Insight
5 Steps to Mastering Lead Generation Through Text Messaging
Text messaging is one of the fastest ways to turn interest into a real conversation, especially when 98% of texts are open and read within minutes.
You’re already spending money to drive new leads to your website, social, email, and everywhere else you advertise. We’ll show you the best ways to use texting for lead generation so you can maximize your marketing ROI.
1. Tell people they can text you—and keep telling them.
If you don’t say it, they won’t know. But a single mention in a newsletter or a social media post doesn’t cut it.
The most effective SMS lead generation strategies include regular prompts across every channel where your leads already are:
Your website—banners, landing pages, footer
Marketing collateral—business cards, flyers, signage
Digital ads
Social media—LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and more
Your CTA should do two things:
Tell people they can text you
Give them a reason to text you
What are you texting about? How does it help them? What should they do first? Answer those questions in every prompt.
Text Request can help by making your current phone number textable, so your CTA can be as simple as:
“Call or text our business for [reason]!”
Having the same number for phone calls and texting saves time and confusion.
We’ll cover more examples of CTAs throughout our other business texting strategies below.
2. Capture more leads by adding SMS tools to your website.
Your website works day and night to convert leads. Add texting to the mix, and you’ll see your website’s conversion rates go up.
Here are the SMS tools we recommend to make that happen.
SMS Chat
SMS Chat is a widget that people use to text you directly from your website. All the messages come directly to your Text Request dashboard, while your replies go to the contact’s mobile phone.
This does three things at once:
Immediately establishes your business can text
Invites them to start a conversation
Captures their number for future follow-ups
You can customize the widget with a CTA that suits your business.
“Text us to book your appointment!”
“Text us to get an estimate.”
SMS Chat keeps leads engaged before they move on to a competitor—and makes it easy to continue the conversation after they leave your site.
Web Form Text Triggers
When someone fills out a form on your website, they expect a fast response. Otherwise, they’ll move on to a competitor.
You’ll convert more leads when you create an automation that shoots confirmation texts to leads who fill out your web forms.
Text Request integrates with popular CRMs and tools like:
An immediate follow-up could look like:
“We’ve gotten your request, and [Name] is going to follow up with you ASAP.”
From there, you can continue nurturing your leads with additional texts. They can look like:
“Enter your number to subscribe, and get 15% off your next purchase!”
Keep in mind that your leads will expect you to have a human waiting on the other side to handle responses to automated messages. Check out our text message templates for nurturing warm leads beyond their initial reach-out.
3. Use keywords to start opt-in conversations at scale.
Keywords are one of the quickest ways to grab a potential customer’s attention. They’re simple to advertise and do the heavy lifting of getting people into your funnel.
Keywords can be displayed across everywhere from:
Brick-and-mortar locations
Social media
Digital ads
Physical marketing collateral
A lead can text a keyword, and your business can respond with the information or offer you advertised. Here are some examples by industry:
Real Estate: “Text HOUSE to schedule a visit.”
HVAC: “Text HEATING to learn more about our seasonal tune-up plan.”
Insurance: “Text QUOTE to learn more about our rates.”
Fitness: “Text LIFT and your first session is free.”
Retail: “Text SALE to get 15% off your next purchase.”
SaaS: “Text DEMO to see our service in action.”
Franchising: “Text JOIN to learn how to open your own location.”
Nonprofit: “Text GIVE to learn how you can contribute to our cause!”
Athletics: “Text TEAM for a chance to win free tickets to our next match!”
Leads who opt in are automatically added to Groups, so you can follow up later with relevant content, offers, or updates.
You’ll start more sales conversations and keep leads moving down your funnel, when you let potential customers come to you using keywords.
4. Drive opt-ins with SMS contests and VIP programs.
FOMO is a powerful motivator. When leads know they’re missing out on something exclusive, they’re more likely to act.
Keywords are a natural fit for advertising VIP access:
“Text VIP to learn about our exclusive SMS perks!”
Once they’re in, deliver on your promise. VIP programs work best when the rewards are genuinely worth it:
Free swag
Early access to new products and features
Behind-the-scenes content
Free shipping on products
Exclusive services and events
Consistently following through is the most important thing your business can do.
Successful lead nurturing means texting people like you're a human being, providing value with educational content and links, and being responsive when they reply back.
Text Request lets you shorten links and track clicks across mass texts, so you can see which of your offers VIPs are engaging with most.
Need more ideas to keep leads invested beyond the initial opt-in? We’ve got a full list of SMS marketing ideas to help you build an effective texting strategy.
5. Convert your email subscriber list into an SMS subscriber list.
Your email marketing and text message strategies can work together to convert more leads. Connecting your channels is one of the lowest-effort ways to grow your texting contacts.
Text Request integrates with:
When those integrations are active, any phone numbers you’ve gathered via email signup will automatically be added to your Text Request account. These contacts will also be put into a corresponding Group that’s updated each night to make sure you continuously collect numbers.
This gives you three immediate advantages:
A low effort way to gather contacts for an SMS subscriber list
The ability to pair email announcements with text alerts so nothing falls through the cracks
Two channels of data to understand what’s actually driving engagement
Your social media channels can also complement your email and SMS strategies.
For example, your email campaign could direct leads to text a keyword, and then that keyword’s autoresponse could direct leads to share one of your social media posts to receive a discount.
The more places a lead sees your CTA, the more likely they are to act on it.
Start Generating More Leads Through Text Messaging
SMS is one of the fastest channels to move from first contact to real conversation.
You just need an ongoing SMS marketing strategy to nurture those leads once they start coming your way. A platform like Text Request helps you manage those texts with tools like mass texting, autoresponses, mobile apps, and more.
We also have free resources, including industry playbooks and text message templates to bring your SMS lead generation strategy to life.
FAQ
1. What is SMS lead generation?
SMS lead generation is a strategy to use text messaging to capture potential customers, start conversations, and move them towards a purchase. It involves getting leads to opt in via keywords, web forms, etcetera—then following up with targeted, personalized messages to keep them engaged.
2. How do I get leads to opt in to texts?
The most effective opt-in methods include using texting tools like keywords, SMS chat widgets, web form triggers, and promoting your textable number across your marketing channels. Regardless, you need to give leads a clear reason to opt in to receiving texts from your business.
3. Is texting effective for lead generation?
Yes. Text messages have a 98% open rate and most are read within minutes of delivery. That makes SMS one of the fastest channels to reach a lead while their interest is still high. SMS is an effective communication strategy for capturing and nurturing leads.
4. What is an SMS lead?
An SMS lead is a potential customer who has opted in to receive text messages from your business. SMS leads tend to be more engaged and further along in the buying journey than leads captured through passive channels alone.
