SMS for VIPs: how SMS marketing fosters direct connections with your most important customers

When your customers share their phone numbers with you, it’s a sign of serious trust.

Typically, it means they’re ready to take their relationship with your brand to the next level—the VIP level.

“Any customer who subscribes to SMS could be considered a VIP customer because they’re giving your brand direct access to such a personal space: their cell phones,” says Savannah Mazola, SMS implementation specialist at Klaviyo.

In fact, when Klaviyo surveyed over 8,000 shoppers about their SMS marketing preferences, we found that next-level loyalty is often what motivates shoppers to sign up to receive text messages from brands:

• 39% sign up because it’s a brand they love.
• 37% sign up because they make frequent purchases with the brand.
• 28% sign up because they spend a lot of money buying from that brand.

Since SMS is a direct line to your biggest fans, make the most out of this impactful marketing channel by learning how to offer exactly what they want—and make them feel special along the way.

How to classify and segment VIP customers

While all SMS subscribers should be treated like VIPs, “there comes a point where you need to start identifying SMS sub-segments within that entire VIP audience,” Mazola says. “Getting more granular with audience segments will really set you up to deliver personalized messages later on.”

To create the best VIP experience, use the following parameters to build segments of VIP customers:

Big spenders

Align with your marketing leadership to determine how much money a customer needs to spend over a certain amount of time to be considered a big spender. These numbers vary based on industry and price point, but “we generally recommend using a revenue number slightly higher than your average customer’s yearly spend,” Mazola says.

Frequent purchases

Determine how many times a customer must make a purchase over the course of a time period to fall into this VIP sub-segment. Again, this number varies based on industry and price point, but Mazola recommends using a number slightly higher than your average customer’s yearly purchase frequency.

Blended approach

These are customers who have purchased a certain number of products or spent a certain amount of money over a specific amount of time.

“A blended approach is often the route brands take when they want to be more inclusive with their VIP segments,” Mazola explains. “If they see spend and frequency as similar or equal weight when deciding if someone is a VIP, they generally would take the blended approach.”

Engaged users

Outside of order frequency and order amount, customers who regularly click the links inside text messages are highly engaged and could also be included in a VIP segment. Mazola suggests some brands could consider VIPs to be SMS subscribers who signed up in the last 30 days or interacted with SMS content in the last 90 days.

7 SMS best practices to maintain VIP customers (with examples)

So you’ve got your VIPs segmented. Now, how do you keep them engaged and spending through SMS?

1. Adopt a more casual tone of voice

Take advantage of the familiar nature of SMS by writing brand messages as though you’re texting a friend. “I’ve seen a lot of brands that take a more friendly or more casual approach to SMS than they would in an email,” Mazola says.

Simple word swaps like “hello” to “hi” can make a difference when adjusting the tone. You can also use Klaviyo AI to write SMS message copy. Generate and review various versions to help you nail the ideal tone for VIPs.

2. Make VIPs feel special with personalized SMS marketing

“A brand might text customers, ‘Hey, it’s [First Name] from [Brand Name].’ And those tend to add another layer of personalization and connection to the brand,” Mazola says.

But true SMS personalization goes beyond names. Knowing a customer’s location, loyalty status, product preferences, and more can further support impactful and personalized VIP campaigns through SMS. Here’s how:

• If you’re selling seasonal products, you might send an SMS to customers in cold climates that promotes your cold-weather apparel.
• If you’re selling gear for sports fans, you might target specific locations with promos centered on specific regional teams.
• If you have a loyalty program, you might automate texts to send to customers when they have enough points to redeem a reward.

In Klaviyo, the sky’s the limit for SMS personalization, Mazola explains: “We can pull any property we’ve collected on a customer into a message.”

3. Offer VIPs early access to sales and product drops

Nothing says “you’re special” quite like bumping someone to the front of the line. Offering early access to your VIP customers creates buzz and drives revenue for your sales and new products. After all, these customers are the ones who are most likely to buy.

