The start of the new year is an opportune time to reflect on past performance and create a game plan to improve, especially in the wellness industry! Research compiled by Statista showed that 50% of respondents cited fitness-related goals as their top resolution last year. As your customers are creating their own roadmap for self-improvement success in 2022, here are three SMS marketing trends marketers that wellness companies should be incorporating into their text message marketing strategies this year – with some examples you can use to follow suit:

1) Screen time is up: drive more opportunities to connect with your audience (but proceed with caution)

Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, screen time has escalated up to over 13 hours a day. While you can use SMS marketing as a means of reaching your customer in a way that will immediately grab their attention (via a text message notification), you’ll want to be mindful of the value you’re bringing them in that outreach. Wellness marketers in particular should be cognizant of how this increased screen time could be affecting users’ mental health, and act accordingly. 

Make SMS marketing a part of your plan to capture this opportunity, but make sure to plan for value. Rather than bombarding customers with a barrage of unhelpful messages that may ultimately cause them to opt out, consider the timing and cadence with which you send your messages. What’s more, you’ll want to ensure the content you deliver inspires them to get on the right track to meeting their goals – decreasing screen time may very well be one of them!

2) Personalization is key: set yourself apart from competitors & nurture deeper customer relationships

In 2021, marketers implemented a fairly standard text message communication sequence, with welcome messages, cart abandonment messages and browse abandonment messages being the most popular message types, according to data compiled by Attentive. These are a great foundation, but to stand out in 2022, you’ll need to create a more personal strategy to meet customers where they are and help them be successful. Talk to current customers (via discovery interviews, surveys, or customer service inquiry analysis) to get a deeper understanding of what goals brought them to your product and company, and how you can add additional value through your marketing messages. Your customers will benefit from more personal and succinct recommendations, check-ins from your team to see how they’re doing, and knowing that you as a company personally care about them and their experience.

At Wishroute, we enable companies to go beyond these templated message triggers and offer customers a moment of human connection, as if they were having a conversation that would be reminiscent of a text chat with a friend. We connect your customers with real humans who care and reply to messages in real time, and provide ongoing text message support tailored to their individual needs. 

Even if you aren’t able to provide this type of one-on-one support, consider taking your text message triggers a step further by leveraging your thorough understanding of your customer’s buyer persona and in-app engagement/browsing habits to help curate a memorable texting experience.

3) Incentives are powerful motivators: use them to drive SMS opt-ins

Having an engaging text message strategy is a critical part of your game plan, but if customers do not opt-in to receive texts, it won’t drive business success in 2022. A prime reason customers opt-in to receive text message alerts is to be notified of special sales or promotions your business is running. According to SMS Comparison, 75% of respondents surveyed expressed an interest in receiving special offers via text message. Increase your opt-in rate by communicating the value that your text message marketing will bring your customer. For example, in your description when you’re collecting opt-in consent, you could mention “By opting in you’ll receive exclusive promotions for text message subscribers only.” 

Another type of incentive is quick access to your team for questions and support. Customers who feel connected to your brand and team will be more loyal and profitable!

Advertise your text message offering across your other marketing channels to drive text message subscriber opt-in rates. This approach could come in handy if you leverage a free trial model and you’re looking to boost conversion rates as well. 

What are your SMS marketing goals for 2022? Get in touch with us here to share your goals, and we’ll let you know how we can help you meet your benchmarks!