The beauty industry is worth several billion dollars worldwide and it's not showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The good news is that there are still untapped tools and services to use in order to improve customer retention and ensure your profits match your planning. SMS marketing is one of the underutilized tools in the beauty industry that can help pull your customer experience into the 21st century. Let's look at several key areas where text messaging will up your marketing game significantly.

Feedback

Do you know what's working well for you and what isn't? How can you improve if you don't truly know what your customers want?

So send out a simple text message within 24 hours of purchase or after you've confirmed delivery, so the experience is still top of mind for your customer and ask them about their interaction with you.

Would they recommend your products to a friend?

Was the web experience smooth and easy?

How about product information - did they find all the details they were looking for online?

To thank them for their time, you can always throw in a special discount code for future purchases. Our advice is not to keep it time-sensitive. Don't give them a code that expires in two weeks - that's almost forcing them to make another buy, and your customers won't appreciate it. Instead, give them an evergreen discount code that they are free to use whenever they see fit.

Asking direct feedback will help you identify issues with your services coming from your target audience - and there's no better focus group than that.

Personalisation

Text marketing has been around for some time now, but most beauty brands get it wrong. Usually, when people think of text message marketing, they think of impersonal one-way SMS that (we all know) went out to a list of thousands at the same time. Moreover, they don't usually offer any value.

When we talk about personalization, we don't mean adding your customers' first name in the text message. Technology-wise, that's very easy to do with dynamic tags. A "Hey, Amy! Here's a discount code" won't prompt any trust from your audience or make the text message feel less impersonal.

True personalization drives relevance, and in turn customer retention and revenue. Fail to do so, it will alter the way your shoppers feel about the information they receive from you. Not only that, but they are also reluctant to click through SMS links for fear of being bombarded with retargeted ads.

While this is an irritating problem for your shoppers (which they thus solve by installing ad-block software), it is a bigger problem for eCommerce beauty brands that end up seeing a decline in customer interaction and a rise in unsubscribe requests following a text message marketing campaign.

You can turn this around by focusing on creating a 2-way conversation stream of text messages that focus on the value that they provide, not on volume. With apps like Cartloop, you can leverage the use of  both AI and human experts to develop your text marketing as a differentiator in your marketing mix and actually offer something of value to your customers.

Vouchers & Discount Codes

We're not talking about blasting bulk text messages here to an unsuspecting list only to present them with your latest discount code. What we suggest is creating conversations to find what your customers really need, whether it be a personalized product or help with a purchase, and only then pursue them to return to your website with the help of a small discount.

You should look at these vouchers as an additional perk, not the main reason for completing a purchase. Conversational text marketing is about inspiring customer loyalty, which is what will keep them coming back and boost your customer retention rates.

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Product Recommendations

Most commonly, the reasons not to finalize a purchase are relatively small - it could be difficulty to find a certain product, shipping costs too high or something alike.

At Cartloop, we have a real team of Cart Recovery Experts™ that help your customers navigate the problems that might have stopped them from purchasing and close the sale through personalized valuable incentives.

Once you find out the reason your customer abandoned his cart, you can move the conversation along in a personalized way, as per your client’s current situation. Recommending a product is one of those times that you simply cannot cover through email or any other marketing channel – at least, not in such an efficient way and with immediate benefits.

When customers have product-specific questions that they cannot find the answer for on your website, it’s no surprise that they choose to abandon their purchase - they might think about returning later with more detailed information, but let’s face it: most of the time, they don’t.

Therefore, your text message marketing has the potential of becoming your shoppers’ personal assistant, helping them navigate complex product details, learn about product benefits and ultimately finalize that purchase.

$7.6K in 7-Days with Human-Powered SMS Marketing

Beauty brands like this one in Australia or this global beauty brand with stores across the globe, have proved the effectiveness of conversational text marketing.

One of our clients, a beauty brand based in California with a network of distribution centers across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, started using Cartloop to drive more revenue and profits they were missing out on from abandoned carts.

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We asked them why they choose us, and the answer was clear as day: “Because it's an actual human interacting with the customer, it can increase conversion rate and solve pain points.” They changed their communications style to focus on less promotional messages and more on the quality and benefits of their products, bringing more trust and connection to their base of shoppers.

And it sure paid off - they experienced an 8.8% conversion rate with almost $8,000 in Cartloop-generated sales. Not only that, but their customer support department incurred a decrease of 15% in their service tickets, all within 24hrs of installation.

Additionally, we gathered actionable insights that they were then able to use and adjust their shopping experience accordingly: people were abandoning carts due to payment issues, declined cards or technical issues with their website. Insights that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get (unless they chose a very costly direct survey service).

They are the perfect example that shows building your own community and creating trust with your audience translates to higher profit margins, without you even focusing on it.

Key Takeaways

SMS Marketing has the potential to significantly turn your marketing game around, efficiently and with great success for your beauty brand’s customer relationships. Here's a few things to keep in mind:

• Don't send robotic, automated text message blasts
• Personalize each text message
• Interact in a friendly way to boost customer retention
• Provide real value
• Respond in real-time

The more you manage to provide unique a shopping experience, the more likely it is they will return to your store. With text marketing, you now have the opportunity to bring the in-store experience online in just a few clicks, and for beauty brands that is valuable opportunity to connect with your audience and offer personalized experiences.

Want to see how conversational text marketing can become one of your top 3 marketing channels? Sign-up for our 14-day unlimited free trial and start engaging with your customers like never before.