Data Lookups: Know Exactly Who You're Messaging
Sending messages to bad numbers wastes money. Sending to the wrong people wastes trust. Data lookups solve both problems by giving you real-time intelligence about every contact on your list.
Why Data Lookups Matter
Every SMS you send costs money. Every message to an invalid number is wasted spend. Every message to someone who didn't opt in is a compliance risk. And every message sent without context is a missed opportunity to personalize.
Data lookups transform a phone number from a string of digits into actionable intelligence:
- Is this number even valid?
- Is it a mobile or landline?
- Who owns this number?
- What carrier are they on?
- Is this a real person or a VoIP number?
Types of Data Lookups Available
Phone Validation
The most basic but essential lookup. Before you send a single message, validate that:
- The number is formatted correctly
- The number is currently active
- It's a mobile number (not a landline that can't receive SMS)
- The carrier information is current
This alone can save 5-15% of your messaging budget by eliminating dead numbers before they cost you.
Reverse Phone Lookup
Given a phone number, find out who owns it. This returns:
- Full name
- Current and previous addresses
- Age and demographic information
- Email addresses associated with the number
- Carrier information
This is invaluable for personalizing outreach and verifying that your contacts are who they say they are.
CNAM (Caller Name) Lookup
When someone calls your business or texts your shortcode, CNAM lookups tell you their registered name before you even pick up. This powers:
- Personalized greetings ("Hi Sarah, thanks for reaching out!")
- Fraud detection (name doesn't match the account?)
- CRM enrichment (automatically populate contact records)
Real Contact Validation
Cross-references a phone number against a name and email to verify they all belong to the same person. This is critical for:
- Lead verification (is this lead real?)
- Account security (does this phone number actually belong to the account holder?)
- Data quality (are your CRM records accurate?)
Reverse Address Lookup
Given a physical address, find the people associated with it. Useful for:
- Combining physical mail campaigns with SMS follow-up
- Verifying customer addresses
- Geographic targeting validation
How Tells.co Integrates Data Lookups
Data lookups in Tells aren't a separate tool you have to remember to use. They're woven into the platform:
On Opt-In: When a new subscriber texts your shortcode, we automatically validate their number and enrich their contact record. Before they even get their welcome message, you know who they are.
Before Campaigns: Run bulk validation across your list before a major send. We'll flag invalid numbers, identify landlines, and highlight any contacts that need attention.
On Inbound: When someone calls or texts, CNAM and reverse lookups happen in real-time so your team (or your AI agent) knows who they're talking to.
Ongoing Hygiene: Numbers change carriers. People switch phones. Scheduled validation sweeps keep your list current without manual effort.
The ROI of Clean Data
Let's do some quick math on a 50,000-subscriber list:
- 8% invalid numbers = 4,000 wasted messages per campaign
- At $0.02/message = $80 wasted per send
- Monthly campaigns = $960/year in waste
- Validation cost = ~$150/year
That's a 6x return just on eliminating bad numbers, before you even factor in improved deliverability, better engagement from personalization, and reduced compliance risk.
Best Practices
- Validate on entry. Don't wait for a campaign to find out a number is bad. Check it when it hits your list.
- Re-validate quarterly. Numbers go stale. A quarterly sweep catches numbers that have been disconnected or ported.
- Use enrichment for personalization. If you know someone's name, use it. Personalized messages get 29% higher response rates.
- Monitor carrier changes. When a subscriber switches carriers, deliverability can be affected. Stay on top of it.
- Respect the data. Lookup data is powerful. Use it to improve customer experience, not to be creepy.
Getting Started
Tells.co offers data lookups as a built-in platform feature. No separate API integration needed, no third-party vendor to manage. Just clean, validated, enriched contact data powering every message you send. Start your free trial.
