Opting into Text Message Marketing programs requires ‘express written consent,’ or an explicit subscription, to receive messaging per compliance rules in the United States. The contacts who take steps to join your program are some of the most engaged customers or prospects you can have, so it is critical to start building mobile channel awareness and activity with the first messages they receive. One way to do this is by sending a Contact Card as part of an automated Welcome Series to all new and returning subscribers.

What’s a Contact Card?

A Contact Card is an excellent way of encouraging your SMS subscribers to save your information to their devices. Through MMS, a virtual contact file (or .vcf) is sent with your brand/program name, logo, and phone number(s) for subscribers to save to their contacts list. Once they do, the conversation thread with all your subsequent text messages will appear branded on their device. This makes it incredibly easy to recognize your campaigns, enticing your subscribers to open and click your messages sooner.

Listrak clients encourage engagement when including a Contact Card MMS as part of their automated Welcome Series campaign, setting expectations for a compelling SMS experience and building mobile channel awareness. Contacts will expect and hope to see more campaigns from you, increasing the likelihood of click and conversion engagement.

Why Should I Send a Welcome Series Campaign?

Listrak’s decades of digital marketing experience and data have proven that targeted automated campaigns consistently outperform one-time broadcasts. Meeting mobile subscribers where they are in your customer journey through triggered text campaigns brings some of the highest engagement metrics in the SMS channel. In our 2023 Cross-Channel Benchmark Report, Listrak clients’ text Welcome Series campaigns earned a 2x higher Click-Through Rate and over 7x higher Conversion Rate than to day-to-day broadcast messages. While broadcasts are still crucial for ongoing engagement, revenue, and compliance, you could leave a significant amount of revenue on the table without a triggered Welcome Series for new subscribers who just joined your program.

Are There Any Other Benefits to Contact Cards?

In addition to the compelling cases for building engagement and revenue, triggering a Contact Card as part of an automated Welcome Series streamlines the overall process of saving your program contact information and reduces the risk of your text messages being marked as spam. This is particularly important as new smartphone features and changes roll out over time for customers to easily block numbers, report programs, or mark messages as spam. Contact Cards enhance the visibility and accessibility of your brand as part of your mobile program.

Get Started Today

Don’t miss out on the engagement and revenue potential a new subscriber brings to your Text Message Marketing program. Sending a Contact Card is a great way to kick off the journey! 

For more information on implementing or optimizing this strategy, talk to your Listrak Account Manager or learn how to get started with a Listrak cross-channel partnership.