SMS: The Most Effective Re-Marketing Channel for DTC Fashion & Beauty
In 2009, I was working at an SMS marketing company called Txtlocal. Back then, texting customers felt almost antiquated – after all, the iPhone was new and everyone was buzzing about email and social media. Yet I vividly recall how one “outdated” channel consistently reactivated lapsed customers better than anything else: plain old SMS. Even as a junior marketer, I was stunned to see dormant buyers flock back after a simple text blast. It was the first clue that SMS, despite being a 1990s technology, had a re-marketing power that trendier channels couldn’t match. Fast-forward to today, and that lesson holds true: SMS remains arguably the most effective way to re-engage existing customers (with their permission, of course). Below, I’ll explain why – focusing on opted-in customers in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) fashion and beauty space, not spam or cold texting – and back it up with both real-world data and case studies old and new.
Brevity Breeds Clarity and Action
One key advantage of SMS is its forced brevity. With only 160 characters (give or take) to play with, brands can’t waffle – they must sharpen their message and stick to a single, clear call-to-action. This might sound like a limitation, but in practice it’s a strength. Marketers have long noticed that the inherent shortness of SMS compels concise, compelling messaging. There’s no room for lengthy story-telling or extraneous fluff, so the value prop and CTA (e.g. “Shop Now for 20% Off”) hit the customer immediately. Consumers, too, appreciate a message that gets straight to the point. They don’t have to scroll or sift through a multi-page email or a busy ad; in a few seconds, they know exactly what the offer is and what to do next. In a world of endless content, a short, tight text can cut through the fog and prompt instant action. In my Txtlocal days, we often saw SMS out-convert emails for this very reason – a text saying “We miss you! Reply YES for a special 30% off your next purchase.” drove quick responses, whereas a verbose email might sit unread. SMS’s “tweet-length” format enforces discipline on brands, resulting in higher-impact outreach by default
A Premium, Uncrowded Channel (Thanks to Steady Costs)
Another underrated reason SMS works so well for re-marketing is that it’s a relatively uncrowded channel. Think about your own inbox versus your text messages: How many marketing emails do you get in a day? Now how many marketing texts do you get? For most people, the difference is stark. SMS is far less saturated with promotions than email. Why? One big factor is cost. Unlike email (essentially free to send in bulk), SMS still costs money – often just a few cents per message – and that cost has barely budged in 20 years. In the early 2000s, brands paid a few pennies per text, and today they still do. Because SMS comes at a price, marketers treat it as a premium resource rather than something to blast recklessly. In practical terms, that means companies send texts only when they have a compelling reason (a great offer, an important update), not daily “spam.” This restraint keeps consumers’ text inboxes manageable and trustworthy. SMS remains a less crowded channel for promotional content – the average person might get a handful of brand texts a week, versus dozens of emails per day. That gives your message a far better chance of standing out. When a customer hears that ding of an incoming text, they aren’t thinking “Ugh, another promo to ignore” (as they might with yet another marketing email); instead, it’s unusual enough to merit attention. In short, the enduring cost and intentionality of SMS have preserved it as a high-signal, low-noise medium. The brands who do utilize it reap the benefits of being one of only a few texts a customer sees – a scarcity that drives higher engagement.
Ubiquitous Reach on Every Device
Importantly, SMS’s power isn’t limited by technology or demographics. Every mobile phone supports SMS, on any carrier, with no special app or data plan required. This universality is a big deal for re-marketing. Whether your customer is using a basic flip phone or the latest smartphone, whether they’re seventeenth-generation Gen Z or a retiree, you know a text will reach them. In contrast, other channels always leave someone out – emails might go to spam or be ignored by those who aren’t glued to their inbox, push notifications only reach people who installed your app, and app-based messengers (WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.) require the user to be on that platform. SMS suffers none of these limitations. It’s as close to a guaranteed delivery as you can get in marketing: the message goes straight into the default texting app that every phone has. Moreover, SMS doesn’t even need an internet connection. If the phone has a signal, your re-engagement text gets through, whether the recipient is on 5G, Wi-Fi, or just a basic GSM network. This makes SMS ideal for time-sensitive re-marketing campaigns (“Sale ends tonight!”) because you can reach customers wherever they are, in real time. In the U.K. and U.S. today, smartphones are ubiquitous – but even if someone silences email notifications or isn’t on social media, they’re almost certain to see a text. SMS’s wide reach and accessibility as a universal tool for reaching customers is a major reason brands continue to rely on it for driving engagement and sales.
Off-the-Charts Engagement (and Higher Customer LTV)
None of the above would matter if customers didn’t actually respond to text messages – but they do, in spectacular fashion. It’s often said that SMS has a 98% open rate, compared to maybe ~20% for marketing emails. That statistic has held up year after year, and recent research confirms it. When nearly all your messages are opened, that alone is gold for re-marketing: it means your dormant customers are at least seeing your offer. But SMS goes further – people don’t just eventually open texts, they read them almost instantly. Around 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes of delivery. This immediacy blows away other channels; for example, an email might sit unopened for hours or days, if opened at all. With SMS, you can literally watch the clicks and responses roll in minutes after hitting “send.” It’s a direct line to your customer’s attention. The engagement rates reflect this directness: SMS response rates can reach 45%, vastly higher than the ~8% response rate typical for email. In other words, nearly half of recipients might take the desired action (click, reply, buy) from a text, whereas email might only prompt a small single-digit percentage. This isn’t just theory – it shows up in business performance. Customers who engage via SMS often become more valuable in the long run. In fact, one industry analysis found that the lifetime value of customers subscribed to SMS is about 3× higher than those reached through other channels. Part of that is because your best customers are the ones who opt into texts – they want that VIP connection – and part is because SMS keeps them more engaged over time. Either way, the data is clear that an opted-in SMS subscriber base is a revenue engine. These fans tend to purchase more frequently and stick around longer, boosting metrics like repeat purchase rate and LTV. For example, a survey by Attentive showed 54% of consumers have made purchases from text messages, and many of them do so quickly – 42% of shoppers make a purchase within hours of receiving a brand’s text. When you combine sky-high open rates with near-instant read times and strong conversion, it’s no wonder SMS re-marketing produces results that other channels envy.
Real-World Results: From Early 2000s to Today’s DTC Leaders
To truly appreciate SMS’s effectiveness, consider some real-world campaign results – both from the early days of SMS marketing and from cutting-edge DTC brands today. Going back about a decade and a half, one oft-cited example is Seattle Sun Tan, a regional retail chain that embraced SMS early. Starting essentially from zero, they promoted their text club in stores and online and amassed ~4,700 subscribers in the first month. When they sent out an initial SMS offer ($20 off next purchase), a whopping 57% of those customers redeemed it, generating about $196,000 in sales. Even more impressive, the data showed that customers who received the text and came back ended up spending $500 more on average than those who weren’t on the SMS list. These are insane figures that email or Facebook campaigns of that era simply couldn’t touch. It proved that even in the 2000s, a well-timed text to existing customers could massively boost reactivation and revenue.
Fast forward to 2023-2024, and the stakes and scale are even higher – especially in the hyper-competitive world of DTC fashion and beauty. Brands on both sides of the Atlantic are now leaning hard into SMS for retention marketing, and seeing significant payoffs. A recent benchmark report focusing on retail fashion/beauty found that beauty shoppers are twice as likely to convert after receiving an SMS cart-abandonment message (versus those who didn’t get a text). Even more striking, they are 2.6× more likely to convert after getting an SMS price-drop alert about an item they were eyeing. In other words, texting has a dramatic effect on purchase behavior for lapsed shoppers – it can literally double or triple the likelihood of winning them back. Real-life case studies echo this. In the UK, for example, skincare brand The INKEY List launched an SMS program in 2024 and saw an astonishing 26× ROI almost immediately. Because their audience is mobile-first, a well-crafted text strategy (with personalized offers and product drops) translated into a surge of revenue that far exceeded the investment. Across my conversations with marketers, I hear similar stories: a fashion apparel site offers a small SMS sign-up incentive and gains tens of thousands of subscribers within weeks (golf apparel brand Linksoul gathered 20,000 SMS subscribers in just a few weeks by offering 15% off – mostly returning customers who wanted to stay in the loop). Those subscribers go on to drive outsized sales during promotions. Or a beauty box company sets up automated re-engagement texts – e.g. a “We Miss You” message with a discount if you haven’t purchased in 3 months – and sees a big chunk of dormant customers come back to buy. These outcomes aren’t flukes; they’re repeatable results observed across the industry. In fact, retailers are ramping up their use of SMS for re-marketing in a big way: one 2025 retail study noted that while email send volumes grew ~43% year-over-year, SMS send volumes grew 93% – driven largely by brands re-engaging dormant customers (+163% SMS volume to lapsed segments). That explosion in SMS outreach is happening because it works.
Conclusion: The “Old” Channel That Keeps on Giving
It’s ironic – what was once viewed as an outdated medium is now the secret sauce for many modern DTC brands’ customer retention strategies. My 2009 self could never have predicted that in 2025 I’d still be singing SMS’s praises, but here we are. The evidence is overwhelming that if you have a list of customers who want to hear from you, texting is the most direct and effective way to win them back. Its brevity forces you to be clear, its cost keeps it honest and uncrowded, its reach is universal, and its engagement is unparalleled. And as we’ve seen from both early 2000s pioneers and today’s digital-native brands, SMS re-marketing drives real-world performance – from higher repeat sales to significantly greater customer lifetime value.
Of course, this doesn’t mean abandon your emails or social media ads. The best re-marketing strategies are integrated. But if you’re not already leveraging SMS as the tip of the spear for reactivation, you’re likely leaving money on the table. Opted-in customers have given you privileged access to the most personal real estate there is – their messaging app – and they tend to reward that trust with attention and loyalty. In my opinion, SMS isn’t just still relevant; it’s essential. The next time someone calls texting old-school, just smile and check the latest campaign stats. The numbers speak loud and clear: SMS is the re-marketing channel that delivers, whether it’s 2009 or 2024. Your customers’ thumbs are waiting – time to hit “send” and re-engage them.
Sources:
Emarsys Mobile Marketing Blog – “20+ SMS Marketing Statistics to Know in 2025”
BuzzBip Marketing – “SMS vs. Email: The Battle for Efficiency in Customer Engagement”
Retainly – “Email and SMS: Your Marketing Power Couple”
SureM (International SMS Provider) – “Why Businesses Use SMS Marketing”
Ozeki SMS Gateway – “SMS Marketing Statistics 2024”
Voyage SMS – “SMS and Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)”
Attentive (UK consumer survey) – “50% of UK Consumers Make Unplanned Purchases via SMS”
eMarketer – “Beauty buyers take action on texts” (Mar 21, 2025)
Business Wire – Attentive press release (Apr 2024)
Semaphore (Seattle Sun Tan case study via Tatango)
Klaviyo – Linksoul SMS case (via Klaviyo blog)
Listrak 2025 Benchmark Report (press release)