Transcript:
Peter Crosby:
Welcome to Unpacking the Digital Shelf where we explore brand manufacturing in the digital age.
Peter Crosby:
Hey, everyone, Peter Crosby here from the Digital Shelf Institute. As new customer acquisition becomes more challenging, more brands are looking for ways to increase each customer's lifetime value. Earning and keeping the privilege of SMS messaging your consumers is one of those high potential relationships that can drive loyalty, repeat purchases and premiumization. Megan Trinidad, VP executive creative director at Digital Design and Advertising Agency RGA joined Lauren Livak and me to provide insights on the new best practices that are driving meaningful results for brands. Megan, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here today.
Megan Trinidad:
Thank you so much, Peter. It's a pleasure to be here.
Peter Crosby:
I'll just come clean at the beginning of this. I hate being text messaged by companies, and yet I don't when they're telling me when my package is arriving. Then all of a sudden maybe I don't mind it when they're letting me know about a new athletic short or something that's been... I'm very interested in where SMS messaging and marketing is going. How does it happen without being intrusive or creepy? Are there new ways to build authentic connections and things like that? I was hoping you might give us the download. How are you seeing most brands successfully using SMS marketing today?
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, and Peter, you're not the only one. I think to be on someone's phone is a great privilege, and brands have had varying success at using that privilege for good, and we can talk more about that. But I think that we're sort of in a really great opportunity and moment right now because of what you just said, which is that sort of timely update energy that is around your SMSs that you're getting from brands. So my package is arriving, that kind of thing. It's providing true value that then opens the door for even more value, which is different than a few years ago where that sort of automation wasn't happening and it felt a little bit more like the only reason a brand would text me is for their gain, not mine. So with that positive value exchange, I'm really seeing sort of text messaging falling into two buckets, if you will. The first, is that timely? So your package has arrived or we have a new spring line that just dropped, come and get it. Kacey Musgraves texts me all the time and tells me when new merch drops.
Peter Crosby:
That's so nice of her.
Lauren Livak:
Yes, amazing.
Megan Trinidad:
We're G friends for sure. I love Kacey Musgraves, so it's exciting to me that I know about the new merch drop. That's all timely. And if you think about text messaging in general, when we text our friends, it's usually those short, quick, timely things. It's stuff that's in the moment. It's about something that you can respond to quickly or take an action on quickly. And when brands behave the same way, they're finding a lot of success. The second way that people are using text messaging is really for sort of instant loyalty. So rather than doing the grand signup for the loyalty program and you have to have this massive amount of benefits on the other side, it's text XYZ to get a coupon or to join the club, that kind of vibe. And then suddenly you have this value exchange of getting free perks, and we're seeing brands like Starbucks and Chipotle do this really well.
I think the reason why they're really thriving in that kind of space is because they're the type of thing you could do every day. You could have a coffee every day from Starbucks, maybe you don't, maybe you do, but that little nudge might be just what it takes to get you over the edge, that double stars or a dollar off or free guacamole. Those things go a long way to turning your once a month habit into a once a week habit.
Lauren Livak:
People would do anything for free guac. I will tell you that.
Megan Trinidad:
It is a commodity. I very much agree.
Lauren Livak:
You know what's interesting Megan though that I'm seeing a lot from brands is you sign up for their email and then you have to also sign up for the text messaging to get the discount, and if you don't follow through that second step, you don't get the discount. Is that also a new way that you're seeing brands kind of capture both the email and the phone number to get the kind of full picture of the consumer?
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, I mean I think the more touchpoints you have, the more you're able to build that understanding of a customer and in an ideal world provide even more value. I also think that there's some latency there. The email thing is very... Everyone does it, and brands feel the need. They have to get everyone to sign up for the email newsletter, and now text is sort of on top of that. But if you're going to ask for both, you better be doing different things on both, and I'm not seeing brands sort of take advantage of both medias.
Peter Crosby:
I would agree with you. The experiences that I've had is often if I go as far as to give a brand my phone number, then I end the email relationship unless I see something. If you're just sending me two of the same messages and there's just more words in the email one, then don't bother me in both places.
Megan Trinidad:
Agree.
Peter Crosby:
But if you don't earn my trust, then I might keep my email list with you because I can just easily skim it and not deal with it. But when something pops up on my phone, I still treat it with a sense of urgency, and I don't want to lose that in a way by having so many things coming into my inbox, my text messages, that it starts to lose that sense of, oh, this is a place where I really want to pay attention.
