This isn’t optional anymore. If our number isn’t saved in the customer’s phone, we’re invisible. Contact cards now function as a deliverability insurance policy.
CMO Message: The Game Has Changed — Here's How We Stay Seen
Mobile carriers and device manufacturers are aggressively tightening filters around unknown numbers — and they're not slowing down. This means the old "send a text and watch the clicks roll in" model is over.
If your business phone number isn't saved in your customer's contacts, you're no longer guaranteed visibility. In fact, you're at risk of being silently filtered out with zero warning.
But there is a simple, powerful solution: Get saved as a known contact before your real marketing messages begin.
This one change dramatically improves deliverability, trust, and engagement. It is now a required component of any credible SMS marketing strategy. Not optional. Not "nice to have." Essential.
Below is the full breakdown of what's changing — and exactly how to implement this across SMS and email immediately.
What's Actually Changing on Mobile Devices
1. Unknown Numbers Are Being Silenced
iOS devices now have powerful features that can completely block your messages from getting through:
- "Silence Unknown Callers" sends any call from a number not saved in Contacts straight to voicemail—no ring, no notification
- Message filtering automatically categorizes texts from unknown numbers as "Unknown Sender" or dumps them into a "Junk" folder where they're unlikely to be read
- Call screening for outbound calls means even when you call someone, they might need to state who they are and why they're calling before the phone even rings
The bottom line: If your business phone number isn't saved in your customer's contact list, you're at serious risk of being filtered, silenced, or completely ignored.
2. Carriers and Operating Systems Are Cracking Down on Spam
The FCC has been advising consumers on how to stop unwanted calls and texts, and mobile platforms are responding. Carriers and operating systems are increasingly using sophisticated algorithms to identify and filter messages from unknown or non-trusted senders.
This isn't just affecting actual spam—legitimate small businesses are getting caught in the crossfire.
3. Sender Identity Has Become Critical
Here's the good news: there's a proven tactic to combat this. When you send a digital contact card (also called a vCard or virtual business card) in your initial message, you dramatically increase the chances that recipients will save your number and recognize you in the future. This simple step can be the difference between your messages being seen or sent to the junk folder.
Why Is Apple (and Everyone Else) Doing This?
Understanding the "why" helps you see that this isn't a temporary blip—it's a permanent shift in how mobile messaging works.
iPhone users are drowning in spam. Robocalls, scam texts, and phishing attempts have exploded. Apple's primary obligation is protecting user experience, and spam is enemy number one.
Carriers are tired of complaints. Every spam call or message that gets through generates customer service calls and threatens customer retention. Carriers have a financial incentive to filter aggressively.
Regulators are pushing hard. The FCC has been actively pushing carriers and device manufacturers to implement stricter controls on unwanted communications. This regulatory pressure isn't going away—it's intensifying.
The economics have changed. It used to cost carriers and platforms very little to let everything through. Now, with AI-powered filtering, they can afford to be selective. And they are.
This isn't Apple being difficult. This is the entire mobile ecosystem evolving to protect users. And if you're a legitimate business, you need to adapt to prove you're one of the good guys.
The New Reality: Saved Contacts Are the New Whitelist
Here's the core principle you need to internalize:
If your number is not saved, you're on probation.
If it is saved, you get inbox placement.This is the fundamental shift. In the old world, everyone got through by default unless they were flagged as spam. In the new world, unknown senders are treated with suspicion by default unless they're recognized.
Think of it this way: Sending messages from an unsaved number today is like knocking on someone's front door wearing a ski mask. Even if you're legitimate, you look suspicious.
Your message content might be perfect. Your offer might be valuable. But if the device doesn't recognize you, you're starting from a position of distrust.
What This Means for Us
Let me be direct: This isn't optional anymore.
If our number isn't saved in the customer's phone, we're invisible. Contact cards now function as a deliverability insurance policy—and just like you wouldn't run email campaigns without SPF/DKIM authentication, you can't run SMS campaigns without a contact card strategy.
