98% open rates. The channel your customers actually read.
Email gets 25% open rates. SMS gets 98%. Contractor customers — especially the middle-aged, homeowner, time-pressed kind — answer texts immediately. We build SMS programs that respect that channel: brief, transactional, valuable. Never spammy.
SMS marketing for contractors is the use of text messaging for transactional, lifecycle, and re-engagement communication — appointment confirmations, review requests, quote follow-ups, seasonal reminders, and time-sensitive offers. SMS has ~98% open rate and ~45% response rate when used appropriately. TCPA (federal law) requires explicit opt-in before any marketing SMS — but transactional messages (appointment confirmations, review requests after a service) are typically permissible. Iron Pine builds compliant SMS programs that drive review rates, reduce no-shows, and recover quoted-but-not-booked leads.
Why contractor SMS programs are rare
- TCPA fear — most contractors don't know what's allowed.
- No system — texting customers manually is slow and ad-hoc.
- Wrong tone — promotional language reads as spam and gets reported.
- Wrong moment — sending at 8pm on a Saturday tanks engagement.
- No integration with CRM or job-completion triggers.
How we build SMS programs
- TCPA-compliant opt-in flow on website + during initial customer onboarding.
- Triggered messages: appointment confirmation 24h prior, on-the-way ETA, completion + review ask.
- Quote follow-up sequence: 1, 7, 14 days after quote with respectful re-engagement.
- Seasonal SMS for high-value moments: pre-storm, pre-winter, end-of-warranty.
- Brief, brand-voiced copy (no all-caps, no exclamation salads).
- Compliant unsubscribe (reply STOP) on every marketing message.
Deliverables, in plain English.
SMS platform setup (Twilio, GoHighLevel, or whatever fits your stack)
TCPA-compliant opt-in language on website + paper consent for customer onboarding
Triggered transactional messages (confirmations, on-the-way, post-job)
Lifecycle marketing sequences (quote follow-up, seasonal, re-engagement)
Monthly performance report (delivery, response, attributed conversions)
Unsubscribe + compliance monitoring
How a sms marketing engagement unfolds.
Step 1
Week 1 — Compliance + Setup
TCPA opt-in language live on site, SMS platform configured.
Step 2
Weeks 2-3 — Build
Triggered + lifecycle messages written and deployed.
Step 3
Ongoing — Operate
Monthly review, quarterly content refresh, compliance monitoring.
Pricing for SMS Marketing.
SMS setup: $1,500-$3,000 one-time. Ongoing management: $350/mo. SMS sending fees (~$0.01-$0.03 per message) paid direct to the provider. Bundled in our core retainer.
SMS Marketing questions we hear most.
If yours isn't here, the contact form goes straight to the founder's inbox.
Not if it's done right. TCPA lawsuits target unsolicited marketing SMS, especially to people who never opted in. We require explicit opt-in for marketing, use double opt-in where applicable, and make unsubscribe one-tap. Transactional messages (post-job review request, appointment confirmation) sit in safer territory but we still handle them carefully.
Ready to see what a quarter with Iron Pine looks like?
Book a free 15-minute audit. We'll pull your GBP, search rankings, and ad data live on the call and show you the three highest-leverage moves we'd make in the first 30 days.
- No long contracts
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- Plain-English reporting
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- You own everything we build