Wondering whether expanding your SMS contact list is worth the effort? While social media and email may already play key roles in your communication strategy, SMS messaging offers unparalleled reach and engagement.
With billions of phone users around the world and impressive open rates, SMS marketing is a valuable tool for driving sales, collecting customer data, and maintaining regulatory compliance.
In this blog, we’ll cover the benefits and challenges of SMS marketing and eight key techniques you can use to build your SMS contact list via social media. Let’s dive in!
Why Growing Your SMS Contact List Is So Important
Why is growing your SMS contact list so important? Is it really worth investing more time and money in another communication channel? Maybe you’ve got a long list of email contacts, or you’re skeptical about how effective SMS messaging truly is.
With more than 18 billion phones in use worldwide, the SMS market is enormous. In fact, it significantly outnumbers the social media market in terms of users. Failing to tap into this market means you could be missing out on a whole lot of business, no matter what you sell or who you’re targeting.
SMS messages also have high open rates compared to email and push notifications. On average, 98% of subscribers view these messages — a staggering number that should make every marketer’s eyes water.
Besides revenue-generating opportunities, attracting more SMS subscribers is a smart way to collect data that’s yours to keep. Social media followers may come and go, and with algorithms and data laws changing frequently, there’s no guarantee that you’ll always have the same access to customer details via Twitter, Instagram etc.
Speaking of data laws, did you know that sending unsolicited messages is actually illegal? Encouraging consumers to sign up to your SMS list doesn’t just open up new business revenue, it also ensures you’re complying with regulations and have explicit consent to communicate with subscribers.
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Challenges of SMS Marketing
Like any communication channel, SMS messaging has its pitfalls. Knowing what these are and preparing for them is half the battle, so let’s explore how you can tackle some of the challenges of SMS marketing.
Network and Compatibility Issues
As fantastic as technology can be, the truth is that it can often fail us too. You may have trouble with messages not being delivered on time (or at all) due to network problems or compatibility issues with certain devices.
Partnering with reliable SMS providers can prevent any reoccurring network issues. Look for a provider who offers minimal downtime guarantees and real-time delivery reports so you can check exactly who has and hasn’t received your messages.
You can also reduce the risk of problems by avoiding high-traffic times. For example, instead of sending a message about your deals on Black Friday, consider scheduling your SMS for the day before when network congestion will be lower.
Integration with Other Marketing Platforms
Combining the power of SMS with other platforms like email, social media, and phone support will ensure you can maximize your marketing efforts and optimize your strategy. But integration with these channels isn’t always easy — especially if you’re trying to operate each one independently.
Using a multichannel or omnichannel communications solution can streamline these processes and keep all your channels connected. By combining social media platforms with virtual call center software, email, and other tools, you can ensure your SMS messaging is aligned with all your marketing efforts.
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Character Limits and Content Constraints
With SMS messages being restricted to 160 characters, it can be challenging to convey clear, engaging, and actionable content. Brevity is key, but this can mean messaging may feel overly promotional.
You’re also fairly restricted in terms of what type of content you can share — videos, images, and GIFs are a no-go unless they’re very small and low-quality, so it’s best to stick to text.
Knowing these restrictions means you can craft your messaging accordingly. If you have creative assets to share, your best option is to use social media. If it’s something short that can be communicated via text or links, SMS messages are the way to go.
For example, answering complex questions, such as “What is an inbound call center?” might be better suited for email or a blog post than an SMS message.
8 Strategies to Grow Your SMS Contact List with Social Media
If you want to maximize success, it’s clear that SMS marketing is the way forward. But how can you leverage social media to engage with customers, encourage conversions, and build your SMS contacts? Take a look at our eight key strategies below.
1. Start with the Basics
Before we get into the more specialist techniques and tools, let’s start with the basics. Have you optimized your social media profiles to promote SMS sign-ups? This could be as simple as including a link in your bio or company description or adding a call-to-action button to your page.
It sounds obvious, but it can be easy to miss when you’re deep-diving into marketing strategies and trying to think outside the box. Check through all your accounts to make sure you have taken every opportunity to promote your SMS subscription.
You can even pin posts on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, giving your audience an extra push to sign up.
2. Competitions and Giveaways
With so many companies vying for our data, it’s no wonder that people are so reluctant to share their contact details nowadays. From annoying ads to relentless marketing emails, giving away your cell phone number can invite a lot of nuisance communications into your life.
Freebies and competitions are a great way of incentivizing people to volunteer their contact details. A text-to-win competition, where entrants send their answer or keyword to be in with a chance of winning a prize, allows you to grow your SMS contact list while offering subscribers something in return.
