What healthcare marketers need to know about texting campaigns

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If you’re new to the world of marketing texts, your first thoughts may be of the exciting possibilities of having an even more casual, personal way to communicate with your audience. And you’re right. But conducting a successful texting campaign is much more than just shrinking your marketing messages into bite-sized texts. Consider the following as you get ready to launch a new texting campaign.

How will you drive engagement?

Texting is its own marketing medium, but a successful texting campaign has to be strategically integrated throughout your marketing plans. For example, your audience needs to specifically opt-in to your texts, and that means you have to entice them to sign up. One best practice for attracting audience members to your new texting campaign is to incorporate the texting CTA on all of your other marketing collateral, from digital ads to fliers. Create an eye-catching image and pair it with an expression of the value your texts will offer, and you’ll see members of your audience respond.

Does your texting campaign align with the rest of your marketing?

Think of your texting campaign as an extension of your existing marketing. It should have a similar brand voice and style, even though your messages will be shorter and may be less formal than in other mediums.

Consider carefully how often and when you use text messaging to reach your audience. Exactly how many texts you can send per month and how many keyword responses you can automate will depend on the program and plan you use to create your texting campaign. All the same, how these messages and responses are used should be grounded in strategy. With our clients, we always commit to a few of the same best practices. These including never texting the same person two days in a row, generally sending texts around lunchtime when readers are more likely to engage and encouraging responses that are specifically tied to our clients’ strategic goals.

Do you know your limits?

All marketing texts are subject to certain regulations, and healthcare marketers need to be extra careful to comply with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as well. Marketers who do not comply with opt-in and opt-out regulations may be subject to hefty fines, and HIPAA violations can result in even greater penalties. To ensure that your texting campaign respects all regulations, you may want to work with an experienced marketing agency with a history of texting campaigns.

Want to know more about what texting campaigns and other marketing tactics can do for your organization? Don’t hesitate to contact us.

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