SMS is cost-effective, can be automated, and 96% of Australians have a mobile phone. With many opportunities to educate and nurture a customer in a buying journey, SMS can be a very powerful channel to reach your audience.
Your customer’s journey is depicted in the marketing funnel, where it starts at discovery and ends in a purchase. Now, what is a marketing funnel? We’ve broken it down in this diagram:
Why is the marketing funnel important?
Nurtured leads make 47% bigger purchases than non-nurtured leads.
At each stage in the funnel, there is an opportunity to educate and influence the audience, nurturing them down the funnel. Companies spend years working out how and when to target specific customers – it all boils down to how well you understand your business’ marketing funnel.
But how do you actually nurture customers? One way is with SMS communication.
How to nurture customers with SMS
Discovery & Awareness
In 2021, 87% of shoppers started their buying journey online. One way to capture a lead’s phone number is by a web chat – this is a communication tool that is found on most websites you visit now.
A web chat allows you to have a two-way conversation with a lead, for example, a visitor is looking to find out more about your product or service. They enter their question into the website, capturing important details such as name, phone, and/or email. It’s not easy to gather someone’s phone number,
Consideration
The consideration stage in the marketing funnel is a perfect opportunity to use SMS marketing. The hard part is done where the person is already aware of your brand and offering, how do you nurture them along the journey?
You have very likely experienced this as a consumer, the emails or SMS messages you receive after you have opted in are the best example of this. The idea is to draw you in with offers and content to turn you into a paying customer!
Evaluation
One of the hardest stages in the marketing funnel to cut through to a lead is the evaluation phase. This is the stage where every company is fighting for a customer’s business; it’s all about the decision-making process and final push.
Purchase
Following a purchase, this is a great opportunity to ensure that the relationship between you and the customer is maintained. SMS can be used to send promotions, deals, and other content that you want the customer to receive directly. You can easily request reviews from the customer, helping to build brand trust and reputation.
Other ways you can communicate to your customers with SMS
Besides nurturing customers down the marketing funnel, there are other benefits of using SMS to communicate with customers, such as:
- Regular SMS communication keeps your business in the minds of your customers
- SMS can be used to confirm appointment times, decreasing no show rates
- Encourage repeat purchases by sending reminders, such as maintenance or annual appointment reminders etc.
- Sending time-sensitive promotions to boost demand
Take your SMS marketing to the next level
For most of us today, SMS is the preferred method of communication and if you don’t offer this channel your customer may go to a competitor that does. Get in touch with the LANA team today and we’ll transform the way you see SMS marketing with our software. See our website or book a live demo for a sneak peek into the LANA platform!
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