Paciolan has launched PAC SMS Marketing, an integrated text messaging channel that client schools can access in the existing Paciolan Marketing Automation platform. The marketing system, which also includes email and push notifications, can automate messages based on workflows, customize to each school’s needs and target specific audiences at desired times.
“The real key new capability is we have a marketing platform that our clients are using, and this actually joins that text capability to the ability to have personalized messaging, to have cohorts and groups of fans that you’re sending messages to, and to work it right into your automation flow,” Paciolan President Brendan Lynch said.
PAC SMS Marketing refocuses text messaging as a high-impact revenue channel through which organizations can directly measure their SMS-driven engagement and ticket sales. “We can validate the text has been delivered all the way through to the individual fans, so they can get full screen reporting to understand how many folks have seen that,” Lynch said. “And then almost all of these messages have follow-on links. So we can track the click-through rates of the performance as well.”
The PAC SMS feature is currently live at Virginia Tech, with nine more universities across Paciolan’s clientele receiving early access. The company expects the feature to scale quickly.
The system is designed not just to engage fans, but also to generate revenue through ticket sales and donations.
“The reason that this is important now is because more than ever before, our clients are looking for ways to develop their relationship with donors,” he said.
Lynch noted how important text can be for connecting with donors in the moment. “So, if you think about a donation campaign, that’ll hit very different if the team just won,” he said. Paciolan has found SMS to be a high-performing channel with 98% open rates and 10-30% click-through rates.
The platform allows for personalization and automated audience syncing based on subscriber opt-ins and preferences. PAC SMS Marketing is also aimed at protecting the fans as the platform includes frequency caps, quiet hours, audit trails and opt-in templates.
“There’s a lot of filtering and capabilities that our clients can put in place to find exactly the right set of people that they want to send that message to,” Lynch said. “There’s a series of audience targeting tools, message evaluation tools, and then the data that comes with it that we work directly with our clients to make sure that they’re not doing a blast and they are respecting their fans’ wishes.”
Paciolan serves more than 180 college athletics clients with ticketing, fundraising, marketing and data-driven services.
