6 SMS Marketing Ideas for Events Planners
Whatever the event you are planning, from a seminar, product launch or grand opening to a concert or trade fair for hundreds or even thousands of people, SMS Marketing is a powerful, versatile and cost-effective tool that has a variety of uses to help ensure that your participants and attendees enjoy the very best experience and make sure your event is as successful as possible. So how can SMS Marketing be used by event organisers? We take a look.
1. Selling tickets with SMS Marketing
The British public is spending less and less time tied to a computer screen at a desk and more and more time on the move, with their mobile phone the most important device for managing a majority of their activities including internet browsing, messaging and purchases amongst others. With mobile browsing now on a trajectory to completely dwarf desktop browsing over the coming months and years, now is the time to focus our attention on the power of the handset. But did you know that selling tickets for your event via a user’s mobile phone does not necessarily mean investing heavily in developing a mobile app? With SMS Marketing, there are two approaches that can both be highly effective. The first is to use SMS messaging to send a link to your mobile friendly booking page, allowing the customer to click and open directly from the SMS. An example message might read something like:
“Book your tickets for the Career Fair, Cardiff now. Early bird discount now available online. Visit careerscardiff/book to guarantee your space now.”
Alternatively, you can set up your SMS Marketing campaign in such a way that your customers simply reply by SMS to express their interest, allowing you to follow up the booking by SMS or telephone. In this situation, the message might look something like:
“Book your tickets for the Career Fair, Cardiff now. Early bird discount now available online. Reply CARDIFF2018 to book your places now. Prefer a callback? Reply CALLME and we’ll be right in touch.”
Although the second approach may require a system for processing payment, it is worth noting that using solely SMS Marketing does have the advantage of minimising the number of steps a customer has to take – meaning the potential for conversion is as high as possible.
2. SMS Marketing for e-tickets
Of course, when it comes to effective events management, selling tickets is only part of the equation. One of the most important challenges at any event is managing admissions on the day. Traditional printed tickets are costly in terms of both production and mailing, as well as being time-consuming to check. A highly effective alternative that is efficient, environmentally friendly and can minimise staffing costs and queue times on arrival is SMS e-ticketing. All that is required is to send an SMS message with a ticket code in text format, or for maximum efficiency, send a scannable QR code, which could even be supported by a self-check-in system, technology permitting.
3. SMS Competitions
When it comes to events, SMS competitions are a great way to engage with audiences and increase awareness for your brand or cause. For trade fairs, SMS competitions may feature the chance for visitors to win products, services or special discounts from participants. This is great not just for the event production company itself, but also to increase brand exposure for those exhibiting and give added value to participants. Other ideas for SMS competitions include tickets for extras such as the event’s gala dinner if applicable, or for future events of a similar nature. Another very popular form of SMS giveaways is backstage passes or enhanced access/upgrades, as well as merchandise.
SMS competitions can be run by setting up a virtual mobile number to allow customers to reply to your SMS messages just like they would a normal message, or can use a shortcode, which is ideal if you wish to encourage entry via digital displays, printed media or announcements during the event.
Click here for more information about receiving SMS messages.
4. SMS Marketing to increase engagement
SMS competitions are just one way of using SMS Marketing to increase customer engagement during your event. Another popular approach to encourage your audience to get interactive is to allow them to send messages to the organiser or, for example, a DJ or presenter so that they can be displayed on the big screen. Just as with SMS competitions, you can set up your SMS Marketing account to receive messages using a Virtual Mobile Number (VMN) or shortcode, before relaying them to your displays. The beauty of using SMS in this manner is that it can allow virtually real-time interaction with your audience and turn them from passive viewers to brand activists and ambassadors with a minimum of effort.
5. List building with SMS Marketing
SMS Marketing is a great tool to help you build your marketing list and is probably the most convenient way to do so during an event, where the mobile phone is likely to be the only device your attendees have access to. You may wish to have floor staff to encourage sign-ups during the event itself, add sign up adverts on the event media and even merchandise, or collect SMS Marketing registrations through your booking system. Most importantly, make sure there is a clear statement as to what the customer is signing up for and express consent to receive such messages to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations. As long as this is done correctly, get out there and collect those numbers!
