Contests are super effective on social channels and have been known to generate tons of engagement, and we’ve proven subscribers like getting deals via text. Prizes can range from a month free promo code for your campaign or your digital subscription to a shout out to the winner on your podcast or Subtext. No pressure, this should be fun!

For best results, your text contest should include:

The dates the campaign will run, including the time zone

2. A call to action

3. A description of how/when the winner will be selected

4. When you’ll announce the winner via text and if/when the winner should claim their prize i.e. …

The team behind this holiday Subtext campaign is getting valuable feedback like never before

Earlier this month, Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail launched their holiday Subtext campaign 24 Treats of Christmas…and oh what a treat it has been! The 24 Treats campaign launched on 12/1 with the simple but brilliant idea to text subscribers a link to a recipe for a new holiday treat every day leading up to Christmas. They make things fun and interactive by challenging their followers to try out new recipes and text in baking questions and pictures of all the delicious treats they bake.

Meet Chris Fedor — Cleveland.com Cavs reporter, radio host at 92.3 The Fan and evident sports junkie. He hosts the Subtext campaign Cavaliers Insider.

As the name suggests, this successful subscription campaign brings its loyal audience insider news and insights about the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA. Fans can’t get enough! Last month, Chris’ sub list grew by nearly 40%!

Check out some of his texts below!

Chris is a natural for many reasons. As a model host, he’s committed to sending frequent and timely NBA news updates, and as his Twitter bio states, by texting him you can “get it before Twitter.” His texts are effortless, feeling like you’re receiving a text from your friend with the inside scoop. Most notably, he uses his audience as a resource for his reporting. Chris surveys his fans for questions they have about the Cavs, then answers the best submissions on his Cleveland.com column “Hey Chris.” …

Thank you for being a Subtext subscriber! Here are a few simple steps to update your credit card information with Subtext.

1. Head to the sign up page for your host. If you’re unsure where to find this page URL, text your host or email us — hello@joinsubtext.com — with your host’s name.
2. Head to the URL. You’ll land on a page that looks like the image above.
3. Click Update Payment Details in the upper right corner of the page. A window (pictured below) will appear. Enter your credit card information, click Update Payment Details.

You’re all set!

Author, speaker, journalist and Inc columnist, Minda Zetlin is the jill of all trades that hosts Career Self-Care with Inc.’s Minda Zetlin

This Subtext campaign resonates deeply with subscribers and has helped them find solid ground in these unprecedented times. The campaign provides its audience with mindfulness and productivity tips, career counseling, insights, and a behind the scenes look at The Laid-Back Leader, Minda’s popular column on Inc.com.

With a remarkable engagement rate of over 16%, the audience response this campaign has been incredibly positive. Subscribers candidly text questions and receive authentic responses from Minda on personal matters from interview advice, to stress coping mechanisms, and everything in between. In fact, Minda told us that a conversation she had with one of her Subtext subscribers may actually serve as inspiration for a chapter in the book she’s writing. Talk about a connection! …

Florida Politics launched their campaign to cover the state legislative session in November 2020. The digital newsroom signed up 63 subs with an email blast, but it was the homepage banner that took their campaign from a group of loyalists to a large dedicated following. Within 72 hours of launching the banner pictured above on their homepage, their subscriber list grew by 775%. Who should try this: Hosts with lots of homepage web traffic.

CNET’s Cheapskates text deals has averaged 115 new subscribers per day since their September launch. Host Rick Broida’s campaign is an effective companion product to his popular deal hunting blog and podcast by the same name. The team has aggresively placed the sign up embed code around their website to see quick growth in their few couple of months texting their audience. …

Carriers (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) stay pretty tight-lipped on why certain texts don’t get delivered or numbers get blacklisted. They operate like any email service provider in that they’re looking for spammy language or formatting, and filtering messages as needed to keep our text inboxes clean. With that in mind, we have some insight into why carriers flag and/or don’t deliver messages. Here are some best practices ensure the highest rate of deliverability for your texts.

1. Limit the number of links in your messages to one or two

Sending numerous links in one message can look suspicious to cell carriers, especially if that’s repeated in every text. It’s tempting to send a list of direct article links in broadcasts, but here are some other ways to share multiple links or stories…

We trust our friends and family, that’s why word of mouth marketing is so effective. Take it from Rapp News reporter Sara Schonhardt, the host of the Subtext campaign Rapp News texts Rappahannock. This campaign serves residents of western Virginia with daily local news updates impacting their community and has seen a consistent trend of upward growth and engagement since its launch earlier this year.

Sara does a stellar job collecting and answering questions and has been simply blown away by the personal and thoughtful responses she receives from her audience. Perhaps that explains why she’s become a master at taking questions from her subscribers and turning it into content. Sara replies to her audience directly over text, but also in the form of stories and news articles. Genius! …