Every day, brands, organizations, and creators struggle to grab and hold the attention of their audience. Changes to algorithms, privacy regulations, and social media monetization practices have all led to marketers looking for a place to engage their audiences without external chaos. The Subtext team saw that struggle and created a platform to simplify how people connect with the personalities and topics that impact their lives.
We tested the idea in 2018, handing journalist Joe Eskenazi a burner phone to text information about the 2018 special election for San Francisco mayor. As questions and answers went back and forth, we saw that people appreciated the genuine connection and that it was best achieved through the simple, familiar technology that is SMS. But don’t worry, today our platform has evolved way past a burner phone 😂.
Texting connects audiences to their favorite brands, musicians, athletes, influencers, news organizations, and more in a way where they can be heard. It gives creators a place to build deeper connections with their audience, drive brand loyalty, and ultimately increase revenue. So why should marketers use Subtext? Let’s talk it through.
Building a Brand
SMS with Subtext is more than selling products, it’s about building a brand. Because of Subtext’s high response rates, it allows marketers to have engaging and intimate conversations where they get to speak directly to and listen to their audience at scale. That space is where marketers can personify their brand, get direct feedback and build a loyal following.
Owning vs. Renting Your Audience
Marketers spend an inordinate amount of time and money building their audiences on social platforms only to discover they’re actually renting those relationships, not owning them. We created Subtext to empower our clients to take ownership of audience relationships. With Subtext, marketers can collect, manage and own their audience data. Everything from emails to phone numbers to preferences, it’s yours and yours only. Subtext makes it easy to export audience data so you can utilize it in marketing efforts elsewhere. With third-party cookies being threatened and privacy laws making customer data hard to collect, Subtext’s first-party data collection can be your answer.
Comparing The Numbers
We all know open rates and engagement rates are critical when running marketing campaigns. SMS averages a 98% open rate and Subtext is no different. 96% of the messages our clients send are read within three minutes and 90% are read within three seconds of receiving. With an overall open rate of 98%, a text channel with 1,000 subscribers gets 900 views in the first 3 seconds, 960 over the first 3 minutes, with another 20 eventually reading that message. Subtext ensures your message is received. On top of that, Subtext has an average engagement rate and click-through rate of 20% making it an easy and effective way to activate your most loyal audience members. The leading social media platform only has an average engagement rate of 4% and a click-through rate of 2%, in part because algorithms meant only a small fraction of your audience even saw the message in the first place.
Expertise in SMS Marketing
Our dedicated customer service team are SMS marketing experts. This is not a typical set up where they set you up on the platform and you barely hear from them again. Your CS representative will be your co-pilot throughout your time on the platform. They share best practices and insights to ensure our clients are taking full advantage of the platform to execute their goals. With our white-glove service and extensive knowledge of SMS marketing, they help clients through implementation, management, and enhancement while measuring the success of each campaign.
Revenue Stream
Subtext allows marketers to use SMS as a revenue stream. Whether marketers are looking to create a paid SMS channel, promote affiliate links, engage sponsors, or generate traffic to an already-monetized channel, Subtext works with each client to determine the best form of monetization and implementation for their texting channel.
International Capabilities
Unlike some other texting platforms, Subtext allows clients to scale campaigns to an international level. Clients are able to engage their followers no matter where they are in the world. Subtext makes it easy for marketers to connect with their audience by allowing them to either host one text channel that has access to their entire audience (domestic and international) or individual channels for each audience.
Opt-In Only
Subtext has clients all over the world so we’ve worked hard to make sure our clients are fully compliant with local regulations. Our customer service team gives white-glove service managing all aspects of compliance, even handling TCR registration for every client. In addition, Subtext helps our customers maintain compliance with GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CCPA, and other regulations by being an opt-in-only platform.
Takeaways
Subtext gives marketers the support they need to build a powerful text channel. With our plethora of features and capabilities, we help our clients create powerful global campaigns that engage audiences, drive loyalty and ultimately leave a lasting impression. If you’re interested in learning more about how Subtext can help you achieve your goals, schedule some time to talk to our SMS experts.
