Increase SMS Marketing Opt In Rates
A Step-By-Step Guide
Increase SMS Marketing Opt In Rates
A Step-By-Step Guide
With text marketing fast becoming one of the most effective marketing channels, outperforming all others when it comes to driving sales, open rates and customer engagement, you'd be smart to direct your marketing budget this way.
One of the main stumbling blocks is knowing how to get your customers to opt in, as the success of a text message marketing campaign relies on the number of people you can send messages to. Having your customers opt-in before you send anything is a legal requirement so can't be ignored (for more about this see our article on How to Create a Compliant SMS Marketing Campaign).
We want you to get off to a flying start, so we're going to tell you how to increase your opt in rates to give your next SMS marketing campaign greater impact and reach.
In order to opt in people need to know that you're offering this option. To do this focus on these five main channels:
Our brains switch off when someone is telling us what to do and we don't have any reason to trust what they say yet. Even if you're using bulk text to sell something, take a softer, personalised approach and you'll have a much higher response rate.
There are a few ways you can use email to boost your text marketing opt ins. The first is to add a short sentence about how people can opt in just below your email signature. That way, anyone you email will know about your campaign and have the chance to join. The second is to include an opt in advert in your email newsletter and send it to everyone on your email list. These people are already used to hearing from you so will be happy to hear about a new offer or competition.
Try adding a subscribe form just for text message marketing to your website. Use this to collect customer mobile numbers from anyone that visits your site. This will give you a competitive edge because there are very few companies that bother to do this. You could even add a banner to the top of your website alerting people how to opt in.
If you have a customer-facing business, advertising your opt in message is a great idea. Pop it near the till, in the changing rooms, toilets and the store window to raise awareness of your campaign.
Our brains switch off when someone is telling us what to do and we don't have any reason to trust what they say yet. Even if you're using bulk text to sell something, take a softer, personalised approach and you'll have a much higher response rate.
People are bombarded by so many marketing messages that they're unlikely to give their personal information away for nothing. Your text message marketing campaign is a lot more likely to be a success if you give something valuable in exchange. Make sure there's a benefit for people opting into your campaign.
Here's a few ideas that work well:
A special offer voucher
A discount code
Event updates (such as exclusive access before anyone else)
To enter a competition
To receive further information (for example, letting a select few people know when an new item is in stock)
You need to let people know how to opt in as quickly and easily as possible. One of the best ways to do this is to use a shortcode and a keyword. For example, "Text WIN to 55517 for your chance to get VIP tickets to our next event..." - Make sure that opting in is main the focus of your ad and not an afterthought shoved at the bottom. People respond much better when the opt in and offer are the key elements of the ad.
Now you know how much SMS marketing can benefit your customers, why not get started rightaway? We give you 10 free text credits when you sign up for an account and then double any text credits you purchase after that.
No matter what your budget is, we can find a price plan to suit your business needs.
