Grow your SMS list with proven strategies
Bola’s Baked Goods has recently launched its text message marketing strategy, and the team is excited to start engaging subscribers via text. They know that text messages tend to drive higher conversion rates than email, given the channel’s inherent intimacy and urgency, so Bola’s team plans to send its first text campaign around the upcoming launch of new coffee flavors.
However, while they have a large email marketing list, they currently have no subscribers on their text message list. Before sending any texts, Bola’s Baked Goods must first grow its list.
Watch the video below to see the strategies Bola’s Baked Goods used to acquire new text subscribers.
As a reminder, you must obtain explicit consent before sending text marketing messages, using double opt-in to ensure consent is collected appropriately. Simply collecting someone’s phone number or email address does not establish marketing consent. For helpful reminders about how to grow your SMS list compliantly, reference this guide: Best practices for SMS compliance.
Choose a strategy for each audience
Bola’s Baked Goods used different sign-up strategies to reach visitors at different stages of their customer journey. Expand the dropdowns below to see which sign-up approach they used for each audience.
New visitors
New visitors may be interested in Bola’s brand but haven’t subscribed to either channel yet. Bola’s can use a multi-step form to invite them to subscribe to email and then text, with a separate incentive for each channel.
For example: offer 10% off a first order for email sign-up, then an additional 5% off for text sign-up. Make the second step a clear, optional choice, not an automatic part of subscribing to email.
Existing email subscribers
These visitors already receive Bola’s emails, so the form can focus on what’s new: text. Bola’s can show them a targeted form that asks only for text consent and explains the benefit of joining the text list.
For example: “Already getting our emails? Sign up for texts to get new-flavor news and 10% off your next order.” This allows you to capture text subscribers and trigger a welcome series unique to this channel.
Checkout shoppers
Some shoppers are ready to purchase but haven’t subscribed to receive texts. Consent at checkout gives them another opportunity to explicitly opt in while they’re placing an order.
For example: “Sign up for texts to hear about new flavors and exclusive offers.” Make the opt-in clear, and include your text message disclosure messaging wherever you collect consent.
Design forms that encourage subscription
In the video, we saw how Bola’s Baked Goods designed sign-up forms to gain new subscriptions. Click through the tabs below to view different design configurations you can use to help drive form submissions.
Use a sign-up incentive
A sign-up incentive helps drive submission rates by showing your new subscribers the immediate value of signing up for your marketing.
When collecting both email and SMS consent on a multi-step form, use a layered incentive to encourage subscription for both channels, while also positioning SMS as a higher value channel.
Example: Offer 10% off your first order when you subscribe to email marketing, with an additional 5% off when you also subscribe to SMS marketing.
When collecting solely SMS marketing on a targeted sign-up form, use an incentive to encourage subscription.
Examples: 10% off your next order, or free shipping on your next order.
Add a teaser
Adding teasers to your signup forms allows site visitors to minimize the form and continue browsing, with the option to re-open the form at a later time by clicking on the minimized widget.
By allowing your visitors to re-open your form at a later date, you increase the likelihood of form submissions.
Enable timing settings
Use timing settings to control when the sign-up form appears during a site visitor’s session on your website.
Try setting your timing as Immediately, so visitors encounter your form as soon as their session begins.
To configure the timing settings in the form editor, click the Targeting & behavior button in the left-hand menu.
Under Timing, either select Immediately, or select Based on rules to set your custom time delay.
Enable frequency settings
Use frequency settings to control how often you want your signup form to reappear for site visitors after they first close it.
Try setting your frequency setting to re-show your form again after 1 day to drive fast SMS list growth.
To configure the frequency settings in the form editor, click the Targeting & behavior button in the left-hand menu.
Under Frequency, update the text field to say 1 day, and leave the below setting checked so site visitors who successfully submit your form aren’t shown your form again.
Enable consent at checkout
When site visitors reach checkout on Bola’s Baked Goods’ site, they’ve already shown strong interest in the brand. Bola’s team uses this point in the customer journey to invite shoppers to subscribe to text message marketing without interrupting their shopping experience.
Setup and consent-sync timing vary by ecommerce integration. Select your integration below for step-by-step instructions. Depending on your platform, consent may sync when a shopper continues through checkout or after they place an order.
The setup process and consent-sync timing vary by ecommerce integration, so follow the instructions for your specific platform. Consent may sync when a shopper continues through checkout or only after they place an order.
When enabling consent at checkout, make sure you follow the below regulations to stay in compliance:
- The checkbox for collecting consent needs to be defaulted to unchecked. This ensures that you're clearly stating that SMS consent is optional, and new subscribers explicitly consent to receive their text message marketing.
- Your SMS disclosure language must be included everywhere you collect SMS consent, so you need to include your disclosure language.
Match the visitor to the sign-up strategy
In the activity below, match the common situations on the left to the corresponding strategy on the right.