I've been asked about SMS marketing a lot recently.
It tends to come up in two ways. Either someone has seen a brand doing it and is wondering if they should too, or someone has had a text from a business that felt a bit spammy and is wondering whether it's something they'd want to associate with their own brand.
Both are valid starting points. So today I want to give you a genuinely honest answer to the question: is SMS marketing actually worth it for a small product business?
The short answer is yes, but only when it's done right. And the good news is that doing it right is more straightforward than you might think.
What SMS marketing actually is (and what it isn't)
SMS marketing is simply sending text messages to customers who have opted in to hear from you. That last part is important: opted in. Just like your email list, your SMS list should only ever contain people who have actively said yes to receiving messages from you.
Done well, it's a direct, personal channel. Text messages tend to get opened quickly, often within minutes of being received. For time-sensitive messages, like a flash sale, a launch, or a low-stock alert, that speed is genuinely valuable.
Done badly, it feels intrusive. Nobody wants a text from a brand they'd forgotten they signed up to, flogging something they don't care about. The same principles that make email marketing work apply here: relevance, timing, and genuine value.
When SMS works brilliantly for product sellers
There are a few specific moments where SMS performs particularly well for small product businesses:
Launch announcements. If you're dropping a new collection or a limited run, a text to your most engaged customers gets the message in front of them fast. Email is brilliant, but texts get seen first.
Flash sales and limited-time offers. The time-sensitive nature of SMS is an advantage here. "24 hours only" lands differently as a text than as an email that might sit unread until tomorrow.
Abandoned cart nudges. Used in combination with an abandoned cart email, an SMS follow-up can recover sales that might otherwise be lost. Not for every cart, but for higher-value baskets it can make a real difference.
Back-in-stock alerts. If you've had something sell out (which is a lovely problem to have), letting interested customers know it's back via text is fast and effective.
Market and event reminders. If you sell at markets, fairs, or pop-ups, a quick text to local subscribers the morning of an event is a brilliant way to drive footfall.
Combining email and SMS
Here's something that doesn't get said enough: SMS works best alongside email, not instead of it.
Email is where you build the relationship. It's where you tell your story, share behind-the-scenes content, send your newsletters, and nurture people over time. It's longer, richer, and where most of the selling happens through automation.
SMS is the tap on the shoulder. It's for moments where speed matters, or where you want to reach someone who maybe isn't checking their inbox right now.
When the two work together in one platform, the effect compounds. You can build workflows that send an email first, then follow up with a text if someone hasn't opened it. Or you can segment your most engaged customers and reward them with early access via SMS. That kind of joined-up marketing is what moves people from occasional buyers to loyal fans.
This is one of the reasons I've been recommending Omnisend to product sellers. It handles both email and SMS in one place, which means your campaigns can talk to each other rather than operating in separate silos. Their SMS marketing features are built specifically for product businesses, and with SMS starting at $0.007 per message, it's genuinely accessible even for small lists.
What about the cost?
This is often the first question, and it's a fair one.
SMS marketing does cost money per message in a way that email largely doesn't once you're on a platform. But it's worth thinking about this in terms of return rather than just cost.
If a single text recovers one abandoned cart worth £40, and that text cost a fraction of a penny to send, the maths is very much in your favour. The key is using SMS selectively and strategically, not blasting your whole list with every message.
With Omnisend, SMS is built into the same platform as your email marketing, which means you're not paying separately for two tools. The free plan lets you get started, and paid plans give you significantly more sending capacity alongside all the automation features. Brands using Omnisend report earning $79 for every $1 spent across email and SMS combined. That's not a number to ignore.
What you need before you start
A few things worth having in place before you add SMS to your marketing mix:
A list of people who have opted in specifically for texts. You can't just text your email subscribers: they need to have consented to SMS separately. Adding an SMS opt-in to your sign-up forms is the most straightforward way to build this.
A clear sense of what you'll use it for. SMS works best when it has a purpose. Decide upfront whether you'll use it for launches, sales, cart recovery, or all three, so your subscribers know what to expect.
A platform that handles both channels together. Managing email and SMS in separate tools adds complexity and means your data doesn't sync properly. Having everything in one place, like Omnisend, makes it far more manageable.
The migration question
If you're already on an email platform and you're thinking about adding SMS, the obvious question is whether you need to switch tools entirely, or whether your current platform can handle it.
Many of the platforms that product sellers start out on either don't include SMS, charge extra for it, or offer a more limited version that doesn't integrate cleanly with email automations.
If that's where you are, it might be worth looking at moving everything to a platform designed to handle both from the start. And if the thought of migrating makes you want to close this tab immediately, here's the bit that might change your mind: Omnisend migrates all paid accounts for free, in 5 days.
Yup! For free! They have a team specifically set up to help move your automations, templates, and lists across. You do nothing except wait for the keys to your new setup, and after switching you could be paying up to 35% less than you were.
It removes the main reason most people put this decision off.
So, is it worth it?
Yes, if you approach it with intention.
SMS isn't a replacement for email, it's a complement to it. For product sellers with an engaged audience, it's a fast, direct channel that can recover sales, drive traffic to launches, and make your best customers feel genuinely looked after.
The barrier to getting started is lower than it's ever been, especially when email and SMS live in the same platform with a team ready to help you move across.
Start exploring Omnisend for free here.
This post was created as a paid partnership with Omnisend. All views are my own. Affiliate links are used, meaning I may earn a small commission if you sign up through my link, at no extra cost to you. I only ever recommend tools I genuinely believe in.
