Last week I talked about the importance of using “text messaging” in your ministry. If you didn’t get to read that post you should definitely read it here.
Here’s an excerpt from that article:
Utilizing Texting for Ministry
So, as a person involved in ministry at the parish level, or even on a national level – how do you take advantage of this technology and leverage it to help as you evangelize those in your ministry?
Streamline using a service
If you want to get serious about communicating effectively with people involved in your ministry then you need to look at options that will help you be efficient. There are numerous options out there for “text messaging services” or “broadcast SMS services”. These are online services that you can subscribe to to send out your text messages to groups – whether its ten people or 10,000 people all at one time. This is by far the best way to maximize your reach and streamline your messaging.
What we recommend
As I mentioned in that post I have tried out a few of the services available for “group SMS”, or “broadcast text” and I have found what I think is the best bang for the buck.
It is a small company based out of Seattle called, Tatango, run by CEO Derek Johnson, who is more connected to his customers than any CEO I’ve ever heard of. So far I have found Tatango to be a clean, efficient and easy service and to be honest they have proven to have one of the best customer service approaches I have ever seen.
True SMS to SMS
One of the major benefits of Tatango is that it is a true SMS to SMS service. Many other services out there use an email to SMS platform which creates problems in that many messages will not get to the contact and according one source could be violating certain carriers terms of service. Utilizing a true SMS platform means your contacts will get their text and it can reply to that text which will then go straight to your phone.
Get Started for Free
Tatango is a very user friendly and clean customer interface and makes it easy to set up and use. You can set up your own Tatango account in about 2 minutes flat and there is even a “try it for free” option which allows you a 30-Day trial.
Tatango is a monthly pay as you go service too, so lets say you pay for it for one month and realize you just don’t use it enough – no harm, no foul. Simply cancel at anytime. Or, let’s say you just need it for a specific purpose – like perhaps you have a major event coming up or you want to offer a “lent devotional text message” to your blog subscribers and you only need it for that time frame, simple – sign up, and cancel when you’re done.
Create Groups
Once you have set up your account you will be prompted to create a group. You can create as many groups as you’d like. Let’s say you are a youth minister and you want a group for middle school, for high school, and for parents. It’s as simple as clicking the “create group” icon and putting a group name in. Be sure to keep your group name short as that will take up some of your 160 characters in each Text message. Or, let’s say you want to use this service for several ministries in your parish, you can simply set up a group for each ministry that will use the service and assign people as the group contact.
NOTE: It is important that your group name is something that is identifiable by your contacts as this is what identifies who is sending the message and you want them to not assume that this is a junk text. So pick a name that they will recognize.
Each group you set up will get it’s own keyword that people can use to register for your text’s, but you also can set up specific keywords for your groups (see more on this below).
Adding Contacts is Easy
Once you’ve created your group you’re now ready to add your contacts so that you can begin sending messages. There are three ways to do this.
Using the Import Tool
The import tool allows you to manually enter contacts. If you have your group already set up in a spreadsheet or other database, you can also simply copy their information and enter it. What I did was to put the name of the person and the cell phone number right next to each other in a spreadsheet and then copied the columns and pasted them right into the import box, it was as simple as that. You will be give a prompt asking you to ensure that you obtained this information legally and also a chance to confirm the information before it is saved. (The import tool is not available in the free-trial version.)
Keyword Sign-Up
The most attractive piece of the group SMS service is the opportunity to set up a custom “keyword” that your contacts can use to sign up for text updates from you. Depending on which plan you purchase – you will have a certain number of customizable keywords. This is in addition to the generic keyword that you get for free with each group. You will want to pick keywords that are easy to remember and to let people know. We made our keywords, “LIFETEEN” for our high school Life Teen group, and LEOEDGE for our middle school EDGE group. Then you simply give your teens the number to text “68398″ is our number and have them text your keyword. This automatically subscribes them to your messages.
IDEA: One of the things I like best about this feature is the ability to run little contests to get them to sign up. So to kick off our EDGE group and get the kids signed up, at the beginning of a night I said, text LEOEDGE to 68398 to win a gift card (or cd, you name the prize). Then I go to my office during the night, look at the numbers that registered and pick one at random. That kid wins.
You also can post this keyword info in your parish bulletin to let people know how to get information, which is a great way to reach people who perhaps have not gotten involved quite yet.
Web Link
You will also have the option of embedding a logo on your webpage that invites people to join your group, or you can paste the URL link into emails or web posts that invites people to sign up. This feature is a great one because it allows people to not only register their info, but actually gives them a chance to enter their name – which the keyword feature does not allow.
I have added this link to all of my outgoing email blasts as well.
Manage your group easily
Once you have some contacts uploaded you are ready to begin sending our information, inspiration, or whatever you desire to use this service for. In the ‘Overview’ Section of your group page you’ll be able to see your subscribers and who joined or left the group, etc. You can then click on contacts to see more detailed info and even to send a text to one individual.
You are also able to create subgroups within each group. For instance if you have teens that are in a leadership role or a bible study group within the larger group, you could set that up as a sub-group which would allow for an easy communication tool with your group.
Start Sending
Sending your message is very easy. Simply click, ’send message’, enter your text, and click send. You are limited to 160 characters (including your group name) when sending group SMS, and the send tool will show you how much room you have left.
There is also a feature to send a message directly from your phone. “Send your group message to the phone number provided by Tatango, starting the body of the message with the # symbol. Have more then one group? Follow the instructions above and Tatango will send you a message prompting you to select which group you would like to send your message to.”
It is such a simple process and so easy that I don’t know why I wasn’t using group SMS in my ministry much sooner! It is so easy now to get the word out about a last minute event or a schedule change or cancellation.
Great Customer Support
Tatango does a great job with customer support. CEO, Derek Johnson recently revamped the department, hiring a community manager who has the duty of connecting with every single one of their groups and responding to all customer needs quickly. They are quick to respond and very attentive to your needs.
In fact just last week I was getting a failure error on the site repeatedly, the error message said they were aware of the problem, but just to be sure I sent a support ticket. I had a response within five minutes telling me that the engineer was working on the problem and it would be back up soon. I also noticed a post from the CEO on twitter that night, “it’s 11pm and everyone is still at work.” They made sure the issue was dealt with before they could go home.
If you don’t believe me, send them a message. You will be given not only a phone number to reach them at but the cell phone of the person you are in contact with. In fact, even the CEO of the company will give you his cell phone number.
Pricing
Tatango offers four different pricing structures, which will allow you to enter a cost you can afford and of course you can easily upgrade as you feel like your need grows. We started with the basic plan and have upgraded to expand our use to other areas.
We are excited that Tatango has offered NewMediaMinistry.com a very special discount code to share with our readers. Click here to take advantage of a 25% off coupon – this is only good for the next 30 days so hurry! The coupon code is: L84V3QKK – you can enter it at check out.
We hope you’ll give group SMS a try. We obviously like Tatango a lot, but if you find another option that fits your needs better, by all means give it a try and let us know how it works for you.
Oh, and don’t forget to join our NewMedia SMS Group by texting “NEWMEDIA” to 68398. We’ll be sending out special announcements, and invitations to special online events like our upcoming Ustream broadcast.
