Using SMS and Email to Engage Your Customers in 2023
SMS + Email: The Customer Engagement Duo
For companies around the world, email is the go-to channel for customer communications. Whether it’s logins, notifications, promotions, password resets, or policy updates, email is a tried-and-true platform with more global accessibility than any other medium.
However, email is only one part of the customer engagement experience.
Regardless of who you’re trying to contact or where they are, you can now complete the customer engagement package with another robust API: SMS.
Alone, SMS is a powerful engagement tool that allows businesses to send concise, timely messages to their customers. Combined with email, the two create a seamless customer communication experience that’s reliable, scalable, and downright powerful.
We’re refreshing this guide each year to provide you with the most up-to-date information and best practices. This year’s guide includes updates on:
We’ll walk you through how SMS can complement your email program, use cases, best practices, mistakes to avoid, how to get started, and more.
FACT:
2022 Global Messaging Engagement Report
When it comes to business communications, consumers have varying preferences. Some prefer to converse with businesses via web chat, while some use social media to get updates from their favorite brands.
While every audience is different, our 2022 Global Messaging Engagement Report shows that the vast majority of consumers across the globe still prefer email and SMS over any other communications channel. That’s why SMS and email both deserve a place in your communication toolset.
Using multiple communication channels creates a seamless user experience for your customers. With multiple mediums to choose from, customers can engage with your business on the channels they prefer, whether that’s email, SMS, or a mix of both.
The first thing that comes to mind when you think of SMS is often short text-only messages, but this channel has evolved beyond such simplicity. In order to understand the breadth of this communication channel, we must first understand exactly what SMS is.
SMS stands for Short Message Service and is a more technical term for what we know as a text message. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters and contain no images, making them a perfect way to communicate concise, time-sensitive messages to your customers.
Sending your first SMS message is easy. Twilio’s SMS API bridges the gap between the Internet and the carrier network in order to send and receive SMS messages. Our documentation can help you get started in your preferred coding language so you can start sending and receiving texts in no time!
Twilio’s SMS and SendGrid email APIs are perfect for when you need to let your users know what’s going on in multiple channels. In this video, we’ll send an appointment confirmation email using Twilio SendGrid. Then, on the day of the appointment, we’ll send an SMS reminder using Twilio Programmable SMS.
As the old adage goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” MMS, or multimedia messaging service, allows you to send images, GIFs, audio files, and even phone contacts to your message recipients. MMS messages can help you create visual customer experiences that are handy for marketing and customer service uses.
For example, you can use MMS to send your recipients an animated GIF showcasing your new product and an eye-catching promotion, or allow your customers and customer service agents to send photos back and forth for improved communication and a more timely resolution of their issues.
Check out MMS messages for yourself, scroll to the bottom of this page, enter your phone number, and have a MMS message sent your way in just a few seconds. If you like what you see, speak to a member of our team to learn how you can get started sending images to your recipients.
With over 2 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging application. Thanks to its extensive global reach, highly engaged user base, and rich communications capabilities, WhatsApp is a key platform any businesses can use to reach customers where they already are.
The app also offers more features than SMS and MMS, so you can more easily create rich and engaging customer experiences for your users. Your business can share images, audio files, PDFs, locations on a map, and more with WhatsApp.
Plus, it can be more trustworthy than SMS and MMS. Each WhatsApp account is tied to one singular number, so your prospects and customers will always know a message is coming from your business. Branded business profiles also allow you to list your social media links, store addresses, website URL, and additional business details or offers, so your customers can find and access more information about your brand, all within one app.
If you’re looking to get started, Twilio makes diving into WhatsApp messaging simple. Sign up for a Twilio account (if you haven’t already) and navigate to the WhatsApp page in the Twilio console, or learn more about our Messaging API.
Messages don’t have to just be one-way. Chat allows you to send and receive messages to and from your recipients. This allows you to have in-depth 1:1 conversations with your customers to help answer their questions and push them towards making a purchase. Chat allows your customers to reach out to your team wherever they’re browsing, be it via web browser, phone browser, or phone app.
