Text message marketing is one of the most effective ways today’s nonprofit and political organizations reach their supporters, and adding it to your advertising efforts is a smart move.
Text messaging can scale to fit all budgets and needs, and people of all ages send text messages daily. Over 2.2 trillion text messages were sent in the United States in 2020, compared to 1.5 trillion in 2017, and 90% of text messages are read within three minutes. This is why texting is a reliable and efficient way to communicate with consumers.
If the world of engaging donors and fundraising with texting feels overwhelming to you, we’re here to help. In this blog, you’ll learn how text marketing works and find tips for planning your first text messages.
What Is Text Message Marketing?
Text marketing, also known as text fundraising or mobile fundraising, refers to using text messages for engaging nonprofit constituents.. Through text messages, nonprofit organizations can share their brand stories and build loyal relationships with their users. They use text message marketing (in addition to other channels such as email marketing) to send updates, special promotions, events, and other information of interest to donors and supporters.
The two most common types of text messages are short message service (SMS) and multimedia messaging service (MMS). SMS messages can handle up to 160 characters per message, including text, emojis, and links. MMS messages can handle up to 5,000 characters per message, a subject line, and media content such as images, GIFs, videos, QR codes, and audio files.
Technological innovations allow nonprofit organizations to access more efficient and cost-effective marketing strategies. Technology can sometimes be unnecessarily complicated, but Tatango takes the confusion out of text marketing and can walk you through the process of sending your first text message.
For over 14 years, Tatango has been an industry leader, helping nonprofit organizations and political groups reach their audiences through authentic and effective text message marketing campaigns.
Tips for Planning Your First Text Messages
Creating your first text messaging campaign doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Partnering with the right text messaging partner can make it easier. Following are our best tips for planning your first text campaign. Take these steps to engage constituents and achieve your fundraising goals.
Define Your Goal
Before getting started, clearly define the purpose of your text messages. Doing so will help you determine how SMS or MMS text messages will help you achieve that goal. For example, you could set a goal to receive $10,000 or even $100,000 in donations from your text message.
Other goals you can achieve with text message marketing include:
- Increase brand awareness
- Generate leads
- Become a thought leader in your niche
- Engage supporters regularly
- Increase conversion rates
Once you’ve defined the goal you want to pursue with your text message marketing campaign, determine your tracking process. Tracking your campaign will help you measure outcomes and see if your efforts yield the desired results.
Use the Tatango Design Studio
At Tatango, we encourage our clients to use MMS messages when appropriate. People overwhelmingly prefer images and videos over copy; that’s why video consumption has almost doubled since 2018. Adding media content to your texts can increase engagement by up to 300%.
The Tatango Design Studio is a free service available to our clients at no additional cost. Our design experts create compelling visuals such as GIFs, videos, and images for organizations to include in their text messages. Work with the Tatango Design Studio to enhance your text messages with eye-catching media that supports your campaign’s goals and saves you time and money.
Create and Edit Messages in a Familiar Environment
Once you’ve got the hang of things, building out your SMS or MMS marketing messages is easy with Tatango’s advanced functionality. For example, you’ll be able to customize, style, and target your messages within a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) editor—it works just like a standard word processing program.
Always Include a Call to Action
The most successful text messages elicit a response from subscribers by asking a question or prompting an action. A call to action (CTA) that stands out and encourages an immediate response is essential to help your nonprofit achieve results and gain information as quickly as possible. CTAs tell subscribers exactly what you want them to do. For better results, create CTAs around your campaign’s goals. For donations, use words like “donate” and “give.” To invite supporters to volunteer, try “Join,” “Take action,” and “I’m in.”
Inspire Confidence with the Highest Security
You can’t send marketing messages to someone’s phone without their consent. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the federal statute that governs text message marketing and regulates who can text users, when, and how. Nonprofits have specific regulations when it comes to the TCPA. To avoid litigation and protect our clients, Tatango has partnered with TCPA attorneys.
In addition to complying with federal laws, be sure you’re sending messages securely and reliably. Partnering with text software that lacks security features can be dangerous and put your organization at risk. Tatango prioritizes security. We have more security features than any other text fundraising platform. Our team has improved procedures and developed security features such as secure sending, two-factor authentication, and automated logout to secure your subscribers’ and your organization’s information.
Reach Your Goals with Tatango
With Tatango by your side, there’s nothing to fear when it comes to sending your first (and second, and third, and…) text message. Schedule a free fundraising consultation with our text marketing experts to learn how Tatango addresses your nonprofit’s needs.