SMS, email or notification: which channel to send your customer offers?
You have an offer to announce, a slot to fill, a new product to try. But the message still has to be read. Each channel has its strengths, costs and rules.
SMS
Strengths: widely read, works on all phones.
Limits: paid per message, short text, no images in a standard SMS, and seen as intrusive if too frequent. The customer's prior consent is mandatory for marketing.
The email
Strengths: cheap, allows long content and images.
Limits: often buried in the inbox or filed under promotions. Good for a monthly newsletter, less so for a “tonight only” offer.
The push notification
Strengths: lands directly on the phone screen, can include an image, costs nothing to send. Ideal for immediate offers (off-peak hours, new arrivals, last batch).
Limits: the customer must have accepted it. On iPhone, it works when the card or web app is added to the home screen (iOS 16.4 and later).
Common rules (GDPR)
- Customer consent before any marketing message.
- Easy unsubscribe in every message.
- No more than one or two messages a week, or unsubscribes will skyrocket.
Our recommendation
For a local shop, the most effective combination is often: notifications for daily offers and reminders, email for a monthly newsletter, and SMS kept for important occasions (holidays, events).