Article Source: https://www.truthtree.com/texting-your-way-to-higher-enrollment/

Where is your phone right now?

My guess is it’s within eyeshot, or it’s in your hand because you’re reading this on it. 

Having a mobile-friendly website and a robust presence on social media apps are just two examples of why school marketers must be phone-focused. 

But few private schools are taking advantage of the fastest and easiest way to communicate with prospects using the phone—text messaging.

SMS marketing, or text message marketing, has become a cornerstone tactic for many businesses, and for good reason.

• 97% of U.S. adults own a smartphone vs. 94% that own a computer.
• 95% of text messages are read and responded to within 3 minutes of being received
• 45% of text messages receive a response, 8x that of email 

Yet, in a recent poll we conducted on LinkedIn and Facebook, only 21% of respondents said they were currently using text messaging for enrollment marketing.

Why??

For this blog, I’ll skip the commentary on “traditional” school marketing practices clashing with modern marketing standards, but know this…

Today, consumers not only prefer to be able to engage in conversations with the brands they purchase from — they expect it. According to Chief Marketer, consumers desire both one-word answers (yes, no, help) and natural language feedback at the level of two-way communication with businesses, and 60% of Millennials prefer two-way text engagement because it’s easy to use, fast, and convenient. – Yotpo

Why Text Message Marketing for Schools?

Real-time Right now
Several websites have different stats, but all are in the same ballpark.

• Close to 100% of people open texts
• > 80% of text messages get read. 
• > 60% of texts get answered regardless of the sender.

When was the last time you could boast those numbers for email marketing?

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