SMS retention marketing
SMS for the four moments a text is welcome.
Restock alerts, short flash windows, delivery updates and time-critical win-back — with consent capture that holds up and send rules that respect quiet hours. Everything else stays in email.
Retention systems built for 150+ Shopify stores · Tiers from $3,500 a month
What is included
Everything the retainer covers, in the order we build it.
No add-on menu. The pieces below are the service; the tiers decide depth and whether SMS is in scope.
- 01
Consent audit and capture rebuild
Where numbers are collected, what the customer saw, what was stored. Then a two-step opt-in at checkout and in the pop-up, with the disclosure text and records that satisfy the TCPA and state rules.
- 02
Compliance rules in the sending logic
Federal quiet hours (8 a.m.–9 p.m. in the recipient’s local time) and the tighter state windows applied by area code, frequency caps, STOP and HELP handling, and a documented policy your team can show a lawyer.
- 03
The four SMS moments, built
Restock alerts from the waitlist, short flash windows with VIPs first, delivery and shipping updates, and one time-critical win-back text. Each written to be read in three seconds.
- 04
Email and SMS orchestration
Every SMS step lives inside the lifecycle flows next to its email steps, with rules for who gets which channel, so nobody gets both saying the same thing.
- 05
Segmentation for SMS
Engaged, VIP, waitlist, lapsed — SMS lists are smaller and sharper than email lists. Most of your subscribers should receive a text rarely; a few should receive them first.
- 06
Two-way inbox handling
Replies routed to your support tool or handled by us with agreed scripts, so the questions your best customers ask by text get answered.
- 07
Attribution and monthly reporting
Revenue per message and per flow, opt-out rate per send, and SMS share of total revenue — next to email in one report, so the channels are judged together.
- 08
Platform setup or migration
Attentive when SMS is the primary channel; Klaviyo SMS when one platform for both is the better trade. Numbers, short codes, toll-free verification and carrier registration handled.
How we work
Six steps, six weeks to live, then monthly.
Each step ends with something written down. If we disappeared after step two you would still have a plan your team could run.
Week 1
We read your account before we touch it.
Where the revenue is leaking
Every flow, every campaign, list health, deliverability, segment logic and the revenue each piece attributes. You get the gaps ranked by money, not by opinion.
- 01Flow-by-flow revenue and send volume
- 02List capture, engagement and suppression health
- 03Deliverability: domains, complaint rate, inbox placement
- 04Segment logic against actual order data
- You get: A written audit with the first 90 days planned.
Week 2
RFM segments from your orders, and a calendar built around your peaks.
Segments and the calendar
Recency, frequency and monetary tiers from real order history; lifecycle stages; a campaign calendar that starts with your seasons, not a template.
- 01RFM and lifecycle segmentation
- 02Offer ladder by segment (who gets a discount, who never does)
- 03Send-time and frequency rules
- 04Campaign calendar for the next quarter
- You get: A strategy document your team can run without us.
Weeks 3–5
The core flows, written and designed for your brand.
Flows and templates
Welcome, browse and cart abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment, win-back and VIP — each with copy, design, timing and the split tests already planned.
- 01Copy and design per flow, on-brand
- 02Trigger, filter and timing logic checked against real orders
- 03Templates your team can reuse for campaigns
- 04SMS steps where they earn their place
- You get: Flows live, documented, with QA screenshots.
Week 6
Ramped sends, warmed domains, no spike.
Go-live without a deliverability hit
New flows go live in stages so engagement stays high and the sending reputation you have is protected. Campaigns start on the calendar from strategy.
- 01Staged rollout by segment
- 02Domain and IP warm-up if needed
- 03First campaigns on the new calendar
- 04Reporting dashboard set up
- You get: Everything running, with a baseline recorded.
Monthly
Subject lines, offers, timing and creative — one variable at a time.
A/B tests with a hypothesis
Every test has a written hypothesis and a minimum sample. Winners roll into the flows; losers are documented so nobody re-tests them.
- 01Subject line and preview text
- 02Offer type and depth by segment
- 03Send time and flow delays
- 04Design and layout variants
- You get: A test log with results and the next tests queued.
Monthly
One report: what each flow and campaign earned, and what changes next.
Revenue, not open rates
Attributed revenue by flow and campaign, list growth, repeat-purchase rate, email and SMS share of store revenue — and the plan for next month.
- 01Revenue by flow and campaign
- 02Repeat rate and LTV movement
- 03List and deliverability health
- 04Next month’s calendar and tests
- You get: A monthly report and a 30-minute review call.
Who this is for
Signs your store needs this now.
Six patterns we see in the audit. Two of them is a gap; four is a programme waiting to be built.
- 01
Consent
You are not sure your opt-ins would hold up
A pre-ticked box or a single “enter your number” field is not consent. Get this wrong and every text after it is a liability, not a channel.