6. SMS Marketing for Staff Management
Before we conclude this article, it is worth noting that SMS Marketing is not only great for communicating with attendees – it is also an excellent tool for managing staff in the event environment, where a mobile phone is likely to be by far the easiest way to reach staff. SMS messages can be used to confirm dates, times and locations, arrangements on the day, check-ins to the site, security updates, re-assignments of personnel and much more – using SMS as your primary communication channel can save costs compared to using radio handsets as it relies on technology that your team is likely to already have. It also allows full storage and monitoring of both outbound and inbound communications which can be audited for future improvement and other purposes.
Here at Fastsms, our experts have worked with numerous event management companies to help use SMS Marketing to improve the experience for both staff, attendees and participants. To learn more about how you can benefit, call now on 0800 954 5305.
Related Articles
Why SMS and Mass Participation Sports Events are Made for Each Other
Most major sports teams in the UK and US already know the power of SMS for engaging fans via scores, stats and other data. But the power of SMS can extend far beyond the world of the major leagues. SMS is ideal, not only for communicating with participants but to coordinate teams of volunteers across the event.
Growing Your Business with SMS Messaging
3 Reasons Your Customers Want You to Use SMS Messaging
In my last blog I looked at five reasons you want to use SMS messaging in your business. In this blog we're looking at the same topic, just from the consumer's point of view. For example, how do you really know your customers want you to send them messages via SMS? Isn't email or a phone call good enough? Is it worth your time to learn how to use SMS messaging in your business?
SMS Messaging Makes Going to the Cinema Easier Than Ever Before
My family doesn’t go to the cinema often, but when we do, I dread the ticket line. So I almost always purchase my tickets online if we plan to go during a busy time, or for a newly released movie. Paying for the tickets is always easy, but getting them at the cinema can be problematic. Enter SMS.
Why SMS Marketing is Perfect for the Automotive Industry
Most car dealerships and garages already have almost everything in place to start an effective SMS marketing campaign. When customers go into a car garage to have a service or a MOT done, they almost always give the dealership their mobile phone number. The reason for this is simple: if a customer is bringing their car in to get checked and they don't want to wait around for any work to be carried out, they'll simply head into town or run a few errands, until the garage gives them a call on their mobile to let them know the work has been done. That means most garages will have a healthy amount of mobile numbers already in their database, but quite often a garage will overlook the potential that their database of contacts presents.
Oops! What to do When You Send the Wrong Message
Sending a text message to the wrong person can be embarrassing. I've done it many times. Thankfully though, they were just simple messages like "be home soon" or "I'll tell you later". Innocuous, harmless and easily explained away. But what if you make a mistake with your business SMS messages?
5 Reasons You Want to Use SMS Messaging in Your Business
Are you looking to grow your business? Get more customers? Have larger profits? Of course you are. Isn't every business looking to improve, grow and generate more sales? More and more businesses are realising how SMS messaging can help them do all those things. But it's nice to have some facts to back up what most people seem to assume is true.
Why SMS is the Biggest Missed Opportunity for Marketing to Millennials
With the continued rise of different and more diverse technologies in the social and mobile web, it would be easy to dismiss the potential benefits of SMS marketing - and that’s exactly the reason you shouldn’t. An SMS is the unexpected visit of a familiar friend, and there’s one demographic that embraces an old trusted ally in this new, noisy digital world more than anyone else: the millennials.
How to Use SMS Messaging to Keep Your Club Members Healthy
In a report released last week by Nielsen, it turns out people want more than just to see a lower number on the scale. In their study, 75% of people worldwide plan to lose weight by changing their diet. And another 72% plan to exercise – that’s where your health club and SMS comes in.
What Political Parties Can Teach Us About Great SMS Campaigns
SMS marketing has come to be a crucial element of most businesses’ marketing strategies, and there is plenty of received wisdom within the marketing world as to how to get the most out of your SMS messages. So it might seem like there is not a lot that the world of politics can teach the world of business about SMS. But then again, there probably is.