How to set up and send SMS messages to your members.

Gone are the days when the mailshot facilities in Memsec were used for actual mailouts. The mailshot generator is still there though and is now best used to send SMS messages or emails.

Emails are tricky. Free email accounts of the type most of us use such as gmail or icloud accounts don’t allow large numbers of messages to be sent, making them unsuitable for marketing campaigns. Memsec therefore allows you to compile lists of members’ email addresses that can be exported in a format that can be used by services such as MailChimp.

SMS is different. We have built into your Memsec software the facility to send bulk (up to 2000 at a time) text messages for as little as 5p each, meaning you can run your own campaigns quickly and easily. Send SMS messages to your best customers with exclusive offers. Text anybody who’s not renewed their membership this year. You can even send an SMS to wish your members a happy birthday!

There are two ways to send text messages from Memsec. As well as the mailshot report generator there’s a dedicated text facility. This allows you to send texts quickly and has 2 options for selecting who the message will go to;

• Groups, based on age range and/or membership type
• Individuals, based on name search (you can add any number of individual members to a list)

There’s also a test option so you can view your proposed message on your own phone first.

Once you have your list of targets and your message composed, just click ‘Send’. You’ll then see a screen pop up with a mobile phone image, on which the progress of the messages can be viewed.

If you want to target members on more complex criteria, use the mailshot report generator. This gives you a series of options based on things like;

• age
• birth date
• membership type/group
• gender
• joining date/expiry date
• postcode area
• surname letter
• interests.

You can also filter based on visit information such as;

• frequency
• date range
• days & times
• spend amounts
• purpose

The system will then give you a list of options of what to do with the results it finds. You can still produce letters or mailing labels or you can export details for use elsewhere. You can, if you have a paid email account, create an email, or you can produce a report to show the matching members. The last option in the list, the one we’re concerned with here, allows you to send a text message. Choosing this option  shows a screen similar to the one above, where you can compose the message and enter the sender name and then click through to confirm and send. As with the simple text feature you’ll then be able to see the progress as the messages are sent.

Because there’s a charge every time you send text messages the facility isn’t automatically enabled on Memsec, so please get in touch if you’d like us to activate this feature for you.