Megan Trinidad:
Very much agree. I think that that sort of timeliness of texts and our behaviors around texts that are built from exchanging with people we know require brands to sort of step up their game a little bit or be blocked. The best great thing about text is it's required to have an opt-out that is one text away. So it's very easy to get annoyed by a brand and say, "Stop." And even easier, I would argue than the deluge of emails in your email box. You're not unsubscribing to every one of those every day unless you're a highly organized person, but in text message it's easy to be like, "I don't want to hear about this. Stop." And suddenly you're out.
Peter Crosby:
You're cut off.
Megan Trinidad:
And that really raises the bar for brands.
Lauren Livak:
Megan, in terms of brands using SMS messaging, are you seeing any brands kind of taking it to the next level and really using it as a brand building tool?
Megan Trinidad:
Yes, and I think that that's sort of where it's going to go next is really a lot of self-reflection on brands of how you behave when you have really what is the most one-on-one conversation you can have with your consumers and taking that tone of voice and the principles of your brand that you understand in other mediums and taking them one level deeper to really understand your brand's personality and be able to express that in the best way possible. And we are seeing brands do this. I think the brands that do it best, there's a lot of DTC brands who are really killing it in this space and it's because DTC, it's like you do the purchase and then it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship potentially, and they want to use every medium possible to start to inform you of who they are.
I think a great example of a brand that's doing this really well is a DTC brand called Lashify. And now that I've spoken the world's aloud you will be stalked by them on every social media platform. They have an amazing programmatic marketing situation. Lashify is a DTC eyelash company. They do faux eyelashes. The usual eyelash, it's sort of a strip that sticks on the top of your eyelashes, these sort of little mini lashes are called gossamers that stick on the bottom of your lashes. So it's like a new technology, a new way to apply. There's some education required, there's some understanding. It's also a pretty high price point. To get in on the game, it's like 150 bucks, so it's a considered purchase that you want to make sure is one that you're excited about. And it could be one of those things where it's like, "I can't believe the internet got me to buy this thing," or it could be, "Whoa, this thing is incredible. I'm so grateful to have this in my life."
They really use SMS as a way to make it the latter. And the way they do that is you immediately are prompted to get 20% off your first kit. I think 20%, I forget the exact percentage. But your first kit, if you text them once you make your purchase, they don't wait until your package has arrived to start talking to you. They start getting you excited about how great your life is going to be after your lashes arrive. They do this with sort of how-tos, prep videos, all of these different things that kind of get you in on the game. They let you know the day of the morning my package is arriving, I woke up to a text message that's like, it's almost here, and getting you excited. And then once the package arrives, they immediately go into education mode, and the entire conversation shifts and it's all about teaching you how to apply them.
It's all about following up and seeing how it's going. A week later, are the lashes holding on? Here are some tips for if they're not, how you can sort of fix that or if they are, here's how to make them last even longer. They just really understand where you are in the journey with the brand and they sort of keep you going along that. And with that, they have an amazing tone of voice. Every single text is full of humor, it's full of joy. There's sort of a wink to it, and they really know who they are, and it's sort of fun to read as much as it is powerful and valuable content for you. And that combination is really powerful.
Peter Crosby:
Sort of the best gal pal kind of relationship.
Megan Trinidad:
They have a very girly gal pal voice that is just rooting you on throughout the whole process that feels really right for the brand.
Lauren Livak:
Megan, would you say that there's a cadence for text messaging? And I know the answer might be it depends, but if you think about email as a channel, there's a pretty good rule of thumb that you shouldn't send someone an email every day. It's too much. From a text messaging perspective, is there any kind of good rule of thumb for only texting someone when it's valuable or only text once a week? Have you seen anything that brands are following as a best practice?
Megan Trinidad:
I think the first thing you said only text when it's valuable really trumps any timing cadence because when you get into like, oh, what are we going to text this week, you immediately wind up sending things that are not of value. The text message should be used for the things we talked about at the beginning; exclusives, timely updates, something just dropped. A nice thing that some brands are doing is this sort of two-way exchange where there's a quiz or they're helping you get closer to purchase, like Zales says this interesting thing where they sort of quiz you on what type of jewelry you're looking for and help guide you to recommendations, and then they can follow up and see if you took them up on it. That kind of stuff creates a reason to have a conversation, and I think that that's key. You shouldn't just be pinging people to ping people because that's not what consumers are looking for or expect.
