How Emma – The Sleep Company Grew Their CRM Global Revenue by 19% With SMS

Seeking a complementary channel to drive growth and personalization

As a global D2C company operating in over 30 markets, Emma Sleep was looking for a  marketing channel that could impact their bottom line. They identified SMS as a revenue-generating channel—with a proven track record of delivering higher open and click-through rates—that could also complement their email marketing strategy. 

Emma Sleep wanted to launch SMS while maintaining a personalized customer experience across the different markets they operate in. They also wanted to align their email and SMS strategies from the get-go. 

Finally, Emma Sleep needed an integration-ready solution that could seamlessly work with their email service provider, Ometria.

Building an SMS strategy for every market with Attentive 

Attentive’s industry-leading SMS capabilities and integration with Ometria made it an ideal choice for the sleep company. 

From the outset, Emma Sleep’s marketing team partnered with Attentive’s Client Strategy team to build an SMS strategy that would resonate with consumers across markets. They leaned on their culture of testing and learning—an approach that Attentive recommends all new customers take in the early stages of their program. 

"Our Attentive team was an incredible resource as we launched and scaled our program. They encouraged us to test and adapt as we grew, understanding the unique opportunities and challenges of our brand and our customers."
- Danilo Dos Santos Mota, Junior Marketing Manager

Testing (and learning) to see what works, where

Emma Sleep knew tailoring their messaging to fit the preferences of their customers in different countries was key, so they adjusted their strategy accordingly. In some of their markets (like LATAM), shoppers are heavily driven by discounts, while in others (like Australia and North America), shoppers prefer  SMS over email marketing. Additionally, Emma Sleep found that combining educational content with promotions generates higher engagement in certain regions.

To further tailor their approach, Emma Sleep used Attentive’s AI-powered copy assistant to draft text messages that ultimately drove higher revenue. The team conducted A/B tests comparing AI-generated copy with in-house copy, and the results showed a significant lift in performance when using AI-generated copy. Specifically, they saw a 3+% increase in click-through rates, a 26+% increase in conversion rates, and 20+% increase in revenue when comparing the two. 

Not only did the AI-generated messages increase engagement, but they also saved valuable time by streamlining Emma Sleep’s campaign creation workflow. With Attentive AI™ taking on their copywriting tasks, Emma Sleep could redirect those hours towards expanding and optimizing their marketing programs. 

"Our biggest surprise in launching SMS so far has been the results of our A/B test with Attentive’s AI copy assistant. This is an area we want to explore and test more as it can save our team a lot of time in producing campaigns, while also improving their efficacy."
- Danilo Dos Santos Mota, Junior Marketing Manager 

The team also took a test-and-learn approach to adjusting their message frequency, based on the preferences of their customers in different countries. They send two to four SMS messages per week in some markets, while only sending one per week in others. The goal is to strike a balance between generating sales and maintaining a healthy unsubscribe rate for long-term customer retention.

Increasing conversions with triggered journeys

While Emma Sleep sells many sleep products, the star is their mattress. Buying a mattress is a high-consideration purchase process—consumers research multiple brands and, generally, only buy one once every five years or so. 

Emma Sleep leverages triggered SMS journeys to keep their brand top of mind with high-intent consumers in the middle of the marketing funnel. They set up browse and cart abandonment journeys in Attentive's platform that consider the specific products or categories shoppers have shown an interest in. 

Plus, they have triggered post-purchase messages that use shopping behavior data to recommend items that align with subscribers' preferences, so they're more likely to make a follow-up purchase. 

The results of these journeys have been impressive, with some messages achieving a 20+% click-through rate in certain markets, and conversion rates exceeding 90%. 

Bringing SMS and email together ​​to create a cohesive brand experience

By using a platform like Attentive that has flexible integrations, Emma Sleep could seamlessly coordinate between their email and SMS marketing programs from the start. This allowed the brand to not only deliver an improved customer experience, but also drive more email opt-ins.

The brand launched SMS with Attentive’s top-performing full-screen sign-up unit, which appeared on the first page view, collecting email addresses and phone numbers at the same time. The pop-up significantly increased Emma Sleep’s  subscriber growth rate by anywhere from 50-100%, depending on the market, and doubled the size of their email list. 

In addition to being a standalone revenue-driver, SMS often serves as a "last call" or “last chance” reminder for time-sensitive messages, especially if someone isn’t converting via email. But Emma Sleep has found that sending campaigns to both channels simultaneously can drive an increase in performance. They aim to deliver a cohesive and personalized experience to their email and SMS subscribers, including coordinating their triggered journeys across the two channels.

 “There’s a perception that customers see both messages on email and SMS, which could lead to fatigue. But, in reality, most customers are distracted and they need multiple messages across channels to convert.”
- Danilo Dos Santos Mota, Junior Marketing Manager 

While text messages are significantly shorter than emails, Emma Sleep maintains a consistent tone and style whether they’re working with 160 characters or a longer format. When creating promotional or festive content, they make sure that both channels receive the same promotions. Similarly, for non-sales-driven content, like their Mother's Day campaign, Emma Sleep created a sentimental and personal message that resonated with both their SMS and email audiences alike. 

Achieving a notable impact on revenue across markets 

The introduction of SMS into their marketing tech stack—and the channel’s effective coordination with email—contributed to a notable increase in CRM revenue for Emma Sleep. (Note: CRM revenue is defined here as revenue from ​​email, SMS, WhatsApp, and referral programs.) 

In 2022, despite not having programs live in all countries, SMS accounted for a 19% increase in global CRM revenue. In 2023, after launching SMS in more markets, Emma Sleep saw an additional 13% growth in CRM revenue. 

Currently, Emma Sleep has Attentive SMS programs in ten markets. The channel now represents 28% of CRM revenue in countries where it’s implemented—with some of those countries having up to five or six channels actively driving CRM. 

"As a high growth brand, it was critical for us to find a partner who delivered results and offered a superior product that would scale into the future. Attentive’s integration with our tech stack and focus on SMS innovation led us to choose them as our global partner, giving us international reach and regional expertise—the best of both worlds."
- Danilo Dos Santos Mota, Junior Marketing Manager 

Emma Sleep has seen other benefits from using SMS, beyond the significant boost in revenue. They’ve successfully repositioned themselves as a holistic sleep company with a wide range of products. Through the combined power of email and SMS, they've been able to establish and reinforce this perception.  

Next up, Emma Sleep plans to continue using SMS as a retention channel, keeping customers engaged until their next purchase, even if that purchase is several years away. They'll also continue to experiment with Attentive AI and to embrace their testing and learning culture to drive the best results across channels.