“Texting is way cooler than phone calls .” - Richard Barker

Introduction to SMS:

What I’m going to describe is the perfect way to manage a lead. Here is the ideal follow up I use when a lead comes into my business. When the lead comes in via my website chat widget, form, call or text I firstly respond back with a text and get over an 80% reply response within 10 minutes.

If I determine they are a good value prospect I send them to an email, SMS and voice drop workflow automation providing details of my services and links to my relevant landing page about that service. At the same time, I send them by postal mail a postcard when I obtain their address, I use I Heart Postcards

My follow up sequence is all achieved in Follow Up Spark. My landing page has an inquiry form on it so they can request my services and once submitted, I am alerted by both text and email of the form submission.

With that said, here are 4 reasons why you should start using SMS marketing today! 👊

1. It sparks conversations

 Do you know that over 98% of customers read incoming text messages? With a high open-rate, text messaging is simply the best method to engage with your customers.

2. Operating more efficiently

Text messaging is fast and convenient. It's available 24/7 so you can reach out to your customers at any time without disrupting their days.

3. Better ways to stay connected

Provide the best customer care by using business text messaging on the browser or on the go with Follow up Spark mobile app or by using your desktop.

4. Text 2 Pay Payments

Start collecting quick payments right from inside the conversations tab or on your phone. You can now send an sms and you now see a new payment icon. You can create a quick invoice for one item or multiple items.



Gary Vaynerchuk has a site called WineText. Its premise is pretty simple: sign up to get a daily wine deal. According to Gary, the SMS list of nearly 9,000 customers consistently outperforms Wine Library’s email list of 400,000 by a magnitude of 9x.

Read that again! 😇

The SMS list of nearly 9,000 customers consistently outperforms Wine Library’s email list of 400,000 subscribers by a magnitude of 9x.

Another similar example:

A brand called Dr Squatch generated more revenue from SMS, despite the email list being twice the size. Even though their email list is 10x larger than the SMS list, SMS regularly pulled half of the revenue generated by email.

And what about engagement metrics? SMS campaigns get crazy high open rates: Between 82% to 99%.

The icing on the cake? Once you build a list of mobile phone numbers, they’re yours forever. You don’t depend on Meta or Google’s algorithms.

Most marketers know their way around an email inbox.

But SMS? It’s a whole different world, and it’s a daunting one if you’ve never experienced it.

When you know what you’re doing, however, SMS can be a powerful channel for generating revenue.

Here’s where to start: There are three factors that determine whether or not your message will get delivered to a user’s phone. They are:

• Your SMS marketing platform.

• The recipient’s wireless carrier.

• The recipient’s mobile phone or device.

Most restrictions on SMS deliverability are based on particular words that are considered “spam.”

So, if you want to reduce deliverability problems, remember the following:

Your SMS marketing platform might not allow you to use certain words. Find out what they are, and make sure they’re not in any of your campaigns.

Wireless carriers might block your message because it contains non-compliant language. Research guidelines from the carriers you’ll be sending messages to.

Individuals might have spam filters set up to prevent marketing messages. If this is a problem, try to keep all marketing-related lingo, like “sale” and “discount,” out of your message.

Complete the checklist above and you’ll be well on your way to getting those marketing messages delivered.

Types of Phone Numbers for SMS

There are three types of numbers you can use to send SMS marketing messages.

And, yes, your deliverability and conversions may be affected by the one you pick.

So let’s choose the right one for your business.

For starters, here are your options:

• Toll-free numbers.

• Short code numbers.

• Local numbers.

Toll-free numbers: These are the best option if you’re optimizing for ease-of-use.

If you’re sending fewer than 2k messages per day in the US or Canada, toll-free numbers don’t require any additional steps to get set up.

… But, they aren’t the best option for conversion and deliverability.

Short code numbers: These are the best option if 1) you’re looking to send lots of SMS messages, and 2) you want strong deliverability.

The only problem is… they’re expensive. Most providers charge at least $1k per month for a shortcode number, and at least that much for a setup fee. Some phones get confused when the phone number you are trying to send to only has 5 digits.

Local numbers: The best option These feel more authentic to users—people will recognize a local area code—they’re also, by far, the easiest to set up in the US or Canada and come free with your Follow Up Spark account.

Outside of these countries, though, local numbers are simple to set up for SMS and can deliver good results.