SMS marketing is 2022’s ultimate gem for event marketers looking to maximize ticket revenue. To get your SMS strategy set up for success, we’re sharing the ultimate events SMS workflow that drove our top event clients over 20x ROI last year. Let’s dive in 🎟
1. Campaign-Specific Landing Pages for SMS Opt-In
With the immediacy of SMS messages, they’re a great way to notify your audience of time-sensitive events like pre-sale and on-sale for tickets or merch, especially compared to email where you’re competing for visibility in a crowded inbox. That’s why setting up SMS notification landing pages that trigger hyper-targeted timely automations will guarantee your strategy the highest conversion. Here are two strategies to try:
Pre-sale notification landing page
Set up a landing page with a countdown timer to your event’s ticket pre-sale or exclusive merchandise on-sale to collect phone numbers and SMS opt-in (take it one step further and ask for first and last name while you’re at it!). This creates a sense of urgency and piggybacks on FOMO to drive higher signups, while building you a quality list of contacts you can re-target later based on their interest in this event or merch collection!
Giveaway/contest landing page
Who doesn’t love winning, especially when it’s a VIP pass or exclusive merch to their favorite event? That’s why giveaway and contest landing pages are another high-conversion way of collecting SMS opt-in. Let your audience enter the giveaway by signing up with their phone number, and later re-target your list with a discount to encourage those who didn’t win to purchase. Share your landing page on social media to drive traffic, and consider a targeted email campaign too!
Related: How to start collecting SMS and growing your SMS list as an event marketer
2. SMS Welcome Automation
For any SMS collection landing page or signup form, you should welcome new signups to your list and include a promo code like a discount off their next purchase or limited freebie with purchase to encourage conversion. For the two SMS opt-in workflows shared above, here’s how to incorporate automated welcome SMS hyper-targeted to the campaign:
Pre-sale notification welcome SMS
Automate a welcome SMS to those who signed up to your pre-sale notification landing page letting them know when they’ll be notified! Drive conversion by including a promo code relevant to the event or merch collection they signed up for. Here’s an SMS template you can follow:
“Hey [First Name]! You’ll get a text 5 minutes before tickets to [Event Name] go on sale! In the meantime, use code [CODE] for 10% off [Event Name]’s merch: [link]”
Giveaway/contest welcome SMS
Automate a welcome SMS to those who entered your giveaway/contest to confirm their entry. Include a discount code to encourage signups to shop while they wait for winners to be announced!
“Hey [First Name]! You’re in for a chance to win tickets to [Event Name]! Winners will be announced on [Date]. In the meantime, use code [CODE] for 10% off [Event Name] merch: [link]”
3. Campaign-specific SMS
Since these workflows are campaign-specific, remember to automate SMS notifications to send to signups for the reason they signed up in the first place!
Pre-sale notification welcome SMS
Notify signups when pre-sale or on-sale starts. Our event clients often send SMS reminders 5 or 10 minutes beforehand, with a link to the on-sale page.
“Hey [First Name]! Tickets to [Event Name] go on sale in 5 minutes ⏱: [link]”
Giveaway/contest welcome SMS
Notify signups when the giveaway/contest has ended. You can announce winners via a targeted SMS campaign and send a ‘thanks for entering’ SMS to those who didn’t win to make a purchase.
“Hey [First Name]! Thanks for entering our giveaway for tickets to [Event Name]! We wish everyone could be a winner but as a participation prize, here’s 10% off [Event Name] tickets just for you: [link]”
Wrap up
Try these ultimate SMS workflows out for your next event and see your ticket sales skyrocket! Plus, you’ll end up with highly curated SMS lists you can send targeted campaigns to in the future, based on the campaigns they signed up for. Questions on how to make these SMS workflows work for your events brand? We always love helping with strategy - no strings attached! Reach out at smsforevents@hive.co 🎟