Using text messaging to share news and information is a powerful way to communicate with individuals and groups of people.

From calling attention to a feature or article to highlighting announcements to employees and team members, SMS text messaging is the perfect way to call attention to any type of information you need to share with others. Over 95% of text messages are opened and read by the recipient, meaning that your message is getting through loud and clear. By sending text messages to share news, you can be sure that user acknowledgement and engagement levels will increase. SMS messages can include vital information on their own or be used to direct the recipient to a website, magazine, video or bulletin.

• Increase traffic to web properties
• Share long-form news and articles that might otherwise be missed
• Announce product or event information to customers and clients
• Increase exposure to other published content
• Increase engagement with branded mobile apps

SMS messages allow organizations of all types and sizes to communicate important information and news with their target audience. Here are just a few of the ways that SMS messaging can be used to increase the number of people who receive your message and act on your call to action.

Sharing breaking alerts about safety.  From school lockdowns to traffic accidents to Amber Alerts, text messages are a great way to get critical information in the hands of the public.
Driving reader engagement to web properties.  Sending a link to an article, feature, or blog post via text message is an excellent way to increase web traffic.
Announcing new products or features. When offering a new product or service to customers, text messages are a reliable way to announce what is now available at your store or eCommerce site.
Sharing important company information with employees.   Some information should be communicated internally before it’s released to the public.  Text messages make it easy.
Announcing an event to a set of subscribers or fans.  Sometimes news can’t wait for a formal press release or publication.  Text messages let you engage your audience right away.
Communicating action items to employees in real time.   Text messages let employees know real-time data and information that affects their work.
Increasing viewership of a post on social media.  Text messages are a great way to create a call to action around social media marketing tools.
Calling to action clients and customers by communicating news about a company.  Text messages allow your organization to reinforce your brand with clients and customers.
Communicating information on demand.  Real Estate agents have long used text messages to quickly inform clients about listings and property information.  Banks often let customers check account balances automatically by requesting information with a text message.

A Dallas lifestyle magazine knew that it’s content was better than the competition. From articles about local establishments to announcements about upcoming fun family events, anything exciting going on in the Metroplex could be found in the magazine’s pages. The problem was that readership of the print version of the magazine had dwindled and readers who found the online version rarely read more than an article or two in one visit. The editors wanted to increase not only the total number of readers but also the amount of content each reader consumed. Here’s how they did it.

The marketing team decided on an ambitious plan. Instead of paying for advertising to drive traffic to the website, they decided to invest their time and focus in a text message campaign that would share interesting articles with readers in the hopes that once they were drawn to the site for features, they would stay to read other stories as well. After collecting mobile phone numbers of former print subscribers, the team would send a short message to each reader at noon the day before the new edition would hit newsstands. The message was intended to reach the reader when they might be taking a break for lunch and would be surfing their phone for social media postings and internet news to read. Each text message featured a short blurb promoting the new edition of the magazine and a link to a free edition of the cover story.

The plan worked. Not only did the website gain more traffic as an increased number of readers clicked through to read the feature, but the timing of the message was perfect as well: nearly 20% of those that received the message viewed more than three pages on the site. As an added bonus, sales at the newsstand increased due to visitors of the website wanting access to the full-sized pictures only available in the print edition.