As more and more people shop online using their phones, merchants often have to decide where to put their retention efforts. Email marketing has been the clear winner in terms of ROI for years. But SMS marketing has become very popular, with open rates that email can only dream of. It's not always clear which one is "better." Instead, you should think about how to use the strengths of each channel to make a complete plan. We think that the magic happens when these two channels work together instead of fighting for attention at The SaaS Hub. 

 Email marketing is the long-form story of your brand. It lets you include lots of pictures, detailed product descriptions, and educational material. Email is the best way to tell the story behind the design, materials, and inspiration when you launch a new collection. It doesn't bother people; they can leave an email in their inbox for days before opening it. This is great for newsletters, building a brand, and "warm-up" sequences. Email is also cheap. Sending thousands of emails is much cheaper than sending thousands of text messages. 

 SMS marketing, on the other hand, is the best at making people act right away. Most people open text messages within three minutes of getting them. Because of this immediacy, it's the best way to send time-sensitive offers. SMS is great for flash sales, "low stock" alerts, and delivery updates. If you're having a sale that lasts all day, an email might not be read until the sale is over, but a text message will probably be read right away. But with this power comes responsibility. SMS is a private way to talk. You are buzzing someone's wallet or purse. The quickest way to get an unsubscribe is to use it too much. The SaaS Hub says that with SMS, "less is more" means only sending it for your most important or urgent messages. 

 Modern Shopify strategies work best when you combine the two. For example, think about an abandoned cart flow. You can use email to "nurture" and SMS to "close." You could send an email with a picture of the product and a gentle reminder one hour after they left it behind. If they still haven't bought anything after 24 hours, you could send them a text message with a discount code that changes over time to make them feel like they need to act quickly. This method with multiple points of contact gets customers who prefer different ways of communicating. 

 Compliance is a very important difference between these channels. Email laws, such as CAN-SPAM, are strict, but SMS laws, such as TCPA in the US, are even stricter. You can't just take a phone number from a shipping address form and start texting a customer. You need to get their written permission first. Breaking SMS laws can lead to serious consequences. That's why it's important to use trusted apps from The SaaS Hub marketplace. They have built-in compliance features that make sure you're getting permission legally, like "checkbox" options at checkout and double opt-in confirmations. 

 Another thing to think about is cost. Email usually costs a flat fee each month based on the size of the list, while SMS usually costs per message. This means that you need to be more careful about who you text. You wouldn't send a generic blog update to everyone on your SMS list. You would break up your list so that only your most active VIPs, who are sure to click, get that text. Email lets you use broader, "spray and pray" strategies (though segmentation is still better), while SMS requires accuracy to keep a good ROI.