How to Get Your First 1000 SMS Marketing Subscribers

Are you thinking about using conversational SMS in your marketing mix?

Or perhaps you've already implemented it but your subscribers list is relatively small?

There's a lot of use cases on the benefits of using conversational text marketing for your eCommerce store and why customers love it, so we won't go into that now, but you can check out our thoughts on it here or here.

In this post, we will show you a few tricks you can start using today in order to grow your SMS subscribers list.

Compliant SMS Opt-in at Checkout

In order to be able to send out any sort of text message marketing (or other marketing communications, for that matter), you need to legally collect, store and use your customers personal data. That includes phone numbers.

So what does ‘legally’ mean in the context of collecting phone numbers for conversational SMS campaigns? All you need from your customers is an explicit “Written Consent” prior to them receiving any marketing messages. At Cartloop we are fully TCPA and GDPR compliant and we enable merchants to legally collect personal data through the checkout process.

This is the most common and easiest way of collecting consent from your shoppers, as they can opt-in while placing an order. It's not intrusive, nor does it affect the UX of the checkout flow. Win-win!

Not to worry though - during the onboarding process, our Experts will help you set up your Checkout Page to ensure compliance without you lifting a finger. At the end, your checkout page should look like this:

Exit Intent Pop-Ups

With engagement rates 6 to 8 times higher than email marketing, you need to use every tool at your disposal to ensure you stay connected with your users. OptiMonk's widgets allow you to collect these phone numbers through a pop-up that displays as your shoppers intend to leave your site.

Showcase Your New Communications Channel

In order to build a list of subscribers through text messaging, you first need to let your shoppers know they have this option. There are a few ways to do that:

  • Add a banner on your Homepage (or multiple Landing Pages leading to relevant content) showcasing your new service
  • Share the news on all your social media pages and make it easy for customers to understand how to reach out to you via text messages

This is extremely helpful for online stores as it lets your audience know there is a fast and easy way to reach out to you, should they encounter a problem, without having to wait for days for an email reply. In particular, this is a highly useful customer retention technique, where your community feels you go above and beyond to provide exquisite customer service as well - not only do you grow your text marketing list, but indirectly increase your brand value.

Include Options for SMS Opt-Ins in All Your Marketing Campaigns

Collecting phone numbers and building a compliant text marketing list takes time - especially when budget constraints come into play and you are already running several campaigns that take up most of your financial resources. However, you can use this to your own benefit. Here's what you do:

  • Include a phone number collection form to your Facebook Ads
  • Use one of your Google Ads to showcase the new service and direct users to either a Landing page or an Opt-in form on your website
  • Add the SMS number where shoppers can reach out to you on every piece of marketing collateral. This will also help with customer retention.
  • If you are running email marketing campaigns, inform that list about your new way of connecting with them: add the text messaging option in your contact section

A Use Case for SMS Marketing

One of the most valuable ways for stores to use text messaging is recovering abandoned carts. With 88% of online shopping carts ending up abandoned, brands are missing out on recovering lost revenue. Sometimes, when you abandon an online cart, online stores send out a very cold and impersonal email, announcing that you've got an abandoned cart waiting for you. Believe me, that is not news to the shopper, nor would the information help with customer retention.

So why not do things differently?

Email marketing doesn't address the the reasons why consumers backed out of the sale, nor can it solve them at the click of a button. By the time brands realize there was an issue, that customer is long gone and has already made a purchase from a different vendor.

Instead, use your newly acquired text messaging platform and reach out to your customers in a human, friendly way, almost like they would be right back into your physical store:

This conversational approach will turn your marketing game around and establish your store as a caring, online brand that cares about your customer interactions. People appreciate conversational text marketing due to its real-time approach and the less robotic, automated approach to customer service.

Get Started with SMS Marketing in Shopify

Now that you've got a pretty good idea on how to gather compliant SMS opt-ins, it's time to start using text marketing for your customers and generate those sales faster! And if you're wondering how we do things at Cartloop, check out what happens behind the scenes!

Ideally, you should use a balanced set of marketing tools, not just text marketing, as part of an integrated communications strategy and staying in touch with your customers across multiple touchpoints. Text message marketing is just one of them.

If you’re looking to drive more revenue by adding a human touch to your brand through real-time conversations, we’d love to help. Set up a free chat with our expert team and start your free trial today.

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