Want to make a big purchase this Black Friday? You’ll need a solid Black Friday SMS marketing campaign.
It’s no secret that Black Friday is the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Most retailers time their biggest markdowns and sales events around this time.
You’ll need a foolproof text message strategy to boost your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and grab customers’ attention.
If you’re wondering why you should use text message marketing, consider the fact that:
- One-third of people who receive a text message check it within the first minute.
- More than half of all consumers check their phones for text messages 11 times or more daily.
- The average person checks their text messages more than any other app on their phone every day.
The high open and click-through rates of mobile messaging and the fact that it avoids customers’ overflowing inboxes by going straight to their phones make it the ideal medium for spreading holiday sales.
Black Friday SMS Marketing Tips
We were hoping you could make the most of this once-a-year Black Friday weekend. We’ve compiled some guidelines to help you plan your holiday SMS campaign.
1. Attracting New Subscribers
First, you need permission to send Black Friday messages to your prospective clients. There is no way forward without acquiring a legitimate and robust SMS marketing list.
There are several ways you can go about this:
- Inform your email list: Include instructions for SMS opt-in in your following newsletter if you’re using email marketing. Also, sell the subscribers the value of your text messages by outlining the benefits they’ll receive.
- Put up a sign-up sheet or employ pop-ups on your website: Visitors to your online shop should be able to leave their phone numbers and opt-in to receive future text message (SMS) promotions and discounts.
- Get a competition going: The more entertaining route is to host a “text-to-win” contest and see your contact list grow. Post it on your social media pages or outline the guidelines in an upcoming email newsletter.
- Encourage customers to sign up for updates during checkout: When someone buys something from you or considers doing so, they have implicit trust in you. Create a checkbox next to the shipping information that, when clicked, subscribes the customer to your text marketing campaigns.
2. Put That Confirmation Message to Use!
When new people sign up for your mailing list, they should immediately receive a message from you confirming their subscription.
Create some buzz and express your appreciation to the people who have opted into your text message list by taking advantage of this situation.
Additionally, a successful brand will work to develop individual relationships with each of its customers. And a friendly confirmation message can help with that.
Use this sample text to say, “thanks for signing up for our texts” and “here’s a special offer just for our text subscribers.”
“Thank you for joining our VIP text service. Here’s your reward: get free shipping and save 20% on Black Friday with your special code [CODE].”
3. Jumpstart Your Holiday Preparations
Friday morning is too late to start sending out texts about sales.
Get the word out to consumers at least a week in advance. Focus on the worth of your text lists right now.
Inform your contacts that you offer them special discounts only through your texting service. Even better, by starting a countdown, you could send out reminders about the sale several times in the week leading up to Black Friday.
You can schedule your text messages at specific times and days. Be mindful of others’ sleep schedules and avoid disturbing them at inconvenient times like bedtime.
You can have your texts sent automatically at this stage, allowing you to set and forget them.
4. Segment Your Contacts
You can’t please everyone with everything you sell, no matter how well-designed your website or how well-stocked your store is.
Segmenting your contacts into groups based on their interests is a great way to tailor your marketing to each customer. You could find it in the kinds of products they’ve bought before, the types of stores they like to shop at, or any other criteria you think will be helpful.
Use the contact data collection and SMS integration features of your preferred SMS marketing platform or OtterText to compile this data easily and quickly. That will make your customers feel more valued and appreciated and reduce the likelihood of them becoming annoyed by your texts.
5. Leverage MMS to Increase Engagement
With MMS or multimedia messaging service, you can send your contacts visual content like photos and videos.
Make your Black Friday text messages more eye-catching by switching to MMS. Including up to 1,600 characters in text and including rich media in your posts is possible!
6. Tease Your Upcoming Offers
A sneak peek of what will be on sale on Black Friday is a great way to build anticipation among your customer base.
You could include a short blurb about the brand-new products you’re releasing for the holidays, hint at an upcoming promotion, or thank your contacts for agreeing to receive your texts by listing the perks they’ll enjoy due to their participation.
Use the following template to craft an enticing Black Friday teaser!
“How prepared are you for Black Friday? Watch your message inbox for any updates. We have fantastic new offers for you this week in preparation for the holiday shopping season.”
7. Prepare for Cyber Monday Using Black Friday Data
Knowing the results of your previous SMS messages can help you improve your future campaigns.
You can see how many people responded, who clicked on the links you sent, if anyone unsubscribed, and more by logging into your OtterText account and viewing the analytics for your Black Friday text messages.
Apply what you learn from this analysis to your Cyber Monday messaging to increase response rates.
Sample Text Messages for Your Black Friday Campaign
Crafting the perfect text message can be challenging. Below are some sample text messages you can use or modify for your Black Friday SMS marketing campaign. These samples also demonstrate using the {{First Name}} tag for personalization with OtterText.
Welcome Message
- General: ‘Thank you for subscribing to our Black Friday alerts! Stay tuned for exclusive deals.’
- Personalized: ‘Hi {{First Name}}, thank you for joining our VIP text service. Get ready for some amazing Black Friday deals!’
Early Bird Offers
- General: ‘Early bird gets the worm! Exclusive Black Friday deals start NOW!’
- Personalized: ‘{{First Name}}, be an early bird! Grab your exclusive Black Friday deals before anyone else.’
Countdown Messages
- General: ‘Only 3 days until our massive Black Friday sale!’
- Personalized: ‘Hey {{First Name}}, only 3 days left until Black Friday! Are you ready?’
Day-of Black Friday Deals
- General: ‘Our Black Friday sale is ON! Shop now and save big.’
- Personalized: ‘Hi {{First Name}}, our Black Friday sale has started! Don’t miss out on incredible savings.’
Thank You for Purchase
- General: ‘Thank you for your purchase! Enjoy your Black Friday deals.’
- Personalized: ‘Thank you for shopping with us, {{First Name}}! Enjoy your Black Friday goodies.’
Cyber Monday Teaser
- General: ‘Black Friday may be over, but Cyber Monday is coming. Stay tuned!’
- Personalized: ‘{{First Name}}, hope you enjoyed Black Friday. Get ready for Cyber Monday deals!’
Feel free to use or adapt these sample text messages to fit your brand’s specific needs and tone. Personalization can go a long way in making your customers feel special and increasing engagement.
The Wrap on Black Friday SMS Marketing
As Black Friday draws near, everyone is vying for consumers’ attention. It is the perfect opportunity to reach out to your contacts via text message with something valuable and exciting before the major shopping holidays.
For the most successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday, implement the above strategies into your holiday SMS marketing plan.
Try out OtterText if you want to level up your SMS marketing. No matter how much or how little experience you have with SMS marketing, our professionals can assist you in developing a plan for sending out Black Friday text messages that will work best for your business.
