From Noise to Loyalty: Building a Winning Holiday SMS Strategy

‘Tis the season for promotional overload. The reality is consumers will be hit harder than ever by marketing messages this holiday season. Competition is fierce and margins are thin, making every dollar count. How can you be sure your messages will stand out among the rest?

The key lies in personalization. While this “strategy” isn’t new, there is certainly room for improvement across certain channels. Often when we think of personalization, we focus on the power of email remarketing and social media campaigns. However, other avenues like SMS are being neglected. A recent survey we conducted found that only 22 percent of consumers felt SMS marketing was highly personalized. This is truly a missed opportunity to not only win the holiday season, but drive long-term loyalty among customers.

Why SMS Personalization Matters

Unlike other channels, SMS is the most direct and intimate avenue of communication with consumers. A brand’s messages are intermixed with those of family and friends. When a consumer gives a brand their personal information, it’s in exchange for a benefit like discounts, rewards programs and personalized product recommendations. Using SMS as a broadcast channel is not only annoying, but it takes advantage of the personal data tradeoff — ultimately resulting in unsubscribes. With holiday noise at its peak, personalization is the differentiator that helps your messages drive loyalty and long-term profitability.

The Role of Enriched First-Party Data

First-party data is information collected directly from your brand’s customers, like an email or mailing address. It reflects real, direct engagement with a brand, making this data the most accurate and reliable input for marketing decisions.

However, only so much can be gleaned from first-party data alone. To unlock deeper insights, brands can enrich their first-party data by layering in select third-party attributes, such as demographics, lifestyle indicators or household data, to fill in the gaps. This enriched data provides a fuller view of customer segments, empowering marketers to craft value-driven SMS campaigns.

3 Keys to a Winning Holiday SMS Strategy

1. Segmentation by Behavior and Affinity

Many brands are guilty of blasting their customers with the same offers and promotions during the holiday season. Casting the widest net possible may seem like a great way to grab sales, but the reality is those messages are less likely to resonate. Sending targeted SMS offers that include category-specific discounts based on historical purchases are much more likely to drive sales. Additionally, some customers are discount-driven while others don't need a discount to purchase. Avoid leaving money on the table by tailoring messaging to each group.

2. Predictive Triggers

Timing is critical. Marketers can utilize predictive analytics to identify where customers are in the lifecycle and which products or product categories they’re likely to purchase next. This makes SMS more timely, relevant and proven to boost conversions.

3. Personalization

There’s more to personalization than inserting a customer’s name into marketing communications. Effective SMS should reference customer-specific insights like categories shopped, previous products purchased or loyalty rewards information. For those who are at-risk of churning, win-back campaigns can also be extremely effective during the holidays. By elevating the level of personalization, marketers can create SMS messages that feel helpful rather than salesy.

Respecting the Channel

Marketers have a responsibility to uphold their end of the bargain in the personal data tradeoff. Over-messaging or irrelevance breaks customer trust and leads to unsubscribes. Use the data you have to inform optimal timing, cadence and offers. And remember, it’s just one tool in your toolbox. Use SMS strategically alongside other channels like email to avoid duplication. Quality is always better than quantity when trying to deliver better return on investment.

Drive Loyalty This Holiday Season

Most brands are still leaving money on the table, but the solution is within reach. By leveraging enriched first-party data and customer personas, SMS campaigns become far more relevant and impactful. Those that master it won’t just see a holiday sales lift; they’ll build lasting customer loyalty that drives long-term profitability.

Cary Lawrence is the CEO of Decile, a customer data and analytics platform whose mission is to help e-commerce brands grow profitably.