.png){kind=small}
What is an SMS Popup?
An SMS popup is a type of subscription popup on a website that aims to capture phone numbers from site visitors to use in SMS marketing campaigns.
Most SMS popups also aim to collect leads’ email addresses, but they request the information in exchange for a discount or a lead magnet.
Consumers tend to pay more attention to text messages, while other marketing mediums like email are much easier to ignore. This makes SMS marketing even more valuable for marketers.
Popup SMS campaigns on your website can quickly draw attention and snap those leads’ phone numbers to start texting your potential customers.
So, how do you create one? Keep on reading the steps to find out.
How to Create an SMS Subscription Popup
We’ll use only two tools to create an SMS popup campaign;
- Popupsmart
- SMS and email marketing software you use (such as Brevo, ActiveCampaign, or MailChimp)
Popupsmart is the simplest yet the most powerful conversion and lead generation tool out there. As the name suggests, it is a popup builder that helps you create smart popups in minutes without any hassle.
Not just that, you can use Popupsmart to;
- Grow your email list
- Increase sales
- Gamify your campaigns
- Collect more phone calls
- Gather form submissions
- Boost engagement and conversions
Note that some email service providers have free plans as well.
Let’s see how you can create an SMS subscription popup in a few quick steps.
Step #1: Choose a template for the SMS Campaign
Once you’ve created a free account on Popupsmart, go to your dashboard to create a new popup.
Select a blank template or a ready-made popup template to start tweaking it as you like.
Popupsmart has a wide range of pre-built templates to choose from. All of them are designed to work smoothly over all devices (desktop, tablet, and mobile.)
You can pick a template where you can place an image of your lead magnet, which is an offer to entice leads. Or select a more basic one.
Click the popup you like, and click the “Select popup” button once you find the perfect template.
Step #2: Design Your SMS Popup
Now that we have picked a template, let’s customize your SMS popup campaign to fit your website. We won’t discuss how to design your popup in-depth since there are too many options to cover just under a subtitle. However, here are the basics:
Basically, you can change anything on your popup, like:
- Background color
- Image
- Headline and description
- Font sizes
- Form fields
- Buttons, button colors, types
- Countdown timer
- Popup opening effect and more
To start designing your campaign, click the “Customize” step from the left bar.
As this template does not have phone input, we’ll add it by clicking the “Form” element and clicking “Add a new form input.” Then, select the “Phone input” from the list to add a phone input to your popup.
Determine whether or not you want to display a privacy policy. It will show at the bottom of your popup.
You can select the “Notice and Consent” element from the list.
All done! And it only took 3 minutes or less to create the demo SMS popup you see below.
Step #3: Connect Email Marketing Software with Popupsmart
Congrats, your popup must be looking sleek!
Now, we need to connect it to your email marketing service provider with SMS automation features.
Popupsmart can integrate with a variety of email marketing software.
These include:
- Brevo
- SendGrid
- MailChimp
- EmailOctopus
- Customer.io
- Klaviyo
- Drip
- ActiveCampaign, and more
If you don’t see your service provider, then you can always connect it through Zapier & Make.com integrations.
How do you connect Popupsmart with your email marketing service? It’s easy; let’s go over Brevo, for example.
Step 1. Go to the ”Form” element, and click the ”Integrations” section. Then, click ”Add Integration”
Step 2. From the Integrations modal, select the platform you want to integrate and click the “Connect” button. For this guide, let’s select Brevo.
For further details, you can explore How to Connect Popupsmart with Brevo
Step 3. For the configuration process, you have the option to either introduce a fresh Brevo API or select from the dropdown menu if you’ve previously incorporated your API.
Step 4. Next, access your Brevo account and click on the tab displaying your company’s name located in the upper-right corner of the page. Subsequently, select “SMTP & API.”
Once you’ve reached the SMTP & API page, navigate to the API Keys tab and proceed to click on “Generate a new API key.”
Step 5. Name your API key and generate it. Then, copy your API Key.
Step 6. Return to your Popupsmart account at this point. Assign a name to the connection and paste the API Key, then click on “Save.”
Choose your desired list from the dropdown menu located within the “Details” section. Afterward, click the “Next” button.
After you’ve provided all the necessary information in the Match fields section that aligns with your requirements, proceed to click the “Save” button.
These fields may vary depending on the elements you incorporate.
Click the “Save” button, and your integration will be ready.
Note: The integration process is more or less the same as with other email service providers.
