What is SMS Marketing?
SMS marketing refers to sending promotional or transactional messages to customers via SMS (short message service).
Due to its high open and response rate, text messages are an effective way of reaching and engaging with customers.
It can communicate a wide range of information, including discounts, promotions, reminders, and alerts.
It’s a common practice to use SMS marketing to promote products or services, increase customer loyalty, and drive sales.
60% of consumers say they read a text within 5 minutes of receiving it.
According to reports, 33% of SMS recipients react to CTAs in SMS marketing messages, and 47% end up making a purchase.
No matter how many ways you can get your customers' attention, nothing beats personalized and targeted SMS texts.
10 Best Practices to Grow Your SMS List
From launching exit-intent popups to running social media campaigns, here I tell you all the effective ways to get more SMS subscribers.
So let’s jump right in.
1. Use SMS Popups & Offer Opt-In Incentives
Believe it or not, popups convert, and they are a great opportunity for you to generate quality leads for your SMS marketing.
The secret to a successful popup lies in its timing, design, and copy; the same applies to SMS popups.
By crafting a gamified or animated popup with a discount code, you can amaze users and persuade them to subscribe to your SMS list and share their numbers.
Your leads' SMS inboxes can be your first point of contact, giving you an edge over your competitors.
So it’s essential to use the right popup builder for your campaign to hook your visitors and encourage them to share their data.
The best part of SMS popups is that you can get visitors’ consent instantly, so you know they are really interested when they subscribe.
2. Offer Visitors Strong Incentives
Want to have more engagement? You better know how to trigger your audience!
This motivator could be as simple as a limited-time promotional offer or a discount code.
Better still, offering value & exclusivity to users works wonders.
Knowledge is power, so why not offer them the finest?
Encourage users to be the first ones to know about new updates, seasonal campaigns, or membership news.
Just promote the offer on your website or set up an exit-intent popup to capture them before they leave.
Depending on the target audience, you can offer them a more personalized offer and entice them to opt in.
In the end, it all depends on how well you know your audience.
3. Promote Your SMS Marketing in Your Emails
The email list you are growing today could be your greatest asset for tomorrow!
People who agreed to receive emails from you are already interested, so why not ask your readers to become SMS subscribers?
Obviously, you must have a good reason to convince them to let you send promotional texts to their email and SMS inboxes.
Nobody wants to receive the same general text, promotion, or campaign over and over again, which is why you must make your SMS list feel special.
With SMS, you connect on a more personal level, so launch campaigns only targeting this list and make it a good one.
The key is to convey the exclusivity they will receive through SMS.
4. Ask for Users to Subscribe with a Keyword
Get them to come to you!
You don't always have to ask users for their phone numbers and permission to subscribe to your email list.
Sometimes it’s best to let them reach out to you!
Asking how? Getting them to send an SMS to a given number with a certain keyword.
Using this opt-in method, a chatbot can respond to a specific keyword and make the whole process smooth & fun for users.
Make sure to pick a number that is not too lengthy or difficult to recall and a keyword related to your brand.
It’s supposed to be fun, so keep it short and compelling if you want people to subscribe.
5. Run Social Media Campaigns & Capture Phone Numbers
Make the most out of every post!
On average, people spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media per day.
Making it the best medium for promoting your campaigns.
Analyze your social media demographics to see where your users are most active.
Depending on their age, geo-location, and preferences, they might prefer TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
You can choose them all or just focus on one of them.
But then again, you must know the art of pitching!
Ask them to subscribe by sending a keyword, mix up the practices and make it feel like a game.
Don’t forget to treat the ones who participate.
It’s all about using all the resources you have and adding a dash of creativity to persuade users to take action.
6. Promise Exclusive Offers to Your SMS List & Deliver
Make them feel VIP!
Making users feel special is important, and here's one more way to emphasize it.
Be proactive, give them an answer before even they have the time to think, and ask WHY?.
You need to think like your target audience in this case.
Ask yourself the famous question “why should I subscribe?”
Find the answer, a strong incentive, and make it exclusive to only your SMS subscribers.
Facilitate decision-making if you want people to act instantly.
7. Make Sure Users Agree to Your Terms & Conditions
Want your SMS marketing efforts to pay off?
Make sure people know what they’re opting in.
Clarify what you mean when you ask people to subscribe to your SMS list.
Texting consumers without their permission (unsolicited) constitutes a TCPA violation.
Your business must only communicate with the users after they have provided written consent.
That’s why you see the terms and condition box in every SMS popup asking for your phone number.
Prevent annoying people, being marked as spam, or getting blocked by being up front from the very first step.