Plus, with Twilio’s Conversations API, you can easily bring chat and all of the above channels—SMS, MMS, and WhatsApp—together in one place. Your customers can pick to engage with your brand on whichever channel they prefer, helping you build a better, more seamless customer experience.
While 2023 hasn’t shaken things up too much for email and SMS senders, here are a few key updates long-time veterans and new senders should be aware of:
In September 2021, Apple launched its Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), a feature allowing iOS 15 and macOS 12 Monterey users to anonymize their email activity. For users who opt-in, MPP prefetching and caching email content at the time of delivery, rather than waiting for a user to manually open an email. This will cause any tracking pixels to prematurely fire, marking the email as opened regardless of whether or not your recipient actually opened your email.
The downside for senders? MPP inflates open rates, making this longstanding key performance indicator (KPI) an unreliable way to measure recipient engagement. We encourage all senders to rely less on open data and more on alternative engagement metrics like clicks, conversions, and app activity. These metrics can give you a better understanding of which emails are actually engaging your recipients.
Another way to understand how MPP might be affecting your open rates is by using Twilio SendGrid’s Apple Open Indicator. On the Twilio SendGrid platform, if the field, “sg_machine_open” is set to “true,” this indicates that an open event has been triggered by Apple’s systems. Please note, the indicator can’t distinguish whether the open was triggered by the actual recipient or automated by Apple Mail. Still, this visibility can help you determine which open events weren’t triggered by Apple machines, so you can continue relying on them as user engagement indicators.
LEARN HOW TO REMAIN A COMPETITIVE SENDER AMIDST APPLE'S MPP UPDATE.
In 2021, US SMS messaging experienced a step forward towards a fully verified messaging ecosystem. The country introduced new registration requirements for business messaging over 10-digit-long codes, or A2P 10DLC.
To jog your memory, US carriers created registration requirements to build and protect a spam-free, trusted SMS ecosystem that preserves customer engagement. For brands, A2P 10DLC aims to help improve deliverability, increase throughput, and improve long-term customer engagement.
In 2022, there was yet another shift when the Industry cracked down on sole proprietorship registrations, emphasizing KYC (Know your customer) data and pushing businesses towards fully verifying and registering all of their 10DLC campaigns. The new low volume standard brand should be used if you have a Tax ID (EIN) and low traffic requirement (less than 6,000 messages per day). Low volume standard brands can be used for mixed messaging campaigns with multiple use cases, multiple numbers per campaign, higher throughput, and lower filtering.
If you are a Twilio customer using a 10-digit long code and have not yet registered, please visit the Twilio console to get started.
While email has been around for what seems like ages, the way we use the channel is always changing. From confirming transactions to re-engaging users, here are a few of the most common ways companies leverage email to communicate with their customers:
Transactional emails are a great way to timely and securely communicate with users along the customer journey. Sending user-triggered transaction messages—like password resets and purchase or shipping confirmations—you can keep customers updated every step of the way. These emails are never promotional, rather they act as digital receipts for customers to track their actions on your site like order details, support requests, and shipping confirmations.
Another effective use of email is to use it to request customer feedback. You can set up a workflow to reach out to customers following the receipt of their order or redemption of a service and ask them to share their thoughts. Collecting customer feedback and reviews can not only help you identify areas of improvement for your business, but it can also help grow your brand recognition and credibility in the marketplace.
Odds are many users in your database won’t be quite ready to convert when they first discover your brand. Email marketing can build a stronger relationship with these users over time, helping to increase visibility and familiarity of your brand’s products and services, while reinforcing your brand’s reputation. Welcome emails, item restock announcements, product spotlights, promotions, and monthly newsletters can keep your brand top of mind for these customers so when it comes time to convert, you’re their first pick.
Lastly, sending targeted emails can be a great way to reengage customers who did not complete their journey on your website. You can send abandoned cart emails with the specific product they were considering buying and a personalized discount code to try to entice them to complete their checkout experience. Or, you can give them the option to resume an application or form they failed to finish. These emails allow your customers to pick up right where they left off and allow you to reduce customer drop-off.
