Use Mass Texting to Improve your Click-through-rate: A Complete Guide for Unions(Use Cases Included)

Engaging with your members is the key to holding your union together. In today’s ever-busy world, you need to make sure your message reaches them as and when you need it to.

You may be sending friendly broadcast nudges through emails to connect with your members. “Friendly” and “Connect” sound great. However, are they opening your emails?

A lot of emails get lost in the bundle without being opened. 

It’s high time you use an effective communication channel. 

Use a mass texting tool.

Texts have a 99% open rate. Also, 9 out of 10 people read text messages within 3 minutes of receiving them. 

So, how do you use mass texting?

In this post, let’s see 

• How unions can use mass texting to improve their communication, and 
• Best practices around mass texting for unions.

What is mass texting?

A mass text is a text message sent to a large group of people by an application at once. Regardless of the size of the group, the application can personalize your message. 

However, before you get into the stage of sending text messages, you need your members’ contact information. Even if you have these details, it’s essential to get their consent before you text them to comply with the TCPA regulations.  

How do you collect contact data and get them to subscribe to your text updates?

1. Install sign-up forms on your website to get your members to sign up for your text notifications. You could add a checkbox that says “Subscribe to our important text notifications”. You can make a contact list adding details of everyone who signs up using this form. 
2. SMS opt-ins are another way to get your audience to subscribe. With SMS opt-in, you promote a keyword your members need to text to your assigned phone number. The keyword here is a text – for example, JOIN. When they send this keyword to your assigned and promoted number, they get added to your subscriber list.
   
   You can execute this idea of getting people to subscribe using CallHub’s SMS opt-in tool.
   
   Here’s how:

1. Rent a number and a keyword to use for your campaign. 
2. Promote your keyword and the number on all your marketing channels – offline and online.
3. Set up the conversation flow by defining the first and the subsequent messages which get triggered to their response.

Here’s an example of a union getting people to subscribe to their text updates. 

However, it’s essential to let your members know of a few things before they opt in to receive text messages from you. These are The number of messages they can expect to receive (e.g., 1 per week). The details of your privacy policy. Instructions on how to opt out (e.g., text STOP to opt out). How to reach out to you. Here’s a sample text of how this might look through a text: Hey, there! We will send our union updates once per week. Check out our privacy policy here: {link}. If you have any queries, reply to this message. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

Leveraging mass texting for unions

Mass texting is a cost-effective way to reach your union members when used at the right time with the right messaging. With CallHub, you can send up to 88 texts for just $3. Let’s see what mass texting with CallHub looks like.

Along the way, we’ll see the features that are a part of the mass texting tool on CallHub, and help you create an effective campaign.

Mass texting with CallHub

Running a mass texting campaign with CallHub can be broken down into 3 steps.

Step 1: Select a contact list

Select one or more existing contact list(s) or upload a new one. The new list can be either of the following:

• An offline/downloaded .csv file.
• A list imported from your CRM.

Now, choose the phone number you want to use for your campaign.

Prominent features:

Contact list analysis: Cleaning up your database is an ongoing process. CallHub helps you verify if all the numbers in your database are valid, if they are mobile numbers or landline numbers. You can then edit or remove the invalid ones. 

Here’s a guide on how to analyze contact lists in CallHub.

If someone has opted out from your list, CallHub moves them to a Do-Not-Call list which means, none of your future messages will go out to them.

Numbers: The number you rent here gets displayed on your contacts’ screens. You have three options for picking a number for your campaign.

1. Automatically rent a number: Lets you choose the caller ID from a particular country.
2. Validated number: Lets you choose an already rented and validated number. See how to rent a number.
3. Sender ID: Lets you define an alphanumeric ID. This can be your union’s name, campaign-specific name, or anything else you want it to be. In this case, the number will not be displayed on your contacts’ phones.

Step 2: Create your message

Create your campaign message script. A standard message contains 160 characters. If you cross that limit, you get charged for two messages, and so on.

Prominent features:

Personalization: Personalization can improve click-through rate by 49% and conversion rates by 51%. The Personalize feature on CallHub lets you add standard merge tags or custom fields that represent your contacts’ or agents’ personal details. For example, the first name, campaign-specific information like a link, or any custom tag you add. 

Here’s a guide on how to personalize your messages on CallHub. 

Link Shortener and Tracker: Using a third-party URL shortener can result in getting your messages blocked. An in-built service like CallHub’s Link Shortener and Tracker lets you shorten your links, brand them, customize and track them in your campaigns. 

Here’s how this feature helps you:

1. Shortening a link helps you draft text messages with fewer characters, ultimately reducing your campaign cost.  
2. Branding a link can increase engagement by up to 34% by increasing brand trust and familiarity.
3. Customizing your links with phrases that resonate well with your audience can inspire people to take action. For instance, ‘rsvp’ is a relevant phrase to add to an event attendance confirmation link.
4. Tracking your links helps you measure engagement on your text messages and optimize your strategies, ultimately improving conversion rate.

Automated replies: You can set up automatic responses which go out when your contact texts you the keyword you have defined in the message. CallHub lets you set up multiple such replies, and this helps in use cases where you collect confirmations or data from your contacts.

One-to-one texting: Say a few of your contacts want to talk to you after seeing your message. We’ve got you covered there too. Your agents can have a one-to-one conversation with your contacts in your mass texting campaign. This option is available on your agents’ dashboard.

Step 3: Add an email address to get response notifications 

Enter an email address where you want to receive notifications of responses and define the retries.  

