In this episode of the Modern Direct Seller Podcast, we’re joined by Jake Dempsey, Founder and CEO of Project Broadcast, to talk all about text marketing strategies for 2026. Jake shares his data-driven philosophy on relationship marketing, why the most engaging messages are often the simplest ones, and how direct sellers can use automation to build and own their audience. You’ll come away with practical ideas for using Project Broadcast to capture leads, nurture relationships, and create repeatable systems that grow your business without adding to your to-do list.

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Time based notes:

Why Text Marketing Still Wins in 2026 with Project Broadcast Founder Jake Dempsey

Text marketing has always been powerful, and the way we use it keeps evolving. Jake Dempsey, Founder and CEO of Project Broadcast, recently sat down with us to share what the data actually says about what’s working right now and how direct sellers can use texting to build real relationships, own their audience, and create systems that run in the background.

Stop Blasting, Start Relating

There’s a fundamental difference between brand marketing and relationship marketing, and it changes everything about how you should approach your texts. Brand marketing is a volume game: get a message in front of as many people as possible. Relationship marketing is about connection, and that’s where direct sellers win.

The key mindset shift is that even when a message goes to 1,000 people, each recipient has no idea it went to 999 others. So craft every message as if it’s going to one person. That single change in perspective transforms the content you create.

The Message That Outperforms Everything

Jake analyzed data across hundreds of millions of text messages, and the highest-performing message type isn’t a sale, a promo, or a new product drop. It’s a simple check-in: Hey, hope you’re having a great day, was thinking about you today. That’s it.

The sellers who struggle with engagement are typically the ones sending back-to-back commercial messages. When that’s all customers receive, they get trained to ignore it. Vary your content, celebrate birthdays, share something useful, check in genuinely, and when you do make an ask, they’ll actually read it. Jake calls it the love bank: make deposits before you make withdrawals.

You Don’t Own Your Social Media Audience

This one’s worth sitting with. On Facebook, you’re not the customer, you’re the product. The platform’s incentive is to show content that sells ads, not necessarily to deliver your posts to your followers. That misalignment is why building your own contact list matters so much.

A text list or email list is an asset you actually own. There’s no algorithm deciding who sees your message. It goes directly to the person. And if you’ve ever watched a direct sales company close and sell off its customer database, you already know how real that value is.

Automations That Do the Heavy Lifting

Once the relationship mindset is in place, automation is how you scale it. Some practical systems worth building: a recipe club for food-based companies, a birthday campaign that sends a personalized message every month without any manual effort, and a full vendor event system using QR codes, keywords, and follow-up campaigns so you show up, connect with people, and let the follow-up run automatically.

The Oh My Hi and Project Broadcast integration is making this even more seamless. When someone fills out a form or opts in through a landing page, they can be automatically dropped into a text conversation. Text parties are producing results too: one group ran eight messages over two days and converted 50 out of 55 RSVPs into orders.

Is the Tool Worth It? Here’s How to Know

Jake’s simple benchmark applies to any tool: it either needs to save you $25 in time or make you $25 in income each month. For Project Broadcast’s $25 starter plan, the vendor event automation example alone clears that bar easily. Build the system once, and it pays back indefinitely.

What’s Coming Next

Smart List is the feature to watch. It creates dynamic, real-time contact lists based on behavior, for example “all contacts who haven’t replied in the last 14 days.” The list updates automatically as people’s behavior changes, so campaigns stay relevant without manual upkeep. It’s a meaningful step forward in building more sophisticated, responsive marketing systems.

Text marketing isn’t going anywhere, but the sellers who treat it as a relationship tool rather than a broadcast channel are the ones seeing real results. Start with value, build the system, and let it work for you.

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