Off to the next step: decide to whom and when you will display the popup on your website.
Step #4: Set up Segment and Targeting Options
To make sure your popup converts at its best, you need to configure its segment and audience targeting settings correctly.
That may sound complicated, but it’s incredibly streamlined with Popupsmart.
You’ll find many targeting solutions on the “Segment” step from the left corner.
Some of the powerful segment & targeting solutions we offer are:
- Operating system targeting
- New or returning visitors
- Traffic source
- Browser language
- Cookie Targeting
- Geo-located targeting
- Exit-intent targeting
- After X seconds trigger
- URL targeting
- After scroll trigger
- Inactivity Trigger
- HTML targeting
- On-click targeting
What’s even better is the Smart Mode feature. It gathers information about your visitors’ behavior and sets up the best possible targeting based on Artificial Intelligence.
So, you can either set up the display rules yourself or let the AI do that for you.
Are you planning on showing your popup on mobile, too?
Don’t forget to preview how your popup will look on mobile by clicking the mobile icon from the top of the builder. If it is red, it means the popup is inactive for mobile devices. You can enable or disable it from this part as well.
To make mobile users see your popup, go to Segment > Visitor Devices > select Mobile > Save.
One more cool thing about Popupsmart: You can see your leads on your Leads table. To see the leads captured with your SMS popup campaign, click on Leads from the bottom left side after publishing your popup.
This will open the Leads table, which covers detailed information about your leads, such as contact information they fill, device, country, city, date, browser, and more.
You now have a conversion-ready SMS popup collecting phone numbers and automatically sending them to your SMS marketing list.
You better buckle up because your conversions will skyrocket. 🚀
Wrap Up
In summary, using SMS popups can revolutionize your SMS marketing efforts.
SMS marketing is a powerful tool with its high open rates and customer preference.
In this guide, we’ve explained how to create an SMS subscription popup using Popupsmart, a user-friendly and versatile popup builder.
We’ve also stressed the importance of integrating your SMS popup with your email marketing software, streamlining lead capture, and boosting conversions.
Ready to boost your SMS marketing strategy? Sign up for Popupsmart today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why I Should Create an SMS Popup?
An SMS popup is a popup on a website designed to capture phone numbers for SMS marketing campaigns.
You should consider using one because SMS marketing boasts high open rates and is preferred by many consumers for brand updates, making it a valuable marketing tool.
You can announce your new products, collect phone numbers, and provide special discounts using SMS popups on your website.
Can I Customize The Appearance and Segment of SMS Popups?
Yes, popup builders like Popupsmart allow you to customize your SMS popup’s look and segment.
You can customize various aspects of your SMS popup, including background color, images, headlines, fonts, form fields, buttons, and more to align with your website’s branding.
Additionally, you can configure how long the popup stays on the screen and set triggers such as exit intent, after scroll, inactivity, etc.
Articles we think you’ll enjoy:
- 11 SMS Marketing Software to Reach Customers (Free & Paid)
- Mobile Marketing Strategies & 10 Tools to Drive Conversions
- How to Create Mobile Popups & Boost SEO- 4 Useful Practices
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any free SMS gateway?
There are “free SMS gateway” options, but it’s important to understand what “free” usually means in practice: many providers offer a free trial, a small monthly credit, or a sandbox/testing environment for their SMS gateway API, rather than unlimited free texting. If you’re looking for a Free SMS Gateway API, you’ll typically sign up with an SMS provider, verify your account (and sometimes your business), then use their REST API to send messages programmatically; common limitations include restricted destinations/countries, shared sender IDs, lower deliverability, rate limits, and compliance requirements. For a website SMS popup campaign, the gateway is only one piece—you also need a popup/form tool to capture consent and phone numbers, and then an SMS platform to store contacts, manage opt-ins, and send compliant campaigns; if your goal is truly zero cost, you can start by collecting opt-ins with a free popup plan and use an SMS provider’s trial credits to run a small pilot before committing to paid messaging as your list grows.
Is SMS blasting legal?
SMS blasting can be legal, but only if you follow the laws and carrier rules in the regions you’re texting—most importantly, you generally need explicit, documented consent (opt-in) before sending marketing texts to someone’s personal phone number. In the United States, SMS marketing is governed by the TCPA and enforced through industry guidelines (like CTIA), which typically require prior express written consent for promotional messages, clear disclosure of what subscribers are signing up for (message frequency, “message and data rates may apply”), and an easy opt-out method (commonly replying STOP) that is honored immediately. Similar consent-based rules exist in many other countries (for example, GDPR/ePrivacy in parts of Europe), and penalties for non-compliance can be significant. The safest approach is to use an SMS popup that clearly asks for permission, includes compliant checkbox/consent language, stores a timestamp and source of consent, and sends a confirmation or double opt-in message when appropriate—then only message people who opted in and always provide a simple way to unsubscribe.
