Cell Phone Text Messaging Embraced by Barack Obama
My daily newspaper reported this morning that Barack Obama's campaign is using cell phone text messaging (SMS) to better connect and motivate his supporters. Want periodic updates on the campaign? Text "obama" (without the quotes" to 62262. Want to know the identity of his vice presidential running mate before the media does? Text "vp" to 62262. Brilliant.
Obama is using an SMS keyword campaign to recruit, retain, and motivate his supporters. So why aren't employers? Well, some are and many more will soon be.
SMS keyword advertising like Obama is using allows an employer to send information about their employment opportunities to candidates at virtually no cost. And when candidates opt-in to receive the information, the employer knows their cell phone number and can follow-up directly or at least build a mailing list. If an employer uses different keywords for different opportunities, then they can immediately and at virtually no cost text job openings to candidates who have already expressed an interest.
Some employers ask why they should SMS when email works well. Well, email does work well for some candidates but if you want to reach virtually any college student or recent graduate then you need to use SMS and not email. The emerging perception on-campus is that email is too slow and too cluttered with spam. SMS, on the other hand, is fast and almost free of spam.
Obama understands the power of SMS. Does your organization?
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