The events industry is growing as fast as our social culture is, and with that growth comes the need for more innovative forms of communication which is why so many event professionals are turning to business texting.
The core challenge that event managers are facing is ensuring and managing communication for each event. When you’re dealing with managing the attendance of hundreds of people for an event, it’s time to whip out a bag of tricks to not only keep reservations organized but also to keep a history of communication all in one place. That’s why so many event management companies are beginning to use SMS platforms that facilitate business texting and have an easy-to-manage admin panel.
SMS Platforms
SMS Platforms consist of short messaging services (SMS) that enable two-way text messaging that help event planning professionals manage invitations, event reminders, event updates, schedule changes, and RSVPs. Once your invitees subscribe to receiving messages, you can easily send and receive messages pertaining to the event and keep a record of communication on the web-based admin panel. When you’re communicating with such a large group of guests, an all-in-one business texting platform will surely make operations easier.
Role of Business Texting in the Events Industry
For those of you who are wondering how exactly business texting is enhancing communication in the events industry, we’re here to detail it for you! Event planning organizations have been around for decades but in more recent times, they have become more prominent in the business world. Companies are hiring event professionals to manage business functions such as meetings, conferences, panel discussions, workshops, launches, holiday parties, team building events, and more. With text messaging being the most used form of communication in our technologically advanced world, it only made sense to implement business texting into daily operations for event planning teams to better manage communication.
Chances are that all invitees own a mobile device and messages are 98% likely to be read by the user. This makes business texting the most user-friendly communication platform for event managers. According to a survey, a person is 6-8 times more likely to read and reply to a text message than an email message.
Are you asking yourself how to use business texting to increase attendance at events? We’re glad you asked. Let’s review.
1. Before Event: You can use text messaging to send out invitations, confirm reservations, send updates, inform invitees of schedule changes, send directions, send registration forms, and answer any questions pertaining to the upcoming event.
Keep in mind, that the first and most important step in enabling two-way messaging using your business phone number is obtaining consent from each guest. You can’t even send an invitation for an event without the end user’s consent.
So, what’s the best way to gain consent to send an event invite by text?
You can get creative and offer your target audience an incentive for subscribing to receive messages from your event management team. For example, you can ask invitees to fill out a raffle ticket that includes their mobile phone number to subscribe to your list and offer an attractive prize for the person who wins the lucky draw ticket. You can also post ads on social media announcing a contest and the audience can enter the contest by texting a particular keyword to your business phone number.
Today’s modern parents enjoys attending family events, so for Event Planners in New York who specialize in that niche of the events industry, it would be wise to offer some free passes or a special discount to prospects who subscribe to receive text messages. These methods will attract your target audience to not only subscribe to your list of contacts, but also to attend the proposed event. Once you receive consent to send text messages, you can announce attractive incentives to entice the audience to attend the event. According to a digital marketing survey, 75 percent of consumers prefer to have special offers and discounts sent to them via text.
2. During Event: Event Planners in New York are using text messaging to ensure the best user-friendly experience during events. You can use SMS to keep attendees informed about all event information, any changes, alerts, location of services, points of interests and emergency services to ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to enjoy all attractions and points of interest.
Event organizers are also using business texting to send surveys to get feedback from attendees regarding the provided services during the event. Up to now, getting survey responses via email has not been so promising but when you send a link to your audience’s most used device, you have a better chance of getting them to click on the link in the text message and quickly answer your survey questions.
3. Post Event: At the completion of each event, you can request feedback not only to learn about each guests’ experience, but also to request to use their positive responses as testimonials on your website. If their response expresses areas of concern, you now have first-hand information on how to improve specific areas that were not appealing to the audience and can be improved for future events.
You’ll want to request feedback no later than a day or two after the event because you want to make sure that everyone who attended gives you fresh information and hope that they don’t leave any detail out. After a couple of days, there’s a chance they’ll forget vital information that you can use to improve your event production practices.
The Bottom Line
It’s safe to say that the events industry is using SMS platforms for managing multiple event components in an efficient and productive manner. It’s become more convenient to connect with target audiences using the most used device for communication; smartphones. Starting from the planning stages of an event, to sending messages and updates during the event, to following up and requesting feedback post-event, business texting is the way to go.
One of the most effective ways to learn about strategic ways to improve your event management methods is to attend The Event Planner Expo where you will have the opportunity to attend workshops and listen to advice from major influencers in the industry. Be sure to buy your early bird tickets now before they're sold out!