Do you ever receive text messages from your favorite store or restaurant? They might send them out to alert you of a sale on a jean jacket you have had your eye on, or maybe it’s $5 off a pizza for showing the text message to the cashier. If so, you are already involved in text marketing whether you knew it or not. Text marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing through text messages. To use it, you can partner with a text marketing company or app that will handle all of the back-end components. Then it’s up to you on how you want to use it.
What Makes Text Marketing Different?
On the surface, text marketing may be viewed as a shorter version of email marketing. They are both used to send messages right to someone’s inbox. The difference with text marketing however is what happens after the delivery. How often do you look at your phone, even if you didn’t receive any alert? It’s pretty hard to miss a text message because we almost always have our phones within reach. The average open rate of a text marketing message is above 90%. The average open rate for emails is 25%. That means with email marketing, 75% of your list may be missing your messaging.
How Can I Use it for my Association?
Before you can send a message, you will need to have your members subscribe to the texting list. This will give you permission to send them messages and allows them to have a say in what they receive.
Two easy ways to use this technology for your association are for short updates or alerts, or at your events. If you have news to share with your association, you could send a quick message with a link to the information. It will reach more people and the clicks can be tracked just like in email marketing. Instead of flooding your members with emails, you can create a members’ news section on the website to link them to with updates. You can also enhance an event experience by including text marketing. At the beginning of the event, have your members join a text list specifically for the event. Once they do, you will be able to send out messages about upcoming sessions, recaps, or special experiences for those who opted into the list.
There are a lot ways to use text marketing, but this covers the basics. With text marketing rising in popularity, there are many options to choose from when you are searching for a company or app to use. Next time you are in a board meeting trying to figure out how to strengthen communication with your members, remember the strengths text marketing offers.