Published: Apr 21, 2017
Last update: Jun 28, 2022
SMS Marketing

The effectiveness of using SMS messaging to generate leads

How to SMS generates leads
The effectiveness of using SMS messaging to generate leads
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The ever-smaller device and inseparable tool for the modern human being, the smartphone, is without doubt the most powerful lead generation tool available to marketers.

When a company plans a marketing campaign, the aim is to convert all actions into sales, whatever the service or product. In many cases, these sales are limited to a specific event. One way to ensure that these become repeat sales is to successfully identify potential customers. Through getting leads, you can grow your database, allowing you to focus on new business actions. To capture those leads, an SMS campaign is an indispensable tool.

The ever-smaller device and inseparable tool for the modern human being, the smartphone, is without doubt the most powerful lead generation tool available to marketers. This power is due to the increasing number of people connected to their mobiles, with the ability to connect to all kinds of networks and to the internet, to browse websites or download apps for fun, friendship or work.  

But, regardless of the quality of technology of each individual’s mobile phone, whether it’s a conventional phone or smartphone, all mobile phones incorporate as standard one of the most useful tools, which is still installed on every generation of phones. This tool is SMS, the Short Messaging Service.

Although it seems unbelievable, SMS is a system that has been running for 20 years without facing any big changes, and is increasingly used as an excellent marketing weapon.

How SMS generates leads immediately

In the past, to capture a lead and interact with a potential buyer, it was necessary to generate a complex marketing campaign involving radio and television spots, press mentions and promotional campaigns at the point of sale. All in all, very expensive.

Until relatively recently, while searching the internet,

we had to find a company’s website, fill out a form and wait for a response from a member of staff via email, telephone… Not a system for the impatient. Too much waiting time.

But now, our ability to interconnect allows us to browse with our mobile phones, evaluate offers and promotions, and access them in the simplest and fastest possible way for use on mobile phones: SMS. The user just has to send an SMS with a keyword for the company to respond immediately with access to a voluntary subscription service providing the user with benefits, promotions and offers etc. The user just has to provide personal data which is then incorporated into the company’s database for future SMS marketing campaigns.

How to get target market leads to subscribe?

The target audiences of most brands or services are becoming more and more demanding and want everything to be simple. In the first place, you have to plan the necessary elements to make sure that every potential customer becomes a subscriber of your SMS marketing campaign. The key elements are: a short code SMS (the special telephone number used by the subscriber and the company to communicate), a keyword (the word that users have to send to initiate the opt-in or subscription process), and an SMS autorespond service (automatic messages of welcome, confirmation of subscription or incorporation into the company’s database). 

The effectiveness of using SMS messaging to generate leads

The automatic reply message can include additional fields to complete the opt-in process, such as personal data (name, age, gender…) postal or email address. This section has to be clear for it to increase the conversion rate of leads.

However, a potential subscriber might hesitate to send an SMS message to initiate the opt-in process. To encourage them, offer tangible benefits. A gift coupon, discount offer, promotional code, an exclusive sale for a limited time… Personalizing these benefits also helps to build confidence at the point of providing information that can be included in the database. In this way, the database grows and it becomes a reliable source for converting customers.