NorthText Blog

Choosing the Best SMS Autoresponder for Ecommerce

Choosing the Best SMS Autoresponder for Ecommerce

 

If your organization is looking for a way to increase customer engagement and boost ecommerce sales, an SMS marketing platform with an autoresponder feature could be the solution. Autoresponders allow you to automatically send SMS messages in response to specific triggers, such as a keyword text from a customer or a click on a particular link. An SMS autoresponder can help jumpstart a text message marketing campaign or boost the effectiveness of an existing mobile ecommerce strategy by allowing you to integrate with more customers in less time. 

Not all SMS delivery platforms offer the same features, and unless you’ve used autoresponders before, you may not know exactly what you’re looking for or what works best. That’s why we’ve made this comprehensive guide to help you choose the best autoresponder for your ecommerce strategy.

What Can SMS Autoresponders Be Used For?

Your organization can use SMS autoresponders in a variety of ways to suit your marketing, customer service, and ecommerce needs. Some potential uses for an SMS autoresponder include:

  • Text2Pay—Customers can make secure purchases directly through their native SMS app with Text-to-Pay.
  • Order Confirmations—You can automatically send customers their order confirmations via text message.
  • Cart Abandonment—If a subscriber abandons items in their online shopping cart, you can text them reminders or discount codes to encourage them to complete the sale.
  • Special Offers—You can set up discount codes to be sent via SMS to your customers on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.
  • Text2Donate - Empower your supporters to donate to your organization anytime via SMS.
  • Feedback—Automatically send short surveys to your customers via SMS to get instant, valuable feedback on their shopping experience.
  • Customer Service—Let your customers open support tickets through SMS and find answers to common issues.

With the right SMS autoresponder platform, you can find creative ways to automate and improve customer engagement and increase ecommerce sales. But how do you choose the best SMS autoresponder for your needs? Here are some key features to look out for as you compare providers.

Features of the Best SMS Autoresponder for Ecommerce

Unless you’ve used an SMS autoresponder before, you may not know which features you need. While every organization has its own unique needs, most marketers could benefit from the following SMS autoresponder features.

Text2Pay

Text2Pay allows your customers to conveniently make secure transactions via SMS, saving them from having to leave their native text messaging app to make a purchase. The fewer steps required, the higher the chance of a sale. Text2Pay is the SMS autoresponder feature that can most directly improve your ecommerce sales and marketing efforts. The ability to merge automatic Text2Pay with an ecommerce initiative is unmatched in the text message marketing world.

A great SMS provider will include Text2Pay as part of their service so you can get all of your SMS marketing tools from one platform.

SMS Campaign Scheduling

You want your SMS platform to let you schedule your text message marketing campaigns ahead of time. This will allow you to pre-load SMS autoresponses so you can take advantage of events like subscriber anniversaries to reach out to your users about discounts or time-sensitive offers.

Autoresponder Branding & Personalization

Any enterprise SMS autoresponder service will allow you to brand your autoresponders and personalize them for your organization. While many SMS services provide templates you can use to get started, the finished autoresponse that goes out to your users should be unique to your organization and not have any third-party branding. 

MMS Messaging

MMS (multimedia) messages let you embed images and videos directly into a text message, which is a valuable tool for marketers. The right SMS marketing platform will have a built-in MMS option with innovative features that makes MMS marketing as easy as it is effective.

Text-to-Join Keywords

Customers need to opt-in to receive text messages from your organization before you can legally send SMS messages to them, and the easiest way to opt-in new users is by having them text you a keyword. Your SMS autoresponder must support text-to-join if you want to take advantage of this easy subscription method.

SMS Analytics

Your organization needs access to analytics so you can measure the success of your SMS ecommerce campaigns. Some of the metrics you might want to track include:

  • Click-through Rate - What percentage of your subscribers are clicking the links in your SMS messages? This and other metrics will help you craft more engaging text messages to engage more customers in your ecommerce strategy.
  • Keyword Responses - Which text-to-join keywords are your customers using to opt-in to your SMS campaigns? Which keywords are they using most commonly in general? Understanding what your customers are interacting with can help positively inform future campaign decisions. 
  • Text2Pay Purchases - Which products or services are customers purchasing the most through Text2Pay? Which SMS autoresponse campaigns are driving the most Text2Pay sales? These metrics can help your marketing team craft more effective SMS campaigns that can directly improve sales. 

Subscriber Segmentation

The most successful SMS campaigns are targeted to specific customers and segmentation will allow you to create unlimited segments in your contact list so that your users only receive text messages that are relevant to their interests. This can directly increase sales and minimize the number of users unsubscribing from your list. 

Support When You Need it Most

For many marketers in the internet age, business doesn’t stop overnight. You want your SMS marketing service to be available to support your organization at any time, day or night.

Text-to-Landline Capability

Text-to-landline allows you to send text messages to landline phone numbers. This lets you keep a number that is familiar to your customers and equip it to receive text messages that you can access on any internet-equipped device.

SMS Dashboard and API

The right SMS marketing platform will offer an API that allows you to integrate their platform with your existing CMS software. They should also provide a web-based dashboard, giving you the ability to manage your SMS campaigns quickly and easily from any device.

A good SMS autoresponder service should provide a comprehensive platform that will give your organization all the tools you need to craft successful SMS ecommerce campaigns. The best SMS autoresponder for ecommerce will give you all of these features at a price that fits your budget. 

Effective SMS Plans Priced for Your Needs

One of the easiest ways to ensure you stay within your SMS marketing budget is working with an SMS platform service with a clear and fair pricing plan. Your SMS platform should support the growth of your SMS ecommerce campaigns and incentivize you to broaden your reach.

An SMS autoresponder for ecommerce is an affordable and highly effective way to increase your customer outreach and boost ecommerce sales, and now you have all the information you need to find the right SMS delivery provider for your organization.

Are you ready to add an innovative SMS marketing platform to your overall marketing strategy? NorthText offers fair pricing matched to the needs of your business. Plus, we can get you set up in a matter of minutes. Our ability to merge Text2Pay with ecommerce initiatives is unmatched in the SMS marketing field.  Contact us online or call or text us anytime at (312) 869-9070.

CONTACT US!

NorthText SMS Marketing Features

Interact with your customers by text

Unlimited Texts
Unlimited Texts
240 Characters
240 Characters
MMS capability
MMS capability
Unlimited keywords
Unlimited keywords
Create surveys
Create surveys
Auto responders
Auto responders
Text-2-win
Text-2-win
Message dashboard
Message dashboard
Text-2-Pay
Text-2-Pay
API integration
API integration

Our innovative SMS marketing services will help your company get ahead—and stay ahead—of the curve by giving you a direct, reliable line of communication with your customers and endless opportunities to grow your subscriber list. Ready to get started? We can get you up and running in a matter of minutes.

Start interacting with your customers by text today