We all know families, if not your own, dealing with the uncertainty of “back to school” this year. This week NJ.com launched a Subtext campaign sending text updates on school reopenings in New Jersey.
This campaign signed up 1K+ subscribers within the first 24 hours of its launch this week. And subscribers immediately started engaging by sending in tips on what they’re experiencing in their districts.
NJ.com’s identification of their community’s need and quick response is paying off. Andrew Zuckerman, Director, Content Innovation at NJ Advance Media, took the time to tell us how they made it happen:
- The night before the launch they posted an article announcing the service and included the sign up form.
- The next day they posted another article detailing all their “back to school” coverage, including the Subtext sign up form.
- They have embedded the full sign up form at the bottom of every schools-related story since launch — and will continue to do so.
- They linked to the campaign at the top of the page at nj.com/education.
- They’re planning a Facebook push of the campaign this weekend.
Andrew and his team have experience with rolling out campaigns this way. NJ.com was one of our first newsrooms to start texting covid-19-related news, following a similar launch plan. Five months later, they have nearly 75K subscribers — and counting, and have built an irreplaceable public resource.
If you want to create your own school campaign, don’t hesitate to contact us hello@joinsubtext.com
