Building an email list is one of the hardest parts of email marketing. Building an SMS list is harder.
Email addresses feel personal, but compared to text messages, they almost feel semi-public.
People hand them out relatively freely for discounts, eBooks, and so on. Worst case, you get some emails you don’t want and unsubscribe.
A phone number is different.
It’s the same number your friends, family, husband/wife, doctor, etc. have.
Someone can technically hear your voice and even see your face via phone (worth considering, even if brands don’t have the permission to call you).
People have seen the “sign up for exclusive SMS access” boilerplate promise too many times and gotten nothing meaningful in return.
Discounts may increase signups, but then you give up margin for the purchase at best…
And, at worst, cheapen your products and turn off your wealthy target audience.
My newer client faced this dilemma. The brand needs to grow its SMS list from 0 but, given the nature of the products (as you’ll see), discounts are a terrible idea.
So we’re taking a different approach, using my client’s unique business model to our advantage.
Read on to learn how we’re growing their list…
The Strategy: Product Drops + SMS Early Access
My client is a precious metals collectibles brand with a strong patriotic personality.
Think Americana-themed (but not exclusively American/Americana) artistic creations in silver and other metals.
Some products are numismatic coins (desired for rarity, historical significance, condition, and collector demand instead of just precious metal content) with commemorative designs.
However, most are objects made of precious metals.
For example, we recently helped them launch preorders for a specially-themed silver “coin” of a well-known handgun.
It’s shaped as the actual gun, NOT a coin with a design stamped in.
Now, many collectibles brands routinely launch new products to give customers reasons to come back. My client is no different (except all launches are preorders). That’s the nature of nonconsumable products.
Furthermore, this brand ONLY does limited runs, further necessitating constant launches.
That scarcity underpins our SMS list growth strategy.
Before we drop a new product, we send a teaser email to the full list.
It reveals that something new is coming…
Often with a short story and/or an appeal to a similar collectible that sold out, plus a teaser photo (though emails are mostly plain text).
Standard “hype up your audience for the launch” stuff.
There’s nowhere to send our readers, though. But we can’t waste this email and get nothing out of them.
So we turned the teaser into an SMS list growth engine by driving people to sign up for SMS.
Few people hand out their phone number for no reason. A discount won’t do for a precious metals collectibles brand, either.
People with money buy these. They don’t care about shaving $50 off a $500 silver model of a military aircraft or famous firearm.
A discount speaks ill of product quality and anchors customer expectations improperly.
Early access to new launches made much more sense.
On launch day, a few hours before the announcement email, we text SMS subscribers driving them to the product page.
Boom.
They can kick back, relax, and take their time navigating to and preordering the new product.
But not too long.
Soon enough, the announcement email hits, and email subscribers flood the page.
Every new launch is another opportunity to make money AND grow our SMS list.
We use urgency in launches, too.
We shut off preorders after the launch ends. But eventually, when the product is finished and in stock, people can buy it until my client runs out.
How Do I Use This WITHOUT Limited Run Products?
Limited-run products make this strategy easy by building in scarcity.
But you don’t have to BS scarcity or run a collectibles brand to use this principle.
eCommerce brands with regular inventory (consumables AND nonconsumables) can apply this concept to their promotional campaigns.
For example, you might give your SMS list early access to Black Friday deals. Maybe they get access to a better offer, too.
That’s two incentives to join without faking scarcity. Urgency around early access drives more signups, too.
Service businesses can use this too.
For instance, a marketing agency could text its SMS list when its client roster opens up. Give those people a few hours to apply to work with you before the rest of the list.
Two examples from my own life:
- Local barber: A barber up the street frequently texts urgent same-day availability and, in some cases, same-day-only discounts. Exclusivity of SMS list + first come, first serve = more bookings.
- Auto detailer: Texts me SMS-only deals, reminders to book my next appointment, and other special things.
Results
We added 101 people on the first send (that top row). Expected — people heard about or were nudged to the SMS list for the first time ever.
Novelty alone drives a lot of signups.
Moreso since we go beyond vague “early access” and specify the imminent upcoming launch they WILL get early access too.
From there, we netted a little under 1 subscriber/day. Meaning it takes 2 days at least to gain 1 subscriber.
Sounds slow, but remember, SMS is harder to grow.
We aren’t desperate for signups. We don’t want to pay for SMS subs or sends we can’t convert into earnings. We’re pairing this with email.
Quality > quantity, especially for a channel whose performance isn’t vital to company survival.
Notice that out of the 15 days we’ve worked with them (at the time of writing), we had:
- 10 days net positive growth
- 2 days flat growth
- 3 days negative growth
Those 3 negative growth days were on SMS send days.
Sending will ALWAYS cause unsubs once you’re past a few subs. That’s how statistics work.
Funny enough, the very first drop announcement email we wrote for the client (we sent the day after, rather than 2 hours after like we do now) netted them a bunch of signups.
I’ve done that before:
Realize I can get early access to something, but too late for THAT particular drop, so I sign up on the drop day to be ready for the NEXT drop.
The second drop teaser we wrote added 4 net signups (second to last row).
A LOT less. But more net growth than ALL non-teaser days except for the first drop announcement I just mentioned.
Why This Works
This strategy works because our SMS subscription grants real benefits.
Many brands say you get “exclusive access” or “first dibs” or “brand updates” (bleh) if you get on the list… and then don’t deliver any of those.
Our strategy works because we do keep that promise.
We make good on it frequently, thanks to our multiple monthly drops.
And, since no product has unlimited inventory…
Being on the SMS list is an attractive proposition for precious metals collectors, fans of the brand, gift shoppers, and anyone else who may shop with us regularly.
Now, people respond to early access not just for the practical benefit — beating the crowd, grabbing something before it potentially sells out.
The practical benefit is not the only reason customers get on our SMS list, though.
Being in the “inner circle” feels good even when the stakes are low.
If a customer maintains it long enough, it seeps into their identity. It’s hard to give up status that feels like it’s part of you.
You get a self-reinforcing loop:
A subscriber who got early access, bought the product, and loved it has every reason to stay on the list for the next drop. They get to “be in the know” as they get priority access to the next item.
Some of these people will tell their friends. A portion of those friends become warm traffic and easy sales.
The mechanic compounds over time without additional effort.
Last little note:
AI is a HUGE help here.
Claude summarizes large amounts of product info fast and gives me some angle ideas. I workshop it and then write…
But Claude does a good chunk of that work since each launch follows a similar structure.
I do the creative portion — storytelling, descriptive copy, etc. — and punch up some of the AI output.
Boost Launch Sales + Grow Your SMS List
Phone numbers are almost as personal as Social Security numbers to some.
Brands that build strong, sizable, lucrative SMS lists understand and respect this by making a helpful, aligned promise to potential subscribers and DELIVERS on it quickly.
Brands that don’t… They tack on an SMS opt-in form with ESP-generated boilerplate. MAYBE a discount if they’re ambitious.
Our approach works because subscribers see a tangible and valuable benefit they feel is worth their phone number.
No need to crank out a brand new product every other week.
Early promotional campaign access, SMS-only deals, appointment reminders, same-day openings…
These, too, offer value to different types of customers. The key is picking what fits your business model and your customer’s desires… and demonstrating the promise.
What’s nice about our SMS list growth efforts:
SMS subscribers who enter flows will get additional messaging (the SMS’s we put in flows).
More automated opportunities to get the sale.
My free guide covers the 10 email automations worth having in place to maximize the revenue from every subscriber you bring in.
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What To Do Next
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