Webinar Recap - Save This Number: The Best Ways to Acquire New SMS Subscribers
It’s the beginning of the year. And if you’ve been sleeping on list growth strategies and relying on just your popup or perhaps just your checkout opt-in, then this is the year to really think about how you can convert people who are interested in your brand into SMS subscribers—and eventually, into customers.
After all, we all know that once October rolls around—and those BFCM plans are in motion—you’ll be glad that you’ve spent the last 9 months focusing on subscriber acquisition.
So, for our latest webinar, we tapped two acquisition experts in the space: Brock Mammoser, Founder of Frost Buddy, and Ash Melwani, Cofounder and CMO of Obvi.
You can watch a full recording of the webinar below—or select one of the following timestamp links to skip to a particular section of the video.
Video Timestamps
The Frost Buddy Origin Story [3:27]
How Supplements Brand Obvi Came to Fruition [6:51]
Frost Buddy’s Accidental Fall into SMS [10:31]
How Frost Buddy Kept SMS Momentum Going [13:28]
Obvi’s Easy List Growth Win [19:38]
How Obvi Used an Existing Community to Build an Engaged SMS List [25:15]
How to Make Sure Subscribers Get the VIP Treatment [30:29]
Audience Q&A [44:55]
The Frost Buddy Origin Story [3:27]
When Brock was in college, he and his brother really wanted a way to keep their Truly seltzers cold—and a business idea was born. In 2020, as they were drinking from a slim can cooler and switched to a normal can, the “light bulb” moment hit—why are people buying 3 or 4 can coolers from major brands when Brock and his brother could create a universal one?
Through digital marketing and creative product design, the brothers have attracted millions of followers, likes, and views—making their products a viral sensation, especially on TikTok. Frost Buddy became the third-best selling thermocooler on Amazon within four months of being on the marketplace.
How Supplements Brand Obvi Came to Fruition [6:51]
Ash has been in the supplements space since 2014, when he helped grow a brand to $100M. After that, he and his cofounders started their own agency where he primarily focused on paid channels. As they began growing other founder brands, they realized there was an opportunity to do this on their own, and the idea for Obvi was born. They brought over their learnings, along with some better management practices, and launched Obvi in 2019.
Frost Buddy’s Accidental Fall into SMS [10:31]
When Brock first launched Frost Buddy, he started looking through the Shopify app store to find some new marketing apps that could help his brand grow faster. He downloaded an SMS app and didn’t really know what to expect or even how to strategize implementing it. He set up some automated flows, including around 7 abandoned cart automations—which was totally noncompliant.
He kept the automations going and didn’t think much about it. Eventually he heard from the Postscript team, who taught him how to run campaigns, how to compliantly send automations, and how to leverage other list growth channels.
Without even thinking about it, he took a look and realized he had around 2,500 subscribers who had signed up for texts! He sent his first campaign and saw a massive spike in revenue and realized very quickly that there was something to this SMS channel.
How Frost Buddy Kept SMS Momentum Going [13:28]
As Frost Buddy’s audience began to grow, so did their organic reach on TikTok. After getting requests for a Modelo-specific Frost Buddy cooler, they decided to design one—but they wanted to tease out the new product over a 6-month window.
To do this, they launched TikTok videos promoting the new product drop and pushed fans to subscribe to their SMS program to be the first to know about it.
Rather than do this once, Brock consistently promoted their SMS program over the coming months. They created a “Coming Soon” signup page on their website to allow visitors to easily opt-in for SMS updates.
Another big win for Frost Buddy: giveaways. Their first was for a one-of-a-kind American flag cooler. They received 6,503 total SMS subscribers by way of giveaway entries (powered by ViralSweep, using the keyword TAILGATE). Over 1,500 new subscribers opted into SMS for the first time as a result of the giveaway (representing 23% of all entries).
Giveaways and new product teasers continue to be the biggest tools Frost Buddy uses to drive list growth.
Obvi’s Easy List Growth Win [19:38]
When Obvi first launched, their biggest issue was supply chain. They were consistently running out of product and used a signup form for people to receive back-in-stock alerts over email or text. They initially used a free app in the Shopify store that allowed them to collect numbers.
When their first product restock came around and they sent out a blast, the results of text versus email blew them away. Even now, when it comes to back-in-stock alerts, they collect phone numbers first and emails second.
The great news for brands wanting to take advantage of back-in-stock opt-ins? Postscript has a BIS tool built right into our app.
How Obvi Used an Existing Community to Build an Engaged SMS List [25:15]
As soon as Obvi launched, the first thing they did was create a Facebook group that grew over time—eventually to 60K members. When they first launched SMS, they pushed this engaged community to sign up almost every week with a new giveaway or product drop alert.
Not only did this help drive significant list growth at the start, but it also impacted the quality of the list—as they were converting already-engaged fans into SMS subscribers.
How to Make Sure Subscribers Get the VIP Treatment [30:29]
Both Brock and Ash knew that if they were going to get subscribers into their SMS list—and prevent them from churning out—they needed to follow through on their promise to make SMS an exclusive and fun channel.
Brock launched a “Buddy of the Week” promotion in which a new, limited-run tumbler is released each week. The only way you can purchase one is if you’re on Frost Buddy’s SMS list. He doesn’t promote them anywhere else.
Not only does this exclusivity help keep subscribers engaged—but these product drops have also created word-of-mouth referrals to get even more people opted into their list.
Obvi uses strong popup offers to incentivize signups and purchases with a cash-back offer. They’ve also tested and reiterated different popups over time to figure out what converts best.
Audience Q&A [44:55]
Ash and Brock answered several live audience questions at the end of the webinar, including inquiries on:
Building strong communities and groups on various social media platforms.
Converting existing fans and social followers into engaged SMS subscribers.
Using SMS as a retention tool post-purchase so customers come back and buy again.
Creating promotions and campaigns that increase AOV.
If you asked a question we didn’t get to—or if you have any additional questions for Brock and Ash—hit them up on Twitter:
Have questions about Postscript and all the ways we can help you make SMS your brand’s number-one revenue channel? Get in touch with our Textperts here.