Peter Crosby:
I loved what you were talking about earlier, sort of almost like text messaging is as part of the unboxing. That's a moment where especially if you do it well, if you do it badly, then goodbye, but if you do it well, it adds to that experience, and it creates a sense of loyalty and appreciation. I think that's a really great use for it. But like you said, in email often you'll have an editorial calendar or this is the frequency or whatever. And I love the idea that some ways you almost should throw that out the window with text messaging and instead think to your point, what is value, what is educational, what is it that sort of cements the relationship rather than abuse it.
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, and I totally agree. I think it's really about investing in signals. So doing the work to understand where your consumers are in their experience with you. Is this a place where you're very top of mind because you just got the product? Okay, that's where we want to go in there. Okay, it's two weeks later, maybe interest has dropped off. Let's send something valuable and inspire them to reignite their interest in our brand. That kind of thinking through where the consumer is at with you versus where you want them to be at with you is very important with text message and makes all of those messages feel all the more relevant.
Peter Crosby:
Let's talk through some of the ways in which authenticity can be faked. I'm just kidding, but what are some of the things to think about as if you're a brand that's trying to be authentic and wants to be useful and not intrusive? What do you recommend when you work strategy with one of your clients?
Megan Trinidad:
There are a few things that are really important when you're thinking about how to craft who you are in a text message space, and tone is such an important part of that. You want to be simple and clear and provide value no matter what your brand's vibe is, right? That should be the benchmark for any message you send through. If it's not checking those boxes, you should not send it. On top of that though infusing brand personality is so important, and it makes people feel more engaged and that doesn't mean you have to be funny or punny or talk like someone's girlfriend. That works for Lashify, but it doesn't have to work for your brand. If your brand is not funny, you don't have to be funny.
My allergist sends me updates, and it's all about the seasonal allergies and I love them. They are not funny, it's fine. But if you are funny, throw a little pun in there, people love that stuff and it's the right channel for it. It's not sort of... I would say email the clickbait headlines that are all punny winky, that feels like it's gone to the extreme of just trying to get attention where because it's a more personal space, the humor and charm of trying to be a little winky works really nicely in text message.
We talked about this a lot, but I think being considerate of people's time is super important and not assuming they're always interested in talking to you is very valuable. You don't want to be annoying making it easy to opt out, which is super important. It's sort of baked into everything so people know the behavior. You reply, "stop," but you know want to make sure that that is turned on and ready to roll. And then another thing is keep testing and learning. Text messages can be a great learning tool for understanding what people think of your brand and what they expect from you. And if things are not working well and you're finding a lot of opt-outs, do some reflection and try something new. It doesn't mean that the channel's not working, it just means that there might be a different way to engage, and that might be shifting from timely updates to more loyalty based stuff.
That might be about maybe bringing in a third party service where you're able to do two-way texting, and people can answer messages on the fly for you. There's a lot of different ways to use the medium and really testing things out and understanding it better is going to make that a really powerful channel.
Lauren Livak:
Megan, you provided an example when we were chatting before about Lettuce Grow, a company that did something really unique with how they use text. Can you share some of the examples that they're using? So I thought that was very unique.
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, so another great example of a brand, a D2C brand that uses texts really well is lettuce grow. Lettuce Grow is these sort of hydroponic plant stands. They can be indoor and outdoor. They fit in small spaces. If you don't have one, Google it, they're awesome. Again, a little pricey. So that brand relationship is super important because you want to show feel that 360 experience and not like you're just buying a product that's going to sit on your shelf, but it's something that's kind of more of a lifestyle. And lettuce Grow does a great job with this. They really follow up. They treat you almost like you're a farmer and this is your little farm. They remind you of when you need new seeds. They tell you when your plants are ready to eat, and it's all in service of you maintaining your garden and getting new seeds from them.
There's an end benefit to them for sending you these reminders, but it feels really valuable because you're sort of taking care of these plant babies and someone is helping you do it and you don't feel like you're out on the edge. Their texts are full of personality and really sort of bringing you along in the experience of doing something that the average Lettuce Grow consumer is probably not super adept at, which is growing a ton of vegetables.
Lauren Livak:
That sounds really cool and a great amount of instruction that I would need to keep plants alive, so I will definitely check that out.
Megan Trinidad:
Lettuce Grow is doing great, so it's working.
