Learn how this inspiring e-commerce entrepreneur used SMS to turn her side hustle into a thriving business.
What do you do when your 9-to-5 starts to become a grind? You can succumb to the monotony, accept that you are burnt out, and hope it passes. Or you can dust off your resume and start to consider if switching jobs will really make you happy.
Shannon Green, the owner of the e-commerce store Welstand Boutique, choose neither option. Instead, she started her own business to reengage with a long-held passion for natural skincare products.
As Shannon undertook a journey to rediscover her zest for life, she realized that she was not dedicating enough time to herself or her wellness routine. She didn’t want to keep the benefits of this insight to herself, so Shannon started Welstand Boutique.
The company strives to educate and empower women—particularly underrepresented women of color—to be proactive about their wellness, as well as provide all-natural, handmade skincare products.
As Shannon likes to say, wellness is dope.
Like many e-commerce entrepreneurs, Shannon heard that text messages had sky-high open rates, but she was initially concerned about the cost.
“I’d heard SMS open rates are higher than email, and it was something that I wanted to leverage for my own business. I thought that text marketing would be out of my reach because I’m a small business. I don’t have a huge marketing budget.”
Still, she figured why not do some research anyway.
“I was Googling ways to better engage with my customers, and that’s when I came across SimpleTexting. When I looked at your site and the pricing plans, it wasn’t nearly as expensive as I thought it would be.”
Shannon found the set-up process very intuitive and seamless. She is quick to call out the SimpleTexting customer support team.
“When I did have a question, I used the chat feature on your website, and I got replies on the spot. For example, I had questions about whether to use a short code or a long phone number and I found the team very helpful.”
Shannon primarily uses text marketing to promote sales or deals that Westland Boutique holds. She also uses SMS to attract new customers and build her contact list with a welcome offer. When people text in “Welstand” to their number, they receive a coupon code for 10% off.
“I believe it’s a lot easier for people to text my number than it is for them to jot down their email and go through the process of confirming it.”
“Text messages are great for promoting sales or special offers, and it’s exclusive to the people who signed up for my mailing list, so they feel like they are getting something of value. It helps me build that relationship with my customers.”
Shannon is also a big fan of our automated birthday text feature. This feature allows you to ask your contacts for their birthday. And when the day comes, you can automatically send a personalized text with a special offer.
“I use the birthday texts app, and I’m a big fan. I like the idea where people have given me their birthday, and I’m able to send them a special coupon.”
Finally, she recently launched our Mobile Sign-Up Widget on her website to make it even more seamless for contacts to receive her text messages. Once they click the “Sign up today” button, their native messaging app opens with the keyword and contact details prefilled.
“I added the widget to my site, and I love it! I like that when I click the “X” to close it out, it gives me the option to be reminded later. It’s also very pretty. I like that I was able to customize it and have the color match my branding.”
Shannon has been able to reduce her spend on email because of the immediate return of text messaging. Even though the business is just a year old, she has seen impressive results already. She routinely sees a 50% coupon code redemption rate.
“I’ve been delighted with it. To routinely get half the people on a marketing list to buy, let’s say that’s not what you see with email.”
The key to success for any new e-commerce venture is to find ways to generate revenue without breaking the bank. Text marketing is one way to do this. Welstand Boutique is an excellent example of what happens when you use SMS from the get-go.
Whether they’re shipping new handmade products across the country or providing useful wellness tips and tricks, this is just the beginning of this exciting venture. We’re thrilled to be part of the journey. And if you’re an e-commerce entrepreneur who wants to try text marketing, be sure to sign up for a free trial or schedule a demo today.
Learn how Matykos Beauty uses SMS to encourage sales, improve their collections, and collect thousands of valuable customer reviews!
ReadIn this start-to-finish guide, we’ll cover how to integrate SimpleTexting with your Wix website so that you can send SMS marketing messages and notifications to your customers.
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