How to Use SMS for Event Marketing

Event marketing is all about awareness and anticipation. When used properly, mass texting can

be a great way to keep people excited and informed about any upcoming functions and goings-

on with your business, and to increase subscriber interest and interaction in general.

The first step to any event marketing campaign is solidifying the basics of the event itself.

Before you start sending text messages, make sure you’ve got the date, time, location, and as

many other specifics as possible nailed down; while last minute changes will sometimes be

inevitable, consistency of information and tone are of paramount importance in text marketing.

After you’ve figured out the specifics of your event and are ready to engage your audience, it’s

time to prepare your content and develop an outreach strategy. Simply notifying your

subscribers in a single text message works well enough, but doesn’t begin to tap the full

potential of SMS. Remember, the goal is to create awareness and anticipation, not just hand out

the facts and hope people participate. In order to figure out an effective SMS marketing strategy

for your event, it’s important to know your audience. A moonlit fundraising soiree at a four star

hotel will be attended by a different crowd than the grand re-opening of a live music venue,

which should be reflected in the respective text message outreach. Keeping the audience in

mind, plan all of your messages ahead of time including the exact send time for each text; this

will help to specify the tone of the outreach and keep it consistent, while also allowing you to

keep track of which messages yield the most interest and communication.

The style of outreach you employ should ultimately be informed by the type of event and the

audience you hope to attract. A great way to ramp up anticipation is to tease subscribers with a

‘stay tuned’ text message, which would then be followed up by another text message outlining

the specifics of the event. The ‘stay tuned’ text gets people thinking about your company and

what sort of exciting announcement could be on the way. If your subscriber base allows, this

strategy can also be extrapolated by employing viral marketing techniques; keep subscribers

hunting for clues by imparting event information and bonus rewards over a series of several

messages, each containing something crucial. If possible, incentivize your event marketing

outreach to keep people interested and attentive; priority seating, discounted entrance, and a

multitude of other perks can be brought into play to create incentive.

Another great text message marketing strategy for events is a countdown. Daily texts leading up

to your event or hourly incentive messages beforehand will raise the stakes and keep people

interested, creating a higher possibility of attendance and participation. Engaging your

subscribers with a well-planned campaign rather than a one off information text will create keen

awareness and front-of-mind retention rather than appealing only to those who would attend

anyway.

Ez Texting exists to help companies of all sizes and types create scalable, beneficial mass text

messaging solutions. Our platform gives you the power to build communication with your target

consumer base through text message outreach, while growing contact lists with opt-in

campaigns and promotions. It’s free to try and inexpensive to implement, and the potential

benefits for your business are immeasurable. Harness the power of mobile with text messaging

campaigns, creative user profiles, and targeted outreach. In addition, we offer live chat support

during business hours and many videos and tutorials to help you get started immediately.