Adwerx had no SMS channel and no consent to text the phone numbers already in its system — despite an audience we knew preferred texting over other channels, and despite our best-performing email campaign (a just-in-time alert when a listing hit the MLS) having an obvious SMS synergy for agents who are rarely at a desk. The catch: this audience already considered one email a week “too much,” and there was no budget for driving list acquisition through paid media, so any growth had to be earned.
I built the opt-in around a single low-friction ask: a one-time site pop-up and a post-purchase email offering 10% off in exchange for subscribing, framed around real utility — campaign status updates, a nudge to add the seller's email, alerts when a new listing was ready to advertise. From there I layered SMS into existing Klaviyo event flows where it added value without adding noise, then used the channel to test a flash-sale format (24–48 hour windows, single-use codes capped at 15% off) and to build anticipation ahead of upcoming feature releases.