If you want the single easiest way to grow a texting list, it's a keyword. A voter texts a word, like JOIN, to your number, and they're subscribed. It works on a rally crowd, a yard sign, a mailer, or a livestream, anywhere you can print or say a short word. Here's how to actually run one, beyond knowing what a keyword is.
Pick a keyword that's easy and yours
Choose something short, obvious, and hard to mistype, your campaign name, a rallying word, VOTE, JOIN, or the candidate's last name. Avoid clever spellings and long phrases; the whole point is that someone can text it in two seconds from memory. In a platform like Txtra you set the keyword and the number it maps to, and every text of that word starts an opt-in.
Get the auto-reply right
The message a new subscriber gets back the instant they text your keyword is doing real work, it's the welcome and the compliance step at once. It should confirm they've joined, say who they've joined, set expectations for what they'll get, and include the required STOP and HELP language. A good auto-reply turns a keyword text into a consented, informed subscriber; a missing or sloppy one wastes the opt-in.
Put the keyword everywhere the moment lives
A keyword is only as good as its promotion. Print it big on signs, literature, and shirts. Say it from the stage, "text VOTE to this number." Put it in your social bios and posts, alongside a QR code for people who'd rather scan. The magic of a keyword is that it works in the physical world and in a live moment, the rally, the debate watch party, the door, where a link is awkward but a spoken word is easy.
Measure and iterate
Track how many people join from each keyword or placement, run different keywords for different channels if you want to know what's working, and double down on the sources that convert. A keyword campaign is one of the few list-building tactics where you can see exactly which sign, event, or post produced subscribers.
Frequently asked questions
What is a keyword campaign?
A way to grow your list where a voter texts a short word, like JOIN, to your number and is subscribed. It works anywhere you can print or say a word, signs, stages, mailers, livestreams, without needing a link.
What makes a good keyword?
Something short, obvious, and hard to mistype, your campaign name, a rallying word, or the candidate's last name, so someone can text it in two seconds from memory. Avoid clever spellings and long phrases.
What should the auto-reply say?
It confirms they've joined and who they joined, sets expectations for what they'll receive, and includes the required STOP and HELP language, turning the keyword text into a consented, informed subscriber.
Keywords are the easiest list-builder you have. See how to grow a texting list that's actually yours.
Keep reading: What is a text-to-join keyword and QR codes for voter opt-in.