Like email, SMS needs to be used at the right time and for the right message. And, because SMS has more immediacy than email, it’s often better suited for certain messages over others. Below are some of the most common use cases for leveraging SMS in addition to email:
SMS marketing—also known as “text marketing”—is a favorite because of highly receptive audiences, unmatched open rates, and timeliness. When there’s a timely deal, an SMS message can create a sense of urgency and inspire immediate action. It also gives you a seamless opportunity to turn one-way outbound marketing into a two-way conversation.
Most notably, it can circumvent crowded and competitive email inboxes to help ensure your customers actually read and engage with your messages. The key to boosting engagement lies in building direct customer relationships via channels that are meaningful to customers. Sending email after email to a customer who rarely checks their inbox won’t do your brand any good. Meeting your customers on a channel they use and prefer, like SMS/MMS, can allow your business to effectively get your customers’ attention during key points in the customer lifecycle and drive loyalty.
SMS can be an excellent way to send alerts and immediately inform your customers and account holders if security-related actions have been performed in their account, if there’s a public safety announcement, or if there’s a relevant neighborhood update.
You may have received similar SMS messages in the past after changing your email or password in an online account. Alerts like these are not just wanted by customers, they’re expected. The SMS API even allows you to program repeat updates, like weekly account balances if your customers want them.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a popular way to add an extra layer of security to your company’s user login process. When users opt-in to 2FA, they can choose SMS as their channel of choice to receive a backup code to verify their identity, in addition to their personal password or biometrics (like a users’ fingerprint, voice, or face).
Once the user enters the numeric code from the SMS message in your website or application’s login flow, they are authenticated and can log in to their account. Because SMS is a channel many users find easy to use, it’s a great way to send your users a 2FA code.
Like a reminder, a notification is a perfect email enhancement. It may be inappropriate or unwelcome to send yet another email to your customers if a shipment has been sent, or if an order is available for pickup. An SMS in these situations can be the perfect way to communicate a real-time update to your customers.
For most people, a mobile device is on-hand all the time, which makes an SMS notification even more valuable if you’re looking to communicate with customers immediately.
For many customers, a confirmation message is an essential communication that they want to receive after placing an order online or making an account update. It lets customers know that your company has received their order or has accepted the changes they’ve made to their account.
What happens if that customer no longer uses their email address? Or perhaps the confirmation isn’t delivered to the inbox correctly? With an SMS, you can add an extra layer of communication, and text the confirmation directly to your customers.
A reminder is a perfect example of how SMS can enhance your existing communication plan with your customers. If your customers have already received a booking confirmation, sending another email the day before or the day of their appointment, trip, or reservation may be overkill. Unfortunately, customers that don’t receive a reminder may not show up, leading to lost revenue. A concise SMS can be the perfect prompt for them to check their calendar and follow through.
Twilio’s SMS and SendGrid email APIs are perfect for when you need to let your users know what’s going on in multiple channels. In this video, we’ll send an appointment confirmation email using Twilio SendGrid. Then, on the day of the appointment, we’ll send an SMS reminder using Twilio Programmable SMS.
FACT:
Tap Into The Marketing Power of SMS, Gartner
The most effective SMS program is used to enhance your emails, not replace them. SMS and email are used for many different types of communication, but ultimately, your customers want both.
The best way to determine how to include SMS into your communication strategy is to ask yourself:
Depending on your answers and how much imagery, branding, or design you require, you can quickly map how you should get your message to your recipients and by what channel:
In some cases, it may be necessary to send both an email and an SMS. In a security breach situation, you’d want to inform any affected customers immediately, so sending messages across both channels is advised. In other cases, sending over both channels should be driven by recipient engagement.
For example, a retail promotion might include both SMS and email messages, but you’ll want to use engagement segmentation to identify which channel each user is more likely to engage with. For some recipients that will mean complementary texts and emails, whereas others will only receive one or the other.
Getting started with SMS is easy. Twilio provides quickstart docs and videos for all major coding languages, including Java, Node.js, Ruby, and Python.