The math is simple: a customer who has saved your contact is exponentially more likely to see, open, and act on your messages. A customer who hasn't saved you is one spam report away from blocking all future communications.
This is now the standard for SMS welcome flows. Not a hack. Not a loophole. Not a temporary trick. This is how credible businesses operate in the modern mobile environment.
Why Sending a Contact Card Should Be Part of Your Strategy
It Improves Deliverability and Engagement
When your number is saved in someone's contacts, their device recognizes your messages as coming from a "known" sender rather than an "unknown" one. This means:
- Fewer spam filters get triggered
- Lower risk of being reported as junk
- Better open rates and response rates
- Your messages actually show up where customers can see them
It Builds Trust and Brand Recognition
Think about it from your customer's perspective. They receive a text from a random 10-digit number asking them to take advantage of a special offer. Their first thought? "Who is this? Is this spam?"
But when you send a contact card with your business logo, name, and phone number, they can tap "Add Contact" with one click. From that moment on, every message you send shows up with your business name and logo attached. Suddenly, you're not a random number—you're a legitimate business they recognize.
It Creates a Seamless Cross-Channel Experience
If you're reaching customers through multiple channels—email, SMS, phone calls, social media—having your phone number saved creates consistency. When they see your business name pop up across different platforms, it reinforces brand recognition and trust.
You can even include a "Save Our Contact" link in your email marketing so that when you transition to SMS campaigns, you're already a recognized sender.
It Prevents Your Messages from Disappearing
As iOS and Android continue tightening their filters, you need to be proactive. Sending a contact card is a low-cost, high-impact way to reduce the risk of your messages being unseen. It's a small change that prevents massive problems down the line.
How to Implement This in Your Business (Step by Step)
Step 1: Audit Your Welcome Flows
Review what happens when someone first opts in to receive messages from your business:
- For SMS/MMS: Make sure your very first message after opt-in includes a contact card (.vcf file) with your business name, logo, and phone number
- For email: Add a prominent link or button near the top that says "Add [Your Business] to your contacts" and link it to a downloadable vCard
Step 2: Create Your Contact Card Asset
You'll need to build a vCard file that includes:
- Your business name
- Your SMS number
- Your support email address
- Your website
- Your logo (this is what makes you visually recognizable)
Make sure to test this on both iOS and Android devices to ensure it imports correctly on both platforms.
Step 3: Use This Copy/Paste Template for Your First SMS
Don't overthink the messaging. Keep it simple and frictionless:
"Thanks for joining! Tap below to save us so you never miss updates, alerts, or exclusive offers.
📇 [Save Our Contact]"Short. Clear. Action-oriented. No confusion about what they need to do or why.
Step 4: Set Up a Lightweight Automation Flow
Here's a simple sequence that ensures maximum contact saves without being annoying:
- Day 0 — Opt-in: Send intro SMS with contact card
- Day 1 — Follow-up SMS (only to those who haven't saved the contact): "Quick reminder—save our contact so you don't miss out!"
- Day 7 — Final reminder: "One last thing: save our number to keep getting our best offers"
- Day 14 — Segment users: Those with low engagement who haven't saved you should receive fewer promotional messages (to protect sender reputation)
This flow gives multiple opportunities to save without being pushy, and it protects your sender reputation by identifying unengaged subscribers early.
Step 5: Track Who's Saving Your Contact
Many SMS platforms allow you to track which subscribers have added your contact card. Use this data to:
- Compare engagement rates between customers who saved you versus those who didn't
- Identify which messaging or timing drives the highest save rates
- Create segments for future campaigns based on contact-save status
Step 6: Coordinate Across Your Marketing Channels
If you have separate teams handling email and SMS (or if you're wearing both hats yourself), make sure there's consistency:
- The phone number displayed in SMS should match what's in your email signature
- Your business name and logo should be identical across all channels
- Consider mentioning in your welcome email: "We'll be texting you exclusive offers from this number—save us now so you don't miss out!"
