Here by popular demand...

...and a perfect example of what NOT to do with SMS

Author

Jesse Clemmens
August 16, 2024

Welcome to HiTide’s weekly newsletter, packed with our latest product updates, tips, case studies, and SMS marketing news for DTC.

Shipping to your inbox straight from New York and written by yours truly, Jesse from HiTide.

This week:

  • 🎉 A few new HOTLY requested features

  • 🔗 Quick Links: Window shopping is going digital; the don’ts in SMS marketing.

Let’s dive in!

⚡️New in HiTide: Two features by popular demand

You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening. Two slick new features are out and ready for action! 🎉

  1. Giveaway Winner Selector: By popular demand, here’s our tool to randomly select giveaway winners. It’s quick and easy—just click on the username, and it’ll take you straight to their Instagram profile so you can DM them directly. No more hunting for contact details! Honestly, could be my favorite addition from the last few weeks.

  2. Draft Duplication: Now it’s easier to manage multiple campaigns by allowing you to duplicate drafts, not just live campaigns. This should speed up your workflow and make setting up campaigns a breeze. Nice!

Give these updates a try and let us know what you think!

Social is the new storefront

Shopify just dropped a killer rundown of mobile commerce trends for 2024, and we're pumped about how HiTide fits into the puzzle.

We all know mobile commerce is exploding. 44.6% of all US retail ecommerce sales will be mobile in 2024.

Social media and SMS are both key parts of the phone-first future, and HiTide is perfectly positioned as the bridge between them.

Take this anecdote for example:

“…Glamnetic, a DTC beauty brand that sells products through its online store. Their CEO, Ann McFerran, hosts regular livestreams through social media that show audiences how the products work and their differentiators from comparable products. This was the foundation of “the Glam Fam” community.

Now, Glamnetic invites influencers to host Facebook livestreams. Each influencer demonstrates how to apply the magnetic lashes, with attendees receiving a coupon code to redeem on their first purchase.”

We have a bunch of great brands doing Lives and incorporating HiTide.

One easy play is pinning a comment with a call to action like: “DM us 💘 for a secret discount”. I’ve seen this one absolutely print sign-ups.

It would be cool to experiment with how to combine this with the in-Live purchases like in the below example:

I might just have to join the Glam Fam!

—

Keep everything in one place

This tweet from TxtCart founder Kyle Bigley gives a perfect example of a misguided approach that misses the point of this direct, powerful channel.

I agree here. No visual elements, no branding, and no clear sender information. And sending a text to tell your customer to check their email? That’s a guaranteed way to lose attention. Make every message count! Reduce friction as much as possible! Keep it relevant and actionable, right within the SMS itself.

Until next time!

-Jesse