When I added a burgeoning rock band to my MySpace friends list recently, I got a pleasant surprise: A personal “thank you” that was a bit more than the usual “thanks for the add” that litters MySpaces. Though I already liked the group, this thoughtful attention to detail really made me believe they appreciated their growing fan base.

This wasn’t an anomaly on MySpace, however. These days, lots of bands stay online all day, every day, in order to stay engaged with listeners. At least with the bands I like, it’s not unusual to see comments on pages like “I can’t believe you wrote back! That’s so awesome!” in response to musicians sending a personal “thank you” for a friend add.

Though they likely wouldn’t say it in so many words, these entrepreneurial struggling artists are engaged in the best type of message marketing, keeping it personal between the consumer and the brand, and reaching to the consumer the way he/she wants to be reached. Best of all, they begin the marketing message relationship with a personal welcome–something that ALL marketers should do, especially when someone signs up to receive their messages.

We all know the importance of sending a “thank you” message to a new subscriber: At the very least, it can be incorporated into the double opt-in process, in which the person must click on a link or respond to a message in order to activate his or her subscription. But by saying thank you, marketers also show appreciation to the consumer, especially in light of spam concerns.

Making that message a bit more personal adds infinite value for the consumers. You’ll have them at hello.

Eydie Cubarrubia, Marketing Communications Manager, mobileStorm

“I’d rather you text me”