In a few lines of code, your PHP application can send, receive, and reply to text messages with Twilio Programmable SMS.
FACT:
Number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide 2016-2026, Statista, 2022
When it comes to sending strategic, effective email communications, you’ll want to make sure you consider adopting these best practices:
LEVERAGE YOUR CUSTOMER DATA TO SERVE THE RIGHT MESSAGE AT THE RIGHT TIME WITH TWILIO SEGMENT.
We’re all human—mistakes happen! But, while your recipients might be willing to overlook the occasional spelling error or broken link, they might be less forgiving when it comes to certain email faux pas, like send frequency and a lack of personalization. Here are the most common email missteps we see brands make and how to ensure your brand doesn’t fall victim to them:
To get the full benefits of SMS communications, you’ll want to make sure you follow a few best practices:
FACT:
Twilio, Bridging the Communications Divide
SMS is a powerful tool, but it can be equally destructive when used incorrectly. Here are the most common SMS mistakes and how to avoid them:
Some tasks can be accomplished via email but not SMS, and vice versa. However, the pair don’t just benefit each other in a roundabout way. SMS and email have different purposes and use cases, but they can be used to directly benefit the other.
It’s one thing to talk about using email and SMS together, it’s another thing to see it in action. Here’s a closer look at how top brands, like Airbnb, Uber, Yelp, and Instacart, use email and SMS in tandem to engage their customers.
When hosts receive a reservation request through Airbnb, they only have 32 hours to accept or decline the request. While Airbnb quickly shoots the host an email once a guest submits a rental request, the company knows hosts aren’t always at their computers and able to respond quickly to email.
To facilitate a better user experience, Airbnb turned to text messaging. If a host doesn’t respond to a booking request, they receive an automated SMS message with info on the guests, dates requested, and prices for the booking. Hosts can then easily accept or decline the booking from their phone with a short text response.
Learn how Airbnb uses SMS to improve their user’s experience →
Uber’s emails weren’t providing the speed and reliability riders needed in order to know if a ride had arrived or canceled on them. To deliver the level of communication its service demanded, Uber turned to text messages.
With Twilio SMS, customers can stay up-to-date on their Uber ride with real-time text alerts for when a driver accepts the request, is less than a minute away, or has to cancel for any reason.
Learn how Uber created a fantastic ride sharing experience with SMS →
Yelp Reservations gives restaurants the tools they need to manage their reservations. However, they needed a way for restaurants to reach their customers in the critical moments before their reservation time.
Learn more about why Yelp chose to use SMS as the medium for those messages →
Anytime a Yelp user makes a restaurant reservation, they receive a confirmation email containing the details of their booking. Unfortunately, even with reminder emails, many users would forget about their bookings and miss their reservation.
In order to curb reservation abandonment, Yelp started using SMS messages to reach their customers. Now, Yelp users could easily confirm or cancel their reservations via text, so restaurant partners could reliably know who to expect and plan accordingly.
Learn how Instacart creates an excellent customer service experience with Twilio →
CHECK OUT "HOW 6 SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES USE SMS IN ADDITION TO EMAIL MARKETING" FOR MORE INSPIRATION.
Between email, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, and video, today’s customers have a growing number of communications channels at their disposal. In order to stay relevant, you need to send messages where and how your customers want to receive them. That’s why having a communications strategy that uses both SMS and email is critical for any company wanting to engage its users.
To build a successful email and SMS strategy, you need to follow best practices and listen to what your recipients want. Every audience is different—some individuals prefer email, some SMS, and some want both. The key to building engagement and lasting customer relationships lies in creating a communications strategy that reaches your recipients where and when they want to hear from you.
Getting started with email and SMS is incredibly quick and easy, no matter what coding language you’re using. You can sign up for Twilio SendGrid for free and start sending today. Or, if you have questions on how to get started, our sales team is here to help!
SendGrid helps you focus on your business without the cost and complexity of owning and maintaining an email infrastructure. And with a full-featured marketing email service that offers a flexible workflow, powerful list segmentation, and actionable analytics, all of your email needs are met in one simple platform.