Step 7: Monitor Your Results
After implementing this strategy, track these key metrics:
- SMS deliverability rates (before vs. after)
- Open and click-through rates
- Opt-out rate changes
- Engagement differences between customers who saved your contact vs. those who didn't
- For email: any changes in deliverability or engagement after adding the "save contact" feature
Is This a Temporary Trick or a Permanent Shift?
Your team might be wondering: "Is this just a loophole that will close? Are we being clever, or is this sustainable?"
Here's the truth you can bank on:
This is not a loophole. It's not a hack that carriers will patch out. It's not gaming the system.
This is the way mobile ecosystems are evolving. Direct contact identity is becoming the centerpiece of SMS marketing—just like email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) became non-negotiable for email deliverability.
Apple, Google, and carriers have made a strategic decision: trusted, recognized senders get priority access. Unknown senders get scrutinized. That model isn't changing—it's only getting more sophisticated.
Not implementing this tactic is the equivalent of running email campaigns without proper authentication. You might get lucky for a while, but eventually, you'll pay the price in deliverability and engagement.
This is now the standard for SMS welcome flows. It's not us being clever; it's the industry maturing. And businesses that ignore this shift will simply become invisible.
Important Things to Remember
While sending contact cards is powerful, it's not a magic solution. Here's what you still need to focus on:
This doesn't guarantee perfect deliverability. Carrier filters, opt-in compliance, message content, and your number's reputation all still matter. Think of this as one important piece of a larger puzzle.
You still need proper consent. This tactic assumes customers have legitimately opted in to receive your messages. You can't use a contact card to overcome poor opt-in practices or spam your way into someone's inbox.
Email deliverability has its own rules. If you're using this tactic in email marketing, you still need to maintain proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC settings, monitor subscriber engagement, and practice good list hygiene.
Device updates keep evolving. iOS continues to add features like "Report Junk" for unknown senders, making it easier than ever for recipients to flag messages from numbers they don't recognize. Staying ahead of these changes is an ongoing effort.
The Bottom Line
The mobile landscape is changing rapidly, and small businesses that ignore these shifts will find their marketing messages increasingly invisible. But the solution isn't complicated—it just requires being proactive.
By sending a contact card in your initial message and making it easy for customers to save your business information, you're taking a simple step that can dramatically improve your marketing results. You'll see better deliverability, higher engagement, stronger brand recognition, and ultimately, more customers actually receiving and acting on your messages.
This is no longer experimental. This is no longer optional. This is the new standard—and businesses that adopt it now will have a significant advantage over those who wait.
Don't wait until your messages start disappearing. Implement these changes now, and you'll be positioned to thrive as the SMS marketing landscape continues to evolve.
In 2024, Google’s U.S. search ad revenue was projected to hit $62.87 billion, a significant jump from previous years. Yet, many advertisers are scratching their heads:
“Why are my clicks declining even though I’m spending more?”
The answer lies in a perfect storm of rising Cost-Per-Click (CPC), algorithm changes, and perhaps most importantly — a flood of new independent advertisers entering the market, thanks to automated campaign types like Performance Max.
Let’s break it down and give you actionable strategies to stay competitive in this evolving landscape.
The Problem: More Advertisers, More Automation, More Competition
Performance Max = Lower Barrier to Entry
Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaigns have simplified digital advertising. Anyone can now launch full-funnel, cross-platform campaigns with a few clicks. You don’t need a deep knowledge of search strategy anymore — Google does the heavy lifting.
But with that simplicity comes volume:
• 75%+ of advertisers have adopted PMax in the U.S.
• Independent businesses, creators, and small agencies are now in the game.
The result?
More people bidding on the same search terms, which drives up CPCs and reduces the share of clicks for everyone.
How This Affects You
Even with increased budgets, you may see:
• Fewer impressions
• Higher CPCs
• Reduced ROI on search campaigns
• Clicks being distributed across more advertisers
If you’re a long-time advertiser, you might feel like your edge is being dulled. But you’re not powerless.
