Politicians: Engage More Voters this November

As a politician, your objective this November is to share your message with more voters. This election cycle, SendTree can help you directly engage voters, staff, volunteers, and more. Politicians and political organizations can use group text messaging to communicate with volunteers, or remind voters to go vote.

Send Reminders, Updates, and News with Text:

• Text to vote - remind people to vote with a group message
• Organize rallies and public events
• Update supporters on relevant issues
• Assemble your staff in a flash

Instant Results for Your Campaign

Why wait to reach people with traditional campaign strategies when you can streamline communication with text? As Fox News' article, More Politicians Turn to Text Messaging Campaigns, explains: 

“From a campaign's perspective, texts are great, because there's a really high open rate for those," said Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan, who is trying to collect as many cell phone numbers as possible for a text-message database. "They pop up on your phone, so it's really easy to communicate with people quickly and know that they're seeing that piece of information." 

It’s easy for your supporters to opt-in to receive text messages. All they have to do is text “JOIN” to your SendTree phone number. Or you can take a more pro-active route and collect cell phone numbers at your next public event. Plus, you can sync up your SendTree account with your social media pages so that all messages automatically post to your Facebook and Twitter.

Still wondering what SendTree can do for you? Download our SendTree 101 Guide. We’ve got plenty of tips for politicians and political organizations. 

Lions Clubs: Deliver News into Your Audience’s Hands

While technology simplifies many aspects of our lives, it has also changed the way we interact with the world. We are a society that constantly shares information – particularly by sending and receiving messages on our cell phones. Many service clubs understand the benefit of uniting their organization with a website and social media – but few have recognized the advantages of group text.

How can adding SendTree’s group text messaging service benefit your Lions Club? 

Instead of sending individual text messages to every person in your group (a tedious and expensive route) you can broadcast messages to as many people as you'd like. SendTree text messaging makes it easy for you to send one message to an entire group. Just login, type your message, and click send. 

More reasons for communicating with group text >>

Share Your Pride with Your Lions

Routine updates, meeting reminders, and announcements are just a few examples of the type of text messages that will keep every member up-to-date on club happenings. Consider these ways to keep members informed and engaged: 

• Notify Lions members of upcoming events and meetings
• Welcome new members
• Motivate volunteers with an inspirational text message
• Remind members of duties and responsibilities between meetings
• Update members of fundraising events
• Share results of community outreach programs
• Recognize the contributions and efforts of participants
• Share meeting minutes for anyone who couldn’t attend a meeting  
• Alert members of volunteer opportunities 
• Organize conventions with pre-schedule messages

Broadcast on a Budget

SendTree makes it easy for your Lions Club members to become and stay engaged. Create separate SendTree lists to target volunteers or staff. Supply your youth groups with mobile messaging and see how they engage in a whole new way. The possibilities are endless with group text, and SendTree’s affordable pricing makes this service all the more valuable.

Learn more about SendTree or start a FREE 30-day trial on our website >>

The Power of Reviews for Your Business

How are reviews helping or hurting your business? A Nielsen article, For U.S. Consumers Different Stores Mean Different Smartphone Shopping Behavior, found that people’s shopping habits are changing because of smartphones. Consumers are relying on reviews to direct them to the stores and products that will meet or beat their expectations. Nielsen reported high rates of smartphone usage for the following stores:

At electronics stores, the vast majority of smartphone shoppers read reviews (73%), compare prices with other retail outlets (71%) and scan QR codes to get more product details (57%).

Reviews are becoming a go-to guide for shoppers, neatly packaged on the screen of a smartphone, but what about the other 42% of American adults who don’t own smartphones (Pew Internet Research Project)? 

How can your business bring this ubiquitous, straight to screen experience to everyone? The answer is to directly reach out to customers with group text messaging.

A New Approach to Marketing

The beautiful thing about relying on a mobile platform to broadcast your business is the guarantee. There are few marketing campaigns that can ensure advertisements will be seen or heard by your target audience. Unlike traditional advertising (print, online, or radio), text messages reach the consumer anytime, anywhere. Text messages have a 98% read rate (Small Business Trends) and can be viewed on any cell phone or smartphone.  

What’s the difference between cell phones and smartphones?

