If getting people to come to an event is part of your job, then SMS marketing should be part of your publicity strategy.

Whether it’s a corporate industry conference, a bakery’s grand opening or a big event at a neighborhood pub, text message marketing is still the most powerful, most direct, least expensive and most personal way to keep the masses informed about your event.

Virtually Everyone Reads Texts Right Away – Really

According to industry research, at least 98 percent of SMS messages are opened and viewed within a few minutes of being received.

Email, on the other hand, has an open rate of just 20 percent – and the average email response takes 90 minutes. 29 percent of tweets are read, but just 12 percent of Facebook posts ever reach human eyes.

Every other form of digital communication – including email, which lands in a personal inbox – takes some searching to find.

Virtually everyone, however, has SMS push notifications turned on by default.

Texting Makes Registration Easy and Drums up Interest

As discussed in the article “Four Reasons Your Event Needs Mass Text Messaging,” offering your audience the ability to pre-register with their smartphones is convenient for them and good for you.

This makes them far more likely to register, which makes them more likely to show up, and it lets you track who has signed up so you can get a more accurate head count.

Mass text reminders also drum up interest in the months, weeks and days leading up to your event. Use SMS messaging to remind people about special guests, giveaways or surprises you may have in store.

As the day of the event draws closer, consider offering tell-a-friend incentives that reward pre-registered guests for getting friends to sign up as well.

Use your mass SMS list to remind everyone of the details as the clock clicks down to go time.

Mass Texting can Help You Even When the Event is Over

SMS messaging can help you in your post-event efforts by helping you collect feedback after the fact.

Consider sending out a quick poll or survey to see what all the attendees felt and thought about the event.

You can also measure how many people registered against how many people actually showed up, so you can have an even better gauge for your next event about what pre-registration actually means.

Mass texting is quicker, more direct and more affordable than any other form of event marketing.

Even better, it can be just as useful after your event as it was in the planning and preparation stages.

Don’t rely solely on SMS for your event marketing, but make sure text fits into your strategy.

Author Bio: Andrew Lisa is a freelance writer who covers digital marketing and event planning.