How to reach consumers at the right time with email and text messaging | Econsultancy

The digital landscape is changing. More people are buying online and they expect a personal experience that is seamless from channel to channel. This necessitates the use of data. Leading brands are increasingly using first-party data to understand how best to engage with customers by offering targeted, relevant and personalised messages when the consumer wants them, and when they’re most likely to translate to sales.

Text messaging can offer one-to-one messaging that is much more likely to be received and read. And when joined up with email, it has the capacity to be even more powerful.

Automation is a major selling point across both email and SMS.

Most retailers already have some degree of capability when it comes to triggered email (e.g. the ability to send automated messages following basic user actions like newsletter sign-up), but text messaging isn’t yet being used to the same degree.

Text messages can be automated in much the same way, but SMS has the added benefit of being able to reach the customer even if they’re away from their inbox. Geo-targeting can also be used to trigger a message if in a certain location at a particular time.