Consumers worldwide spend more and more time on their phones - clicking, swiping, and shopping. 365 Retail reports that people in the UK are glued to their devices for four hours a day on average, equaling at least a quarter of their total waking hours! As a result, Text Message Marketing has become one of the fastest-growing channels in retail, providing compelling opportunities for brands to connect with their customers in a new, highly personal way. If you haven’t yet adopted a strategy for your business, now is the time to do so.

Your Competitors are Spending More on Mobile

While almost ten years ago, most retailers were choosing to spend less of their budget on Text Message Marketing, the COVID-19 pandemic and revenue growth in the channel have flipped the script. WARC reports that nearly all marketers in the UK adopted a mobile-first approach during and after the pandemic, even reallocating a (at times) smaller budget to prioritize mobile. Retail adoption of SMS has ballooned from barely a third of marketers using or looking to use the channel in 2016 to nearly all having plans as of 2022. Don’t let your competitors grab your customers' attention via SMS before you have the chance.

Consumers Want to Connect with You Via Text

As mentioned before, people spend more time on their phones than ever. Not only that, consumers want to connect with their favorite brands via SMS more than ever before. A survey by Listrak partner Yotpo found that over 70% of UK consumers are signed up to Text Message Marketing programs from at least one brand, with nearly three-quarters of that audience signed up to receive messaging from multiple. And they’re not just looking for coupons and freebies but for further exploration of a brand’s products, early access to new releases, Transactional updates, and personalized recommendations.

SMS allows for all of this content and additional Calls To Action to be delivered extremely efficiently, and nearly all message volume is read within just 3 minutes of delivery. While we wish emails earned that kind of engagement, the nature of the channel is just different. This provides captivating opportunities for sending your most critical messaging and high-converting CTAs. And orchestrating strategies alongside your email program with Listrak can take everything to the next level.

Personal Nature of the Channel Provides High ROI

With that near-immediate engagement also comes a strong ROI story for most brands sending to their UK customers. Text Message Marketing can require some additional upfront and ongoing investment, but the average return is higher. The personal nature of the channel brings higher click-through and conversion averages, and is a perfect complement to your long-standing email and social programs where engagement can ebb and flow. 

There’s a native text messaging feature of every cell phone, so SMS can be and is received by everyone. Age isn’t a factor or concern anymore either, as all generations are active texters and smartphone adopters. Take advantage of that unparalleled reach with your UK customers!

Get Started Internationally

Listrak clients continue to see ongoing success and growth with their Text Message Marketing programs and is here to support your entrance into the UK as well. It’s an opportune time to set up new programs to reach new markets and consumers, especially leading up to the holiday season (and the most significant UK shopping day of the year, Boxing Day). Take advantage of the efficient and personal nature of SMS to connect with your customers in a growing and sought-after channel, and watch your bottom line grow. For more information and help getting started, contact your Account Manager.