Collecting Phone Numbers: 12 Right Ways to Do It

Collecting phone numbers is the first step to implementing an SMS or text marketing strategy. 53.5% of business owners say that SMS campaigns have the highest open and click-through rates compared to other communication channels. That’s no surprise, given that text messaging is the preferred method of communicating with brands for nearly 50% of consumers of all ages. Thus, by growing your phone number list, you can reach a broad audience with subsequent SMS mailings, attract more attention to your messages, and improve your sales.

In this article, we'll show you how to collect phone numbers in different ways, motivate your audience to share their contact details, and create an effective subscription form for your website.

Why You Shouldn’t Simply Buy a List of Phone Numbers

The answer is simple: this approach contradicts the current laws and regulations safeguarding consumer rights and privacy:

1. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a law in the United States designed to safeguard consumers from unsolicited telemarketing calls, faxes, and text messages. It mandates that businesses acquire written consent from customers before engaging in automated or prerecorded calls and sending promotional text messages. Additionally, the TCPA establishes a Do Not Call Registry, allowing individuals to opt out of receiving unwanted marketing calls.
2. The CAN-SPAM Act in the United States aims to control and manage commercial email messages, specifically targeting spam. It establishes guidelines for businesses that send marketing emails mandating the inclusion of sender information, a transparent opt-out mechanism, and avoiding misleading subject lines. This legislation applies to commercial emails and individual messages, with significant penalties for violations.
3. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a data protection law implemented in the European Union (EU) in 2018. Its primary goal is to empower EU citizens by giving them control over their personal information and ensuring consistency in data protection laws across EU member states. This regulation applies to any organization, regardless of its location, that handles data of EU residents. Businesses must obtain consent for collecting data, provide clear and transparent privacy policies, and grant individuals the right to access, correct, or delete their information. Compliance with the GDPR is crucial as non-compliance can lead to penalties, emphasizing the importance for businesses to adhere to its requirements.

The Claspo builder has an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certificate guaranteeing that your widgets are GDPR compliant and your subscribers' data is reliably protected. By collecting phone numbers using our website widgets, you get high-quality contact information, ensure better SMS deliverability, and build a good reputation for your brand.

Use this template

How to Collect Phone Numbers for SMS Marketing

The more subscribers in your phone list, the more likely your SMS campaigns will succeed. With this in mind, we've prepared 12 proven ways to get as many leads into your sales funnel as possible.

1. Collect Phone Numbers of Email Subscribers

This tactic has one big advantage - your email subscribers already know your brand and have more confidence in you than, for example, first-time website visitors. But when asking them to share their phone numbers, remember two basic rules:

• Reassure subscribers that the content of your text messages will be different from the emails.
• Give them an incentive to share phone numbers. For example, highlight the ability to receive exclusive deals via SMS or offer one immediately in exchange for their number.

If your audience is already familiar with your email subscription for website, you can build on that trust by clearly communicating the value of receiving texts in addition to emails.

2. Provide a Perk in Exchange for a Number

A good incentive melts the hearts of not only your email subscribers but all the people whose phone numbers you want to get. 85% of shoppers are willing to share their data for a discount. Therefore, to collect phone numbers from prospects, offer them something in return.

You can place your offer in a catchy widget and embed it on different website pages. With Claspo's advanced settings, you can display it only to new visitors or those who came to your website from a specific source or campaign. This personalized approach ensures the growth of your phone number list.

Use this template

3. Invite to Your SMS List on the Checkout Page

If a shopper has reached this page, they definitely like your brand. Therefore, take advantage of their high spirits from a new purchase and invite them to subscribe to your SMS newsletter, for example, to be the first to know about other fantastic products.

Add an optional phone number field to the checkout form where shoppers provide personal information. Alternatively, consider hosting a pop-up on the checkout page. In addition to collecting phone numbers, it can thank shoppers for their trust or remind them about fast delivery. You can also trigger the pop-up based on exit intent on mobile, capturing users right before they leave and increasing the chances of conversion, especially during checkout abandonment.

4. Offer Next Order Coupon

If customers know that a discount awaits them in your online store, they are more likely to return to you for their subsequent purchases. But don’t just hand out coupons left and right; instead, ask customers to provide their phone numbers to receive them and make this deal beneficial for both parties - for example, an exit intent pop-up offering a next-purchase coupon can recover abandoning users while building your SMS list at the same time. Place a form or pop-up on your "Thank You" page and collect the phone numbers of those who have just successfully placed an order. You can repurpose this widget with compelling newsletter popup design elements, offering post-purchase updates, exclusive offers, or loyalty invitations right after conversion.

5. Hold a Giveaway or Contest

According to Small Business Trends, contest entry forms show a 34% higher conversion rate, and the chance to win is a great motivator. With this in mind, you can collect phone numbers through this form. This way, you can keep shoppers informed about the contest-related news and your other offers. A well-placed lead capture pop-up can dramatically boost the visibility of your giveaway and increase the number of participants who submit their phone numbers. Also, using customizable popup forms for contest entries allows you to collect phone numbers efficiently while maintaining a branded, user-friendly experience. But for your contest to bring you as many phone numbers as possible, make sure that the prize you are giving away is valuable and meets the needs of your audience. 

Use this template

6. Develop and Promote a Loyalty Program

79% of shoppers admitted that they would rather choose a brand with a loyalty program than without it. So, if joining your loyalty program requires phone numbers, they'll be more willing to share them. When choosing this method for collecting telephones, make sure that:

• You actively promote your loyalty program on all available communication channels,
• When promoting it, clearly explain its advantages, principles, and conditions for receiving rewards,
• Your rewards are valuable to your audience and worth participating in the loyalty program.