Conversations Direct to Screen  

The mobile approach is a direct way to reach your audience because your messages are sent straight to your customer’s cell phone. By using SendTree, a group messaging service, you can broadcast all your important messages. SendTree's bulk text messaging service makes sharing news and notifications simple: 

• Share mobile coupons 
• Remind customers of why they love shopping with you
• Get the permission of review writers and share testimonials via text 
• Notify customers of special sales events
• Alert customers when your store will be closed because of bad weather 
• Contact customers during crucial times when they are likely to be out shopping

How SendTree Works for You

To keep customers in the loop on great deals you’ll want to stay connected and develop some regular rapport. The best way to do this is with SendTree’s mobile messaging service. Just encourage customers to text “JOIN” to your personal SendTree number to receive regular updates and notifications about your floor-sales, discounts, and special events.

Ready to get started? Try a 30-day FREE trial >>

Want to Live Healthier? Try England's Approach to Public Health

The city council in Staffordshire, England is using an affordable bulk text message service to reach out to its obese residents. According to Ross Brooks’ article, Text Message System Can Help People Lose Weight, approximately 70,000 adults living in the city are classified as obese. By using motivational text messages reminding people to “walk more” and “eat veggies and fruits,” the cabinet members believe the project will encourage change and save the city money. The project will last 10 weeks and 500 of the city’s residents will receive supportive texts daily on their mobile phones.

Connect Your Community with Text

SendTree is a service available in the U.S. than offers a similar support system. With group text messaging many organizations can accomplish the same goals as the city of Staffordshire:

• weight-loss centers
• community groups
• fitness clubs
• community workshop organizers 
• public health initiatives

Messages can even be scheduled beforehand to be delivered at a specific time and date >>

 

Same Rules, New Player 

Eating right, regular exercise, and staying positive are the staples of a healthy lifestyle, but sticking to a routine is a lot easier with a support network. With SendTree encouraging words and reminders can be sent to any cell phone in the form of a text message. By utilizing a service like SendTree, your community can take a step toward a healthier tomorrow. 

References:

Brooks, Ross. "Text Message System Can Help People Lose Weight - PSFK." PSFK. N.p., 05 Feb. 2014. Web. 05 Sept. 2014.

Colleges: How Can You Update the Freshman Experience?

Did you know? College students are most likely to dropout during their first year.  

In fact, Educationse.com reports that, “Approximately 35% of students who enter college will drop out during the first year.” As a result, universities are faced with a difficult task – to provide support services that help first-year students successfully transition to college life.

Text message communication is one method universities can use to connect with their students. 

SendTree allows universities and teachers to send one group text message to all of their students. By investing in a technology that directly engages students on their mobile phones, universities can provide different types of support for their students.

 Add group text to compliment email >>

Text Important News to Students: 

• Deadline reminders - scheduling dates, final withdrawal, advising appointments, etc.
• Weather alerts - winter advisories or tornado warnings
• Campus events - Social, cultural, and educational campus-wide activities
• Acceptance notifications - use SendTree to notify students via email and text of their acceptance
• Support Services – notify students of the free services available to them like counseling and tutoring sessions (an efficient way to target first year students)  

Lecturers, take part in this rapport too

One of the biggest differences between high school and college is the study habits. College students are expected to do much of their studying independently. Professors can use group text to promote learning outside of the classroom.

Text has successfully been used abroad to motivate students. An article by Jayde Cahir, Elaine Huber, Boris Handal, Justin Dutch and Mark Nixon titled, Using text messaging to support student transition to university study, found that:

In Japan, students studying English at university were sent, three times a day, new vocabulary and the use of each word in multiple contexts. These “mini-lessons”…indicated a constructive learning outcome as 93% responded positively when asked if it was a valuable teaching method and 89% wished to continue learning via the mobile phone (Thornton & Houser 2004).

SendTree = Seamless Integration

A group text messaging service, like SendTree, is a simple, inexpensive way to share important news with students. Introducing group text to students is easy because text is already a part of their everyday lives. The Pew Research Internet Project shows that young adults between the ages 18 and 24 send and receive more texts than any other age group. So, why not get started today? Get ahead of the curve and update your university with SendTree.  

 Try it FREE for 30 days >>

Works Cited:
Thornton, P. & Houser, C. 2004, ‘Using mobile phones in education’, The 2nd IEEE International Workshop on 
          Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education (WMTE’04), IEEE Computer Society, Vaxjo, Sweden.

Cahir, Jayde, Elaine Huber, Boris Handal, Justin Dutch, and Mark Nixon. "Using Text Messaging to Support 
          Student Transition to University Study." Http://journals.sfu.ca/. Study-MATE, 1 Nov. 2012. Web.

Smith, Aaron. "Americans and Text Messaging." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. 
          Pew Research, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.

"Percent of First Year College Dropout Students: The Reasons Students Drop Out." Percent of First Year 
          College Dropout Students: The Reasons Students Drop Out. Educationse, n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2014.