Guide to SMS text marketing for independent musicians

In addition to social media and email, one of the best ways artists can market their music to fans is via text message! Here, we cover a few tips for effective SMS promotion.

Guest post by Randi Zimmerman of the Symphonic Blog

Text and email marketing are the two very effective forms of direct marketing to consider as an artist looking to grow their fanbase. As an artist on social media, you can post to your hearts content and see what comes from it. On the other hand, you can use text or email marketing to send your message directly to your audience’s inbox. We’ve already done a couple posts in the past about how to use email marketing, so this one is all about text (also known as SMS) marketing. Here’s everything you need to know.

Text Marketing Tips for Independent Musicians

Did you know… SMS text open rates are as high as 98%, making it the highest of any marketing channel. In comparison, email open rates are usually around 20%. Click To Tweet

Let’s break it down…

Text marketing is different from email marketing in many ways. Some of the most appealing aspects include higher and faster open rates, increased click-through rates, a better chance of your audience actually reading what you send, and more.

In addition, SMS text allows only 160 characters per message. That means you’re forced to be clear and concise with your message, which your audience will absolutely appreciate more than a long, drawn out email.

To get started, you’ll need two things.

1. A smartphone. (duh)
2. An SMS marketing tool. 

I’m sure we don’t need to explain why a prehistoric flip phone isn’t going to cut it here, so let’s skip right to the SMS marketing tool.

An SMS marketing tool is the software that allows businesses (like you!) to plan and execute marketing campaigns through text. This is done through whatever marketing tool you choose, which comes in the form of a smartphone app that lets you compose and send texts to the subscribers to your contact list.

Luckily, there are a bunch of options to choose from. Some of which include: 

• Podium
• EZ Texting
• Birdeye
• ActiveCampaign

While trying to decipher which tool is best for you, you should consider a couple things. Whatever you decide on, the most important features it should have are 1) the ability to give your audience the ability to opt-in or out and 2) the ability to track data and analytics like open rates and click-through rates for each campaign.

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Sharpen your skills…

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Once you’ve chosen the right SMS marketing tool, it’s time to grow your audience.

If you’ve built an email marketing list before, you already know how to do this. If not, here are a couple tips for getting your fans phone numbers.

• Collect phone numbers at your live shows.
• Offer free merch to fans who sign up to receive texts.
• Create a CTA (call-to-action) on your website where people can sign up.
• Offer a free link to exclusive song downloads for those who sign up.

Not sure what to write in the messages? Try these…

The whole point of using SMS text marketing is to be able to share essential news like tour & show announcements/cancellations, new music, exclusive features/events/releases, new merch, ticket sales, etc.

Don’t get crazy and send random messages that are going to annoy your fans. Keep it to the most important details and exclusive features that people really want to hear about. Receiving texts rather than emails is inherently more personal. You don’t want to take advantage of your fans trust by sending spam. They’ll just opt-out as soon as they opted in.

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Quick Tips

• Don’t forget to consider what time you’re sending your messages. As a rule of thumb, keep it to 9-5 your time. Please don’t text your fans at 1am… It’s creepy. 
• Don’t use abbreviations like “ur” or “lol”… Just write in full sentences like your friends would normally text you. Trying too hard makes it seem like a bot is texting you rather than a real person. 
• Always say who you are in every message. You never know who might’ve deleted the previous messages or who just signed up for the first time. 

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In Conclusion…

When used properly, text marketing can be a very lucrative marketing tool for independent artists. It’s easy to set up, goes directly to your fans, and can help you share important insights to your audience quickly and efficiently.

So, what’re you waiting for? Get to work!