Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is the biggest shopping weekend of the year and the unofficial kick-off of the festive shopping season. The four-day retail event traditionally starts with an in-store bargain hunt, ending with an online ‘click frenzy.’ Despite the changes, restrictions and economic uncertainty, with the right strategy in place businesses can use the new  consumer behaviour to strength and secure growth for the future. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the retail landscape, and along with it the purchasing preferences, behaviours and habits of consumers. Whilst in-store visits took a nosedive, online traffic reached unfathomable heights, paving the way for a new customer-business relationship. Businesses who could communicate with email and SMS with their customers when they weren’t physically on premise fell on less shaky ground than those who couldn’t. 

Many hospitality businesses also embraced online stores for hampers, dinner boxes and even their famous condiments.  Why not build on this momentum and create special packages with a Black Friday theme.

This year, after all we have learnt, we are now looking at a magnificent opportunity to regain some lost ground in both retail and online hospitality. Let’s turn this busy period regardless if your business is a bricks and mortar store or online into your best one yet.

Here’s how….

Capture their details

Create members only discount offers – this will encourage new customers to sign up, join your contact list.  Building your contact list means you can promote offers, new products or get them back after their first visit or purchase. 

Welcome or onboard new customers

Great they have signed up, now what? Don’t wait 6 months when things get quiet and you think ‘oh maybe I should send an email to my contact list’… Set up an automated communication that welcomes them to your store, tell your story and maybe even dangle a little carrot to get them back? 10% discount on your next purchase? 

Your secret weapon

Here’s the clue: You use it every day to talk to friends and family. 

SMS is a powerful and often underutilized marketing tool.  SMS reaches more customers than any other marketing platform and most are opened within 90 seconds after being received. Targeting customers with the tools they use is the perfect way to get the attention of a busy and distracted customer. 

SMS could help remind your customers about you while promoting your Black Friday sales. SMS is great to re-engage with customers who may not respond to other forms of marketing. 

Here are a few tips for Sending an SMS to promote your Black Friday sales:

1. Keep your SMS short and tactical. Have a call to action that will get results, such as a time sensitive discount. 

2. Make it personal. Include a merge field such as first name to grab your reader’s attention. 

3. Make it more than just an SMS. In TalkBox you can  include additional information or promote the best Black Friday offers with images and text by selecting ‘add promotion.’ This will take you to the email editor where you can create a branded flyer with links to your website or directions to your store. 

Customers expect to receive lots of marketing during this time so sending 1 SMS each day with a different special or deal, can help to increase engagement as they anticipate what the next offer could be. 

Want to build better relationships with your customers and set your business up for success? Talk to us today.

– 2020 Report –

Greater personalisation and data-driven targeting has helped businesses using TalkBox to stay connected with their customers and keep them coming back.

This clever use of customer information has contributed to a more engaged audience and higher open rates. Our analysis shows customers are listening and want to hear from your business. Generally, email open rates have declined but our report bucks that trend.

Download our 2020 Report here.

A key takeaway from our 2020 report: build a list of fans.

Create a list of customers who want to hear from you. Connecting your data sources such as guest WiFi, POS, or booking platform to TalkBox means you will be able to communicate with your most recent and engaged customers.

Customers who ‘opt-in’ to receive marketing communications through these streams will be a valuable audience, and your communications will be less likely to end up in their spam or junk folders.

Want to know more about connecting the data sources in your business? Talk to us today.

Read about how one franchise uses guest WiFi to drive loyalty here.

SMS is an excellent tool to re-engage with customers who may have forgotten about your offer or not visited in a significant period of time. SMS commands attention, it can reach customers who may not respond to other forms of marketing.

Including SMS in your automated communication strategy is a great way to get maximum reach and get your message read.

Here are just 2 examples:

1. SMS a voucher reminder
Humans by nature are forgetful. You customer may have had every intention to claim their free drink or discount on their next visit but life got in the way.

When creating a voucher you have the option to send a ‘Voucher reminder’. Sending a voucher reminder via SMS can help maximise redemptions and bring customers in.

2. Re-engage with lost customers
Do you know that over 50% of your customers don’t return for a second visit? SMS has a far deeper reach than any other marketing tool, which makes it the perfect tool to re-engage with customers who may not have visited your business for a while.

Want to know more? Watch our short video and see how easy it is to create and send SMS with TalkBox here.

Talk to us today about how you can use TalkBox to get your customers back in and drive business. hello@impactdata.com.au

Here’s what you can do to keep business moving.

Keep your customers informed and update them on your business operations. Staying top of mind benefits your business now, and when you reopen. Regular email and SMS communications can help keep customers engaged and your business moving.

• Provide reassurance of COVID-19 safety measures
  Highlight what your business is doing to keep customers safe. This might seem obvious, but if you don’t tell customers what you’re doing they may go elsewhere.
  
