How Churches Are Using SMS Marketing

This year we’re going to share with you a great deal of information and insider secrets about Mass Texting. One of the best ways to do this is to give you real world examples.

That means specific examples of how other organizations are using text message marketing to grow their revenue and improve customer engagement.

That’s exactly what we’re going to do…

We’re going to look at how personal trainers, restaurants, consultants, plumbers, gyms, and even real estate agents use text message marketing. And as the year goes on, we’ll cover more and more different groups.  So what if you’re not part of this group?

I recommend reading this post anyway… you never know what nugget of marketing wisdom will fall into your lap.

Use the knowledge that others have uncovered, and become a powerful marketer.

Today we start with Churches.

Today, I’m going to share with you the insider secrets of churches… and How Today’s savviest churches are using text message marketing to engage their members.

Let’s start with a simple fact.

Churches and religious organizations are some of the biggest users of the Betwext Text Messaging platform.

The ability to connect and communicate is critical… and some savvy churches are using text messaging in very creative ways.

First let’s start with how they gather their names.

How Churches Gather Phone Numbers For Their Text Message List.

The most obvious way to gather phone numbers is by asking members to text in a Keyword at a gathering.

One church announces their text messaging system as an easy way to sign up for alerts. Every Sunday they announce their phone number and ask members to text a special Keyword. This adds members to a simple list where they send event reminders.

Another group at the college level had a huge banner printed. On it they let members and others in the community know they’d text out social announcements…

UChurch changed to this method after spending years collecting names on clipboards. Many who were interested had illegible handwriting and never received updates or their contact information was input wrong. With the text message signup, these problems disappeared.

One Church in the Midwest did a personal invitation. Church members stood outside of services, and personally asked members to sign up.

Another Church group we spoke with focused on small groups. The Prayer team signed up for one list using a unique Keyword. The Teen group had their own list and used their own Keyword. The Active Parents Group had yet another list and unique Keyword… the Men’s bible study had yet another. At Betwext you get UNLIMITED Keywords!

All told they had something like 8 or 10 different small groups. Their group leader was responsible for making sure members signed up for the texting list.

How useful is the mass texting capabilities of Betwext?

A while back we had heard from one church who had a text message list they were individually texting.  Small groups would get together and send hundreds of texts individually… some messages took a small group of 5 or 6 people 2 to 3 hours to send the message.

After signing up for Betwext they were able to send the same message in less than 5 minutes.   You can read more about their experience here:

UChurch Arizona State University Text Messaging Case Study

Regardless of how you get people added to your list, you want to send them a welcome message… and then start communicating.

But I know what you’re thinking…

What are other churches texting their members?

Here are a few quick ideas…

One church in the north sends out weather and road updates.   Often after a big snow the road to the church isn’t always plowed. So road updates are sent to members.

Another church texts event reminders. For example they send Wednesday night Bible study reminders, prayer chain updates, Friday fish fry announcements… the list of events is endless.

One church sent reminders about the annual poinsettia sale.

Another church reminded members about daylight savings time and the start time for church. No more having members show up late!

Now here’s a creative use of text messaging…. One church texted members a link for making a donation online. The link took them to a “donate now” page where they could use a credit card to give.

But that wasn’t the most creative use…

One Church we interviewed used text messaging right in their service!

The service leader decided to hold a question and answer service. To encourage people not to be embarrassed by their questions, they posted their Betwext phone number and asked members to ask questions anonymously.

Then they opened up a lap top right on stage, logged into the Betwext system, and were able to read off questions and respond in real time.

The event was so successful, they’ve decided to make it a regular part of their outreach!

Talk about creative!

But that’s not all.

Some groups send weekly inspirational messages.

I heard of one group who texted a scripture every day to their followers…

Another group sent updates on sick and injured members of the congregation asking for prayers and help.

The uses are endless and if you’re part of a church or religious organization, we encourage you to look closely at Text Message Marketing as a way to communicate with your group!

Remember SMS Marketing is a powerful, easy to use, and cost effective tool. Give it a try today.