This is a quick, cost-effective, and simple way to attract and engage with new and repeat customers.
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3. Exclusive SMS Deals and Promotions
One effective way to secure SMS sign-ups is to offer exclusive deals and discounts they can’t get anywhere else.
Similar to competitions and giveaways, an SMS-exclusive promotion motivates your audience to share their details in exchange for something valuable, e.g., a 10% discount code or free item with their order.
This is particularly useful for encouraging existing email subscribers or social media followers to increase engagement with you via SMS.
You can use social media to promote these deals, spread the news, and share your sign-up link. Posts and stories on Instagram and TikTok, for instance, will gain a lot of attention and subscribers — you can even offer additional discounts for anyone who shares the post or follows your account.
4. Tap Into Communities
One of the greatest gifts the internet has given us is the ability to connect with other people. No matter what situation you’re in or what your hobbies may be, there will always be a Facebook Group, subreddit, or online forum with like-minded people.
Interested in beekeeping for beginners? Or maybe a “Weird Al” Yankovic fan club is more your style? Whatever the case may be, you’ll find a community for it.
Tapping into these social media communities can unlock new opportunities for your business. For example, if you sell blenders and food processors, joining a group dedicated to smoothie recipes will allow you to target the exact demographic you’re pitching to.
Here, you can promote your products and encourage people to sign up to your SMS list for future product launches, recipes, discounts and so on.
5. Offer Lead Magnets
Everyone loves a freebie, right? This doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical product or sample. There are a number of free resources you can offer your audience in exchange for their contact details and opt-in — otherwise known as a lead magnet.
Depending on the nature of your business, a lead magnet could be recipes, eBooks, case studies, webinars, podcasts, and so on. Using lead generation software, you can keep track of who has downloaded your resources, how much time they’ve spent viewing them, how they found your website etc.
Social media is a great place to promote these lead magnets and encourage SMS subscriptions. Advertising your resources on TikTok, X, LinkedIn, and other platforms will push people to download and share them with their friends, family, and followers.
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6. Targeted Ads
Advertisers used to rely on a ‘throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ strategy. This basically meant creating a generic ad they hoped would appeal to the masses and eventually get through to the desired demographic.
Nowadays, social media ads can be directed at specific groups. For example, businesses can target audiences in a particular location, using certain devices, with a certain job title etc. This allows organizations to spend their marketing budget wisely, ensuring ads are going to be seen by the right people at the right time.
Using targeted social media ads can help you build your SMS contact list with people who are likely to engage with you. If your target audience is younger generations who spend a lot of time on Instagram, meeting them where they are with a targeted ad will encourage SMS sign-ups and conversions.
7. Encourage Sign Ups as Part of Recruitment Drives
If someone is following your business on social media, chances are they’re interested in your products or company. And if that’s the case, it’s also likely that they’d be interested in working with you.
Many companies tell people to keep an eye on their website or careers page for new opportunities, but why stop there? You could go one step further by encouraging people to sign up to your SMS newsletter where they’ll get regular updates, job bulletins, and career guidance.
Besides growing your SMS contact list, this is a simple but effective way to improve the candidate experience alongside advanced recruiting technologies. Treating candidates well encourages a positive relationship with your company, which, in turn, may translate to higher conversion rates, increased ROI, and greater customer satisfaction.
8. Use Influencers
Leveraging influencers is a powerful way to grow your SMS contact list. These social media personalities have built trust and rapport with their followers, making their endorsements highly impactful.
For example, you can partner with influencers to promote an exclusive SMS-only discount or early access to product launches. Encourage them to share a unique sign-up link or code in their posts, stories, or videos.
These influencers don’t have to have millions of followers to be effective. In fact, mico-influencers with smaller but highly engaged audiences are often more successful at encouraging conversions. Their followers often view their recommendations as genuine, making them more likely to act.
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Final Thoughts on How To Grow Your SMS Contact List with Social Media
Engaging with your audience has never been easier with social media. That said, it takes careful planning and execution to ensure this engagement is meaningful to both you and your followers.
Using strategies like running targeted ads, offering exclusive deals, and partnering with relevant influencers can help you expand your reach, foster brand loyalty, and grow your SMS contact list.
Keeping in touch via SMS allows you to connect with billions of phone users worldwide and take advantage of extremely high open rates. While other communication channels may offer different benefits, it’s clear that traditional SMS messaging is here to stay — and failing to tap into this market could mean missed revenue for your business.