How to Compete: 8 Proven Strategies for 2025 and Beyond
1. Focus on First-Party Data
With the death of cookies looming, Google favors advertisers who can bring their own data to the party.
What to do:
• Upload customer lists to use for lookalike and remarketing campaigns
• Use CRM integrations with Google Ads
• Create custom audience segments based on website behavior
2. Embrace Long-Tail Keywords
Generic keywords like “window replacement” or “injury lawyer” are getting too expensive.
Shift to long-tail:
• “Best vinyl window replacement near me”
• “Affordable family law attorney for custody in Illinois”
These bring in lower CPCs and higher intent.
3. Master Performance Max, Don’t Just Use It
PMax can work wonders, but only if you feed it the right creative assets and signals.
Tips:
• Use high-quality images, headlines, and videos
• Break up asset groups by audience or intent
• Regularly review search terms and add negative keywords
• Leverage final URL expansion controls
4. Localize & Niche Down
New advertisers often target broadly. You can win by going hyperlocal.
Examples:
• Create local landing pages for each service area
• Use ad customizers for city names
• Run local service ads (if eligible)
5. Monitor Impression Share Metrics
Use these columns in your dashboard:
• Search lost (budget)
• Search lost (rank)
• Search top IS
These will tell you why you’re losing ground and whether it’s budget- or quality-related.
6. Test Alternatives to Search-Only Campaigns
Search is saturated. Test:
• YouTube ads for brand awareness and remarketing
• Discovery campaigns to drive traffic on Gmail and Google’s feed
• Demand Gen campaigns (newer campaigns blending Discovery and YouTube Shorts)
These often cost less per click and reach broader audiences.
7. Refine Landing Page UX and Speed
Your ad quality score is tied to landing page experience. Better pages = lower CPCs.
Checklist:
• Mobile-friendly design
• Fast load times (<2 seconds)
• Clear CTA above the fold
• Consistent message match from ad to page
8. Use Offline Conversion Tracking (OCT)
If you’re not connecting closed leads or sales back to Google Ads, you’re flying blind.
How to do it:
• Use tools like Zapier, HubSpot, or CRMs to push offline sales into Google Ads
• This trains the algorithm to optimize for real business outcomes, not just click.
The Google Ads battlefield is getting crowded — fast. But if you lean into strategy, embrace automation intelligently, and focus on real conversion metrics, you can thrive while others flounder.
The key: Stop fighting for the same generic clicks and start building campaigns Google can’t help but favor — personalized, efficient, and laser-focused on your audience.
The home service industry is under fire.
Google’s latest spam policy updates are a direct response to years of abuse—much of which has been driven by the very marketing agencies that are now turning around and using these changes as a sales opportunity.
Let’s call it what it is: hypocrisy.
How We Got Here: Spammy Marketing Tactics Gone Wild
If you’ve ever hired an agency that promised:
• Dozens of keyword-stuffed city pages
• Copy-paste “SEO-optimized” blogs
• Fake review generation
• Purchased backlinks from shady networks
• AI-generated content spun across hundreds of landing pages
…then you’ve seen firsthand how short-term tactics created long-term problems.
These strategies were never about building trust. They were about gaming Google. And for a while, it worked—until it didn’t.
Now, Google is actively penalizing many of these approaches. And guess who’s scrambling to reposition themselves as “Google policy experts”?
The same agencies that got us into this mess.
The New Sales Pitch: “We Can Fix What We Broke”
Suddenly, marketing agencies are preaching about:
• “Compliance with Google’s new spam rules”
• “Protecting your rankings in 2025”
• “Building trust with Google the right way”
But where was that message 6 months ago? Or a year ago?
Most of them were still pushing mass-produced content, keyword manipulation, and AI blogs that had no human oversight.
And now? They want you to pay them to clean up the mess they created.
What Home Service Companies Really Need Right Now
If you’re in windows, HVAC, roofing, remodeling—this is a wake-up call. You don’t need another agency giving you a Band-Aid fix. You need a strategy built on real value, real people, and real customers.
