Sep 17, 2025
Discover how text messaging can help your association connect faster and engage smarter.
Your members are on their phones. Are you reaching them there?
Text messaging is one of the fastest and most effective ways to reach your members. With open rates above 98 percent and most messages read within three minutes, SMS ensures your updates don’t get lost in crowded inboxes.
Millennials and Gen Z, the future of your association, love getting news via text. By using SMS strategically, you can deliver timely, targeted, and meaningful messages that keep members connected, informed, and engaged.
Why Associations Should Use SMS
There are several reasons why SMS should be a key part of your association’s member marketing strategy: it helps you reach members who might skip emails or scroll past social posts, delivers instant, targeted updates like event reminders, deadlines, or policy changes, and saves your staff time by letting you schedule short, effective messages in advance.
It is important to think about SMS in the context of your overall marketing and communications strategy. For some audiences, text messaging may complement and enhance existing communications like email or social media. For others, SMS might replace channels that are less effective. This is a key consideration that needs to be thought through as part of the overall strategy. You don’t want to create audience fatigue by simply adding text.
Creative Uses of SMS Beyond the Basics
Text messaging is not just for reminders. Associations can use SMS creatively to enhance engagement and build community. Examples include:
Member onboarding sequences: Welcome new members with a short series of texts introducing key benefits, upcoming events, and ways to get involved.
Example: “Welcome to [Association Name]! Start here: Join our online community to connect with peers → [URL]”
Recognition and appreciation: Celebrate member milestones, anniversaries, or achievements with personalized messages.
Example: “Congrats on your 1-year membership, [First Name]! Check out what’s new this month → [URL]”
Micro-learning tips: Deliver short educational resources or tips directly to members’ phones.
Example: “Tip of the week: Regular landscape maintenance can reduce water usage by 20%! More tips → [URL]”
Gamification and challenges: Encourage participation in contests, scavenger hunts, or quizzes via SMS.
Example: “Clue #1 for the Fall Challenge: Watch our latest webinar & answer the quiz to earn points → [URL]”
Cross-channel engagement prompts: Drive members to your social media pages, webinars, or videos.
Example: “New video alert! Highlights from our conference are live → [URL]”
Segmenting and Personalizing Messages
Generic messages don’t cut it anymore. Your members notice when communications are relevant.
Segment member lists to send personalized messages based on interests, membership type, location, or engagement history. For example:
- Students can receive messages about scholarships, educational webinars, or mentorship programs.
- Institutional members may get updates on policy changes, professional development opportunities, or partnership initiatives.
- Long-term members can receive appreciation messages or exclusive event invitations.
Personalizing your messages shows members you understand them and makes them more likely to engage and take action.
Measuring Success with Analytics
Want to know if your texts are actually making an impact? Track key metrics to find out.
Open rates show whether members are receiving and reading messages, click-through rates reveal engagement with links to resources or events, and response rates capture feedback from polls or surveys. Using these insights, associations can refine message timing, content, and segmentation to continually improve engagement and maximize ROI.
Getting Started
SMS is not just quick communication; it is a strategic tool for reaching members where they already are.
By understanding compliance requirements, developing thoughtful message sequences, and using the right technology to segment, personalize, and analyze campaigns, associations can deliver timely, relevant messages directly to members’ phones.
Used effectively, SMS helps small staff teams save time, maintain engagement, and ensure members feel connected to your organization.
Reach out to our team to learn more about implementing SMS campaigns for your association.