Text Message Marketing Is The Key To Customer Loyalty For Hemp Brands

Hemp e-commerce retailers face unique challenges in building customer loyalty and maximizing lifetime value. Text messaging is an active, high-engagement channel that can transform your hemp or CBD marketing strategy – helping you increase customer retention, boost loyalty program participation, and ultimately increase customer value.

SMS marketing is more effective than email. Modern consumers practically live on their smartphones. Americans check their phones on average 96 times per day – roughly once every ten minutes. This always-on behavior means that text messages offer an unprecedented opportunity to engage customers. Unlike an unread email in an overflowing inbox, an SMS alerts your customer in real time – and it’s almost guaranteed to be seen. In fact, email open rates hover around 20%, compared to about 82–98% for text messages​. If you’re still relying solely on email for customer outreach, you’re missing a huge chance to connect with your hemp customers where they pay the most attention.

Adding to the urgency, hemp and CBD brands often can’t rely on traditional advertising channels due to legal and policy restrictions. That makes owned channels like email, and especially SMS, critical for reaching your audience. By leveraging text messaging – a channel that 58% of consumers themselves say is the most effective way for brands to communicate​– hemp e-commerce businesses can engage customers directly, on their terms. 

Below, we break down how SMS marketing outshines email in activity and engagement, and how you can harness texting to build stronger loyalty programs for your hemp e-commerce store. We’ll also cover why Dispojoy’s no-retainer, per-campaign approach to hemp e-commerce text message marketing is a smart investment for growing your customer value. Let’s dive in.

SMS vs. Email: Why Texting Is a More Active (and Effective) Channel

Email marketing has long been a staple for e-commerce, but it’s increasingly becoming a passive medium – people might skim or ignore marketing emails amid the clutter of their inboxes. Text messaging, on the other hand, demands immediate attention.

Unmatched Open Rates

When was the last time you didn’t open a text message? SMS open rates average around 82% (and can reach as high as 98%) – vastly higher than email’s ~20% open rate. Your customers are almost guaranteed to see your message. Not only that, but they see it quickly: about 90% of people read a new text within the first 3 minutes​. Compare that to email, which might sit unopened for hours or days. Texting ensures your offers and updates actually get read right away. An SMS about your new tincture product line or a sale will reach loyal customers in real time, whereas an email might not be noticed until it’s too late.

Higher Engagement and Response Rates

It’s not just opens – text messages drive dramatically higher engagement than emails. Marketing studies show SMS messages garner roughly a 45% response rate, compared to just 6–8% for email​. Customers are far more likely to reply to a text or click a texted link than to engage with an email. Moreover, they do it faster. The average person takes about 90 seconds to respond to a text, versus 90 minutes to respond to an email. That speed can be a game-changer for e-commerce campaigns. Whether you’re asking customers to RSVP to an event at your CBD store or confirming a subscription reorder, texting yields quick, direct interaction.

Always-On Personal Communication

Texting reaches customers in their most personal digital space: their phone. People have their phones on them 24/7 and check notifications constantly. As mentioned, the average American checks their phone 96 times a day– so your text message is likely to be seen promptly as a part of your customer’s daily routine. By contrast, email is something people might only check a few times a day (or when they “get around to it”). SMS is a push medium that taps into users’ always-on behavior. Plus, there’s very little clutter in the texting inbox. Consumers might receive dozens or hundreds of promotional emails per day, but far fewer marketing texts. Your text message isn’t buried under a mountain of spam – it stands out. This personal, immediate presence of SMS helps hemp brands cut through the noise and make customers feel like you’re reaching out directly, not just blasting a generic newsletter.

Consumer Preference and Trust

Customers want brands to text them, especially for valuable info. A recent consumer report found 91% of consumers would opt-in to receive texts from brands​, which shows how mainstream and welcome SMS marketing has become. In the same vein, over half of consumers (about 58%) say SMS is the most effective way for a brand to communicate with them​. This preference can be even stronger in the wellness and hemp/CBD space, where customers often appreciate timely updates on new products or education on usage. Importantly, SMS is permission-based – your customers must sign up (opt in) to get texts, which means the audience is self-selected and highly interested. Trust and texting’s ubiquity make SMS a powerful tool for engaging loyal customers on their terms. When done right, a text message feels helpful and relevant, not intrusive – it might be a friendly reminder about a restock of their favorite product, rather than just another ad in their feed.

Building Loyalty with Text Messaging

Loyalty programs are a proven way to increase customer retention and lifetime value – and SMS is the perfect medium to supercharge those programs. In the hemp and CBD industry, where trust and education play a big role in repeat purchases, leveraging text messaging can keep your customers engaged and coming back.

Rewards and Points Updates

One key to a successful loyalty program is keeping customers aware and excited about their rewards. SMS is ideal for this. You can automatically send texts when customers earn loyalty points from a purchase, when they’re close to a reward, or when a reward is expiring. Because texts are read so quickly, customers won’t miss these updates. This encourages immediate action – for example, a text like “You’re just 10 points away from a $10 reward on your next order!” prompts the customer to engage now, not later. Most customers say they see value from loyalty programs delivered via text​, likely because the benefits are front-and-center. Unlike an email that might be overlooked, a well-timed SMS about their rewards balance or a reminder to redeem points ensures your loyalty members actually use the program. That regular interaction builds habit and loyalty; customers will look forward to your texts because they know it’s something valuable to them.

