There are 14 million eCommerce stores in the US alone fighting for consumer attention. Amidst this competition, according to a recent survey conducted by Bynder, the average marketing strategy requires approximately six touchpoints with consumers to make a sale—social media, online advertising, websites, newsletters, email marketing, and product catalogs. 

But how do you ensure consistent, impactful engagement without overwhelming your audience?

The answer lies in SMS drip campaigns. These strategically-timed text messages help you guide consumers through their journey, from discovery to decision-making, while building lasting relationships.

In this article, we explore the key components of SMS drip campaigns, share real-world examples, and provide actionable steps to create campaigns that maximize your ROI and revenue.

What is an SMS drip campaign? 

SMS drip campaigns are a series of pre-automated messages that are sent to your subscribers either at different intervals or in response to their actions. It is a popular marketing strategy to keep consumers engaged and boost sales. 

Here’s the revised section with benefits highlighted, examples included, and statistics with sources:

Key benefits of SMS drip campaigns

SMS drip campaigns offer several significant benefits that make them an essential part of modern marketing strategies:

1. High engagement rates: SMS messages boast an open rate of approximately 98%, with 95% of texts read and responded to within three minutes of delivery.
   
2. Improved conversion rates: The immediacy and high engagement of SMS contribute to higher conversion rates. For instance, e-commerce businesses such as REDCON1 have achieved a high ROAS through SMS marketing, with conversion rates ranging from 8% to 26% and low unsubscribe rates.
   
3. Cost-effectiveness: Automated SMS campaigns require 60% less human intervention compared to traditional marketing strategies, making them a cost-effective solution.
   
4. Enhanced customer experience: By delivering timely and relevant messages, SMS drip campaigns enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. Studies show that 75% of customers appreciate receiving special offers via text messages. 

6 SMS drip campaign examples

Now, let’s focus on the most common use cases where you can plan an automated SMS drip campaign: 

1. Welcome series

A welcome series SMS drip campaign is a series of automated messages planned for either a new customer or a potential customer who just subscribed to your SMS list. This series aims to make them more familiar with your brand, bestseller products, and potential offers and convince them to make a purchase. 

With a well-crafted welcome series, you can make a positive first impression on your subscribers and set a base for how well they will engage with all future SMS campaigns. 

2. Abandoned cart 

Another use case where an automated SMS campaign makes sense is cart abandonment. Abandoned cart SMS drip campaigns are automated text messages sent to customers who added items to their shopping cart but did not complete the purchase. 

This campaign is critical because persuading an existing subscriber (who has expressed interest in your product) to make a purchase is easier than marketing to new consumers. 

 A common cart abandonment series can include any offer, low inventory alert, or a simple reminder. 

3. Customer feedback 

User-generated content is increasingly recognized as a pillar of modern marketing. It builds social proof and helps you build trust to generate more sales in the future. 

One of the simplest ways to collect user-generated content is by running automated feedback campaigns. 

Customer feedback SMS drip campaigns are automated text messages sent to users to provide feedback post-purchase. You can also offer any incentive to customers to give feedback. 

4 Cross-sell and Upsell 

Cross-selling and upselling are powerful strategies to increase customer lifetime value. The goal is to recommend related or higher-value products that complement their last purchase. 

You can define product bundles of SKUs that complement each other or identify bestsellers in a category. Whenever a user makes a purchase, they get these automated suggestions. 

The intent should be to make a relevant recommendation rather than being spammy.

5. Winback

Winback campaigns, also known as re-engagement or reactivation campaigns, are essential for long-term brand success. 

As part of winback SMS drip campaigns, you can send messages to customers who haven't purchased in a while. The message could be a coupon, an announcement about the latest collection, or more. The idea is to regain their interest and give them enough incentive to make a purchase. 

6. Loyalty program 

Loyalty programs are excellent for building long-term customer relationships. SMS is an excellent medium for running loyalty programs. 

As part of the loyalty SMS drip campaigns, you can send messages about the rewards points, birthday rewards, milestones rewards, or any other benefits. 

How to create an SMS drip campaign? 

Follow these steps to create effective SMS drip campaigns: 

1. Identify the type of campaign

To begin with, identify the type of campaigns you want to run. We have shared six types of most common SMS drip campaigns in this post for reference. Diversify your strategy to keep the subscribers engaged. 

2. Choose the triggers

Once you have finalized the type of campaign, define the required triggers.

3. Choose an SMS marketing platform

The next step is to choose an SMS marketing platform that will enable you to run these campaigns.

Key features to look for in an SMS marketing platform are:

• Registering users sign up through forms
• Segmenting users based on demographics and website activity
• Providing workflows to automate SMS drip campaigns
• Giving automated reports on campaigns
• Providing excellent customer support for implementation

4. Create campaign messages

Once you have the base setup in place, it's time to create campaign messages. You can take advantage of built-in templates in SMS marketing platforms to get a good base to start with.

 Top SMS marketing platforms also offer AI-based copywriters that quickly create campaign messages based on some inputs (type of campaign, target audience, intent, etc.) Therefore, choosing an SMS platform with AI features also helps create fast campaigns. 

5. Set up the workflow

With clarity of triggers and messages, the only task left to get started is setting up the workflow. Set up triggers and respective messages in your SMS marketing automation platform. 

6. Measure and optimize

Lastly, don't forget to track important KPIs of campaigns such as open rate, click rate, converted rate, and revenue. This information will help you identify what's working and what's not for running more effective SMS drip campaigns. 

Run impressive SMS drip campaigns with Plivo CX

Plivo CX is an omnichannel customer engagement platform that serves as an excellent driver for your SMS drip campaigns. It offers a no-code journey feature. Users can simply drag and drop and set up SMS journeys without any coding.

Apart from the convenient journey creation, Plivo CX also supports:

✅Getting customers to opt-in

✅Segmenting subscribers for better targeting

✅Creating personalized content for campaigns with in-built templates and AI copywriter

✅Scheduling campaigns with AI assistance

✅Launching campaigns with ease

✅Building reports of campaigns

You get an end-to-end solution that also complies with all industry and government regulations. 

Further, we do not rely on external carriers; instead, we use our internal premium carrier network. This enables you to send messages to over 220 countries/territories with higher deliverability for as little as $0.0065. 

This means you can slash your SMS marketing cost by up to 70%!

Want to create SMS drip campaigns without any hassle? 

Schedule a demo today to explore the powerful features of Plivo CX.