Here’s what that looks like:
✅ Human-first content:
Not AI spam. Real videos, real team bios, real blog posts answering local homeowner questions.
✅ Clean websites that convert:
Fast, mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, and built for people, not bots.
✅ Reputation you actually earn:
Verified reviews, clear licensing, local awards—not fake social proof or bought listings.
✅ Transparent reporting and accountability:
Know where your leads are coming from. Understand how your dollars are being spent.
The Bottom Line: Don’t Let the Villain Sell You the Cure
Marketing should be an investment, not a gamble.
If an agency helped inflate your rankings with spam, then wants to sell you a fix for the fallout, that’s not a partner—it’s a liability.
The future of Google Search is clear: value wins. Real businesses, serving real people, with real stories, will rise to the top.
Stop chasing gimmicks. Start building something that lasts.
Want help from someone who never played the spam game to begin with?
Let’s talk. We help home service companies grow with strategy, not shortcuts.
Google’s latest spam policy updates—targeting expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse—are a direct response to a growing problem: the saturation of poor-quality content designed to game the system. And the home service industry has been one of the worst offenders.
Let’s be honest: many home service companies rely on templated city pages, AI-generated content, and keyword stuffing to rank in as many zip codes as possible. Add in shady link schemes, fake reviews, and copied manufacturer content, and it’s a recipe for disaster in the current search environment.
Google sees through it—and it’s actively penalizing it.
Where Search is Going: Quality, Experience, and Real Value
We’re entering an era where trust and usefulness will win. Here’s what Google is rewarding now and what will matter even more in the future:
1. Unique, Locally-Relevant Content
Forget generic service pages that just swap out the city name. Google wants to see content that’s customized and offers real value to local homeowners. This includes:
• Real photos from jobs in the area
• Testimonials and video reviews from local customers
• Answers to actual questions homeowners in your market are asking
• Blog posts about regional weather, materials, or service tips
2. Helpful, Expert-Led Information
You are the expert. Start acting like it online.
Google now prioritizes content that demonstrates E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. That means you need real humans (ideally your team) writing and appearing in your content.
Think:
• How-to videos with your installers or sales team
• Owner blog posts sharing behind-the-scenes insights
• Explainer pages written in clear, jargon-free language
3. Fast, Clean, User-Friendly Websites
A clunky website is no longer just a bad UX issue—it’s an SEO issue. Google tracks how long people stay on your site, how quickly it loads, and whether visitors bounce after landing on thin or irrelevant pages.
Invest in:
• Mobile-first design
• Clean navigation
• Strong internal linking
• Fast load times
• Clear calls to action (CTAs)
4. Transparent and Verified Reputation
Fake reviews? Forget it. Google’s smarter now.
Instead, double down on:
• Verified Google reviews
• Integrated Google Business Profile content
• Third-party trust signals (e.g., BBB, GuildQuality, Angi)
• Showing licensing, insurance, and accreditations visibly
What You Should Do Now (Before Your Rankings Drop)
If you’re relying on outdated SEO tactics—or worse, haven’t touched your website in years—it’s time for a serious reset. Here’s your action plan:
✅ Audit your website. Look for duplicate content, keyword stuffing, low-value pages, and slow load speeds.
✅ Build content around real people. Make your team the stars of your brand story.
✅ Focus on one market well before chasing 20. Google knows when you’re just recycling the same pages for 50 cities.
✅ Use video more than ever. Video testimonials, walkthroughs, and behind-the-scenes clips give Google—and your users—what they want.
✅ Invest in long-term trust, not short-term gimmicks.
Final Thoughts
Google’s goal has always been the same: deliver the best result to the user. If you’re in the home service space and you’re not focused on delivering real, valuable, and trustworthy experiences both online and in person.
You’ve probably seen posts like this one floating around on social media:
"Just make it go viral!"
My client's CEO actually said this in a meeting last week.
Some advice is helpful.
Some is outdated.
Some comes directly from your CEO’s 13-year-old daughter!
