Learn how to build a text message subscriber list. Discover proven strategies for growing your SMS marketing lists, engaging your audience, and driving results.
Text message marketing represents an incredible opportunity for businesses to reach customers. In fact, SMS message open rates can be as high as 98%. With such high open rates, your business should be incorporating SMS messaging into your marketing strategy.
That’s where an SMS subscriber list comes in. In this article, we’ll talk about the importance of building an SMS subscriber list and give you practical ways to build yours. To start, let’s check out the basics of SMS subscriber lists.
Just like an email subscriber list, a texting subscriber list is a group of people who have given you permission to send them messages. These texts could be about upcoming appointments, discounts, special promotions, important closures, and more. Because your customers have to opt-in to receive texts from your business, they’ve already shown interest in what your company is offering. Therefore, a robust SMS subscriber list gives you a direct and personalized communication channel that can help you reach your most engaged audience while also helping you convert more sales.
Personalization is one of the biggest positive attributes of SMS messages, and utilizing an SMS texting platform like Sakari makes it even simpler to send personalized messages to entire lists.
Because of this nearly instant access to customers, there are some compliance and regulatory rules you must follow. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) outlines these rules, but one of the most pressing is that you must get consent from a customer before sending messages to their phone. During the opt-in process, you may have a customer sign up via an email, an online form, or by texting a short code or keyword to a specific number.
If your customers do not consent to receive texts, you cannot send them messages. Now that you know the basics of an SMS subscriber list, here are some strategies you can use to build yours.
If you’re ready to build your subscriber list, here are a few ideas on how to start:
When your customers opt-in to your subscriber list, they’re giving you direct access to them. Therefore, it’s crucial that you give them a taste of what they can expect from your company’s text marketing. At the opt-in point or in the SMS signup response, be sure to give them a brief overview of what types of marketing messages they might receive.
Your best customers frequently visit your website, and adding a pop–up is a simple way to catch their attention and encourage them to sign up for your mailing list. This could be a two-step process in which you ask for their email address first and then ask them to sign up for your SMS text list.
For some businesses, it may be a good idea to have an exclusive offer or discount for those customers who sign up for your mailing list.
When a customer is about to make a purchase, they must enter their contact information to ensure they can be notified if there’s an issue with their order. This checkout process is another opportunity to ask customers to opt-in to receive SMS texts. Since they’re already inputting their phone number, all they have to do is check a box to opt in.
Utilizing the power of your social media can also be another effective way to build your text message subscriber list. Run a social campaign and ask followers to opt-in. Surprise and delight a few followers who sign up with free gifts or discounts and encourage them to share these gifts with their followers.
One way you can build a strong relationship with customers is by providing your SMS subscriber list with value they can’t get anywhere else. Maybe it’s exclusive content sent to only the SMS subscribers, an early release of your new line of products, or other opportunities that make it worth staying subscribed. By making your SMS subscriber list an insiders-only channel, you provide value to your best customers that goes far beyond occasional discounts.
You can also run an email campaign that encourages those on your email list to join your SMS list. Because these customers are on your email list, there’s a good chance they’re more engaged with your brand than others. Therefore, capitalize on this affinity by encouraging them to opt into your text list.
Paired with making SMS an insider channel, you can tease new product offerings, collaborations, or other big announcements via email, but tell them that the full scoop is available for SMS subscribers. By teasing the story, you’re creating urgency and urging your best customers to want to be in the know.
While you may think of SMS subscriber lists as a means of one-way messaging, SMS can be equally effective as a way to connect, communicate, and support your customers. If customers text you to ask about things like hours and directions or have problems with their orders, SMS can be a great way to answer these inquiries and help resolve issues.
It may seem counterintuitive, but building a subscriber list also means thinking about the moments when someone might want to opt-out. Making it easy for customers to opt-out is not only beneficial for them but also for your company. That’s because sending texts to a subscriber list can be costly, and sending text messages to someone who’s not interested can be costing you money.
As you’ve seen, some of the best strategies for building an SMS list involve utilizing other communication channels in your business. These channels – from email to social to in-store – offer endless touchpoints along the consumer’s journey.
Therefore, take advantage of these moments by integrating SMS sign-ups. By using these other platforms to drive SMS subscribers, you’ll enhance engagement with your customers and drive growth for your business.
Once you’ve spent time building your SMS marketing list, it’s important to engage and retain this key audience. Here are a few best practices to make sure you’re keeping text subscribers engaged:
If you’re looking for a way to up your SMS subscribers, incentives can be a powerful tool. There are many types of incentives you can use, including:
Depending on your audience, you may find that a certain type of incentive is more engaging than others. Tweak these every so often to get a better sense of what resonates with your audience best.
Remember, the more user-friendly your opt-in process is, the more likely you are to gain and keep subscribers. Keep things simple and make things as seamless as possible for your customers to join your lists.
If you’re using sign-up forms on your website, make them as simple as possible and limit the number of steps your customers need to take. And, to make it even easier, utilize keywords that users can text to you that automatically subscribe them to your list. Sakari gives you the flexibility to set your list building on autopilot, with Workflows that help you segment your lists based on text keywords.
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Audience segmentation is effective in many types of marketing media, and it can be just as important for text messages. You might choose to segment your audience based on past purchases, geographic location, or interests. Segmentation allows you to get even more granular with your marketing messages.
SMS marketing software like Sakari allows you to send personalized messages that are relevant and timely to your audience. These messages could be birthday or anniversary wishes, reservation confirmations, re-order notifications, and more.
Having a responsive SMS subscriber list is crucial to converting your customers. Look for unsubscribe and open rates. If you’re seeing more people unsubscribe or lower open rates, it may be time to evaluate your message cadence to see if you’re overwhelming the audience with too many messages. When customers feel overwhelmed, they’re more likely to tune out or opt-out.
A robust SMS subscriber list can transform your business and provide a new avenue to reach your best customers. While there are some considerations to ensure you’re reaching the right audience at the right time, you’re now equipped to build your own SMS subscriber list. When you’re ready to work with a proven SMS texting platform, look no further than Sakari.
Sakari makes it easy to control all aspects of your SMS marketing plan, including building an SMS subscriber list.
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