Wondering how to get more subscribers on your text marketing list?
The good news is, you already have a great way to grow your SMS marketing: your website!
With more users than ever on mobile devices, it’s easy to convert website visitors into SMS subscribers. After all, everyone already has their phones at hand!
In this article, we’ll go over 5 simple ways to grow your text marketing list.
Why Text Marketing Is Effective
Before we dive in, let’s talk briefly about why text marketing is so effective.
A survey of adults ages 18 to 34 found that a full 75% of them would choose a text-only phone over a voice-only phone. The same survey found that over 60% of users said that surveys, promotions, and coupons sent over text were helpful.
Text messages are less disruptive than a phone call, even one that goes to voicemail. Phone calls often seem more personal because there’s a human voice on the other end. This may be good for customer service after the sale, but it can feel invasive in earlier parts of the sales process.
A text message, on the other hand, feels more casual. The customer can read and respond at their leisure. There’s no pressure to do anything immediately. Many users also find it easier to check a text than to dial into a voicemail app or wade through an inbox full of emails.
Finally, one simple reason text marketing works so well is because there are so many highly engaged mobile users. Another study found that 71% users surveyed check their phones within 10 minutes of waking up. Nearly the same number of users check their phones within 5 minutes of receiving a notification. So the odds are pretty good that your text marketing messages will actually be seen!
What You Need to Grow Your Text Marketing List
To get started with text messaging, you’ll need a way to collect new SMS subscribers and a way to send those subscribers your marketing messages.
For growing your text marketing list, we love OptinMonster, the premier list-building plugin for WordPress.
You can use OptinMonster to create all kinds of creative campaigns to grow your text marketing list. And you can specify that you want to target mobile users who are already on their phones, ready to opt into text messages.
OptinMonster even has mobile optimized campaigns, templates, and Playbooks ready for you to use. You’ll see a few examples in the next section.
The other tool you need is an SMS marketing platform. We really like Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) because it combines email marketing, SMS marketing, chat, and a CRM platform all in one tool.
With Brevo, you can send promotional messages in bulk, create automated SMS campaigns, and personalize your SMS messages for greater impact.
5 Ways to Grow Your Text Marketing List
Now let’s take a look at 5 simple ways to start growing your SMS subscriber list today with OptinMonster.
1. Create a Mobile-Only Exit Popup
The first strategy is to create an optin popup that only mobile users see.
Why limit this campaign to mobile users? Well, these users are already engaging with your brand on their phones. They may find an invitation to subscribe to text marketing more appealing than a computer user who has to go get their phone to confirm their optin.
To create a mobile-only exit popup, you can use OptinMonster’s device-based targeting rules.
You can combine device-based targeting with OptinMonster’s signature Exit-Intent® Technology to create a mobile exit intent popup. These popups only appear when a user is about to leave your site so you don’t interrupt their browsing experience. It’s a great way to invite users to subscribe to your text marketing list.
2. Play a Game
OptinMonster also has gamified campaigns. Visitors get to spin a wheel that randomly picks a discount code.
While it looks like some spins don’t get anything, you can set up your gamified campaign so that every spin gets a code. Customers don’t know that, though, so the element of chance adds to the excitement and drives conversions.
You can add a phone number optin field to gamified campaigns. You can even connect Sendinblue or your favorite SMS marketing platform to OptinMonster so that subscribers get a text with their coupon code. If your provider isn’t natively integrated with OptinMonster, reach out to our support team and they can help!
3. Offer Local Deals and Updates
Another way to entice subscribers to join your text marketing list is to offer promotions for their nearest location.
With OptinMonster’s geo-location and device targeting rules, you can display campaigns to people who are already on their phones nearby. Those visitors are more likely to be interested in a coupon, free gift, or availability notification because they’re close to where they can redeem the offer.
4. Let Visitors Choose How to Get Involved
The Zeigarnik effect is a powerful psychological principle for marketing. The Zeigarnik effect refers to people’s tendency to want to finish a task once they’ve started.
By enabling a choice screen on your optin, you encourage visitors to take the first, simple step of deciding what they want to do. They are then more likely to complete the next step, such as opting into your text marketing list.
In this example, the Sign Up For Updates button brings up the campaign’s success view with the phone optin field. Because the visitor already clicked on one button, they are more likely to continue by opting into your email and text marketing list.
5. Help Them Quickly
Text messages are a great way to deliver a fast solution to the user’s problem. This positions your business as helpful and reliable, which can make prospects more inclined to buy when they’re ready.
Most mobile users have their text notifications on, while some may have their email notifications turned off. Like we discussed above, many users act on a notification very quickly. So they’re more likely to see a resource sent by text than email.
You can offer a free video training as an optin for your text marketing list. Then send a link to a YouTube video or some other mobile-friendly video platform.
Another option is to offer a quick course on your area of expertise. Instead of asking visitors to sign up for a complicated course platform, you can send quick, actionable tips over SMS. This is a good way to deliver value quickly and easily.
Best Practices for SMS Marketing
However you decide to grow and use your text marketing list, here are some tips to keep in mind.
1. Always Get Permission
You can’t collect your past customers’ phone numbers and then start texting them randomly.
You must get their explicit consent to send text marketing messages. That means customers understand what you’ll be sending them, how often you’ll be messaging, and how to stop receiving SMS marketing from you.
The easiest way to do this is to use an optin form like the ones we looked at earlier. You can also include a checkbox at checkout or booking that customers can use to say they want to receive text messages. No sneaky pre-checking this box for them!
2. Use SMS Marketing Tools
Please don’t text customers from your personal phone. You’ll be on your phone constantly, and you won’t be able to collect any useful data about how many people opened or clicked on your texts.
Instead, send your messages with a SMS marketing tool like Sendinblue or ActiveCampaign. You’ll be able to automate and schedule messages, and track your results.
3. Deliver Value
You may have a goal in mind for your text message marketing campaigns: more subscribers, more sales, more revenue.
But that’s not why your customer signs up. They’re not signing up to help you reach your goal. They want your help reaching their own goals. So always make sure that your marketing messages deliver value to the customer.
That can take the form of discounts and deals, of course. But you can also offer value in your texts without lowering your prices:
- Reduce the effort or risk associated with buying by answering common questions
- Provide a sense of belonging or exclusivity by sharing testimonials and social proof
- Show off the quality and sensory appeal of your product or service through photos and videos
4. Personalize
Customers are more likely to pay attention to and take action on messages tailored to them.
This goes beyond using their name in a text message. Some effective examples of Commerce personalization include sending offers and information based on their location, mentioning recent activity with your company like recent purchases, cart abandonment reminders, and even excluding customers from messages about products they’ve already bought.
5. Keep It Short
Texting is meant to be a short, conversational format, even between people who know each other well.
Don’t write an entire book in each message. Start with something to grab their attention, explain the benefits, and give them a simple way to take action.
There you have it! 5 unique and simple ways to grow your text marketing list.
If you’re curious, read our full list of SMS marketing plugins here.
What are you waiting for? Start growing your text marketing list with OptinMonster today!
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