How Speakers Use Group Texting to Grow Their Business

How Speakers Use Group Texting to Grow Their Business

Over the last few weeks I’ve been out on the conference circuit.

In just the last 10 days I’ve attended three different conferences.  I’ve seen the insides of more hotel conference rooms than I care to remember!

This year, I’ve attended two marketing conferences, One on sales… and a small business conference.  And I’ve got three more to go in the next 60 days!

For me, conferences are a great way to connect with thought leaders in a particular industry. I get the inside track on what people are thinking – and I get to hear the latest and greatest about marketing, sales, and new products.

This year, I’m seeing something that really makes me smile…

More and more people are using text message marketing at their conferences… it might be a speaker, or a conference organizer, or one of the sponsors.  I’m seeing text message marketing come to the forefront at more and more conferences.

Let me share a key idea with you…

How Conference Organizers Use Group Texting.

I’ve talked with a handful of conference organizers about the best ways to improve events.  One of the biggest problems they have… communication.

It happens. Something breaks, something changes, some speaker gets sick.

There are thousands of moving pieces to every conference.  And inevitably something goes haywire.  Rooms need to be moved, speakers swapped, IT systems deployed.  And the conference organizer is either running around like a decapitated chicken… or is fielding complaints from attendees.

For example, one big issue I’ve seen again and again is a room change.  Who knows why… for whatever reason, a room changes.  Maybe its a swelling attendance list, or a new speaker added at the last minute.

The problem isn’t the move… it’s letting people know about the move.  The schedules are already printed.

How do you communicate a change to everyone at the event?

Email would work, but as you know, email open rates are around 10% or 15%.  That’s not good when 85% of your group doesn’t see the notification.

Posting a sign at the door is as helpful as hearding cats.  Some people just don’t stop to read, others, will find the sign and give up, not wanting to walk to a new room (inevitably across the hotel).

You can make voice announcements – but only so many are listening and paying attention.

If you’re really desperate, you post someone at the door and have them tell people.  It’s a solution that’s very ineficent and costly.

I think the most effective solution is to send a group text message.

You already have everyone’s number… they signed up for the event.  Everyone carries a cell phone / smart phone these days.  And here’s the kicker, Text message read rates are over 90%!

So when you send a message, you know your message is going to everyone in attendance.

But wait… there’s more.  Just simply using group text messages to communicate to conference attendees is the tip of the communication iceberg.

Think of all the cool things you can do. (I’ll do a special post about those ideas in a few weeks.)

But today, I want to talk about the speakers at a conference.   

How Speakers Use Group Texting

Why speakers?

Because these guys and gals stand up on stage delivering the latest and greatest bits of information to the hungry masses in attendance.

They are teaching, sharing and communicating.  They give their time and energy to everyone in attendance.  So what’s so special about the speakers?

I find they are often early adopters of information, technology, and processes.

For example, in the last few weeks I watched three speakers use text message marketing in a very creative way.

The first gentleman was a keynote speaker.

He jumped on stage to a blaring track of hip hop music…  he bounded back and forth with energy… he got everyone rilled up.  It was all part of his routine.

Then he paused and said, I have a gift for you… up on the video screen showed a phone number and he asked everyone to pull out their phone and text him for a free gift.

I watched as 2,000 people pulled out their phones and started texting.

In the blink of an eye, he added 2,000 new prospects to his marketing list.

But wait, it didn’t stop there…

In addition to grabbing their phone numbers, his automated system sent everyone a follow-up text… the message was simple, respond to this message with your name and email address, and he’ll send you another free gift.

How many responded?

I don’t know, but I’m sure a huge portion of the audience was hooked.

I wanted the free gift, so I texted in… just like he commanded… and I promptly got a link to his video of  a keynote address from the month before as my free gift… oh, and a coupon code for 10% off his next book.

Savvy marketers, you’ve got to love them.

That guy was a marketing pro…

But he wasn’t the only one to use text message marketing.

Nope.  There was another speaker who was a normal guy… not the keynote… he didn’t jump on stage, or have music blaring away while he shouted motivational messages at the crowd.

This guy was Mr. Average.  He worked in the industry, figured out a cool little trick, and was asked to present.

Polish, was NOT the first word that came to mind while listening to him speak.

However, what was cool was his use of group texting.

He stood up in front of everyone and said don’t worry about taking notes… I’m going to email you all a link to the slide deck tonight… just text your email address to this number.

That was it.

It was that simple… and the 30 people in the room quickly signed up!

The final example of a speaker who used text messaging to drive more business.

As he stood on stage, he offered a free consultation to everyone in the room… they to simply had to text in a keyword to his phone number!

It was a great giveaway… and it was easy for him to capture the names and phone numbers of prospects.  After they texted in, he had an auto responder set up giving the prospects a link to his site… a link to his bio… and a link to a sign up page for the free consultation.

It was much easier to get signups that way… as opposed to passing around a sheet of paper and praying that you can read everyones handwriting.

Are those the only ways to use text messaging as a speaker… not by a long shot.

I could go on and on… but I’ve got to run out to the next conference!

So if you’re a speaker at a conference, remember don’t be afraid to use Text Message Marketing to gather the names and communicate with those in the audience.  If you’re looking to use an easy to use Text Message Marketing system, check out Betwext.com.