Here are 9 of the worst pieces of marketing advice that brands like Apple know to ignore:
It’s a great post, right? It feels insightful, sharp, and full of wisdom. But here’s the catch: While it calls out bad marketing advice, it ironically uses Apple’s name as an appeal to authority—even though Apple itself follows many of these so-called "bad" practices.
It’s easy to throw shade at outdated marketing advice, but many companies—including Apple—don't follow these rules as cleanly as this post suggests. Let's break down how Apple actually operates in relation to each point:
Marketing is not about following rigid rules or ignoring common wisdom. It’s about strategy, execution, and adapting to what works. Posts like the one above make marketing seem black-and-white, but the reality is far more nuanced. Even companies like Apple, who are often held up as the gold standard, bend and break these so-called "bad" rules when it benefits them.
So, the next time someone tells you to "just be creative without a budget" or "let the product sell itself," remember: Even the most successful brands don’t follow these myths—they manipulate them to their advantage.
As a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in today’s rapidly evolving landscape, the ability to organize and structure data is no longer optional—it’s the backbone of advertising, analytics, and AI-driven decision-making. The days of loosely managing ad performance metrics, customer insights, and audience behavior data are over. If your data is fragmented, inconsistent, or incomplete, you’re setting yourself up for massive inefficiencies and lost opportunities.
AI is only as good as the data it has access to. If your advertising data is unstructured, spread across multiple platforms, or mislabeled, AI models will struggle to generate accurate insights. Garbage in, garbage out—poor data hygiene will lead to poor campaign performance.
For example, if your lead attribution data isn’t properly categorized, AI can’t accurately determine which ad channelsare driving revenue. That means your ad spend might be optimized for the wrong audience or platform—a costly mistake.
With the decline of third-party cookies and increased privacy regulations, brands are being forced to collect and manage their own first-party data. If your first-party data is disorganized—spread across disconnected CRMs, email lists, and website interactions—your AI-driven ad strategies will be severely limited.
To stay ahead, brands must:
The power of AI-driven advertising lies in its ability to make real-time optimizations. But if the AI is pulling from incomplete, duplicated, or misclassified data, it won't be able to make the right adjustments.
For example, if an e-commerce company’s AI sees a spike in conversions but the data isn’t tagged correctly, it might assume the success is coming from a generic display ad when in reality, it was a targeted retargeting campaign. This misattribution leads to wasted budget and missed opportunities.
The future of advertising isn’t just about analyzing past performance—it’s about predicting future behavior. AI models are already being used to forecast customer lifetime value (CLV), churn probability, and product demand. But these models can only work effectively if the underlying data is clean, structured, and labeled correctly.
AI needs to feed the model well-organized historical data:
Without well-structured inputs, AI predictions will be unreliable, leading to underwhelming ad performance and lost revenue.
The statement “Without well-structured inputs, AI predictions will be unreliable, leading to underwhelming ad performance and lost revenue” is even more critical when factoring in market conditions, economic downturns, and pricing structures. In a recessionary environment, businesses face shrinking budgets, changing consumer behavior, and increased pressure to prove ROI on every marketing dollar spent. This is where data organization becomes an absolute necessity, allowing AI to make accurate forecasts, adjust ad spending efficiently, and optimize pricing strategies in response to market fluctuations.
As machine learning models become more advanced, they require high-quality training data to refine audience targeting. If brands don’t standardize and clean their datasets, AI won’t be able to make intelligent decisions about who to target, when to target, and how to personalize messaging.
Imagine launching a personalized email campaign based on AI recommendations, only to realize that customer segments were incorrectly labeled, causing irrelevant offers to be sent to the wrong people. That’s not just inefficient—it can actively hurt brand trust and engagement.
If you want to stay competitive, you need a systematic approach to organizing your data. Here’s how:
The companies that win in advertising over the next decade will be the ones that master their data organization. AI is evolving fast, but it can’t work without structured, reliable inputs. If you want to outperform competitors, lower ad costs, and boost conversions, get your data in order now—before AI leaves you behind.