Peter Crosby:
Can you imagine, Lauren, if with your puppy you got this kind of text messaging?
Lauren Livak:
No. Oh, with my puppy?
Peter Crosby:
Yeah.
Lauren Livak:
Oh, yes. It would be amazing. You're too missed.
Peter Crosby:
Hey, how's Dewey doing? Try this. I bet by now he's really annoying you because of this. You would be grateful if that exists out there anyways.
Lauren Livak:
Yes, please tell me. On LinkedIn, I would love that.
Peter Crosby:
Megan, to close out for the folks that are listening out there and for those that don't automatically go, SMS messaging is for me, and the ones that even your consumers may not automatically think I want to hear from this brand, what are some of the best practices or thought process they should go through to build out that testing program that would earn that right? What do you think about that?
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, that's a great question. I think that brands need to be very honest about who they are in consumers' lives. This is a place for a lot of self-reflection. If you're not a brand who you immediately understand what value is going to provide. A clothing retailer, if I sign up for texts, they're going to tell me when things arrive and when new collections drop. That feels like a natural connection. But if you're Cheetos, what possible value is Cheetos providing in my life if I allow them into my phone? The Cheetos of the world, you've got to think long and hard about what incentives you're putting out there for people to actually sign up for you... Sorry. For people to actually sign up with you. And it better be great.
It better be exclusives or something really interesting or a contest or something that sort of really sets the bar pretty high for why someone would want to participate. I think that self-reflection and honesty will allow brands to really think through what value they are providing and make sure that they're doing all the things that we talked about, about being respectful to the end consumer.
Peter Crosby:
Megan throwing it down with the Cheetos.
Megan Trinidad:
I said Cheetos and then I'm like, "If Chester texted me, I'd be fine with it."
Peter Crosby:
See, there you go.
Megan Trinidad:
There's probably a better example out there.
Lauren Livak:
The first thing I thought of was when Doritos came out with all those different flavors they wanted people to vote on, you could have voted by text messaging. It would be a much easier way to see what the consumer wanted and then it's another way to engage. So that's value to both sides. Megan, to what you're talking about, it goes towards what we were talking to Andrea Leigh from the Allume Group about around premiumization and how consumers especially now in this economy are looking for more value for the money that they're spending, and brands need to justify additional price hikes with more premium products. So offering things like you were talking about exclusives or gift packs or some sort of buy one get one or something like that, premiumization needs to be communicated to the brand, or excuse me, to the consumer from the brand, and they need to understand what value that they're getting from that. So they could potentially use text messaging to do that. Would you agree?
Megan Trinidad:
Yes, totally. I think that the examples even that I provided like Lettuce Grow and Lashify, there's an element of text messaging done that feels almost like it's a personal assistant. It's kind of this 360 of a brand that is there for you in all the ways you need it to be. And that is a premium service, that is a brand that is sort of taking that extra effort to be there for consumers. So when you're looking to kind of up the game, SMS can be a great opportunity to do so.
Lauren Livak:
And when loyalty is really challenging in this environment too, if you're building that relationship and it's authentic and they feel heard and they feel like they're building that connection with the brand, that's another really great way of continuing to keep that loyalty coming back rather than maybe switching because of price or something like that.
Megan Trinidad:
100%. And when done right, you're top of mind and you are taking advantage of the opportunity to sort of pace out people thinking about you more often than perhaps they would have without text.
Peter Crosby:
And other than someone literally walking into my home, it's actually probably the most sort of private channel that I think of that has been established as a place that now there's so much more spam than there used to be, and it infuriates me. So the ones that I invite in and pay attention to, I think it's a pretty cool relationship if you can build it. So Megan, for those of our listeners that are sitting there and thinking, "I'd love to talk more to Megan," is LinkedIn a good place to reach out to you?
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah, hit me up on LinkedIn. Megan Trinidad. I'm there.
Peter Crosby:
It's Megan, M-E-G-A-N and Trinidad, just like the beautiful island.
Megan Trinidad:
Indeed. M-E-G-A-N, yes.
Peter Crosby:
Perfect. Megan, thank you so much for coming on and sort of sharing the latest in this tried and true, but still high potential market channel. I think it's really great.
Megan Trinidad:
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. This has been really fun.
Peter Crosby:
Thanks again to Megan for joining us. Swing on over to digitalshelfinstitute.org to become a member. We promise we won't text you mostly because we don't have your number. Thanks for being part of our community.
