The holiday shopping season often brings chaos and new challenges for brands, and 2022 isn’t likely to be an exception. Rising consumer demands, the continuing rise of mobile, or m-commerce, and early bird shopping are just some trends brewing this year. It's important to strategize your holiday communication strategy, and SMS provides a no-hassle, interactive approach your consumers will love.

Customers have high expectations and expect to be rewarded for their loyalty. Therefore, communication and prompt response combined with personalization and great deals can make this one of your most lucrative holiday seasons. An omnichannel approach to holiday marketing takes all these factors into account.

Holiday Season Communication Strategies

Rising interest rates and inflation cast a shadow on holiday sales expectations. Deloitte (News - Alert) cautions that retail sales may increase just 4% to 6% versus 2021 holiday spending, which rebounded strongly following the pandemic.

To earn their share of the holiday sales pie, retailers must focus on customer experience. You can accomplish this with an omnichannel approach that delivers continuity across major platforms. That includes getting the right advertisements in front of the right eyes and beefing up customer service for a seamless experience.

"As marketers add new digital channels, I am more concerned with educating on the importance of taking an omnichannel, not multichannel approach. Brands need to speak to customers wherever they are – be it via SMS, Chat Apps, or other – with a single consistent voice, otherwise, they risk losing them and their revenue. Drawing multiple digital channels seamlessly together will become a foundational element to unify customers' touch points across all channels," said Mitto COO and Co-Founder Ilja Gorelik.

Prepare for Early-Bird Buyers

To avoid depleted shelves on Black Friday (News - Alert), shoppers will probably begin shopping online well in advance of the holidays. Brands can facilitate the process with early communications on products and deals customers crave the most. Equally important, customers expect fast responses to their questions regarding available inventory, shipping delays, and other concerns.

Shipping delays can cause stress and disappointment, which brands can avoid with accurate, effective communication. According to a recent Mitto report, 91% of respondents said they were willing to wait for packages if they had a positive customer service interaction. That includes delivery delays accompanied by an otherwise excellent customer experience.

For example, taking an omnichannel approach allows brands to deliver notifications about shipment statuses across all major platforms. Give consumers a choice about how they receive your messages. That means developing processes to support fast responses around the clock.

Prioritized SMS

According to the survey, over half of American consumers prefer texts regarding product restocking and other important information. So, it makes sense to prioritize SMS as your top holiday communication platform.

SMS Communication Through Mitto

SMS puts messages into the hands of customers faster and simplifies two-way conversations regarding fulfillment, delivery, shipping, and sales.

The benefits of using SMS as a primary communication method include:

• Personalization: Use personal details to customize each message.
• Concrete results: The open rate for SMS is nearly 4 times that of emails. Plus, customers are far more likely to respond to a text than an email.

An established omnichannel strategy simplifies your communications with holiday customers. Reduce the burnout often suffered by customer support associates by automating essential messages. According to the State of the Customer Experience report, brands that develop real-time communication pipelines with customers see a payoff in customer satisfaction.

Software with a single dashboard for managing customer interaction can make this effortless. For example, Conversations from Mitto effectively deals with a multitude of customer inquiries throughout major platforms your customers already use.

Ilja Gorelik, COO at Mitto, predicts that digital communication channels will continue to evolve, enabling brands to maintain 24-hour consumer support.

The following takeaways will help you maximize your return on investment when it comes to effective customer messaging:

1. Personalize every message. 

Personalization must go beyond including the customer's name. It's important to understand the pain points that might keep loyal customers from returning to your products and platforms this holiday season.

How can you solve customer pain points? Take a shopper looking for the perfect blouse for a holiday party. What recommendations could you make based on the information you already have in your databases?

2. Let them pay their way

Once a consumer makes a purchase, brands can include the payment link within the text message. This makes it easy to complete the transaction without returning to the website. You can also follow up on payments with delivery information.

Offer your customers as many options as possible to shop, pay, and communicate. This could mean processing payments by credit or debit directly in chat or text messages. It’s also important to provide as many payment options as possible to facilitate the process for customers who prefer Apple (News - Alert) Pay, PayPal, and other nontraditional payment types.

3. Provide timely information.

Two out of three customers value customer service as much as fast shipping. If there are shipping delays, you can prepare your customers via SMS so that they can shift their plans accordingly. Even early bird shoppers want to know when the package will arrive at their home or final destination.

SMS texts provide a convenient way to give ongoing updates regarding order processing, shipping, and delivery. By sending text messages when the package arrives, you can let consumers know immediately when to expect their items.

4. Keep customers informed about savings opportunities.

Communication doesn't stop once consumers receive the package. Find ways that they can save money by offering discounts and promotions exclusive to loyal customers. You can make every customer feel important with messages regarding quality products at awesome prices.

Finally, brands can invite customers to share SMS offers and coupons and let them know how much you appreciate their business.

5. Deliver messages at the right time.

SMS offers numerous benefits over traditional e-mail messaging. For one thing, with an open rate of 98%, text messages are far more likely to reach your customers. However, it's important to deliver superior results with every message. You don't want to annoy consumers by sending texts too frequently.

Instead, set up a schedule regarding when to notify purchasers with shipping updates, discounts, promotions, and other messages they will welcome. For best results, send your text messages between 9 AM and 6 PM, and make sure you know the local time for each recipient.

6. Craft the perfect message

What you write in your text matters. Keep SMS texts short and to the point. Each message should include an introduction with the customer’s name. Describe the offer or provide the relevant information regarding purchased products in the body of the text. Including links where customers can redeem points or offers expedites the purchasing process and prevents annoying consumers with complicated or inconsistent processes.

About Mitto

Mitto AG facilitates omnichannel communications with solutions that advance your customer engagement success. If you want to communicate more effectively with holiday shoppers, it's important to have the right messaging technology available. The company provides integrated solutions, including text-message APIs, chat programs, and phone number management. Mitto works with its customers to provide information regarding consumer expectations as well as the tools to exceed them.