Prominent features:

Notifications: Getting a notification every time your contacts respond to your message helps you take immediate action. CallHub sends you an email notification that shows you the response you received along with the contact’s details like 

• Name
• Phone number
• City
• Zip Code.

Attempting retries: Say your message failed because your contact was not reachable. CallHub’s ‘Retry’ feature lets you set up retries that you can control. You can also define the time between your retries in minutes. See how retries work.

Step 4: Preview your campaign

Get a preview of your campaign details and check them before scheduling it.

Step 5: Schedule your campaign

Schedule your message as per the days and time you want it to reach your audience. 

Set a start and end date for your campaign, along with the operational hours and days.

While scheduling your campaign, you have two options:

1. Choose a timezone for the campaign manually. This is best suited for running local campaigns.
2. Text people in their timezone. This is best suited when running campaigns in multiple locations that follow different timezones. This option helps you stay compliant by not reaching them at unacceptable hours.

Standard features and characteristics   

Let’s see some standard features and characteristics of CallHub’s mass texting service, which helps you make the best out of your campaign.

Analytics: CallHub provides a clear view and insights into your campaigns from various aspects in an easy-to-consume manner. These insights help you track your campaign performance and optimize future strategies. 

Free trial: You can try our mass texting tool without using your credit card. Our free trial gives you credits worth $3, which can send up to 88 texts to your contacts. After using these credits, you can pay as you use the tool(s). 

Integration with CRMs: CallHub’s ability to integrate with CRMs helps you sync data across platforms and get the most out of your campaigns. 

Here’s a list of CRMs we integrate with. If you use a CRM that’s not on this list, our Zapier integration allows you to connect it with CallHub.

Ease of use: With CallHub, the whole process is smooth and intuitive due to its ease of use from the start to the end. We also have a pool of resources, including tutorials, product demonstrations, additional information within the product around each feature to guide you throughout the set up process.

Compliance: CallHub’s mass texting tool is compliant with all the laws and regulations. Compliance can mean

• Getting consent
• Confirming opt-ins
• Not sending unsolicited messages
• Providing a way for people to opt out and omitting such contacts in future campaigns
• Using a registered 10DLC number
• Not texting at odd hours
• Not spamming people with too many messages. 

Our in-built features (like timezone scheduling) and exhaustive blogs help you stay within these boundaries and create effective and compliant mass texting campaigns.

What’s new in mass texting?

US carriers have introduced a new set of regulations for messaging using 10DLC (10-digit long code) numbers. As per the regulations, campaigns using local 10DLC numbers need to register their brand and campaigns with TCR (The Campaign Registry). All major carriers require you to use a 10DLC number, and this means the local 10 digit numbers will incur heavy filtering when used for texting campaigns. 

This initiative will build a spam-free channel for your members, which will result in an increased engagement with you. Registering your 10DLC number will also help you improve your throughput and deliverability, minimizing the chances of getting blocked by the carriers.

Here’s a resource to help you learn more about 10DLC.

Mass texting for unions: Use cases

Now, let’s see some of the most common use cases of mass texting for unions and the text samples you can copy or replicate.

Use case	Text template
Event reminders	The Christmas party will be held at {venue} tomorrow at {time}. We hope to see you there!
Current issues and developments in the union	We are conducting a workshop on {topic} in the {venue} on {date}. Please join us if you’d like to learn more. Here’s more information: {link}.
Last-minute updates	The venue of our meeting has been changed to {new_venue}. Please assemble immediately.
Due reminders	Hi, {first_name}. Your payment for the membership is due. Please complete the payment: {link}.
Safety-based alerts	As per the weather forecast, there’s a thunderstorm expected tomorrow. Please stay in your home and stay safe.
Membership confirmations	Hi, {first_name}. You are now a member of {union_name}. Thank you for joining us.
Conducting surveys	To conduct successful labor negotiations, we need the best pointers & who better to ask than you? Please take this survey; it’ll only take 3 minutes: {survey_link}.
Taking feedback	Hi, {first_name}. We hope you enjoyed joining us yesterday. Please let us know your experience: {link}

Mass texting for unions: Best practices

To get the most out of mass texting for your union, you must follow a few best practices.

Use a 10DLC number: Use a 10DLC number to avoid getting blocked by the carriers. If you haven’t registered your 10DLC number yet, apply here, and we’ll get you one.  

Control your frequency: Nobody appreciates being spammed, and an excessive number of messages can also lead to increased opt-out rates. Data shows that an optimal message frequency is a maximum of 10-12 per month. 

Provide opt-outs: You should also offer your contacts an easy way to opt out from your text message updates. With CallHub, they will be able to do that simply by sending keywords like ‘STOP’, ‘UNSUBSCRIBE’, ‘CANCEL’, and ‘QUIT’.

Here are some best practices for handling opt-outs.

Add a CTA: There should be a CTA whenever necessary and never more than one. Whether responding to a survey or entering a contest, ensure you mention your ask prominently. 

Use media: Add images, GIFs, videos, and other media, wherever possible and appropriate to capture your audience’s attention and increase engagement. CallHub’s MMS tool lets you send media texts, and they also increase the character limit to 1600.

Get started!

The key to building engagement and lasting relationships is a solid communication strategy, and this comes from listening to your audience and following industry-certified best practices. A good mass texting software enables personal communication on a large scale while helping you stay on par with the best practices. 

Sign up for CallHub for free and run your mass texting campaign today. 

Featured image: Photo by JÉSHOOTS from Pexels