cart email campaigns to boost engagement? The possibilities are endless.

One way to integrate SMS into your current workflow is to evaluate your WooCommerce marketing funnel. Look for stages in your pipeline that could be replaced or complemented with WooCommerce SMS.

For example, you could:

• Send SMS WooCommerce order status notifications to keep them updated about any order status changes.
• Send an SMS message as a checkout reminder instead of (or as well as) a cart-abandonment email if a user abandons their checkout without purchasing.
• Send bulk SMS messages informing subscribers about your upcoming promotions and sales.

Track your results

Like with any marketing method, it’s essential to track the profitability and engagement of your SMS campaigns — although reporting varies slightly from other channels. For instance, unlike with email, you can not view the open rate of SMS messages. But with Omnisend, you’ll still be able to track click, conversion, and sales metrics right from your admin panel.

WooCommerce SMS marketing best practices

Some merchants are cautious about using WooCommerce SMS for fear of annoying their customers. But, by following these best practices, you’ll ensure your audience welcomes these messages.

• Get permission first. Allow customers to actively opt-in to receiving text messages.
• Be clear at signup. You shouldn’t be sending customers anything they haven’t expected to receive – be transparent about your marketing from the get-go.
• Pay attention to the frequency of your messages. Too often or too many bulk SMSs, and your customers might indeed find your brand bothersome. But, fail to message regularly enough, and you risk subscribers forgetting who you are – it’s a fine line to walk.
• Text during regular hours of the day. Nobody wants to be woken up by an order reminder. Omnisend can automate your messages based on the recipient’s location so you can rest easy knowing that wherever your customers are in the world, they won’t be getting texts at 3 a.m. (unless you really want them to. But that’s on you).
• Keep it concise. Your subscribers are busy people, so respect their time by keeping it brief.
• Always include an unsubscribe link or keyword. Allow customers to unsubscribe by responding to your text messages with a one-word keyword reply, such as STOP.
• Provide value. Use SMS to keep customers informed of things that benefit them, such as updating them on their order’s progress, arranging delivery slots, providing coupons and pricing discounts, or reminding them of an expiring promotion. Anything less time-sensitive (or relevant) can be said via email.
• Respond in real-time to have a conversation. SMS feels like a more personal way to get in touch with your customers. Namely, because most of us only give out our phone numbers to brands and people we trust. It’s essential to nurture this relationship by responding to feedback and encouraging interaction by enabling auto-responses through Omnisend. This ensures the subscriber receives an automatic response, which you can then follow up on with a personalized message.

Are you ready to add WooCommerce SMS to your marketing funnel?

In this article, we’ve taken a look at why SMS marketing could be a great way to boost customer engagement for your ecommerce store. With quickly-seen messages, high engagement, and an extended reach, SMS is one of the best channels to complement your multi-channel marketing campaigns.

Omnisend makes it easy to integrate SMS into your WooCommerce marketing plan. Simply install the Omnisend WordPress plugin today, and replace WooCommerce’s marketing automation with Omnisend’s multi-channel solution.

You’ll be sending high-converting WooCommerce SMS messages to your subscribers in no time!

So, what are you waiting for? Start with Omnisend and launch your first-ever WooCommerce SMS campaign.