Exclusive Offers for Members

Everyone loves a perk that feels exclusive. Text messaging lets you easily deliver VIP treatment to your loyalty program members or most valuable customers. You might send your repeat buyers a special SMS-only discount or early access sale. This makes them feel appreciated and “in the club,” which strengthens their bond with your brand. And it pays off: those exclusive deals drive extra purchases and engagement from your best customers. Perhaps you run a CBD subscription service; you could text subscribers a unique promo code for a free sample of a new product. With SMS, they’ll see it immediately and are more likely to act on it, boosting their lifetime value. These kinds of targeted offers are far more effective at driving repeat business than generic promotions blasted to everyone. By using texting to treat your loyalty members as VIPs, you increase their affinity for your brand (and the likelihood they’ll stick around for the long term).

Driving Repeat Purchases

Ultimately, any loyalty program and retention marketing aims to drive repeat purchases and increase the value each customer brings over time. SMS shines here. Think about replenishment reminders: a customer who bought hemp protein powder a month ago might appreciate a nudge that they could be running low. A quick text saying “Ready for your next supply? Order now!” can bring them back for that repeat purchase. Given how quickly people respond to texts, you’re catching them at the right moment. Indeed, nearly 58% of consumers shop with a brand at least once a month if they’re in that brand’s loyalty program. Regular engagement helps ensure your brand stays top-of-mind when it’s time to buy again. You can also use texts to announce new product launches or flavors first to your loyalty members, driving excitement and additional purchases from your existing base. It’s far more cost-effective to get an existing hemp customer to buy again than to acquire a new customer – and texting your loyal buyers is one of the most efficient ways to make that happen. Increasing retention can dramatically increase profits – even a 5% boost in retention can lead to a 25%–95% increase in profits for a business. Nurturing loyalty through SMS could be the edge that sets your brand apart (and keeps your customers from straying to a competitor).

The ROI of Texting

SMS marketing directly boosts revenue by prompting more frequent purchases. When you keep customers engaged via text – sending them relevant offers, reminders, and personalized recommendations – they buy more often. We’ve seen customers opted into text programs increase their spending by 4X. That’s an astonishing stat on the effectiveness of texting. It makes sense: if your messages get seen 5X more than emails, the conversion opportunities are greater. A timely text about a product drop or a special bundle can trigger immediate orders from your loyal subscribers, generating revenue spikes that might never have happened via email alone.

SMS-fueled loyalty programs increase customer lifetime value (CLV), which is the total revenue a customer brings over their entire relationship with your brand. Loyalty and retention have a compounding effect on CLV. Statistics show that 49% of customers end up spending more after joining a loyalty program​. Why? They feel connected to the brand, receive incentives to buy more, and are engaged regularly (for instance, through our well-crafted text messages). By using SMS to reinforce those loyalty incentives and keep the customer active, you encourage that higher spend. If one of your CBD skincare customers typically buys a $50 order every few months, getting them into a text-based loyalty cycle could bump that to, say, $50 every month (with refills, cross-sells of related products, etc.). Remember too that retaining a customer is far cheaper than acquiring a new one – some studies estimate it’s 5X more costly to get a new customer than to retain an existing one​. SMS helps you capitalize on the customers you’ve already won by keeping them satisfied and engaged, thereby reducing churn.

DispoJoy Makes Your Hemp SMS Marketing Easy

Dispojoy offers a unique hemp SMS marketing approach designed to maximize ROI and minimize hassle. We understand the needs of hemp and CBD e-commerce retailers and have built our service to be flexible, powerful, and fair. Our team handles everything for you.

Pay-Per-Campaign Pricing – No Retainers or Hidden Fees

One of the biggest concerns when adopting a new marketing channel is cost. Many SMS marketing platforms lock you into expensive monthly retainers or charge for subscriber volume regardless of how many messages you actually send. Dispojoy does things differently. We charge on a per-campaign basis, with no retainers and no hidden fees. In practice, that means you only pay for the text campaigns you run. Have a big product launch or holiday sale SMS blast? You’ll know exactly what that campaign costs. If one month you send fewer texts, you aren’t stuck paying a high flat fee for unused capacity. Every dollar you spend is directly tied to engaging your customers and driving results. You can start small, prove the ROI of texting, and scale up your campaigns as you see success, all without budget bloat.

Built for Hemp & CBD E-Commerce Compliance

Hemp and CBD marketing isn’t like marketing for mainstream consumer goods. You face strict advertising regulations and compliance standards – not just on social media ads, but even with texting there are rules (e.g., TCPA guidelines, carrier policies about CBD-related content). We work with hemp e-commerce retailers and are well-versed in the compliance landscape. Our team will guide you on how to craft messages that stay within legal boundaries and carrier guidelines, ensuring high deliverability and open rates. We can help you with proper age-gating, appropriate language to avoid carrier filters, and obtaining clear opt-ins from your customers (which is required by law). By choosing a partner that understands the nuances of CBD marketing, you avoid costly mistakes and message blocks.

Managed and Active Loyalty Campaigns

We’re retention marketers. Our philosophy aligns with what we’ve discussed throughout this blog: the real power of SMS is in building customer loyalty and increasing value. That’s why our service is geared toward helping you create engaging, active loyalty campaigns. We offer hands-on support to design text message campaigns that tie into your loyalty program or VIP customer segments.