Peer To Peer
Text Messaging

What is P2P Texting?

Peer to Peer (P2P) is a communication method which allows you and your business to send messages to your audience to their mobile phones through the use through the use of human agents. Rather than sending a bulk SMS blast, which allows you to send thousands of text messages all at once; peer to peer texting is a method of having one-on-one conversations with every number you text all in one convienent interface. Texting regulations according to the FCC state that 10 digit numbers are not eligible for bulk texting and must have an operator manually hit send for every text.

Lets face it, now more than ever nobody wants to be another set of eyeballs in a marketing campaign. Users want individual attention, but when you have a limited staff, or a limited marketing budget how can you make meaningful connections without breaking the bank. Re-targeting ads, and suggested content have come a long way towards personalizing the marketing experience peer-to-peer texting is the future of business to customer communication.

Consumers are getting smarter and wiser at seeing through marketing language, and increasingly frustrated at the difficulty in contacting businesses or political candidates. They want personalized communication that is simple yet authentic.

Peer to peer messaging is easy on the budget and has returns that are above and beyond the costs associated with it. Email rates are slowly falling, sitting at an average of 25% open rate, whereas text message open rates are sitting comfortably at approximately 90%.. Furthermore, texts have an average 90 second response time, and 32% average response rate.

The messaging style of texting lends itself to the building of personal connections which is not as easily created over email, or even over the phone.

How to get started with Peer to Peer?

To get started with with P2P all you need is a campaign manager and a contact list. It is the responsibility of your campaign manager to utilizes the contact list, and then reaches out to contact list members one by one and share your desired communication.

P2P is simple yet powerful. Your organization in engages in text conversations one-on-one with your contact list (who have opted in to receive communication). This gives you direct access to your supporters which you can use to mobilize them, providing voting instruction, or solicit feedback on what issues are important to them in the election. Also, the opportunity to raise funds for your campaign are plentiful, with the ability to send supporters straight to your donation pages.

Why is P2P is better than Bulk SMS?

Why is P2P better than regular texting or Bulk SMS? Where text revolutionized human communication, P2P texting takes it to the next level by allowing a single user to have conversations with thousands of users one-on-one.

P2P has the ability to instantly sync with your CRM of choice as well. Whether it is Hubspot, Zoho any other tool

	P2P	Broadcast
Pay Structure	Pay-per-contact,($0.14-$0.30 cents per month)	Pay per SMS message ($0.01-$0.02 cents)
Monthly Cost (on 100,000 messages)	~$6000	$20000
Time Constraints	Month-to-Month	Annual or monthly
Types of Messages	Basic SMS with emojis and personalization/logic fills	MMS, logic fills, yes/no responses

Benefits of P2P

Mobilize support: by receiving a text message, you are meeting users where they are and can get them to respond in the moment to either volunteer queeries, surveys, or invitations to events. Even better, if you require clarification on any issues it is easy to respond immediately.

A further benefit that mobile communication allows is that there is an easy to navigate record of interactions with users. If another operator takes over the communication with a user, there is a record of their interactions on the peer to peer platform already. For example, if a user has said that they are interested in attending a rally, make sure you make note of this in their file and invite them when you are having one.

Personalization: You can easily add in short codes that contain the users name. Want to go the extra mile? Cross reference them with their nearest polling location and tell them on election day where it is they need to go.

Which of these texts is more welcoming?

“We are holding a fundraiser at the Mason Hall on Moorse Street this Saturday August 12th at 1pm. We hope to see you there. Reply ‘YES’ to RSVP.”

“Hey Bill! This is Katherine from the campaign for Alexander Hamilton. We are organizing our kickoff fundraising event next week to give voters a chance to meet Alexander. Want to come?”

The second one is much more personal and frankly, human. Peer to peer texting is the place where you get the opportunity to build custom brand experiences that are more personal and social than even social media.

You can add in short codes which will pull information from contact CSVs and integrate with your CRM. For example in the above correspondence when the user messages you saying that they will be attending you can enter that event in the CRM and know that they are someone who is highly engaged with your client.

Protip: You can localize where your messages are coming from, so you may consider creating a local caller ID that your campaign manager uses to send messages.

Templates: It is easy to use pre-written answers to start conversations, create logic flows, or quickly respond.

Instead of typing out every single message (which can offer a level of personalization), you can pre-writemessages and easily add them into the platform and send with a few clicks. For example, if you are sending messages specifically about drumming up attention for your candidate’s upcoming rally, you can have pregenerated responses about the date, location, what to bring, arranging transportation. This might save only seconds on a one-by-one basis, but across thousands of recipients it would be hours saved.

Fundraising: You can go directly to users to ask for donations now with a link to your website.

One of the largest points of friction in the fundraising process is actually getting your donation page in front of users who are willing to donate. After you have conducted your proper opt-in process you will most likely have a list of engaged voters.

Text Messaging Regulations

Text messaging is subject to many of the same rules that telemarketing is. However, unregulated text messaging has caused a lot of user frustration and mishandled messaging. Spam messages are increasingly common and easier to spot. Users would prefer to receive messages via text than any other medium, but unless they are personalized, and relevant they will quickly ignore you. This is the benefit of peer to peer texting.

If you have been thinking about a P2P campaign for a while and wondering what you need to know. Most countries have laws that regulate the frequency, and and content of text messaging.

United States – TCPA and FCC

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act by the Federal Communications Commission, was established to regulate organizations who collect contacts for marketing and protect users who will receive information. The main points from this act are:

Businesses must obtain prior consent (opt-in) to communication before they are allowed to receive communication.
Even if an organization already has an individual’s number there must still be an opt-in to receive communications.
Texts sent to users must provide the sender with the identity of who is sending and also instructions for how to opt-out of communication from the organization.
Opt-Ins are not allowed via text message for the initial point of contact

When are you allowed to send SMS?

Legally, to start sending SMS messages you need to receive opt-in this is receiving. To do so without receiving opt-in would be a breach of compliance as outlined by the FCC. You can ask users to opt in to your text by showing them the value that your texts provide. What is the value you can offer them?

Note: Nonprofit organizations are not required to follow the same “opt-in” requirements as outlined in the TCPA. Although, as a courtesy and providing relevant communication it is a good faith gestures to ask users to opt-in.

One of the most effective ways to get numbers on your list is to ask users on social media to sign up to receive communication. This is your form of opt-in. A standard form on your website, or a list gathered at one of your events is a great way to capture people’s momentum for your cause and campaign.

However, once you have your list, make sure you are using it effectively and respectfully. Users are trusting you with their information and you as the organization are responsible to not abuse that privilege. Make sure you make it explicitly known to the users how often they will receive messages and what the content of those messages are likely to be.

Finally, to make sure that your user base is happy and only receiving the communication that they want, make sure that you make opting out of communication easy. Typically you want to include in your very first message an opt-out request. Typically it is a keyword like “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE”. From there, you will remove them from the list.

However you utilize P2P make sure that you are using it to convey information clearly and keep your subscriber base well informed of how to receive information, communicate it back, and how to unsubscribe should the messaging no longer be relevant to them.

Unlimited

The capacity to send messages is virtually limitless.

Compliant

The laws governing P2P works to protect both you and your audience.

Personalized

Make your messages what you want, and deliver them efficiently at scale.

“I love using SMS as a safe space because it’s such an intimate channel, all those, ‘I’m the only person in my town who supports this candidate’ texts. That’s why it’s the best channel.”

Lloyd Cotler

SMS Manager - Hilary Clinton

Peer To Peer Text Messaging