ROI Study: Email VS Text Message Marketing

Email Marketing vs SMS Marketing - Header Image - 1200x628

We answer the question which channel delivers more sales in store – Email or SMS?

As a marketer, it’s important that you test the different marketing channels available to you. But with so many different channels, it can be stressful trying to identify the best option.

We want to share a recent ROI test we ran for a retail client: email marketing vs SMS.

The results will SHOCK you!

Why our client wanted to run this test

Our client is a well-known retail brand with over 100 stores. They came to us with the following issue:

The Problem: facing decreasing email open rates (less than 12%) and fewer attributed sales, they wanted to try something new.

The Challenge: before committing fully to SMS, our client wanted to test SMS campaigns, to see if there was a discernible difference in ROI between email vs SMS.

We ran a Beta program for our client, setting up a quick implementation at 1 store location to grow a store-specific marketing list by targeting their in-store foot traffic.

Our Text2Register program automates subscriber acquisition and validates contact information so people cannot use fake contact information. No IT involvement required. No mobile experience required.

We worked with their marketing team to make sure the branding and offer was on point.

You might also like How To Grow Your Email List Fast with SMS

How we set up the experiment:

To start, we wanted to help grow a new customer database so as to ensure that: a) subscribers were properly opted-in to our client’s marketing program; and, b) all the mobile numbers were properly collected and validated -> no fake contacts accepted.

Our customer success team set up customized text-in Keywords and Interactive Signage at 1 store location. We left the signs up for 1 month to generate a good sample size for the test.

In 1 month, we collected over 3,000 verified, opted-in email and mobile contacts by targeting in-store shoppers on their mobile devices.

Next, we ran a side-by-side campaign over email and text messaging with the same offer and unique redemption codes in order to measure attributed sales.

Our clients ran the email campaign from their existing email marketing software and we ran the text messaging campaign from the Raange Marketing Engagement Platform.

The Results

In less than 24 hours, the campaign delivered the following results:

  • Email: 15 email coupon redemptions at the cash.
  • Text: 192 sms coupon redemptions at the cash.

As you can see, the text message drove nearly instant traffic and sales to their physical retail location.

Staggering Sales Results:

  • Email: Sales uplift of  $700
  • Text: Sales uplift of $9,000

After the success of the program, our Text2Register technology was scaled to all 100 retail locations in one month. No expensive development required.

  • In one year, we added over 380,000 new subscribers to their customer database. 

In Conclusion

As you’re thinking about testing new channels and campaigns, it’s important to find the right technology providers who will work with you to test their products.

We have some more resources to show you what success can look like with Raange. Our Customer Success eGuide provides a few case studies of how we’ve helped our customers achieve success and 30X ROI.

If you have any questions whatsoever, our team is here to help so please feel free to reach out anytime.

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