Texting is one of the most effective communication methods there is, making it an excellent tool for driving engagement. The potential reach of texting is impressive, and organizations can target their desired audience accurately and quickly, potentially making for some remarkable results.
Texting can be effective for various organizations, from businesses of all sizes to memberships associations and nonprofits. For the latter, texting can help create engagement among their memberships and attract new members as well.
Of course, any texting campaign needs to be done right for it to be effective, and here are a few ways you can use texting to help drive member engagement.
1. Drip Campaigns
Drip campaigns are campaigns that involve sending people content over time. Pre-written messages using a text message template are sent periodically and according to how the recipients interact with your campaign. For example, depending on how people react to your messages, you could try sending information on events associated with your organization, invitations to webinars or other events, or even information on your fees.
The idea behind drip campaigns is to engage with and educate people on the benefits of your organization, gradually guiding them towards joining. With help from broadcasting SMS software, drip campaigns help to nurture your prospects, holding their hand and educating them until they are ready to make a decision.
Drip campaigns can be ideal for attracting new members to nonprofits. Such campaigns will help potential new members see the benefits of joining, eventually offering them discounts or other incentives to join.
2. Text-to-Vote Surveys
People like to be asked their opinion on matters they’re interested in; it helps them feel a part of something and that their thoughts are valued. With texting, memberships associations can get their entire membership involved with decision making by sending out surveys and polls to ask their point of view. Doing so will help to get your members actively involved with your organization, making them more likely to stay with you for years to come.
With the right broadcasting SMS software, you can send messages to numerous people at once using a text message template. Such a tool will help save you a lot of time, enabling you to get everybody involved with ease.
In addition to surveys, you can also run competitions. Competitions are a great way to get people involved with organizations, and free prizes are likely to grab pretty much anybody’s attention. Not only will competitions help keep your current membership engaged, but they can also grab the attention of potential new members.
Competitions can take a wide range of forms, and you can consider offering prizes to grab people’s attention. Rewards can include discounts on fees or other benefits, while you can also consider speaking with local businesses like restaurants for prizes in exchange for exposure.
3. Sending Reminders
Many of your members will have busy lives away from organizations, and, understandably, their memories will slip from time to time. For example, some members may forget that their membership fees are due, or they might forget appointments for training or other events. If somebody does miss a payment or event, it can become easy for them to drift away from your organization, eventually leaving altogether.
SMS makes a great way to send reminders to your members to help ensure they don’t forget. Reminders with SMS links will help ensure membership fees are paid on time and keep members actively involved in memberships associations. You can also use auto-reply text message tools to make it easier for you to reply to any incoming messages.
4. Helpful, Quality Content
Texting campaigns should not always be about promotion; they should also be about giving your members valuable content that is useful or interesting to them. The texts can include information like hints and tips on related topics and information on local events related to your organization.
Giving your members quality, useful content can help you sell and promote your organization without trying to sell a thing. Sending SMS links to useful content can help to build trust and strengthen your members and keep your organization fresh in their minds. Additionally, you can also use gated content, which could help you gather the contact details of new leads or improve your revenue.
While content will help drive engagement for nonprofits, it’s important not to overdo it. It’s best to maintain a policy of quality over quantity. If you overdo it, then your texts can be spammy, which is likely to turn people off. Instead, limit your texts to just 2 or 3 times a week, and only send them when your message contains something of value. Make sure to use broadcasting SMS tools like those from TxtSquad to make the task easier and quicker for you.
5. Re-Engage Inactive Members
Peoples’ habits change over time, and even long term, loyal members might become less active over time. Regardless of the reason why people become less active with nonprofits, reengaging with them can encourage them to come back into the fold again.
There are various methods you can use to reengage with inactive members. For example, you could try offering discounts on fees and any products you sell, or you can maybe send content regarding recent events and activities that might compel them to become active again.
With platforms like TxtSquad, you can also use auto-reply texting tools that help ensure your members are always answered in good time.
Increase Member Engagement with Texting
Above are just a few examples of texting to boost membership engagement and attract new members to organizations. With help from the right technology, such as platforms like TxtSquad, texting campaigns can be quite sophisticated and very effective at helping you to meet your goals. Such technology will also do much of the manual work for you, with tools like SMS links and broadcasting SMS features making it easy to run texting campaigns involving many members.