Your best wine customers want to receive your text messages.  How do you make it easy for them to accept your invitation? It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to make a first impression using a new marketing channel.

Think about it: when was your first email marketing campaign or your first post on social media?  

Chances are you’ve learned a few things about wine marketing since then.

So, when your winery finally gets serious about SMS messaging, how will you introduce it to your best customers?

THE SECRET TO SMS SUCCESS

The secret to success with any direct marketing channel is to grow a vibrant list. Since text marketing requires consumers to actively opt in, your first mission is to sell the benefits of text messaging while making it easy to join your SMS list.

Fortunately, it’s easy to convince customers about the benefits of receiving relevant texts since over 90% of online consumers want to receive text messages from their favorite brands.

Since customer service texts are twice as popular as promotional texts, it makes sense in most cases to launch your SMS channel by first targeting existing customers who want text messages about orders, shipments, and upcoming events.

3 EASY WAYS TO GROW YOUR SMS LIST

Here’s the fun part — since you already know them — you can make it ridiculously easy for existing customers to opt-in for text messaging using these proven “one-click” email marketing techniques:

• Link-click tracking
  Any email marketing platform worth paying for offers the ability to generate a list of contacts who clicked a specific link.  If your email message includes a unique link customers can click to receive your text messages, a single click is all it takes for them to opt-in.

• Mail-to link
  Another way to build your SMS list using email is with mail-to links.  So many wineries use this method to offer 1-click shopping we wrote an article about it here. Mail-to links can also work for SMS opt-in just by changing the copy. 

• Embedded survey
  Many popular email platforms allow merchants to embed simple surveys to collect customer feedback.  Change the survey question to ask about opting-in to text messaging, and you’re on your way to building your text marketing list.

No matter what method you use to build your list, you’ll need to respect the laws regulating text opt-in, including a simple description of the messages you plan to send, how frequently you plan to send them, and a note about message and data rates, as described here.

For most DTC wineries, text messaging now offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-invent hospitality service with personalized engagement designed to support each customer journey.

To learn more about the best practices of text marketing for wine, please visit us at www.vinteractive.com.

Happy Selling!