Church Text

As technology has taken over almost every aspect of our lives, using the help of text messaging isn’t much difficulty in today’s world. Where people used to gather for congregations and church events simply through word of mouth or simple announcements, it requires extra effort now. To make sure that the entire community gets the church messages and important reminders, using church text messaging is an excellent idea. This way, while people modernize over time, they maintain their contact with the church with a new twist. Since churches want to expand their outreach they have also opted for text message marketing.

Why opt for church outreach with mass text messages

Like any other business that requires marketing to increase customers, a church also needs assistance to increase its outreach. 90% of the text messages sent to people are opened within a time span of 3 minutes which shows the popularity of this method. Moreover, when compared to email marketing, 66% of people prefer text messages over reading emails giving it an edge over other marketing techniques. Since a church also has a specific budget it needs to keep its costs minimal and text messaging is one of the cheapest and convenient forms of communication.  Moreover, the church wants to reach out to a large number of people which is only made possible with the help of bulk SMS sending. With time and growth, the church has realized that it needs to grow with the community and what another way than to stick to methods which the society uses? The best part of text messaging is that all messages can be customized to address to certain people. So while sticking to a budget, the church can make its followers feel special by attending church. While the church can send short texts to followers and people in the community it can also use the method to bring the community together and send reminders of gatherings and events held at the church. When comparing mass text messaging to other forms of marketing methods, it stands out due to the features it

How to get started

To initiate mass messaging for church outreach is the real deal. Before starting off, you need a service provider that supports your ideas and helps you reach your audience in no time. Express Text provides full support to its customers who wish to spread their message to a mass of people. Moreover, when opting for a service provider you should take a look at the features it has to offer that can help you and your church outreach to grow. After choosing the right service provider you need to choose your number which can be a long code or a short code depending on the form of communication you wish to use. The tedious part of text message marketing is gaining contact numbers of people. However, since a church works for the community and holds gatherings and sermons, gathering numbers is not a difficult task. Most importantly, when getting started for mass text messaging, you should always group your followers and make categories so certain personalized messages can be sent to those specific people only. Moreover, to make sure that your marketing technique is a hit, you need a professional and trained text message marketing team who can help you create such categories and follow updates on all followers of the church. This way you can start off to bring a change in society by simply sending a message to your followers.

The long code or shortcode

When choosing mass text messages as your choice of marketing, you need to choose the number from which you will send out messages to your followers. Now, there are 2 kinds of codes which are used as numbers, namely long codes and shortcodes. Long codes are similar to phone numbers and can go up to 10 digits long but the plus point of this code is that it ensures a two-way communication with your followers. The shortcode is a 5 to 6 digits long number which is used to send messages to followers and people in the community. These numbers can be specifically chosen such as a church can choose 248724 as its shortcode. This number will then be specific for the church only making sure that its followers know when it sends them a text message. Both long codes and shortcodes can be chosen to be unique and separate numbers from any other businesses and churches around them. If a church is looking for feedback and wants its followers to reach back through text messages it would opt for long codes which can make this possible. Moreover, long codes can be saved in the followers’ phones as a contact number so each time they receive a text, they know who it is from. Since it acts as a proper phone number, a long code can also be used to make phone calls if people have certain queries or emergency situations regarding church matters. However, shortcodes cannot be saved and followers cannot reply to messages either. Whichever option a church chooses, it would be able to send text messages to followers at any time by a single click.

Text messaging vs email marketing

Even though emails have remained an integral part of marketing over the years, it seems that people have a higher response rate towards text messages as compared to emails. Today people are carrying phones around in their hands throughout the day. Rather than checking their emails, they can simply check their screens for any received texts whether they’re at the office or at home. Text messaging is quick and effective because people tend to open and read text messages more frequently than emails. Email marketing is also similar to mass text messaging since a bunch of emails can be sent to a large number of people at the same time. However, it comes with certain complications. While text messages don’t require a constant internet connection, people can receive text messages anywhere and anytime. Emails will only be accessed when people have a connection to the internet and check their mail inboxes. Text messaging and email marketing are both effective for marketing which is why both can be used alongside each other. Emails can be sent to followers to subscribe for church reminders through text messages which can reinforce the church outreach idea.

Text messaging vs social media marketing

Social media has become an integral part of the marketing sector due to its importance in people’s lives. If there is anything that influences people directly, it is the social media through which many businesses and companies try to influence people’s behavior towards their products and services. Similarly, churches have also grown fond of the idea and have pursued the concept of social media marketing to increase church followers. 80% to 85% of the churches and ministries in America are facing a fall in attendance because they cannot come up with new ways to keep the interest of people alive. Which is why they have started opting for newer techniques that are modern while attracting the attention of people. Churches find it convenient to create their pages and sites online where they can attract the attention of people and make them visit the church more often. However, the main concept missing in social media is addressing the people individually and giving them separate attention so they feel special and important in the eyes of the church. While a text message is sent to one individual and can be personalized accordingly, social media posts are for the public by and large. A church can post a status online for everyone to attend a sermon but the personal part behind the message is lost. Moreover, posting on social media requires money and when compared to text messages, social media marketing tends to cost much more. 

Features of text messaging with Express Text

There are different features available to users who prefer Express Text as their service providers. While a church needs to send out text messages to its followers and attract the attention of other people living in the community, it can use Express Text for many other purposes as well. A church has various sermons and gatherings to tend to which means that it needs to keep tracks of all events taking place and keeping reminders. Express Text tends to make reminders for churches so they can keep track of all that is about to happen in due time. This way, churches can also notify followers on time so they don’t forget when to attend a sermon. Scheduling messages for followers is another feature that can be used by churches to set a schedule for a text message to be sent to all the followers. This way churches can carry on with their work without having to worry about what to do.

Church marketing

Church outreach is necessary for a church to expand its followers and gain influence in the region. Apart from making sure that people visit the church and follow all religious practices, a church can show people that it is an integral part of the community that binds everyone together. Text messages are not just used for church marketing but can also be used to bring the community together in other activities and on other platforms. In cases of emergencies, a church can send out mass text messages to the people in the community to make sure that everyone remains protected. Churches can also text messages to the community to help each other out during times of emergencies. If there is any other event taking place in the community, such as a funfair or carnival, the church can text people to gather at the event and set up stalls to raise money for themselves and the community. This way, a church can market itself to the people while showing them it is a binding structure in the community that plays other roles as well apart from religious ones.

How to use church text to increase followers

Sending out bulk text messages to people is an effective way to increase the followers of the church. However, a church needs to know how to use this technique and when to use it to gain a significant number of followers. The basic purpose of these text messages is to make sure that people attend church regularly. Text messages can be sent to people to remind them of the weekly sermon being held at the church so they know that the church remembers them. Moreover, churches can send out positive messages to the community helping the people think better and live better. A church needs to show people that it is a platform for people to come together and how it helps the entire community. To make sure that people are responsive to the messages they receive, the church needs to find the right time to message people so they can read it and then respond to it accordingly. Text messaging is an effective and cheap method for churches all around to market themselves successfully in the community. None the less, like any other marketing technique, it also needs to be used correctly.

Driving traffic

Despite being an effective marketing method, text message for marketing is not the only way to increase church following. Text messages can be used to drive traffic towards other sources of marketing that the church uses as well. The messages sent can be added with links and website information so people can access them accordingly. Subscription offers to inspirational videos on the church’s website can also be used to attract the attention of people using mass text messages. These techniques increase the interest of people and make them more keen on attending church knowing that it is also progressing with time.