How to make text messages pop up on screen?
To make text messages “pop up” on your screen, you’ll typically enable lock screen alerts, banner notifications, or chat bubbles (depending on your phone and messaging app). On Android, you can turn on notifications for your SMS app (often Google Messages) in Settings > Apps > Messages > Notifications, then enable “Pop on screen,” “Bubbles,” or “Floating notifications” if your device supports it; with Google Messages specifically, you may also enable bubble notifications so conversations appear as draggable bubbles over other apps. On iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications > Messages and enable Allow Notifications, then choose Lock Screen, Notification Center, and Banners, and set Banner Style to Temporary or Persistent; you can also enable Show Previews for more visible popups. If popups still don’t appear, check Do Not Disturb/Focus modes, notification permissions, battery optimization settings (Android), and whether the conversation is muted or the sender is blocked.
Which is the best app for free SMS?
The “best” app for free SMS depends on what you mean by free: if you want standard texting using your phone number, your default carrier texting app (Google Messages on Android, Messages on iPhone) is usually best, but messages may still count against your carrier plan unless you have unlimited SMS. If you mean sending messages over the internet (Wi‑Fi/data) at no extra SMS cost, apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Facebook Messenger are popular, but they require both parties to use the same app and aren’t traditional SMS. If you need a free number for texting, services like Google Voice (availability varies by country) can be a good option for personal use, though it has limitations and is not designed for bulk marketing. For businesses running SMS popup campaigns, “free SMS” apps are rarely a fit—business texting generally requires a compliant SMS provider, proper opt-in management, and paid message delivery once you move beyond small trial credits.
What is Send free sms popup?
“Send free SMS popup” usually refers to a website popup that collects a visitor’s phone number (and consent) so you can send them SMS messages—often starting with a welcome text, a discount code, or a lead magnet link—and it’s sometimes marketed as “free” because the popup tool may have a free plan or because you can launch the form without paying upfront. In reality, the popup itself is the on-site subscription form (what visitors see), while the actual sending of SMS is handled by an SMS service provider, which typically charges per message after any trial credits. A good “send SMS popup” flow includes a clear value exchange (e.g., “Get 10% off by text”), compliant consent language, optional email capture, and automation that adds the subscriber to your SMS list and triggers the first message; for example, an eCommerce store might use an SMS popup to deliver a one-time coupon via text and then send shipping updates and occasional promotions only to opted-in subscribers.
What are the Best free sms popup?
The best free SMS popups are the ones that let you start collecting phone-number opt-ins at no cost (or on a generous free tier), are mobile-friendly, and make compliance and integrations easy—because the popup is only valuable if it reliably captures consent and syncs data to your marketing tools. Look for features like ready-made SMS popup templates, responsive design, targeting rules (exit intent, time on page, scroll depth, specific URLs), built-in form fields for phone plus optional email, consent checkbox and customizable disclosure text, spam protection, and integrations or webhooks to connect with your SMS/email platforms (such as Brevo, ActiveCampaign, or Mailchimp for email, and an SMS provider for texting). Practical examples of “best” use cases include a simple discount popup for first-time visitors, a back-in-stock text alert form on product pages, or a lead magnet delivery popup that texts a download link—each of which can be launched on a free popup plan and then scaled with paid SMS sending as your list grows.
What is Text Message pop up animation?
A “text message pop up animation” is the visual effect that makes a text message notification or chat bubble appear on screen in a dynamic way—such as sliding in from the top, fading in, scaling up, or bouncing—so it grabs attention and feels responsive. On phones, this animation is controlled by the operating system and the messaging app’s notification style (banners, heads-up notifications, bubbles), while on websites it can refer to an on-page UI element that mimics an incoming SMS (often used in marketing demos, onboarding, or product tours). Common animation styles include slide-in banners, toast notifications, and floating chat bubbles, and they’re often paired with timing triggers (e.g., after 3 seconds) to simulate real-time messaging; the key is to keep the animation subtle and fast so it’s noticeable without being disruptive, especially on mobile where overly aggressive motion can hurt user experience and conversions.
