Discover the impact SMS has on Nadine Merabi’s customer retention and bottom-line results.

When Nadine Merabi first adopted SMS marketing with Attentive in May 2024, their goals were clear—to grow an engaged list by providing subscribers with a premium experience and to drive conversions by creating timely, personalized, and compelling content. Ensuring compliance with US regulations was also a key priority in their broader strategy for international expansion. They are now live with Attentive in the UK and the US, focusing on delivering tailored messaging to each market.

Growing an engaged subscriber list with ease

Thanks to Attentive's patented two-tap mobile technology, one of the most significant advantages of using the platform was the ease with which Nadine Merabi could grow their subscriber list. By leveraging and testing different sign-up units—such as ‘tap to open’ envelopes, countdown timers, and question-based pre-engagement—their opt-in rate went from 0.6% to 1.7%, reaching over 25,000 new UK and US subscribers in six months.

Their Two-Way Welcome Journey, which asked about subscribers' interests, helped them to understand customer preferences and behaviors, achieving a 14% CTR. It revealed a notable interest in bridal collections, inspiring and leading to the launch of a dedicated bridal campaign. As their subscriber base grows, the brand gains valuable insights into what resonates with their customers, helping them refine their SMS strategy.

“The more data and insights you gather, the better you understand your audience and refine your strategy. If SMS is a new channel, focus on building your subscriber base and growing detailed audience profiles. The more you learn, the stronger your results will be.”
- Samantha McCreight, Senior Acquisition Manager, Nadine Merabi

Targeting high-intent customers for greater engagement and conversions

In addition to using text messaging to learn about customers and for mass campaigns, Nadine Merabi uses segmentation strategies based on pages viewed, purchase history, and engagement with previous SMS campaigns. This approach, integrated with their CRM platform, Bloomreach, allows them to target high-intent subscribers and optimize spend. 

Further reduction campaigns targeted subscribers who had viewed or added specific products to their cart but not purchased in the last 60 days. This resulted in a 22% CTR and 8% CVR for the Maisy and Abigail collection and an 18% CTR and 11% CVR for the Vanessa and Davina collection. 

The Bouclé restock campaign reached subscribers who had visited the ‘new-in’ section in the past 90 days and clicked a text in the past 45 days. It achieved an impressive 15% CTR and a 5% CVR.

Nadine Merabi has also seen impressive results from implementing more advanced SMS journeys—such as price drop, low stock, and checkout abandonment—which saw some of the highest click-through rates. The price drop journey notably delivered a 76x ROI and a 24% CTR. Low stock updates also achieved a 15% CTR, and checkout abandonment messages saw a 21% CTR. Thanks to a seamless Shopify integration, Nadine Merabi activated high-performing journeys that enhanced engagement and drove conversions.

“Advanced journeys, like price drop and low stock alerts, have become crucial tools for us, especially during peak periods like Black Friday and sales events. These journeys created a strong sense of urgency among our customers, driving remarkable results.”
- Samantha McCreight, Senior Acquisition Manager, Nadine Merabi

Building a VIP SMS channel for early access and insider news

Their strategy extends to treating SMS as a VIP channel for their most loyal customers. By offering early access to new launches and sales notifications, Nadine Merabi positions SMS as an exclusive channel where subscribers receive ‘insider news’ about the brand.

When the ‘At Midnight’ collection was launched early for loyalty members, it saw a 26% CTR and a 10% CVR. By offering exclusive access and tailored content, Nadine Merabi created a sense of urgency and value among their most loyal subscribers, cementing SMS as a key driver of engagement and revenue.

The brand also offered VIP loyalty members 30-minute early access to their winter sale, with spend-based loyalty tiers—Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum—defining the message. This campaign resulted in an 18% CTR and an 8% CVR, compared to an already strong 12% CTR and 4% CVR for all engaged subscribers. It demonstrated the effectiveness of prioritizing personalized targeting for your most loyal customers.

Another of the brand’s most successful campaigns was the Black Friday sale launch, where loyalty members were given access an hour before all other subscribers. This tailored approach resulted in a 33% CTR and a 24% CVR, outpacing the CTR and CVR of their general subscriber announcements.

Leveraging AI Pro to optimize timing and targeting

In November 2024, Nadine Merabi began trialing AI Pro, which resulted in a 21% revenue uplift. Using Identity AI to enhance customer profiles with insights from sign-up data and past interactions, the brand successfully identified and engaged its most valuable subscribers, leading to a 13% revenue boost and over 7,000 incremental sends. Audiences AI further refined their targeting by identifying likely buyers and excluding less-engaged users, resulting in a 32% revenue uplift and 30,000 additional sends. The combination of optimized targeting and send times significantly increased overall revenue.

Unparalleled ROI from SMS marketing

Nadine Merabi’s partnership with Attentive has transformed their SMS marketing strategy.  With the help of advanced segmentation, personalized messaging, and AI-driven insights, the brand achieved a remarkable 77x ROI across the entire SMS program, with campaigns seeing 16x ROI and journeys reaching 127x. Their conversational welcome journey, which achieved a 330x ROI, and standard welcome journey, which achieved 261x ROI, have successfully engaged new subscribers and driven conversions from the start.

SMS outperforms other channels

Compared to other marketing channels, SMS has been one of Nadine Merabi's top performers for ROI. There was a week when SMS revenue surpassed email, despite the email database being three to four times larger, demonstrating SMS as an impactful, highly-engaged, and non-cannibalizing addition to their marketing mix.

“Recently, we observed that SMS outperformed our email campaigns on a weekly basis. While our email database is three to four times larger than our SMS database, SMS still drives more revenue.”
- Samantha McCreight, Senior Acquisition Manager, Nadine Merabi

SMS as a driver of customer lifetime value

SMS has also become a key driver of customer lifetime value. Over the past year, 19% of subscribers have made two or more purchases, while 11% have made three or more. SMS has proven to be a powerful channel for retaining and nurturing customers, driving repeat purchases, and solidifying long-term relationships.

The future of SMS for Nadine Merabi

Looking ahead, Nadine Merabi are excited about the future of SMS marketing. The brand has already adopted AI Pro and are exploring RCS (Rich Communication Services) as a new, interactive way to engage their audience, with plans for international expansion and deeper integration within their loyalty program.