Streetwear brand Sneaker Politics knows all about creating buzz. Their product drops sell out quickly (sometimes within a minute). Even loyal customers who’ve already subscribed to the brand’s emails and follow Sneaker Politics on social media sometimes hear about the drops after the product sells out.

To keep customers in the loop and continue to drive awareness of their product drops, Sneaker Politics pitched their SMS program as a VIP club. Since VIP club members get early access to new releases, plus other benefits, customers were eager to sign up for the latest drop announcements through SMS.

Now, a single text can earn the shoe brand hundreds of sneaker sales. In January 2023, the SMS channel alone drove 7% of total ecommerce revenue for the brand.

Source: Sneaker Politics

4. Promote exclusive deals and discounts through SMS

Our SMS research shows that 35% of shoppers sign up to get text messages from brands because they want to purchase when there’s a sale. The promise of exclusive deals gives customers a compelling reason to subscribe to your SMS marketing.

“This shows customers that you recognize them as VIPs. You’re acknowledging their loyalty by offering more through the SMS program than you are through email alone,” Mazola explains. “It also increases brand loyalty.”

To pique VIP interest, consider offering them these deals and discounts through SMS:

• BOGO offers: Encourage VIP shoppers to buy one product and get another product for free.
• Free shipping: Give VIP shoppers free shipping for orders over a certain amount of money.
• Discount codes: Send a discount code through a text message to give a certain percentage off a final order. Be sure to include an expiration date to create urgency.
• Flash sales: Use SMS to promote one-day sales or flash sales.

To create a VIP experience for top customers, casual apparel brand Marine Layer uses Klaviyo to run an SMS channel for flash sales. Their first SMS campaign drove over $80,000 in revenue in 24 hours.

Source: Marine Layer

5. Create personalized replenishment opportunities

Replenishment flows are one of the most effective VIP messages that can boost sales, drive retention, and provide a personal touch.

But when it comes to sending reorder reminders that are helpful (and not unwelcome), timing is everything.

When Australia-made beauty brand esmi tapped Klaviyo to support its retention-focused marketing strategy, creating advanced replenishment flows was a key component.

Using data to understand each subscriber’s unique place in the customer journey, esmi built a series of flows to send SMS reordering reminders and discount codes to repeat customers, helping the brand reach a 45% customer retention rate.

Source: esmi Skin Minerals

6. Offer VIPs support through SMS

Texting is a two-way street. So when VIP customers reply to SMS marketing, brands need to be able to respond helpfully—without overwhelming their support team.

Mazola explains 3 approaches for using SMS to support your VIP customers when they have questions.

1. Keyword triggers: Brands can set custom SMS keywords in Klaviyo that trigger a flow with an automated message. So, for example, if a customer texts, “I’m looking for men’s clothing,” they’ll instantly receive a reply with a link to the relevant product page.
2. SMS conversations tab: Provide instant, personalized responses with Klaviyo’s SMS conversations. Within the platform, you can see incoming texts along with the customers’ profiles to gain context and respond quickly.
3. Help desk integrations: Klaviyo has 4 help desk integrations: Gorgias, Help Scout, Olark, and Zendesk. When a customer texts back with a support question, it creates a ticket in Klaviyo for the brand’s support team to respond to.

7. Tap into the power of SMS plus email for VIP outreach

Even if you’ve already been using text messages to reach VIP customers, it’s crucial to create a cohesive strategy that combines both email and SMS.

“When you consolidate it all under one roof, you’re no longer using SMS and email as two separate channels,” says Mazola. “You’re using them together in a more strategic way to make a seamless and enjoyable experience for your current VIPs and future VIPs.”

She adds that by bringing email and SMS under one roof, the two channels can complement (rather than compete with) each other. It also helps ensure accurate reporting on VIP engagement and sales thanks to a more holistic attribution model.

Craft a winning VIP customer experience with Klaviyo

If you’re looking for an all-in-one platform that blends the strengths of email, SMS, and mobile push notifications, Klaviyo makes it easy and fast for you to combine all your customer data into one place. Get up to speed on creating a VIP customer experience that grows stronger with every text message you send.

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• SMS marketing best practices: 13 expert-tested tips for boosting engagement now
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