- 02
Frequency
Unsubscribes climb after every send
SMS churn is unforgiving. If opt-outs spike with each campaign, the channel is being used for messages that belonged in email.
- 03
Attribution
You cannot say what SMS earned last month
Attentive and Klaviyo both attribute revenue per message. If the number is not in a report, SMS is a cost with a hopeful story attached.
- 04
Timing
Texts go out on the campaign clock, not the customer’s
A 9 p.m. Eastern send lands at 6 p.m. Pacific and inside quiet hours in some states. Time zones and state rules must be in the send logic, not in someone’s memory.
- 05
Overlap
Email and SMS say the same thing on the same day
Same offer, same copy, two channels — the customer reads it as spam. SMS should carry what email cannot: urgency and immediacy.
- 06
Support
Replies go nowhere
People reply to texts. If nobody reads the inbox, you are ignoring your most engaged customers at the exact moment they asked a question.
Engagement options
Pick the tier that fits.
Two retainers, the prices on the page, and a free audit that tells you which one you need — or that you need neither yet.
A 60-minute call with your account open: every flow, campaign and segment read, the gaps ranked by revenue, written up the same day.
Free60 minutes
No pitch deck · if we are not the right fit, we say so
- 60 minutes, on a call, with your account open
- A written summary of the gaps, ranked by revenue
- No pitch deck. If we are not the right fit, we say so
Tier 1 · per month
For brands doing $500K–$2M a year.
$3,500
Month to month after the first 90 days · everything below included
- Full flow stack: welcome, browse, cart, post-purchase, replenishment, win-back, VIP
- Monthly campaign calendar, written and designed
- Segmentation and list health management
- Deliverability monitoring
- Monthly revenue report and review call
Most scaling brands
Tier 2 · per month
For scaling brands at $2M+.
$5,500
Month to month after the first 90 days · everything below included
- Everything in Tier 1
- SMS strategy, consent capture and flows
- Structured A/B testing programme with a test log
- Quarterly lifecycle deep-dive and re-segmentation
- Loyalty and VIP programme design
- Priority turnaround on campaigns
Brands above $10M, multi-store groups and platform migrations are scoped individually after the audit.
Recent work
Email built for 150+ Shopify stores.
Flows and campaigns we wrote and designed. The results for these brands sit under NDA; the work is public.
All services
Also on this site: Petworld International, Myntgift, Matter of Monday — and 150+ Shopify stores whose results sit under NDA.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is SMS retention marketing?
SMS retention marketing uses text messages to bring existing customers back: restock and back-in-stock alerts, flash and early-access windows, delivery updates and time-critical win-back. It works because texts are read within minutes, which is also why it has to be used sparingly: every message needs a reason to interrupt someone's phone.
Is SMS marketing legal in the US?
Yes, with the right consent. Under the TCPA a brand needs express written consent before sending marketing texts, a clear way to opt out by replying STOP, sending outside quiet hours (8am to 9pm in the recipient's time zone under federal rules, stricter in some states) and a registered sender. We set up consent capture and send rules before the first campaign, because violations carry statutory damages per message.
Is SMS still worth it for retention?
For the right moments, yes. Texts are read far faster than email, so SMS earns its keep on restocks, limited windows and delivery updates. It stops working when it becomes a second newsletter, because opt-outs climb quickly. We keep it to two to four messages a month to engaged subscribers and report its revenue next to email so the comparison is honest.
Attentive or Klaviyo SMS?
Attentive when SMS is your primary retention channel and you want its capture tools and two-way features; Klaviyo SMS when you are already on Klaviyo and want one profile, one segment set and one report. The audit makes the call against your list and catalogue.
How many texts a month is safe?
For most brands, two to four a month to engaged subscribers, with VIPs and waitlists receiving more only when there is a reason. Opt-out rate per send is the number that tells you when to stop.
Can you fix consent we collected badly?
We can rebuild capture going forward and re-permission the existing list with a clear opt-in message. What we will not do is send marketing texts to numbers without documented consent.
Do you handle short codes, toll-free verification and carrier registration?
Yes — registration, verification and the compliance copy are part of the setup, and they are the usual reason a first campaign is delayed.
What is the difference between this and your email service?
Email carries the lifecycle: seven flows and a campaign calendar. SMS carries four moments inside that lifecycle. Most brands need email first and SMS on top; Tier 2 includes both.
How do you report SMS results?
Revenue per message, per flow and as a share of total revenue, plus opt-out rate per send and list growth — in the same monthly report as email.
What does SMS cost on top of email?
SMS strategy, consent capture and flows are included in Tier 2 at $5,500 a month. Carrier and platform message costs are billed by the platform, not by us.
Retention experts
Let's talk email, SMS and the repeat revenue you actually want.
We work on Klaviyo, Omnisend, Brevo and Attentive. Ready when you are: talk to the person who will run your account, not a sales rep.
Get in touch