Don't compromise your credibility; let people trust you!
8. Get Your Support Team to Promote SMS Marketing
Consider every user who contacts your support team as a potential SMS subscriber.
It’s common for the support team to ask for customers' phone numbers, so why not use those numbers in your SMS marketing?
Just make sure your support team gets your users' consent before adding them to your SMS list.
It's even better if you automate chatbots to ask your website visitors if they want to receive SMS marketing texts.
9. Utilize Social Proofs to Drive SMS Subscribers
People listen to other people.
Social proofs work, and you can use them to grow your SMS list when you know how.
82% of consumers in the USA consider their friends & family’s opinions before buying products.
Ask your current SMS subscribers why they keep following you.
Try to promote their comments via different mediums and make your SMS marketing appealing.
A loyal customer's recommendation is more powerful than any other marketing strategy in this regard.
10. Provide Easy Unsubscribe Link in Your Campaigns
Let them go easy.
It might seem paradoxical, after giving you the best tips and practices for building a high-quality list of SMS subscribers, now telling you to let them go.
But precisely to keep your high-quality leads, you need to make it easy for them to unsubscribe at any time.
Provide subscribers with a link or a keyword to opt out anytime they want to.
This way, you make sure those who are still on your list genuinely engage and want to receive your texts and improve users’ trust.
Don't dwell on it; it's better to let them go if they don’t engage!
11. Run a Giveaway
Running a giveaway can effectively generate interest and encourage people to subscribe to your SMS list.
To make the most of your giveaway, it's important to choose a prize that resonates with your target audience and make the entry process simple and straightforward.
This will make it easier for people to participate and increase your chances of getting more SMS subscribers.
Once you have determined your prize and entry method, use your existing social media channels, email list, and website to spread the word about your giveaway, emphasizing the value of the prize and how easy it is to enter.
When the giveaway is over, be sure to choose a winner and contact them.
Thank all participants for entering, and encourage them to subscribe to your SMS list for future updates and promotions. With a growing SMS subscriber list, you'll be able to reach a wider audience and drive more sales and engagement.
12. Optimize your Website for Mobile
Mobile optimization is a critical factor for any online marketing strategy, and SMS marketing is no exception.
With more and more people using their mobile devices to browse the internet, it's important to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile viewing.
To optimize your website for mobile, start by ensuring that your website design is responsive.
This means that your website will automatically adjust its layout and content based on the user's device, providing a seamless experience regardless of screen size.
A responsive website design can help reduce bounce rates, increase engagement, and ultimately, drive more SMS subscribers.
In addition to responsive design, make sure that your website's forms, including your SMS subscription form, are optimized for mobile devices.
This means using clear and concise language, reducing the number of fields required, and making sure that the form is easy to access and complete on a mobile device.
3 Reasons Why You Need to Get More SMS Subscribers
1- SMS has a high open rate.
According to a study by Mobile Marketing Watch, SMS messages have an open rate of nearly 98%!
That's almost double the open rate of emails, which means your message is much more likely to be seen by your audience.
2- It's super cost-effective.
SMS marketing is much cheaper than other marketing channels like social media or even email marketing.
Plus, with SMS, you only pay for the messages you send and keep your costs under control.
3- You'll connect with your audience quickly and personally.
With SMS, you can reach your audience almost instantly, and the personal nature of text messaging means you can build a more direct and personal connection with your customers.
Design Your First SMS Popup in 5 Minutes
Popupsmart is the simplest yet most powerful conversion and lead generation tool you can use to get more SMS subscribers.
You can use smart triggering and use animation, and so many other advanced features to grab your visitors' attention and convert them into SMS leads.
All you need is to learn how to create the perfect SMS popup.
Try it yourself and see how easily you can grow your SMS list.
In Conclusion
Growing your SMS list takes time and effort, but the payoff can be huge.
Start implementing these strategies today and watch your list (and your business) grow!
Every online business should have an opt-in SMS campaign (local or international) as part of their marketing toolkit.
It doesn't cost much, it can be done in a short amount of time, and it will help you grow your list – which is great for your business no matter what type you are.
Whatever you choose to do, just remember if you keep up a steady stream of updates and good-quality content, you'll be sure to keep your list growing in a positive way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Best Way to Grow SMS Subscribers?
You can start by launching a popup campaign asking for users to opt-in to you SMS list before they leave and then go further by launching social media campaigns promoting your SMS marketing.
What is Telephone Consumer Protection Act?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law in the United States that regulates the use of SMS text messages. Also included in the TCPA are opt-out provisions and damages for violations. To avoid legal liability and potential fines, businesses must comply with the TCPA.
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