There are many ways to send Shopify out of stock notifications. You can send it via email, SMS, push notification, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc. And each of these will have to be created and crafted differently.However, no matter the channel that you use, some of the elements in your restock notification will be common to all your alerts.We’ve done the hard work for you and put together what it is that your Shopify out of stock notification should be like. So here goes…

What should your Shopify back in stock alert have in it?

But first, what is your goal?

To run a successful back in stock campaign, you should know your end goal for the campaign. For a back in stock campaign, it would be conversions or at times, to bring customers to your website. Ask any marketer and they would say the key to any marketing campaign or messaging is to decide exactly what you are trying to achieve through your efforts.What do you want the subscriber to do when they receive your back in stock email, text or web push notification? Once you know this, you can focus on crafting the right message, whatever the format or channel. Your end goal will decide the elements of your restock notification template.

Subject line

Why will the customer open that email, whatsapp message, messenger, etc. Imagine this: your subscribers are in the middle of a meeting, at lunch, at work, or busy doing something. In between, they receive an email from your store. Why should they leave what they’re doing and open your email?This is why good subject lines are extremely important. Now there can’t be a set formula for good subject lines and so you’ll have to find what works best for your customers based on your brand’s tone of voice.47% of people open emails based on the subject line. And 68% of people decide if the email should go to spam simply based on the subject line. That’s worrying, isn’t it?That’s why make your subject line work. Here are some tips for back in stock alert subject lines:

• Keep it short
• Use trigger words
• Be clear
• Use numbers
• A/B test different subject lines

Copy

Once your subscriber clicks open your restock email, SMS, Messenger or WhatsApp message, it’s time to engage them with your copy. Your restock alert template copy must include a headline, a body and an end. Copy is one of the most important elements of any brand messaging; especially, in the earlier stages of the customers’ lifecycle. If your subscribers are engaging with you for the first time, this is your chance to make an impact on them. Some good practices for your copy:

• Keep it short
• Make sure your message is clear
• Hyperlink to key words to bring subscribers back to your website
• Personalize your copy based on segmentation
• Use simple language. Avoid technical words
• Talk about how the product will benefit, not its features

Visual and multimedia elements

We remember what we see more than what we read. And let’s face the truth – an image with a GIF is visually more appealing than a plain text email. An SMS with emojis is more exciting than one with just text. When it comes to Shopify out of stock notifications, you don’t really need to break your head about which image you should use because you’ll be using an image of the product that’s back in stock.Okay that’s one option. But there are other ways you can utilize the opportunity to share a visual element. Here are some ideas for your restock notification template:

• Share a user-generated image of a customer using the product
• Share a video review of a customer
• Show a product video

Call-to-action (CTA)

When you send a back in stock alert to the subscribers via email, SMS, Messenger or push notifications, what do you want them to do? To click the ‘Yes, I want’ and ‘Add to Cart’ buttons, right? The CTA button is one of the most important elements of any restock alert. It is connected directly to your goal for the campaign.

• Focus on one action that you want subscribers to take
• The CTA should have a button or a link so that it’s prominent
• Don’t keep the CTA last – all readers might not scroll down till the end
• Use action words and a friendly tone
• Include multiple CTA buttons if the message is long

Here’s an example of how Whirlpool increased clicks on their email by 42% by reducing the CTA from four to one.

Image/visual

Marketing content with visuals elements in it gets 94% more total views. Studies revealed that 22% of products are returned because customers thought it would look different. Adding images to your restock notification templates has many more benefits - it is visually appealing, looks attractive, and can help give a better idea about the product to the subscriber.Here are some tips to make visuals a part of your restock notification template:

• Include eye-catching images
• Format images to suit the channel on which you’re sending the alert
• Add just one of two images. Too many images might distract attention from the CTA
• Don’t limit yourself to using only still images. Think GIFs, videos, 3D videos
• If there’s no need for an visual element, don’t force it

Product information

It’s possible that there was a considerable amount of time gap between the time the shopper subscribed to be notified and when the item got restocked. Your subscribers might have forgotten the details of the product. So how about you make it a part of your restock alert template?Here’s how you can do this:

• If you’re sending a restock notification via email, Messenger or WhatsApp, you’ll have ample space to make the product details/description a part of the message. But if you’re sending an SMS, push notification, or a short email, you won’t have enough space. So, you can add a link saying ‘Know more about the product’
• Share the product details graphically or through icons
• Share a product video link or embed the video in the message

Incentives

75% of digital marketers believe that offering incentives is one of the best tactics to drive results from marketing campaigns. Words like ‘free’, ‘buy 1 get 1’, etc. generate higher engagement.But discounts are the only type of incentives that you can offer. To drive your restock notification subscribers to make purchases, you can offer other incentives, too. Here are some that you could consider:

• Offer reward points if they purchase the restocked item
• Offer free shipping or same-day shipping of the item
• A free gift with the purchase
• A discount on their next purchase
• Personalize incentives to improve conversion rate
• Offer a voucher in return
• Money-back guarantee

Follow up alerts

People receive hundreds of messages from different brands. And it’s possible that your subscriber missed out opening your restock alert SMS, email, Messenger, or push notification.In such a situation, if you don’t make an effort to send a reminder, the loss is yours. That’s why you need follow up alerts to your restock notifications.You can create a sequence of messages, such as below:

• The subscriber receives the first restock alert
• They miss it. It remains unopened
• You should send the second restock alert
• This time the subscriber opens it, but doesn’t click on the CTA
• You should send a third notification, with a revised CTA or an incentive
• The subscriber receives it, opens it, clicks on new CTA
• The subscriber reaches your product page, buys the product at a discounted rate
• A win-win for both!

Lastly, monitoring, analyzing, A/B testing

As with every type of marketing campaign, analytics plays a key role in making sure your efforts pay off. By monitoring and analyzing your Shopify back in stock notification campaign performance, you can look for trends and gaps.Then, make changes to fill those gaps and optimize on trends. For example, if you’re running a restock SMS campaign, you can check the most popular time when subscribers are more likely to open.Similarly, if it’s a two-way SMS campaign, analyze what are the common questions people are asking. Perhaps you should have provided them that information in the text message or through a link.One of the tried and tested practices that digital marketers swear by is A/B testing. You might have a high open rate but your conversions might be as good as none. Then what’s the point of sending that text message or email. Right?That’s why you need A/B testing. You can try out different copies, images, CTA buttons and incentives to see which works better. This way, you can improve your restock campaigns and the success rate.

Final thoughts

With so many options and ideas to drive your restock alert subscribers back to your site, you shouldn’t ignore your back in stock campaigns. Once you’ve put your restock alert template in place, Appikon will help you with your campaign automation. So all you need to do is sit back and relax. Or better still, focus on other strategic matters for your Shopify store.