It is well known in business that it costs more to find a new customer than to retain an existing one. Research tells us that it can be 5 times more expensive to acquire a new customer. You already have customers and spent a lot of time and money getting them, it would be a shame to let them go.

Probably the single best way to re-engage with customers is the simple SMS, . It is direct, personal and a very cost-effective way of retaining customers. A statistic often cited about SMS is that 98% of SMS messages are read by recipients, so you can guarantee that when you send an SMS to a customer, they are going to read it.

Sendmode’s easy to use SMS service has helped hundreds of businesses to re-engage and retain dormant customers, thereby reigniting a segment of your customer base and also saving you money on searching for new customers.

Try Sendmode’s easy-to-use Bulk Text service to re-engage and retain customers. Click on the image below to start a no-obligation free trial today!!

Why SMS is the Best Channel for Winning Back Customers

OK so let’s look at some of the reasons why it is so worthwhile to includes strategies to win Back Customers via SMS.

• High Open & Response Rates. The main reason why SMS remains so popular for businesses worldwide is that 98% of SMS are opened within 3 minutes of receipt and with a 45% response rate make SMS more effective than email. While SMS is not used so much anymore for person to person messaging with the proliferation of apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Snapchat etc, it is super popular with businesses. The global Application to Person Messaging Market (Businesses using SMS to you and me!!) is projected to reach a value of USD 82.54 billion in 2025, expanding to USD 88.07 billion by 2026 and anticipated to achieve USD 135.56 billion in 2032.
• Instant & Personal – SMS allows for direct, personalised outreach. You can send thousands of messages to customers in seconds using one of the many online Bulk SMS services like Sendmode. The scalability of SMS in addition to the open rate gives you a reach that is unparalleled by any other marketing channel.
• Automated Yet Customisable – Use data-driven SMS segmentation to target specific inactive customers. Using data from your own business insights will show you which customers and customer segments have not purchased recently. These can be separated into groups and a different targeted message can be sent to each group.

Try Sendmode’s for Re-engagement SMS campaigns which can increase repeat purchases by 20-30% compared to email. Click on the image below to start a no-obligation free trial today!!

5 Proven SMS Strategies to Win Customers Back

Let’s look at some strategies you can use to win back those customers.

1. Personalised Win-Back Offers

• Send exclusive discounts to encourage customers to return. Make your customers feel part of a new exclusive group of customers. Use an SMS like the one below with a weblink to a discounted offering on your website. Also offer the same discount in-store.
• Example SMS:
  • “Hi <NAME> We miss you! Enjoy 20% OFF your next order. Use code WELCOME20 ins-store or use the link: [WebLink].”

2. Special Birthday & Anniversary Rewards

• Use customer milestones to re-engage them. If you have gathered information from your customers previous purchases such as birthday’s, anniversaries etc. you can send a timely and personalized offer.
• Example SMS:
  • “Happy Anniversary, [Name]! 🎉 Celebrate with a gift to your loved one and 15% OFF your next purchase: Use this link to avail of 15% off. [WebLink].”

3. Loyalty Program Re-engagement

• Loyalty programs are a great way to keep customers coming back over and over again. Think of your Tesco’s clubcard for example!!. A good way to get customers to re-engage is to Remind customers of unused loyalty points or VIP perks.
• Example SMS:
  • “Hey [Name], As a member of our loyalty program you have 200 loyalty points waiting! Redeem them today by clicking this link: [WebLink].”

4. Abandoned Cart Recovery SMS

• Its so easy to get distracted nowadays and many customers may want to purchase from your eCommerce site but something distracts them and they leave the cart abandoned. SMS is a great way to convert lost customers by reminding them about unfinished purchases. This works very well but needs to be timed correctly. The SMS needs to be sent within 15 minutes of the cart being deemed abandoned.
• Example SMS:
  • “Still thinking about [Product]? Complete your purchase now & get FREE shipping: Click the weblink to continure [Link].”

5. Exclusive VIP or Early Access Invitations

• Offer special access to sales, products, or events for lapsed customers. As with the first strategy on the list. The aim of this one is to make customers feel special and part of an exclusive group. Early access to in-store on-line sales.
• Example SMS:
  • “VIP Alert! 🎉 Enjoy early access to our sale + extra 10% OFF. Use VIP10: [Link] or use the code in-store.” Or
  • “VIP Alert! 🎉 Enjoy early exclusive early opening for our VIP customers only to our sale + extra 10% OFF. Store opens at 7 a.m. for VIPS only.”

There are a ton of ways to get customers to re-engage with your business but the main point is that SMS is the best, cheapest and most effective way of doing this.

