8 Ways Texting Can Help You Better Connect With People

by | Aug 10, 2020 | Resources

If you see areas in your church communications that need a lift, texting provides speed, flexibility, and great engagement. For a church that’s focused on growth and reaching, engaging, and retaining more people, texting provides multiple solutions along the way. Check out these eight reasons why texting works so well!

(This article contains affiliate links. Firm Foundations Marketing may receive a commission if you make a purchase using the links below.)

Most people at your church have a cell phone

92% of U.S. adults have a phone with texting ability, so chances are, your church attendees do too.

That’s the great thing about texting. Whether it’s an older flip phone or the latest fanciest smartphone, all those phones have text – sometimes called “short messaging service” or SMS.

When you consider this, you can start to see the possibilities.

Improve reach, engagement, and retention – especially with young adults and families

These adults have smartphones, and they know how to use them. It’s with them all the time. Life moves fast, and these devices help keep things organized and everyone connected.

Texting allows for your church to send out quick messages with the necessary information they want and need to grow spiritually and care for those around them.

Use texting for event reminders and clear out of your content calendar

Promoting an event and encouraging sign-ups are one thing. Reminding people who say they want to come is another.

If event reminders take up too much space in your social feed or your weekly email newsletter, text can help.

People can register for an event – and then you can send them helpful reminders to both keep them excited and to show up. Whether it’s for Sunday Worship to an Online Bible Study, that helpful nudge the day – or the hour before – can more effectively nudge people along so they can attend.

Provide a contact-free way to connect with visitors

If your church meets online, in-person, or a mix of both, physical interaction has changed dramatically.

That’s where smart connect cards come in, offered by Text In Church. You can easily collect information, say hello, and start developing relationships with new people.

Whether set up on your website, included as a link on social media, or mentioned as a keyword during your worship service, you can offer a solution that replaces the printed connect card.

Offer a new way to collect anonymous prayer requests

The same tool that allows you to set up and promote digital connect cards also enables people to more privately share their prayer requests.

Now is a time when we all need some prayer. The key is hearing from that person. If sharing that information in a public forum is the barrier, let’s remove it!

Texting provides a way for people to reach out without feeling like a lot of eyes watching. This solution both maintains privacy and allows for that interpersonal connection.

Works well with social media, email, and off-line materials

Anything you add should improve communications – not make things more complicated. Not for you, and not for those you’re speaking to across all of the channels your church uses!

With the Keyword feature through Text In Church, you can direct people to text that keyword to your number.

Imagine encouraging prayer requests by telling people they can text PRAYER to your number – during online worship, on social media, or included on printed pieces.

Or telling guests they can get information about your family ministry by texting in FAMILY. You get the idea!

Alternative to buying an app – solely for a specific feature

Apps have their place and can be a great addition! However, if you’re considering adding an app to your communications toolkit, ask yourself, “why?”

Easy event sign-ups can be a draw. So can offering a way to encourage online giving. If those reasons are your main draw, then an app may not be the best solution – and it may be more costly and less effective

More costly because you can drive both sign-ups and giving through other channels that don’t have the barrier of needing to be downloaded. Social posts on your main page or in groups, coupled with links in email and easy text sign-ups, will reach both broad and niche audiences.

Less effective because to sign-up or give through the app, they’ll need to have the app. Your most engaged audience members will primarily download apps. To keep them engaged, you’ll need to provide valuable content consistently. If you’re able to do all of that – fantastic!

But if not, then you’ll likely see app engagement go down over time. Once that initial excitement wears off, and people use the app less and less, you’ll find that you’ll need to revisit your process.

Break through the noise and the clutter

We’re not ones to put the method before the message. What you say and how you say it matters.

The message comes first. And then the method. When looking at texting, you can’t discount the usage stats out there. With 90% of texts read within 3 minutes, and 45% of texts replied to, that’s fantastic usage + engagement!

When done well, churches can use marketing principles to grow. By being helpful and having a ministry mindset, you’ll be able to use texting to serve people. Being there for one another leads to growth and fulfills your church’s mission to reach your community.

Two ways to learn more (or get started!)

Texting can work for any size church and works to meet multiple needs.

To hear about practical strategies exclusively for churches (or get others up to speed) you can check out Engage One Day Conference, hosted on Thursday, August 20 by our friends at Text In Church.

Ready to get started with a free trial? Not just 7-day, or a 14-day trial. Nope. Text In Church now offers a 60-day free trial as a way to help churches during this challenging time! Between the tools, support, and community the Text In Church team offers, you’ll be inspired and then EXCITED when you see the connections happening.