1. HOW TO BUILD
YOUR MOBILE GROUPS
A thumbfound Guide For Golf Clubs

2. Hi.
Welcome to thumbcastr. We greatly appreciate your interest in taking the time to
learn the right ways to build your mobile groups. Following the proper list creation
and management practices will help assure your mobile marketing programs are
a success.
You may be starting a group from scratch or you may have built a previous list of
subscribers and are looking to import that list into thumbcastr. You may want to
create multiple groups so you can send highly relevant messages. Maybe you
haven’t sent a message to your group in a while and need to know the best way
to re-engage in conversation.
In this guide, we’ll explain the necessary steps needed to start building a group
as well as best practices for generating subscriptions. If you feel we’ve missed
something you were looking for in this guide, please feel free to contact our
support staff at thumbcastr.com/support.
Table Of Contents
Plan Your Group Pages 3, 4
Create Your Group Pages 5, 6
Build Your Group Pages 7, 8, 9
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3. Plan your groups
Before you start thinking about managing your thumbcastr groups you need to
make one decision: Do I want one group of all my members or multiple groups
that are for more specific messages (Ex. Tee-Time Specials, Pro-Shop deals,
Course alerts, etc).
One Group
If you plan on creating one group you’ll need two things before you start
promoting your awesome new mobile club. You’ll need one keyword and a
shortcode.
A keyword is a unique term (letters and/or numbers) that people can use to
communicate with you via a short code.
A shortcode is a 5 digit or 6 digit number, to which text messages can be sent
from a mobile phone. Wireless subscribers send text messages to short codes to
access a wide variety of mobile content. Common shortcodes are easy to
remember and compatible across all participating carriers. Our shared shortcode
is 50500. You’ll be using this shortcode unless you choose to purchase your own
(details can be obtained by contacting support).
When building one group, you’ll most likely want to use the name of your course
or a word that members associate to your course. For example, Deer Creek Golf
Club would use DEERCREEK as their keyword.
Multiple Groups
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4. If you plan on creating multiple groups you’ll need a keyword for every group you
create. Depending on your account plan, a certain number of keywords are
included otherwise each additional keyword is an additional cost per keyword.
When building multiple groups, you’ll want to use keywords that relate to the type
of group your building. For example, DEERCREEK as the keyword for overall
club updates and DCDEALS for specials and promotions on and around the
club such as the pro shop.
Now that you’ve planned your group(s) lets begin creating a group.
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5. Create your group
Creating a group is the first thing you’ll need to do in your thumbcastr account.
We can create one for you when we provide you with your account if you’d like.
Just ask your representative. If you choose to build a list just follow this process.
There are also video tutorials found at thumbcastr.com/webinars.
1. From the dashboard, choose Create Group.
2. Fill out the setup details, making sure you’ve named your group clearly and
selected an appropriate keyword. Any of your purchased keywords that are not
currently assigned to a group will be available otherwise you’ll have to use the
Request New Keyword link.
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6. 3. Next, compose a Welcome Message, Goodbye Message and Existing
Member Message and click save.
The Welcome Message is first message all new subscribers will receive. You
must indicate expected frequency of messaging (Max 6 msgs/mth) and opt out
language such as “KEYWORD STOP 2 end”. The Goodbye Message is
received when subscribers opt-out. Sorry but it will happen every once in a
while. We’ll help make sure it doesn’t happen often! The Existing Member
Message will be received by current group members if they text the same
keyword again.
NOTE: The words within brackets such as [groupname] and [keyword] simply
just auto-populate your Groups name and the keyword assigned to the group.
The default messaging is there to be a guide and can be changed to meet your
needs.
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7. Build your group
If you just started your business, launched your website or this is your first mobile
marketing campaign then you might not have mobile subscribers yet. If your’e
starting from scratch, remember that it’s important to grow a strong list the right
way. We follow the best practices created by the Mobile Marketing Association
found at mmaglobal.com.
The Must Have’s For Promoting Your New Mobile Group
To start promoting your mobile group there are a few basic guidelines and best
practices that apply to how you announce your mobile group.
1. The Mobile Call To Action is the action that you want your customers to take.
For example, “For tips on your golf swing, text GOLF to 12345” or “To get
specials on tee-times, text TEE to 12345”. It’s common to captialize the
KEYWORD and remember, the bigger this is printed on signage the better.
2. Legalese is the required language that needs to be inserted when displaying a
call-to-action like the ones in number 1 above. The legalese required is
“Message and data rates may apply”
3. The Marketing (or offer) is the information you are trying to communicate to
the consumer as to what they will receive. For exampl, “Get John’s secret tips
and tricks on how to play the hardest holes on the course” or “Enter to win a
free tee-time”
Ways To Get The Word Out And Grow Your Group
Now it’s time to promote your mobile group via all of your current marketing
channels. It’s very easy to get the word out quickly and the smartest way is to
make sure the call-to-action is visible/available at all consumer touch points.
1. Promote your Mobile Club on your website.
Place your call-to-action on your homepage so it clearly stands out. Make your
mobile members Mobile VIP’s and offer special deals for joining. Example:
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8. Become a Mobile VIP and have a chance to win a free round with 3 of your
friends. Adding a graphic with the call-to-action is very common. We can also
work with you to add an HTML widget to your site so that golfers can join directly
from the homepage of your site. This is a highly effective opt-in point if you have
quality web traffic.
2. Mention your Mobile Group in your Email Newsletter.
You most likely have an email list already so why not take advantage of it. Send
an email to your existing members announcing your Mobile Group. This can also
be a highlighted benefit on your the confirmation email new members receive
when signing up for the email newsletter.
3. Course Signage Is A Must
Whether it be on the course, direct mail, table tents, scorecards, pencils or divot
repair tools, print your call-to-action on promotional materials throughout the club
and on the course. Additionaly, staff should be mentioning this to golfers. We
suggest promoting your Mobile Club by:
• Having the Starter announce the club as golfers start their round
• Have staff mention it on the phone when golfers call to reserve tee-times
• Place table tents in the pro shop near the register with the call-to-action
• Place flyers on all the carts before golfers load their cart
4. Engage your Social Networks
If you already have people following you Facebook and Twitter, what better way
to get the word out...It’s quick, it’s free and you already know they love your
course. Announce your Mobile Club to your Facebook fans and Twitter followers
and watch the buzz build as they share it with their friends. It’s a great place to
come back and make ongoing mentions of the benefits of being a Mobile Club
member.
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9. As you’ll see, getting golfers to subscribe to your mobile club won’t be too hard if
you follow the above steps. It may take a couple months to build a good sized list
but the most important part is maintaining communication with your Mobile
Group. Make them feel special and especially exclusive. You’re talking to your
most loyal golfers on their most personal device...Cherish it and don’t take
advantage of it!
If you continue to deliver value to your Mobile Group you’ll not only maintain the
most loyal of members but increase the bottom line.
You’re now on your way to building and growing your Mobile Group. If you run
into issues or challenges along the way, contact our support team at
thumbcastr.com/support.
When you’re ready check out our other “How-To” guides at thumbcastr.com/
resources.
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