This is the process of giving the telephone numbers by people of your target audience to you. At this very time, they also agree to be the receivers of your marketing campaigns. If you want to boost your sales with the help of SMS marketing opt in is needed anyway. So read on why and how to opt in users for bulk text messaging.
According to TCPA (telephone consumer protection act) you can’t send SMS to the people who haven’t agreed to receive the messages from you. The agreement should be written not verbal. Otherwise, you are under the risk of being fined because of violating the contact data protection law.
Also, the people who have passed the opt-in procedure are ready to receive your messages. And it positively influences the level of effectivity of SMS marketing campaign.
Now that you know what is SMS opt in and why you need it, let’s talk more detailed about how to encourage the customers to give their mobile numbers and agreements to receive messages.
How to implement SMS opt-in?
You should do all the stages according to SMS opt in rules:
Create an opt-in form on the website or think of another way to attract people whom you can add to opt in SMS list.
Prepare a favorable offer for people whom you ask to give their contact data. It can be a useful piece of content, a discount, an opportunity to take part in a lottery, and so on.
Add the link to your privacy policy. You should prepare this document in advance and write all the important issues there. Though the clients rarely read attentively such documentation, it plays a significant legal role. According to the law, for sending marketing text messages you should have written approval to contact data processing from a receiver.
Add the box with the writing “I agree to receive messages”. A person is supposed to put a tick and give his/her consent to be a part of the contact list for your bulk SMS campaigns.
How to make people opt in?
Here are some ways how to encourage the target audience to give the mobile numbers to you and to agree to receive your messages:
Registration form. If your website contains some useful information or it is an online service with the valuable features, you can give access to your content or instruments only to the registered people. You can add the field for mobile number and make it compulsory to fill in and place a box with the writing “I agree to receive SMS”. So that a person will opt in to your SMS marketing campaigns simultaneously with getting registered. A company offers to fill in all the boxes (First Name, Last Name, Email, and Phone). Also, there is the “I agree to receive SMS” option.
The form with lead magnet. If this is just a corporate website that doesn’t contain any sought after things, you should make some effort to encourage the visitors to opt in to your bulk mailings. The best way to do this is to offer something favorable. It can be, for example, a specially prepared piece of content with unique and valuable information, or a free service. A company offers a free consultation for those who will leave their contacts and agree to receive messages.
A special text message opt in form on the website. You can be honest with the users and ask them directly to subscribe to your bulk SMS sendings. A company has placed the SMS opt-in form on their website.
Sending SMS to a short number. You can start a lottery or give the discounts for sending keywords. Place the information about the prizes and other conditions of your promotion on your website, on the packaging of your products, or on the printed commercials. Usually, to become a participant, a person should send an SMS with a keyword to a short number. This way you get the mobile numbers. The company offers discounts for those who will send the SMS with a code word to a short number.
Discount cards. Give a special questionnaire to the people who are getting it. If you include the field for entering the phone number and a box with “I agree to receive messages” writing, you can collect the contacts for your bulk mailing campaigns in this way. While filling in all the boxes of the registration form for getting a discount card, a person enters his/her phone number
SMS opt-in best practices
Want to get inspiration? So, here are some successful SMS opt in examples:
The discount coupon is offered for those who enters the phone number. There is the writing “I want to receive text messages” and the description of the types of SMS which will be sent. This is a favorable offer and the link to all the terms of the privacy policy. The example of opting in with the help of sending keywords to short codes. The term that you agree to receive messages is mentioned.
SMS opt-in option in Bulk SMS Sender by AtomPark Software
You can create the SMS opt in form in a few clicks with the help of the constructor. Here is a step-by-step instruction on how to do that:
