Improve conversion rates with SMS Marketing

The goal of the play

1. Use SMS campaigns to re-engage and convert shoppers
2. Improve conversion rates of your retention tactics

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What is the play?

This play is all about collecting phone numbers with marketing permissions so you can use them in your re-engagement and loyalty initiatives.

Picture this: A student lands on your site. They've clicked through from a search like "[Your Brand] student discount" or stumbled across your offers page during a lunch break scroll. They're interested, but not quite ready to buy.

This is your moment.

You offer them a meaningful reward: “Verify your student status to unlock 20% off - and get it sent straight to your phone.” In that instant, you've created a win-win. They get a reward. You get verified first-party data, SMS marketing permission, and a direct line to one of your most valuable customer segments.

At the heart of this play is a simple idea: every offer is a chance to create a value exchange. You give your customers something meaningful (a discount, early access, exclusive rewards) and in return, you get verified first-party data and a way start to start ongoing conversations that drive re-engagement, conversion, and loyalty long after the shopper has left your site.

Lots of brands already do this with email (maybe you do too). But email is crowded. Open rates are dropping.

SMS is personal, immediate, and cuts through the noise, and when you combine Gocertify’s verified data with a platform like Attentive, you can automate and personalise that journey, without any dev work.

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Ensure your SMS outreach is effective

Once you've collected verified phone numbers and synced them to your SMS platform (like Attentive), make sure your messages earn the open:

• Highlight their personalised discount at the start of the message
• Keep it short with one clear action.
• Send when shoppers are active, typically 6–9pm performs best.
• Test your incentives. Try % off, free shipping, or early access.
• Create urgency with “24 hours only” or “Ends at midnight” to drive clicks.

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Why run the play?

The question is, why use SMS at all in your marketing?

1. 80% of shoppers are more likely to spend if they receive text messages with incentives.
2. 67% of shoppers are more likely to make repeat purchases from brands they’re subscribed to via SMS
3. 50% make impulse purchases as a result of receiving a text
4. SMS has a 98% open rate, with most messages read within 90 seconds, compared to email’s 20% open rate and 90-minute average read time.
5. SMS boasts a 45% response rate and a 29% conversion rate, significantly outperforming email’s 6% response rate and 15% conversion rate.

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Brands that run this play

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Tool tips

• Verification technology to verify closed user groups status - e.g, Gocertify
  • Gocertify helps you verify a up to 15 different closed user groups.
  • Use Gocertify's DataCapture to collect SMS numbers that can be synced with your tech stack.
• SMS platform - e.g. Attentive
  • Gocertify integrates natively with Attentive, meaning your verified shoppers and their opt-in data can be automatically synced into your Attentive lists.
  • This lets you:
    • Trigger welcome SMS journeys immediately after verification
    • Create audience segments by group type (e.g. Students, NHS, Key Workers)
    • Track conversion performance by group and campaign

Learn more about our direct integration with Attentive.

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Examples