7. Provide Pre-Order Option

For shoppers, a pre-order list is an opportunity to get the desired product or your new arrival before others. For you, this is a chance to study demand, create excitement, and collect phone numbers to notify shoppers about the availability of goods. So, if you have a new collection or launch coming up, announce it on your website early and get leads.

Use this template

8. Entice with a Limited-Time Offer

Limited time offers meaning deals with a strict deadline have been proven to increase shoppers' excitement and motivate them to make a purchasing decision faster. When advertising such a deal on your website or social networks, you can indicate that shoppers can take advantage of it by providing phone numbers.

Please note: if you intend to text them other promotional materials besides the promised discount, your collecting phone numbers form must inform shoppers and contain a consent checkbox. You can add this checkbox to any template in the Claspo editor by simply dragging it onto your layout.

Use this template

9. Add an Opt-in CTA to your Instagram 

Social media is just as important a point of interaction with your brand as your website. In particular, 67% of brand content interactions occur on Instagram. So don't miss the opportunity to get the phone numbers of everyone who views your profile: offer them an incentive to subscribe to your text messages and place your unique offer in your bio or a pinned post.

10. Run Text-to-Enter Promotions

Text-to-enter promotions are another great way to collect phone numbers from your social media followers. They invite users to send a keyword to your company’s branded number to receive exclusive content, activate a discount, or learn more about a product or service.

For example, you run a “Buy lipstick, get lip liner as a gift” promotion among the Instagram community. Invite them to send the keyword "lipstick" to your branded number to take advantage of this deal and get new subscribers to your list. But remember that your number should be short and the keyword simple. Otherwise, followers will either not want to text you or make mistakes when writing or sending a message. In both cases, you risk losing subscribers. You can also consider creating an SMS short code for your brand to deliver different offers, promo codes and important notifications to your customers. Moreover, short codes can increase trust and your brand recognition.

11. Offer a Discount on a Preferred Product

65% of shoppers expect targeted promotions from brands. With this in mind, you can examine the frequently viewed products of your online store, offer a discount to visitors who have been interested in them previously, and ask for their phone numbers to activate this discount.

Promote your special offer through retargeting campaigns and build on your success with website widgets. Claspo allows you to show a unique widget to those visitors who came to the site from a specific advertising campaign, so you can be sure your message will hit the target.

Use this template

12. Request Phone Numbers upon Registration

If your online store requires account creation before purchasing, you can add a field for collecting phone numbers in the registration form. This form is also appropriate if you offer a free trial or invite an audience to participate in offline or online events. To streamline data collection and avoid overwhelming the user, consider using a multi-step form that gradually requests necessary details across separate stages, improving completion rates. In all these cases, the phone number input field is often mandatory; therefore, you can get the contact details of all interested users. For more complex use cases like event registration or surveys, consider using a multi-step form design to improve the user experience and reduce drop-offs during the submission process.

How to Create a Widget for Collecting Phone Numbers in Claspo

Claspo widgets are a simple but effective way to collect phone numbers on your website. They grab attention, have flexible display rules, and can double your conversions! Another perk is that you can create your widget in a few minutes without coding or design skills.

Step 1

Log in to your account (or create one for free) and click "New widget." For maximum time savings, select "Template Library".

Step 2

Select the "Collect Phone Numbers" use case on the sidebar to quickly get to the required templates. You can also choose your widget's layout (pop-up, floating bar, floating box, etc.) and theme (Christmas, Black Friday, Winter, etc.).

Step 3

After selecting a template, you are taken to the editor for complete customization. In this example, we replaced the image using a built-in photo stock, aligned the inner elements, removed the extra input field, changed the color scheme, added unique text, and rounded the button and input field. But you can always go further because Claspo doesn't limit you!

Step 4

Check how your widget looks on desktop and mobile screens and save it if satisfied. Ensuring that your mobile pop-ups are optimized for smaller screens is crucial — they should be responsive, unobtrusive, and easy to interact with for mobile users.

Step 5

Claspo takes care of you and your website visitors. Therefore, the optimal rules for displaying widgets are already preset. You can always change them in a few clicks, but even if you don't, your widgets won't ruin the user experience.

Step 6

Integrate Claspo with ESP, CRM, or CDP and ensure uninterrupted data transfer.

Step 7

Your widget is ready to be embedded on a website! Copy its script and follow one of the step-by-step guides to paste it yourself.

FAQ

How often can I text to subscribers?

There is no single accepted frequency for sending SMS messages. However, you can stick to 1-2 messages per week. It is enough to remind subscribers about your brand without annoying them.

How can I build trust while collecting phone numbers?

Clearly communicate your commitment to data privacy, and consider implementing a double opt-in process. A link to your privacy policy and an easily accessible opt-out option can further build trust.

How can I access phone numbers collected with Claspo widgets?

You can upload all the data as a CSV file. However, we recommend integrating Claspo with the selected ESP and CRM to transfer subscribers' data automatically, trigger preset SMS campaigns, and build communication once the form is submitted.

Collect Phone Numbers & Benefit from SMS Marketing

Effective phone number collection is crucial for businesses seeking to enhance customer engagement and leverage SMS marketing strategies. By employing the ethical and transparent methods outlined in our article, you can build trust with your audience and cultivate a valuable database. Claspo and our user-friendly widgets streamline the process and optimize results for you. Try Claspo for free right now to expand your phone number database in the shortest possible time.