Re-engage lost customers with Sendmode’s automated SMS win-back campaigns today. Click on the image below to start a no-obligation free trial today!!

Best Practices for Customer Win-Back SMS Campaigns

We showed you some strategies to win back customers in the previous section, in this section we will give general tips on how to craft your SMS messages for maximum effect.

• Keep Messages Short & Personal – It is very important to keep your messages short and to the point. We advise our customers to keep them under 160 characters so people will read them and not get distracted. It is also very important to personalize the message; ‘Hi John’ works much better than a simple ‘Hi there,’.
• Create Urgency – The message must have a cut-off point at some time in the future. Maybe 24 or 48 hours. By adding time-sensitivity you are creating a sense of urgency which will hopefully translate in action (e.g., “Offer expires in 24 hours!”).
• Offer Incentives – This is an absolute must. Your customers will only come back if they feel your are getting a good Discounts, some freebies, or exclusive access to sales or new product lines.
• Monitor Response & Adjust – Finally you need to track what is working and what is not working. Make sure you track open and redemption rates. This allows you to refine campaigns to various groups. Customers who have been dormant for 6 months will require a different offer to customers who have been dormant for 1 month.

It is important to follow the rules for creating SMS campaigns so you give yourself the best chance of increasing your ROI. Consider this, which one of the following SMS would you be more likely to respond to.

✅ “Hi [Name], we miss you! Get 15% OFF today only. Use code BACK15 in-store or click on the link: [WebLink].”
❌ “Hello customer, we have discounts. Visit our website.”

Turn inactive customers into repeat buyers—start with Sendmode’s SMS platform today! Click on the image below to start a no-obligation free trial today!!

How to Measure the Success of Win-Back SMS Campaigns

You can’t manage what you don’t track. It is very important to see what is working and how you can tweak the messages to improve re-engagement, conversion, Return on Investment and Opt_out rates.

• Re-engagement Rate – This is the percentage of customers who respond or click links. If you find a lot of your customers are clicking the links but NOT purchasing, maybe you need to improve or personalize the offer to their previous preference.
• Conversion Rate – This is the key one in my opinion. Conversion rate is number of returning customers who complete a purchase. Once they purchase and are back in your current customer list, make sure to keep them !!!!
• ROI Calculation – Compare campaign cost vs. revenue generated. Is SMS working for you? How much revenue did the re-engagement generate? An interesting experiment would be to send out emails to one group and SMS to another and see which gives the better return on investment. We already know what the answer to that experiment will be 😊
• Opt-Out Rate – Don’t bombard your customers. Send one or possibly two messages and if they have not re-engaged then leave it at that. You don’t want to be excessive with your campaign, or it will harm your overall brand.

Conclusion (Word Count: 100-150)

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. We hope it is useful for you to win-back lost customers and increase retention rates. We hope we’ll proven how SMS is the most effective way to do this and we encourage you to give SMS a go. There are lots of great Bulk SMS service providers out there and the good ones will provide all the features you need to run the campaigns mentions in this article.

Win back customers effortlessly with SMS! Try Sendmode’s SMS tools now at Sendmode.com!

FAQ Recommendations (Answers in 50 Words or Less)

1. What is a customer win-back SMS campaign?
   A targeted SMS strategy designed to re-engage inactive customers and encourage repeat purchases. All businesses will lose some customers over time but the trick is to try to re-engage with these dormant customers as it is much less costly to re-ignite an old customer than find a new one.
2. Why is SMS better than email for win-back campaigns?
   SMS is globally recognised as the best way to engage with customers. SMS has a stellar 98% open rate, making it 5X more effective than email and can reach all your customers in seconds.
3. What’s the best incentive for a win-back SMS?
   Exclusive discounts, loyalty rewards, or VIP access work best. Think about the offer and segment your dormant customers as there will be offers which appeal more to longer term dormant customers than shorter term dormant ones.
4. How often should I send win-back SMS messages?
   Once every few months or when a customer has been inactive for 60-90 days. It is important not to bombard customers as they will optout from EVER receiving messages from you again. After 2 messages we advise to leave it at that.
5. Can I automate win-back SMS campaigns?
   Yes! Platforms like Sendmode allow you to set up automated customer re-engagement flows.
6. What industries benefit from SMS win-back campaigns?
   E-commerce, retail, subscription services, and hospitality see the highest Return on Investment to Win Back Customers via SMS.
7. How do I measure win-back SMS performance?
   Track response rate, click-through rate, and repeat purchase rate. The section above details why you should track these areas and how they can help refine your SMS campaigns in the future to build more ROI.

Can SMS win-back campaigns work without discounts?
Yes Absolutely! Offering exclusive access, event invites, or personalised recommendations can be equally effective.