In order for an SMS marketing campaign to bring a fast return on your investment, you have to build your list quickly. Without doing everything in your power to ensure that everyone gets on board the SMS ASAP, you’re SOL. Well, maybe not that bad off. But you get the idea. It’s not easy building up SMS marketing lists, but there are a few things that can help you do it a bit faster than waiting around for people to figure out that you’re open for business.
• Use your email campaign management software. Yes, an SMS campaign is different. But you can’t exactly start calling random numbers and asking people if they want to join in. You have to get ahold of them somehow. If you’ve already got a list of email contacts (as you should) then it should be easy enough for you to send a quick, short blast reminding everyone about your SMS campaign and inviting them to opt in.
• Broadcast it on your website. An established online visibility will go a long way to building your SMS marketing list, and since you’re in the midst of a “big push” it’s important enough to update your website to include a visible banner or other graphic telling people how to opt-in to your SMS campaign.
• Use your social media profiles. Again, this is something that you should already have in place. In many ways, this is what social media was really made for – getting out mass messages in a single location without having to contact everyone individually.
In all cases, it’s important that you keep it simple and to the point with a message like “Text JOIN to 40855.” Your audience is savvy, they’ll know how to do the rest. It also never hurts to remind people why they’re signing up to your SMS marketing list. Recap the benefits in a few words – the fewer the better – and watch the opt-ins fly.