In a world where people are using smartphones more than ever, using SMS for list building makes good sense.

You need to produce as many leads as possible, so targeting clients where they’re communicating most is a must. If you follow our 7 suggestions, your SMS marketing projects can help increase lead generation.

1. Promote your campaign

You’ve got to start somewhere, and you won’t develop your SMS list without drawing in customers. Make your campaign sound fascinating by running deals that they can only get by registering for your newsletter. Make sure you tell them explicitly that they will be signing up to the mailing list though – the new data regulations, GDPR, mean that you must give users the opportunity to ‘opt-in’ rather than simply ‘opt out’.

2. Run competitions

Individuals love getting things for free. Consider running a contest where you need to text to win – people will be more than prepared if you provide a little reward. Make sure the reward is relevant to your target audience and you’ll be well away.

3. Keep it easy

One text is 160 characters long. Aim to keep your message within one standard SMS. If you’re going to ask people to respond to a text with a keyword, ensure it includes numbers or special characters so you know they have absolutely opted in, rather than just mistyped the word.

Basic messages always work best – brief, sharp and to the point.

4. Don’t discount calls to action

You may be more used to using calls to action (CTAs) on websites and emails, but you must use them in your SMS marketing too. Direct the consumer to an offer or a page to guide them into the sales funnel.

5. Make your content useful

You’ve just got 160 characters, so you must make your content relevant and valuable to your customers. Make your SMS project stand out from your other marketing techniques.

6. Use SMS as a discussion tool

There’s no reason to keep your SMS marketing one-way. You can utilise it to receive messages from potential clients and move them along the sales funnel or enable them to respond to surveys and polls. This can help you generate more leads as consumers will give you their information when they complete the survey.

7. Follow up your leads

Follow up with your customers. When they first register, send out an automatic reply to keep them interested and guide them into the sales funnel. Make sure that you send out texts to the subscribers at an agreed frequency to keep them engaged.

SMS marketing is definitely a method to generate more leads. There are lots of ways to use texts to reach your audience and it’s an excellent way to get in touch with possible clients that might turn into brand ambassadors.