When it comes to growing your SMS database, buying a list should be out of the question. There’s no better way to get people to respond to your CTAs than by growing your SMS database organically, which basically means customers are willing to sign up for your offers.

By contrast, buying a marketing list cannot give you the same assurance that your prospects would take action since you only send them unsolicited offers.

If you’re struggling to grow your list of opt-in subscribers, it might be due to lack of a solid strategy which can be quite difficult to establish if you don’t know where or how to begin. That said, here are basic, no-nonsense recommendations to help you jumpstart your SMS database.

1.  Ask your customers directly.

Your customers are your best source of high-quality data for your marketing lists, so use every point of purchase (POP) opportunity to get them to sign up for your special deals.

Clearly communicate the benefits or value of your offers to your customers so that they’ll be willing to share their contact details with you. When you know you’re actually helping your audience through value-added products or services, you’ll feel more confident to do your sales pitch.

2. Place multiple subscription forms across your marketing channels.

You’re not making good use of your website, blog, digital platforms, and other POP components if they lack in or void of sign-up forms.

Use your website’s landing pages to convince people to subscribe to your list through any of the following online forms:

·         Newsletter signup

·         Sales contact

·         Event registration

·         Customer feedback

·         Online order and payments

·         Account signup

·         Visitor feedback

·         Contest registration

·         Donation

·         Free assessment

The key is to make your subscription forms simple, optimized for desktop and mobile, and user-friendly. For example, you could include dropdown boxes and other pre-populated fields so that your customers will only have to do minimal typing.

You could also implement an input validation system to help you catch typographical or encoding errors so that you can be sure your subscribers are submitting accurate data.

3. Include keywords and short codes when you advertise.

Keywords and short codes, which typically consist of five or six unique numbers that companies use to opt in consumers, are powerful tools that you could include in your digital marketing strategies.

By adding them to your promotional materials or advertisements, you’re making it easy for your prospects to sign up for and receive exclusive offers from your company since just about anybody is on mobile for a good period.

4. Offer incentives in your sign-ups.

Your prospects will be more willing to share their personal details with you if you give them a good reason to. Incentives can help you attract and engage future customers, as these are direct indicators that there is really something to gain from your offers.

Here are some of the most common and highly effective rewards that you could offer to your target audience:

·         Free stuff such as product samples or trials that everybody loves

·         Premium content, which could be in the form of how-to guides, the latest blog post, whitepapers, and other gated content, can help establish your brand authority in your niche market.

·         Exclusive offers such as one-off discounts and coupons are helpful in encouraging your contacts to do repeat business with your company.

·         Giveaways and prizes to online contests that are also very engaging for many people.

Growing your SMS database may require you to dedicate a considerable amount of time and effort, but the payoff is quite worth it. You could get higher open rates from willing subscribers, giving you more quality leads to follow up with later on. Plus, you won’t be spending money on lists that are being sold with no guarantees whatsoever about people’s interest in your brand.