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How to Build Opt-in Subscriber Lists for Text Marketing

How to Build Opt-in Subscriber Lists for Text Marketing

For any marketer, a clean list of opt-in subscribers is one of the most valuable assets. When it comes to SMS or text marketing, the increased engagement and higher response over email will play a key role in determining the success of your text marketing campaign. As opt-in subscribers are the only recipients of your text messages, they are the center of your campaign. For this reason, you need to put continued effort toward building your opt-in subscriber list, and this article will tell you how. 

3 Ways to Increase Opt-in Subscribers for Text Marketing

Before taking the necessary steps towards building an opt-in subscriber list for text marketing, it is important to remember that the CAN-SPAM Act prevents you from sending any unsolicited marketing messages to customers who have not subscribed to them. Ignoring this rule can end with your business paying heavy penalties or getting blacklisted. Therefore, you can’t just buy a list of cellphone numbers and start sending random text marketing messages, but following these tips will get you well on your way. 

Building a subscriber list can be a time-intensive process and to comply with the law, you have to allow your customers to opt-out anytime they want. Though this means you are always at a risk of losing a few of your valued subscribers, it builds credibility and trust for your brand. Also, seeking to minimize the rate of opting out ensures that you send only relevant, valuable text messages to your audience.

The following are a few ways to build your opt-in subscriber lists for text marketing campaigns:

Incentives

People need a reason to opt-in as subscribers to your marketing texts. Giveaways and sweepstakes are a good way to incentivize your audience and convert them to subscribers. By creating enticing promotions, you can tempt prospective customers to text the keyword you provide in exchange for a discount code towards their next purchase, or some other reward. 

After all, customers typically do not mind giving away their phone numbers if there is a reward associated with the action.    

Web Widgets

The consistent traffic to your website needs to be effectively utilized to help build your opt-in subscriber list. By installing signup widgets on your website, you can prompt the audience to receive push notifications from you and eventually ask them to subscribe to your marketing texts. You can also catch their attention with creative banner ads on the website, announcing any giveaways or events to help them register as opt-in subscribers.

Some text marketing platforms will even provide the code for you, which we will talk about shortly.  

Sign-up Forms

In the past, pen-and-paper signups at retail store checkouts could provide you with valuable contact information for your customers including their emails and phone numbers. These days, you can utilize your email marketing subscribers and ask them to signup for texts by sending them emails with the link to the online form or embedding the form in the email itself. 

Organizing brand events such as webinars, conferences, and trade shows is also a great way to initiate a conversation with your audience and request they signup with their contact details to register their feedback.

Though these methods can significantly increase your opt-in subscribers, you need the right marketing platform to most effectively execute these methods and connect with your potential audience. An SMS delivery platform can transform the way you interact with your prospective customers and help you win them over as your loyal subscribers.

Using the Right SMS Delivery Platform

SMS delivery platforms are not only meant for providing a secure channel to send your texts to your audience. With an advanced and innovative text messaging platform, you can understand your audience better and achieve your marketing goals more effectively. Before committing to an SMS delivery platform for your text marketing campaigns, it is important to consider certain key features that can assist you, such as:

  • Unlimited keywords: Your marketing efforts are targeted towards different demographics and user groups. To better connect with them, you need different keywords that they can relate to your brand. A good text delivery platform can provide you with unlimited keywords that your audience can text to subscribe to your messages.   
  • Expanded character limit: Whether it is sending a promo code to your subscribers, or providing them valuable information about your product or service, you typically need to create a clear text message within the limit of 160 characters. However, there are more innovative text marketing platforms that can allow up to 240 characters. 
  • Code snippets: By adding signup fields or other promotional elements, your existing website can be a great resource for building your opt-in subscriber list. However, depending on your level of technical expertise you might not be able to handle this task by yourself. This is where choosing a text marketing platform with great customer service can be a big help, as they can provide you with these snippets of code.
  • Auto-responders: When a customer is sending you a keyword to subscribe to your texts, you need to have a robust platform for auto-responding. An SMS delivery platform can create real-time responses, based on various keywords, to initiate communication with your subscribers and keep everything organized and easy to understand.   
  • Affordable pricing: When it comes to bulk texting, affordable pricing is a key consideration for marketers. Text marketing offers an incredible ROI when compared to email but you will still want to make sure to choose a text marketing platform with affordable pricing.    

Lastly, a user-friendly interface along with developer support can improve your experience with the technology while creating and maintaining your subscriber lists and overall marketing efforts. Finding these features in a powerful text marketing platform can transform the way you approach and benefit from text marketing.

With NorthText, you can enjoy an increased limit of 240 characters per message along with unlimited keywords, auto-responders, and customized code snippets—all at affordable pricing. Additionally, our SMS marketing professionals are available to help you build a robust and fruitful opt-in subscriber list. For quick and easy answers to any questions you have, contact us by phone or text at (312) 869-9070.

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NorthText SMS Marketing Features

Interact with your customers by text

Unlimited Texts
Unlimited Texts
160 Characters
160 Characters
MMS capability
MMS capability
Unlimited keywords
Unlimited keywords
Create surveys
Create surveys
Auto responders
Auto responders
Text-2-win
Text-2-win
Message dashboard
Message dashboard
Text-2-Pay
Text-2-Pay
API integration
API integration

Our innovative SMS marketing services will help your company get ahead—and stay ahead—of the curve by giving you a direct, reliable line of communication with your customers and endless opportunities to grow your subscriber list. Ready to get started? We can get you up and running in a matter of minutes.

Start interacting with your customers by text today