How to Gather a Contact Database for Messaging

  • Author — Darya Ershova
  • 15 Oct 2020

 

Table of content:

 

It is not easy for many companies to organize effective communication with customers. Bulk messaging in messengers and via SMS not only solve this business task, but also help the consumer receive important info about ordered goods and services faster.

It is necessary to gather contacts of the target audience for communication between business and customer to take place. We will tell you in this article how to get a phone number legally and comfortably for the user.

Possible data collection options

The first thing to do in order to prepare the newsletter is to get the consent of the customers (both current and potential) to receive messages from your company. There are three approaches to get the consent to send a message:

  1. «Offline» is a paper questionnaire where the customer enters his or her contacts, e.g. name, surname and phone number, and also ticks the box on the consent to receive messages. Don’t forget to request the customer’s consent for the processing of his or her personal data!
  2. «Online» is a form that is filled in on the site. The online form must contain a link to the terms of sending messages and a description of the service through which the message will be sent. The customer should indicate the name, surname, phone number, and tick the box on the consent to receive messages.
  3. An audio recording of a conversation with the call center is not the most popular way, as it is not convenient to keep a large number of audio recordings. The main thing here is for the operator to warn the subscriber about the messaging.

Features of obtaining the consent

Consent to send messages is not only governed by the General Data Protection Regulation: each messenger has rules for gathering user contacts for companies that send business messages.

SMS and Viber

Fines for illegal SMS messaging can be obtained from telecom operators. Each country has its own authorized body that monitors this area of consumer-business relations.

It is prohibited to automatically tick the boxes on the consent to receive messages in the electronic questionnaire. The user should tick the box on the form by himself or herself. If consent is obtained through the site, the customer’s phone number should be verified by a one-time SMS-code.

A customer who initiates the conversation shall be deemed to have given his or her consent to receive messages in the future until such consent is revoked or the client refuses to subscribe. However, it is important to remember that users may refuse to receive messages on behalf of a particular sender at any time. Viber monitors user lock frequency and can, at its discretion, disable senders with high lock frequency. The disabled sender should provide Viber with the requested message content information to unlock the sender’s name. Restoration of the offending sender is left to the discretion of Viber.

WhatsApp

The brand can send messages only to those users who have initiated the dialogue by themselves: who have contacted the chat for order details, questions about the delivery of goods, the specifics of the service or the use of software depending on the company’s specialization.

Political parties, pawn shops, credit organizations, businesses dealing with arms sales, drugs, tobacco, alcohol, shops for adults, blogs with open publication for users, gambling, religious organizations, astrologers, and psychics cannot send mass messages via messengers and SMS.

How to make the contact collection form highly conversional

Where to gather contacts

We’ve cleared up with how to gather a contact database properly so as not to get banned. Then where is the best place to ask a customer to fill in a form to get his or her consent to be a mailing list subscriber? The points of contact with a customer can become:

  • Pop-up on the site. Open the data capture form when the user is not active or before he is about to leave the site.
  • Placing an order on the site. Notify the customer that by clicking the Order button, he confirms the correctness of the data entered and agrees to get mailings.
  • Online chat on the site. At the end of the dialogue with the customer, the operator may offer to subscribe to the notice about promotions or a message about a new product interesting for the potential customer but not available.
  • Offline. At the cash desk, the seller may ask the customer to fill in a form on paper or on a site via QR code.
  • On social networks. Launch an advertising campaign for regular customers. Post a call to subscribe to the newsletter and lead users to a subscription form on the site. You can also run Lead Ads – the client will enter and send data directly from the post.
  • In the application. Add a block or pop-up message subscription window.

How to motivate a client to leave a contact

Why are customers reluctant to leave contacts? The main reason is that users fear useless information, spam and intrusive sales. Below are some solutions that can be offered to the user in exchange for a phone number.

  • SMS with the benefit of the next purchase. Ask the customer for the phone number to which you can send a promotional phone.
  • Free trial, introductory lesson, webinar — it could be any a free product suitable for your business area. Besides motivation to subscribe, such a solution will help you to get acquainted with your basic offer. This is particularly important when a product or service is complex, expensive, and the customer needs time to decide to purchase it.
  • A gift. Two products for the price of one is a good motivation to leave a phone number.
  • White Paper. Pack useful information for your customer in an electronic mini-book on solving a certain problem. It can be a “How to Learn to Cook in Seven Days” guide, a “How to Start Learning Chinese” guide, or a “How to Increase a Client’s Life Cycle” marketer’s book. Such an outlet will become a lead magnet, because the value will arrive at this moment and right in the messenger.
  • The timer “Buy in time at a special price”. There are countless options for the offerings. The main thing is to limit the offer time. Then the customer will send the phone number without waiting for tomorrow. Another way to motivate is to create a stir around the shortage of goods.
  • Exclusive. Let the user know that only subscribers to the newsletter receive special offers.

All methods are good, but it is important not to overpower — 90% discounts and unlimited benefits devalue resource-intensive goods and complex services. Customers may question the quality of the offer and the adequacy of the company’s pricing.

You should not seek to increase a client database at any cost. It is not important how many users are subscribed to messages from the company, but how targeted and paying users are.

We wish you success in the search for loyal subscribers, and successful messaging to you!

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