SMS Marketing Blog

Tatango and Bachelor Party

15th June 2010 - Posted by Chelsea Dier in category Tatango Customer Spotlight

One of our customers used Tatango to keep in touch with the guys of the Bachelor party he was planning for his brother. You can read his story below and see how he was able to utilize Tatango.

“On the day your brother finally follows through with getting hitched to his 3-year girlfriend, and proposes, it’s a proud and exciting moment to celebrate. But as I soon realized, as the younger brother with the title of ‘Best Man’, there is a great deal of responsibility that falls in your lap – The Bachelor Party. And no, I was not going to screw this one up by leaving the groom stranded on the scorching rooftop of a Las Vegas hotel. We were heading to the Seattle Mariners game on a June night in Seattle. Coordinating the financing, RSVPs, special requests, event logistics, catering, transportation and hotel accommodations for a full night out at our very own Private Suite at Safeco Field with 20 riled up guys can be quite the task to take on!

About two months prior I set out to propose the event to our attendee list and feel out the response. I had a list of 20 email addresses and brief paragraph that summarized the event’s details and cost. What I discovered after about a week’s time and maybe 1 reply returned to my email inbox, is that email is inefficient! Whether people don’t check them frequently enough, spam filters play a role or emails just get put off till later, I quickly changed my approach and looked for another means to plan this party.

The solution was Tatango.com, a user-friendly online tool that allows you to send group text messages to the entire contact list of your group, instantly. It was like night and day from then on. Each time I sent out a text message (160 characters) to my group of 20 people, I received numerous replies with RSVPs, excitement and thanks. I had everyone committed two months in advance, sent a reminder two weeks out, an update a week out and a final couple of group messages on the morning of the event and just before our meeting time. All 20 guys showed up at the meeting place on time and ready to go! And how did I do it? From my account on Tatango.com and the palm of my hand using Tatango’s shortcode messaging straight from my mobile phone. The experience that I had managing this awesome event, that otherwise could’ve been a disaster, really opened my eyes to SMS as a group messaging tool. It’s no wonder that SMS has an astonishing 98% open rate (70% in the first minute) compared to email’s ineffective open rate of 30%.

As the night came to a close, my brother’s best friends and relatives ranging from ages 24 to 62, all came up to me and personally thanked me for working so hard on coordinating a night to remember for everyone. If only they knew.. it was as easy as text messaging .

Alex Mittelstaedt, “The Best Man”
Tatango Group: BlakesBachParty