Isn’t it nice when a tech company tells you to put down your device, go outside and live your life? Pinterest did it last week at Coachella and today it’s Tiny Texts’ turn. In today’s newsletter we’re talking about how we can use a humble SMS to direct your audience to real world experiences.
If you want to nudge your customer toward your own stores, your wholesale partners’ stores, or other IRL activations, here are 5 clever ways that brands are using SMS to do just that. The list includes some simple approaches to messaging as well as some B2B solutions.
What’s ahead:
Studs shares its footprint to get feet moving
DSW teases a little known store policy
Ghia offers cashback for in-store purchases
Klaviyo geofences
And Duck Donuts uses the most powerful word in the English language
Let’s get into it!
1) Show your footprint
For awhile I mistakenly believed that Studs was unique to SoHo, the neighborhood where I first encountered the brand. Then a text message with a U.S. map of Studs’ ear-piercing locations helped me realize just how large their footprint is and inspired me to check for another location near me. First tip - give your subscriber a visual to help them understand where your stores are located.
2) Better Prices In-Store
DSW used SMS to communicate something most shoppers don't realize: they price-match in store. So if you want to bring subscribers into your stores, remind them why the store experience is so great. Is your return policy different in store? Do you have items in stock in store that are stocked out online? Does your store smell really good? Do you have a particularly helpful in-store stylist? Does he smell really good? Be creative!
3) Receipt-based rewards
Popadelics and Ghia use the cashback platform Aisle to encourage customers to buy their products at stores like CVS and Whole Foods, and SMS powers the transaction. Users sign up on site, then send a photo of their receipt and get notified of their reward, all via text.
Ghia uses Aisle to power their text cashback program
4) Real time, location-based text messages
Klaviyo released a new geofences feature in February that lets brands set virtual boundaries around physical locations, then trigger flows, campaigns and reporting, when a customer enters or exits your geofence.
In my opinion, being able to message a customer when they are a stone’s throw away from your store or your event is the holy grail. The only limiting factor - your brand must have a mobile app to take advantage of this functionality.
You need to integrate the latest Klaviyo mobile SDK, and your customer also has to share their location via your app permissions.
5) Make it free
Back to more simple solutions. Shout the word “Free!” and people will come to your store. I like this example from Duck Donuts.
FREE is a nice way to get people to mobilize
These are some of the foot traffic-driving tactics I see brands using at Tiny Texts, where we track over 1000 brands to see what they are texting, in real time. Want more? Visit Tinytexts.co to see more “in store only” offers from brands like the Golden State Warriors, Cabela’s, Talbots, and Office Depot.
Visit Tinytexts.co and search texts from thousands of brands, published in real time
Helpful Links
Visit Aisle for more information about their receipt-based cash back program
And did you miss last week’s Grüns SMS playbook? I went through 2 years of texts from Grüns and highlighted moments when we could see them testing and iterating on their text program. It was the most popular issue to date!
If you find the Tiny Texts newsletter useful, please forward it to another SMS marketer in your life, or leave a comment on our LinkedIn page!
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
