SMS Lead Gen
Member since 2026 · 43 posts · 21 votes
Does SMS marketing works for you the way you wanted/expected?
SMS definitely worked well for me for a while, and I got a lot of inbound seller conversations from it. These days, though, I use SMS much more as a follow-up tool than a primary lead generation channel. It can still be effective, but it comes with a lot more regulations, compliance requirements, carrier filtering, and overall red tape than it used to. Because of that, I've found it works best when supporting existing leads and keeping conversations alive rather than relying on it as my main source of new opportunities. At the end of the day, the channel matters less than having a consistent follow-up process. A lot of deals come from staying in touch with people long enough for their situation to change.
SMS definitely worked well for me for a while, and I got a lot of inbound seller conversations from it. These days, though, I use SMS much more as a follow-up tool than a primary lead generation channel. It can still be effective, but it comes with a lot more regulations, compliance requirements, carrier filtering, and overall red tape than it used to. Because of that, I've found it works best when supporting existing leads and keeping conversations alive rather than relying on it as my main source of new opportunities. At the end of the day, the channel matters less than having a consistent follow-up process. A lot of deals come from staying in touch with people long enough for their situation to change.
Does SMS marketing works for you the way you wanted/expected?
We've seen SMS work, but usually as part of a larger outreach strategy rather than a standalone solution.
One thing that's been interesting is how often cold calling ends up generating the highest-quality conversations, especially when the goal is to understand motivation rather than just generate responses.
The channel matters, but what happens after the first contact usually matters even more. Strong follow-up and consistent outreach tend to outperform any single marketing method over time.
Curious what results others are seeing between SMS and cold calling right now.
It has its ups and downs, but overall—yes, it’s still working. I can’t say it wasn’t easier before all the regulations were introduced. My team is running pretty serious volume, around 90k initial texts per month and we’re closing anywhere from 4 deals on the low end to 9 deals in our best month this year so far. You just have to be careful when scaling so that the costs make sense at the end of the day. We used to pay a lot (!! almost double lol) more for SMS campaigns compared to what we pay now with Launch Control, because they don’t charge for inbound texts or follow-ups and Lord knows we love our follow-ups! We usually have around 8 touches with the lead so you can imagine how easily the costs can pile up..
What’s great is that you can use it however it fits your business. I fully agree with Travis, it works really well as a follow-up tool, but it’s still producing solid results as a primary channel too. Because of our usually hectic schedules, we can’t commit to long hours of cold calling, even though I agree those leads tend to be higher quality and move faster. We do have a rule in place though, if a lead shows interest, they must be called within the first 5 minutes of replying. The built in dialer definitely makes things easier since we are texting and calling them from the same numbers..
At the end of the day, any lead gen channel will work if you put enough time and $ into it!
That sound great! I was just curious though because I've heard a lot of complains about sms marketing. It works well for us too, and I am glad it still work for many of us. Yes, follow up consistency really matters after the lead comes in in the pipeline.
yes! sms as a primary channel has gotten rough, carriers filtering everything makes it tough. What I've seen work better is using it as part of an automated follow up sequence so no lead actually goes cold. the deals are usually in the follow up anyway, most people just don't have a system that keeps it running without them babysitting it
yes! sms as a primary channel has gotten rough, carriers filtering everything makes it tough. What I've seen work better is using it as part of an automated follow up sequence so no lead actually goes cold. the deals are usually in the follow up anyway, most people just don't have a system that keeps it running without them babysitting it
Are you also using sms for marketing? If not, what channel do you currently use?
yeah I send about 100k messages a month.
I used to use all kinds of platforms, Launch Control, REI Reply,Smarter Contact, I tried a bunch of them. ended up just building my own custom AI setup on the backend. works way better for how I actually operate than any of the off-the-shelf tools
Travis nailed it — channel matters less than follow-up. But there's a variable nobody in this thread is talking about: list quality before the first SMS goes out.
Rauph sends 100k messages a month. Sara Joe said cold calling generates highest-quality conversations when the goal is understanding motivation. Both are right — but both depend on who you're contacting.
Here's what's changed how I think about SMS lead gen: pulling free county data to build the list before any outreach happens.
Three county sources cross-referenced on the same property:
1. County Tax Collector — tax delinquent list (financial stress documented by the county)
2. City Code Enforcement — violations with dollar-amount repair costs from inspectors (physical stress — when an inspector writes "$12K structural repairs" that's repair scope before you text)
3. County Clerk of Court/Register of Deeds — probate, liens, pre-foreclosure (legal complexity)
When the same property is on all three — that's converged distress. Three independent county confirmations of motivation at $0.
Now your SMS follow-up isn't going to a random absentee owner list. It's going to someone whose property is tax delinquent AND has $15K in documented code violations AND a probate filing. You know their specific problem before the first message.
Travis said deals come from staying in touch long enough for situations to change. That follow-up compounds when you started with a converged distress list — each touchpoint can reference their documented situation, not a generic "are you interested in selling?"
Sara Joe said cold calling generates highest-quality conversations when understanding motivation. County data makes those conversations dramatically more specific — you already know their documented financial stress, physical distress, and legal complexity.
The channel debate (SMS vs cold call vs direct mail) matters less than who you're contacting. Same message to a converged distress list vs a generic purchased list — completely different conversion rates.