Text Request Talks
3 SMS Marketing Tips for Events with Dawn Pfannenstiel
Business texting can attract a large audience to your events, you just need to plan your messages accordingly.
Here’s when and how to time text messages around your event, so you can draw the biggest audience possible.
This article takes insights from our Text Request Talks podcast with Dawn Pfannenstiel and further distills it into advice specific to texting. Pfannenstiel is the founder of DP Digital Marketing. She previously worked for Just Between Friends (JBF) corporate, in addition to owning a JBF franchise location, and has similarly helped Vintage Market Events with their sales events.
The following tips expand on how to generate hype around events like Pfannenstiel does with text messaging.
Watch the full interview on YouTube.
1. Mass text your existing audience that the event is coming.
Start by promoting the event to loyal customers or previous attendees. Pfannenstiel says that these are the people who are most likely to jump on your event marketing. Plus you have their contact information already, which makes it super easy to reach out to all of them at once with a mass text.
Mass texts work like BCC email, so any responses become one-on-one conversations that potential attendees can use to ask additional questions about the event. All it takes is one drag and drop of your contact spreadsheet into Text Request, along with a message like:
“Our [Event Name] is just around the corner in [month/date]! Register here [link], and let us know if you have any questions.”
Our Link Sharing feature lets you track click rates, so you can get an idea of engagement across your event-related texts.
2. Text updates directly before the event to generate hype.
Pfannenstiel stresses that people want to know what to do and when to do it—otherwise they won’t participate. That’s why she’ll send two to three texts a week directly before the event, not only to remind her audience about it, but to also make sure they have all the information they need.
Your texts directly before the event could include:
Virtual tickets, so attendees don’t have to dig through their email
Photos of what the event space will look like
A map of where to park
Food and drink options that will be available
An itinerary of events
Reminder about event policies (for example, a clear bag policy)
Each of these things paints an exact picture of what the event will look and feel like. Pfannenstiel says this will help attendees have the best experience possible, which is also good for your business.
3. Share last chance opportunities and upsells during the event.
Don’t underestimate the power of FOMO, or the fear of missing out. Last minute ticket discounts or updates can be the final nudge that gets more potential participants across the finish line.
Pfannenstiel is personally a fan of sharing Facebook Live videos throughout the event to convince people to join in. You can easily text message Facebook Live links to your own audience to make sure they see it. Use these live links to market any last chance opportunities that they may want to take advantage of.
It’s easy to think that just because the event has started, you can back off on your marketing. But in reality, this is one of the best times for upsells, like event merch or food offers. Text messaging’s high open rate ensures that participants actually see these last-minute offers, since they won’t be checking their email during the event.
How Else Can Text Messaging Increase Event Turnout?
The above are just a few quick tips—but we also have 26 text templates for increasing event attendance that are ready to go for those who want to get started.
You spend a lot of time and money creating your event, and business texting is the #1 channel to drive engagement and participants to it.