• Opening and closing times
  If your opening hours have changed due to restrictions, let your customers know and do it quickly. You don’t want customers to feel disappointed if they visit you and you are closed. An SMS will help your message reach every customer.
  
• Menu update
  Do you have a great selection of heat-and-eat meals designed to enjoy at home? Promote your new menu and include a promotion to entice customers to try it. Send an SMS just before dinner time to get their attention.
  
• Promote takeaway and delivery
  Remind your customers regularly about your takeaway and delivery offering with SMS. Include a promotion with limited validity to entice customers to respond to your call to action. Read how successful this strategy was for Italian eatery, Amore.

• Booking tables
  Social distancing may mean you have reduced capacity. Remind your customers to book a table to avoid disappointment. Connect your booking platform with TalkBox so you can stay connected after their visit and invite them back.

Have you signed up for VisitSafe?
VisitSafe is a free contactless tool to record customer visits for Covid-19 contact tracing. Sign up here.

Vouchers have proved to be an excellent way to give your customers another reason to visit you. In TalkBox, you can limit the validity of your vouchers to certain days to ensure you don’t give away anything when you don’t need to.

Create a voucher with limited validity to:

• Promote your in-house happy hours
• Boost sales during slow periods
• Bring in customers before the big game
• Reward your best customers with special limited-time discounts or vouchers.

Create, send and redeem your happy hour voucher entirely within TalkBox. Why not try and recover some customers who you haven’t see in a while with SMS. Sending a happy hour voucher close to the time it is valid can help drive customers back in to take advantage of the offer. ​ You can add a voucher when creating the SMS in TalkBox.

No voucher scanners? No problem!

The TalkBox voucher scanning app is downloadable from Apple App Store or Google Play. Simply download the app to any internet-enabled smartphone and scan TalkBox vouchers direct from a customer’s smartphone making the entire process contactless.

Did you know that the average person checks their phone approximately 86 times a day? Using SMS marketing to promote your business offers a huge opportunity to get direct and instant contact with your customers.   

Customers don’t apply the same level of filtering to SMS than they do to other forms of marketing, with a significantly higher level of engagement compared to social media. The short and direct nature of SMS marketing makes it the perfect way to get the attention of distracted customers with busy lives who might be thinking about lunch or dinner just as they receive your SMS. 

Here are just a few reasons to use SMS:

• Remind customers about your business –  When they aren’t in your business, it’s likely they are not thinking about you and can easily be attracted to a competitor. SMS regular reminders and include a link to your menu or opening hours to bring them back.
  
• Get a second visit – Send an SMS with an irresistible promotion to customers who haven’t visited your business in a while.
  
• Boost a quiet period – Are Tuesdays a bit slow? Sending an SMS at the right time, such as just before lunch, can help drive sales. Include a voucher for a discount to entice customers even further.  

Need some inspiration?

Visit our SMS example library here. 

No Voucher scanners? No Problem!
The TalkBox voucher scanning app is downloadable from Apple App Store or Google Play. Simply download the app to any internet-enabled smartphone and scan TalkBox vouchers direct from a customer’s smartphone making the entire process contactless.

Restrictions are finally beginning to ease and we can start to welcome patrons back into our venues.  With limitations on capacity and adhering to strict social distancing rules, your business may not be at full speed for some time. However, when the time comes and business is back to usual a few simple changes now will set you up for success. Impact Data has put together some tips to help you re-open. 

Make every customer count
Re-opening with limited capacity might mean you have to work smarter to ensure you make the most out of every customer. Capturing their contact details now means you can re-market to them and get them back in using clever communications sent inTalkBox via email or SMS.

• A reservation system will enable you to obtain contact details and control your sitting numbers.  If you have a booking platform such as Now Book It, Quandoo or The Fork, contact us so that we can connect it to your TalkBox account.  Capturing their contact information will enable you to use that valuable information to encourage another visit and gather customer feedback and reviews.
• Guest WiFi is an easy way to capture the details of your customers that may have not made a booking. Use their visitation data to get them back in and turn them into loyal customers. Want to know more?  Check out our Impact Data Partner chat with WiFi expert Troy Coker.

Making the most of your space

Now that you have the means to capture customer details here’s how can you use TalkBox to help drive your revenue.

• Let your customers know you are open for business.  If you haven’t added new customers from your Takeaway or online ordering partner to TalkBox, talk to us about how we might be able to help.
• Prioritise your best customers – send them an SMS message to make them feel special and invite them to make a booking or be added to your priority list for when re-open.
• Send all new customers a welcome email, maybe include a voucher to use on their next visit? Read about how to make a great first impression here.
• Still offering takeaway? Send an SMS during usually quiet periods to give your sales a boost.