The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

3 Reasons to Use SMS Marketing for Event Promotion

 

Looking to increase the footfall at your next event? Whether it’s a conference, exhibition opening, concert or nightclub event, SMS marketing should be part of your planning kit. Text message marketing makes it easy and affordable to reach out to large numbers of people via mobile - and for recipients to share texts and spread the word on your behalf.

Here are three ways SMS marketing can make event planning easier and more effective.

Get People Talking

SMS is a great way to spread the word about what you have planned for your upcoming event. Have a special guest in attendance? Or want everyone to know the delicious menu you have planned? Mass texting is a fast and easy way to get in touch with all of your mobile subscribers with the latest event updates and announcements, building excitement in the lead up to the big day. It’s also a useful way to send subscribers a reminder a day or two before the event - this can help to increase the last-minute number of sign-ups and decrease the number of no-shows.

 

RSVPs

Allow mobile subscribers and invited guests to pre-register for your event via their cell phones. This simplifies the whole process:

 

• It makes it easy for you to keep track of who’s coming and who’s not
• It’s a quick and convenient for your guests to RSVP, making them more likely to register
• You can then use mass texting to send them important updates and personalise the experience for them
• It also makes it easy to keep tabs on who registered but then decided not to attend, helping you identify areas that you might need to improve to increase attendance next time

Post-Event Feedback

You can put SMS marketing to use to help you plan even better events in future. The two-way nature of text communication makes it ideal for collecting feedback from your guests after the event. Guests are more likely to respond to a simple text poll, question or survey via the convenience and speed of mobile than they are online or via mail. Whether you choose a short poll, survey, ask guests to simply rate the event or send any feedback they like, you’ll gather valuable information. It’s one of the quickest ways to find out what worked and what didn’t, what guests loved about your event and the areas that need improvement. Use the info you’ve gathered to improve future events, planning and communication.

Creating a Time Limited Text Message

 

Time limited offers remain one of the most effective marketing tools on the planet. Consumers just can’t resist acting on exclusivity and the chance to snap up something they want before it’s gone. That’s why you see this marketing technique used across the board, from TV and radio to print ads and product displays - and now on mobile via text message marketing.

If you’re looking for a way to grab more attention with your mobile marketing strategy, here’s how to create time limited text message offers that really deliver.

 

What’s Your Time Limit?

For maximum impact, you want to get the the balance just right between:

 

• A time limit that’s short enough to get customers excited and create a feeling of urgency.

 

• A time limit that’s practical, making sure you give customers enough time to actually visit your business in person or online to use the promotion on offer.

 

The type of offer and the sector you operate in will help you determine the right kind of timescale for your customers. For online businesses, time limits can be as short as ‘For Today Only!’, as it’s quick and easy for people to hop online and visit your site. For businesses like restaurants, giving a day or two’s notice gives people time to plan and book.

 

Mobile is Different - Mobile is Fast

When people get an offer via text, they act fast. With high open and read rates, text message marketing makes it easy for customers to act on offers immediately. This means you need to think about your mobile time limited offers differently from offers placed in print ads, for example. The immediacy of SMS is perfect for last-minute deals - but if your time limit is too long it makes it all too easy for customers to forget all about it.

Crafting Your Message

You have limited space, 160 characters, so make your call to action short and sweet. Recipients typically only need to know a maximum of three things:

 

• Your offer
• Its time limit
• How customers redeem it

 

‘2-for-1 mains this Wednesday’ or ‘Free online shipping for the next 48 hours!’ keeps things short, direct and delivers all the info you need. You want to avoid people having to scroll down through your message reading lots of text. Time limited offers are designed to grab attention, and short, punchy texts do this best.

 

Try your own text message marketing program by signing up with TellMyCell here.

The Dos & Don’ts of Using Humor in Your Text Marketing Campaign

 

Incorporating humor into your text marketing efforts can help you grab attention and engage more with your audience. It’s also a great way for your brand to show some personality, helping it stand out from the crowd. A surprising, new and funny campaign can attract a whole new audience and increase your subscriber numbers too.

But get the wording or the topic wrong and you run the risk of alienating or even offending your subscribers.

 

If you’re keen to add some funny to your next text marketing campaign, here are some simple dos and don’ts to help you get it right.

Choose Your Topic

What do you want to joke about? Choosing a subject that directly relates to your brand will help your text marketing campaign achieve more impact. You might want to avoid sensitive areas like politics and religion, which run the risk of alienating or offending some of your subscribers. Food, fashion, law, retail - whatever your business, joke about your own area of expertise.

 

Lighten Up

You want to keep your funny text campaigns lighthearted and clean. Forget the toilet humor or anything rude or brash, as if you misjudge this it could lead to some offended subscribers and damage to your brand. Stick to simple jokes, plays on words, and make the most of puns - they’re a great way to raise a smile through the written communication of SMS messaging.

Make It Snappy

Remember you only have 160 characters to get them laughing. This means keeping your jokes, puns or phrases short. Forget overly long, multiple messages, which will only cost more to send. Get to the punchline fast with some succinct, snappy copy. This is where puns work really well, allowing you to get a laugh simply, through language.

Don’t Forget Your Brand Voice

Your brand’s tone of voice needs to be strong and consistent across all of your marketing channels, and this includes your text marketing campaigns, whether they’re humorous or not. Putting on a sudden change to a dry, sarcastic tone when the rest of your marketing has always been upbeat is only going to confuse your subscribers. Think about a funny tone that fits, and focus on lighthearted humor, which has wider appeal, rather than negative or sarcastic humor that can leave some people cold.