When it comes to marketing and advertising, the channels you choose to use matter a lot. They determine the kind of reach and success you will achieve. One of the most effective marketing channels is via phone numbers. You can use them for SMS marketing or making calls. With a potential client’s phone number, there is so much that you can achieve. However, for effectiveness, you must ensure that you get the right numbers. Here are a few tools and ways to identify and get phone numbers for target marketing purposes.
1. Running Competitions and Giveaways
In the competitive world of business, establishments must know what to do to win clients over and stand out. One of the best ways is running competitions and giveaways. While this is an effective way to reward your clients, it also serves as an excellent way of collecting phone numbers.
The giveaways and competitions differ depending on your field. For instance, if you run a yoga business and have classes, consider offering clients free classes or discounts on the first few classes. Ask them to text their name to claim the offer. With this, you get leads and a pool of interested customers.
2. Using Phone Number Lookup APIs
Phone number lookup APIs are your best shot when you want to retrieve information regarding any phone number. By integrating a phone number lookup API into your systems, you can automate clients’ provisioning and configuration. They also help you manage your phone number list, thus ensuring that all the numbers in it are legit.
Whether you are getting the phone numbers from subscriptions or running competitions, incorporating the API ensures you verify the numbers from the beginning. This strengthens the security and reliability of your phone number list. Even better, it protects you from a bad sender reputation that could come into play if you send marketing messages to uninterested persons.
3. Use a Subscription Form on Your Site
For those with good traffic on their sites, using a subscription form on the homepage is the best choice. In this case, you will request your clients to enter their phone number (instead of the conventional email) to be added to the subscribers’ list.
The subscription form should be enticing enough and offer them exclusive perks such as early access to future updates, exclusive content, as well as special offers. It should be their pass to the ‘Members Only’ segment. Whatever you choose to offer them, ensure it is valuable and aligns with their needs.
4. Prompt Your Followers to Text Your Brand on Social Media
Social media is another underrated tool when it comes to mobile marketing. However, you must understand that most clients will not leave their phone numbers in a comment or reply on your Facebook or Instagram posts. The best way will be to have a form where they can sign up for your texting or call list. This enhances confidentiality and security.
If you are using Instagram, consider requesting your clients to text your brand on Instagram Stories. Since your followers are interested in your business products and services, having the prompt to text allows you to get their details more easily. Entice them by offering early access products or services that are only available to those who text.
5. Provide Opt-Out Information
This is probably the most important point on this list. All the above are perfect methods for collecting phone numbers for targeted marketing. Still, you must provide your clients with very clear opt-out instructions. The instructions must be well explained in the text so they do not struggle to find it.
In most cases, unsubscribing to a particular text or promotional content is by texting ‘STOP’ to a specified phone number. Once a client opts out, you must adhere to their wishes and refrain from texting them immediately. You can include a clause showing them how to get back on the list in case their preferences change. This eliminates heavy fines and lawsuits that come from spamming.
Conclusion
Collecting phone numbers for targeted marketing can hugely yield results and effectiveness. With a healthy phone number list, you can be sure that all messages and calls get to the intended clients. Start by running competitions and giveaways where clients have to input their phone numbers. You can also use phone number lookup APIs in your systems so you get the correct numbers at the source. As with any targeted marketing strategy, ensure they have a way to opt-out if they wish to.