Hey it’s Idris from Retentiononly.
One of our clients generated an additional $1.5M in revenue from SMS.
In this email, I wanna tell you how we did it for him.
Not because of a fancy setup.
Not because of a secret hack.
Not because they spammed their list.
It came from a simple SMS system executed consistently week after week.
After running SMS alongside email for dozens of ecommerce brands, here is what actually moves the needle.
There are only three levers that matter:
• List growth
• Campaign execution
• Smart use of SMS inside flows
If you get these right, SMS becomes a high-ROI channel instead of a money pit.
If you prefer to consume this content visually, you can watch the full YouTube breakdown here:
https://youtu.be/g6bkupcm9NA
Here is the actionable breakdown.
Why SMS matters in the first place
SMS cuts through noise
During Black Friday, Cyber Monday or Prime Day, inboxes are flooded. Emails get buried.
SMS gets seen.You still reach people who unsubscribed from email
If they opted into SMS, you still have direct access. Most brands lose these people completely.People consume messages differently
Some check email. Some live in iMessage.
If you only have email, you miss part of your audience. If you have both, you win.
How to grow your SMS list fast
Use a two-step signup
Do not ask for email and phone in one step.
Step 1: Offer the incentive
Step 2: Ask for email
Step 3: Ask for phone number
This removes friction and massively increases opt-ins.
Incentivize SMS harder than email
We tested 10% vs 12% for SMS opt-in.
Submit rates were similar.
But SMS subscribers quadrupled with 12%.
Small incentive difference. Massive outcome.
Run a dedicated SMS-only popup
Show it only to people who already gave you their email but not their number.
Ask for one thing only: the phone number.
One client generated $29,000 and collected 776 numbers in 30 days with this alone.
How to run SMS campaigns that actually convert
Never send email and SMS at the same time
Email is free. SMS costs money.
Send email first.
Send SMS 4–8 hours later, preferably in the evening.
Before sending SMS, exclude everyone who already purchased.
This alone saves thousands in wasted SMS costs.
Never mention discount codes in SMS
People cannot copy a single word from SMS. Only the full message.
Instead, use auto-apply links.
Here is a great example
Say:
“Click the link to apply your discount.”
This removes friction and increases conversion.
One campaign using this approach hit a 36% click-to-purchase rate and generated $23,500.
Where SMS actually belongs in flows
Because SMS costs money, be selective.
SMS makes sense in:
• Welcome flow
• Abandoned cart
• Abandoned checkout
• Post-purchase and upsell flows
• Winback flows
Avoid SMS for low-value or purely informational flows like shipping updates unless there is a clear ROI.
Every SMS you send should be profitable after costs.
The bottom line
SMS works when:
• You grow the list intentionally
• You time campaigns correctly
• You only use SMS where it makes money
Do this and SMS becomes a revenue lever, not an expense.
If you prefer to consume this content visually, here’s the full YouTube video again:
https://youtu.be/g6bkupcm9NA
Cheers,
Idris
P.S.
If you run an ecommerce brand doing at least $100k/mo USD and you want have to have a free audit to uncover problems and hidden opportunities to generate more revenue and profits with email marketing, book a call here »