Hello, everyone.
Derek Johnson with tatango.com.
If you're looking to grow your SMS list, you have to watch this video.
I have one tip, it's super simple, easy to execute, and will definitely grow your list.
And you'll see why when I walk through it.
So, first off, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you my screen.
I'm going to use Home Depot as an example.
I received this message from Home Depot, it was a deal of the day, 35% off smart door
locks.
So, really great deal.
And let's say, my friend, he sees that and he's like, "Wow, that's great.
I just bought, you know, my own house.
How do I get those daily deals?"
Well, let me show you how hard it is for me to figure out how he can get those daily deals.
So, right now, if I look here and I click on this link, there's nothing here about how
to sign...okay.
So, you know, I can't do that.
Let's try...you know, I know the keyword help.
Okay.
"Home Depot: Thanks for your message.
This is Home Depot."
Okay, "Reply STOP," I don't need to know how to reply stop.
I want to know how to join.
Maybe...
And also that additional help, that has nothing, you know, in there either about joining, maybe
let's text "Join" and see what happens.
Okay.
You know, how can I join or how can my friend join or anything?
Okay.
You know, even myself, I see a lot of text messaging campaigns, I'm kind of stumped.
You know, and really I've texted help, which had said here, really the last thing I can
think of is maybe let's text "Stop" and they'll tell us how to opt back in so I can tell my
friend.
No, and the support just goes to a general help page, you know.
So, it's even worse now that I'm opted out of the list, you know, now I'm not getting
the messages.
I don't know how to opt back in.
And my friend, obviously, can't get them either.
So, what's the solution here?
The solution is for error message, help message, stop message, really any kind of response
that you're sending, even the actual message, you should always be telling people how to
opt in.
Now, it doesn't make that much sense, you know, if I get this message at the top here,
why would I need to know how to opt in?
Well, it's not me opting in, it's me being able to tell my friend, my family how to opt
in.
So, if you have extra characters, this message may not, but if you have extra characters
in your message, you know, text "Join" to, you know, 656-24 to opt in.
You know, so it's always on kind of top of mind for existing subscribers or even, you
know, share, you know, this message or share this promotion, share, you know, the join,
you can kind of mess around with it.
Then, secondary, if people respond "Help" in your help message, put instructions on
how to join.
I would also always...you know, I think most people would just assume kind of "Join" would
work or "Subscribe."
I would definitely, you know, get those as keywords for your SMS campaign.
So, at least, you know, those random people that text "Join" or "Subscribe," if they're
really trying to subscribe, they can, you know, join.
Any error message like this one, "How can I join?"
So, if you know, you send back, "Thanks for texting us, we didn't understand your message,"
why don't they put "Text 'Help' for help, stop to end," and then put...you know, text
"Join" to join or "Join" to...and always put the short code.
Remember, you know, the short code, the person that is, you know, receiving these messages,
but if I'm trying to relay it to a friend, I might not get the fact that I have to text
"Join," then I have to look at the phone number that I texted.
Just spell it out very clearly for the person, you know, "Text 'Join' to 656-24."
Then another one at the very end, if this person, you know, obviously, can't figure
it out, there is a good chance, and I've seen this happen so many different times.
I've also seen our support channel where consumers will opt out and then there'll be like, "Oh,
sorry, I accidentally did that.
How can I opt back in?"
We hear this all the time.
So, this one right here, "Stop."
"You'll no longer receive messages for support."
There also in this message, it should say how to rejoin and not only just, you know,
"Reply 'Join.'"
Reply "Join," you know, to 656-24, so that the person that has the phone can actually
join or rejoin, but then they can tell their friends how to join.
Again, this is a great tool, especially if you have millions of SMS subscribers, use
those subscribers to spread the message.
And it happens all the time.
I've seen it, you know, where I've shown people kind of cool campaigns and they're like, "Cool,
how can I, you know, get those text messages?"
Well, even myself, I'm like, "Oh, I don't remember the keyword.
I don't remember what website to go to."
So, it's super important to put it in every message, how, you know, that person that is
receiving the message, how they can rejoin, but then also how they can tell their friends
how to join.
Anyway, hopefully, that helps.
It's a great tip for growing your SMS subscribers.
Also, it's super simple because you just got to edit some of your message.
Hopefully, that helps.
And if you guys have any other questions, feel free to leave in the comments below.
Again, my name is Derek Johnson with tatango.com.