If you’re like most people, chances are, when you want to communicate with a friend, family member, or anyone else in your life — including, say, your landlord, your babysitter, or even your doctor — your immediate instinct is to send a text. Text messaging is, far and away, the most beloved communication method of our era.
(Ok, sure, there are still a handful of people who gripe about how no one wants to talk on the phone anymore, but even those holdouts are eventually coming around to texting.)
So, since text messaging is your go-to communication platform in your personal life, why not turn to texting when you want to reach your employees?
When emails get overlooked, newsletters are unread, and informational sessions go unattended, more and more organizations are discovering that mass texting employees actually works. Employees notice their text messages, read them, and, crucially, act on them.
What makes mass texting such an effective employee communication method? Here are five reasons your HR team should consider mass texting employees:
1. Mass Texting Reaches (Nearly) Everyone
You have a cellphone. Everyone you know has a cellphone. And your employees? They have cellphones, too — unless they fall within the mere 3% of American adults who don’t own one.
Even more impressive than the ubiquity of mobile devices is how dependent we’ve all become on them.
- 74% of Americans say leaving their phones at home makes them uneasy.
- 71% of Americans say they check their phones within 10 minutes of waking up.
- Nearly half (47%) of Americans claim to be smartphone “addicts.”
The takeaway: Mass texting employees has nearly universal reach, and not just during work hours. You can expect that almost every single one of your employees has an SMS-capable device within arm’s length at all times (which is one reason why mass texting is excellent for urgent messaging).
2. Everyone Reads Their Text Messages
You can sink hours into crafting a perfectly worded email or designing an eye-catching employee newsletter. What you can’t do is force your employees to read your masterpiece.
It’s not entirely your employees’ fault.
Think about your own inbox. Most of us are drowning in emails. Estimates vary, but according to one oft-quoted statistic, the average worker receives 121 emails per day and sends about 40. Unless you’re a dedicated inbox-zero devotee, that’s too many emails to stay on top of — which is why 35% or more of email messages may go unread.
But now, think about the last time you ignored a text message. Most likely, you rarely do. As we’ve reported:
- Over 90% of people read text messages within three minutes of receiving them.
- The average time for responding to a text message is 90 seconds (compared to 90 minutes for an email).
- Mass-texting open rates are 98% (versus just 20% for email).
So, no, you can’t force your employees to consume any of your messaging. But with mass texting, you can almost guarantee their attention. (Useful to keep in mind the next time you want to nudge your employees about meeting their open enrollment deadlines.)
3. Text Messaging Transcends Generations
Americans are delaying retirement, many working well into their 70s and 80s. One of the major challenges for HR teams in the modern workplace is finding ways to communicate with members of five distinct generations, from the older traditionalists to the young Gen Zers.
Each generation has its preferred communication methods and habits. (Good luck getting a Gen Zer to return a voicemail.) But the one thing they all have in common is texting. Yes, even America’s seniors have embraced texting. According to one study, one in three Americans over 65 would rather get a text than a phone call.
With mass texting, you don’t have to worry about your communication platform being too old-school for young people or too trendy for older folks; everyone texts.
4. Mass Texting Can Be Used to Share Other Content
The most effective HR communications strategies are holistic, maximizing reach and engagement by drawing on a number of messaging tactics. Just because you’re texting employees doesn’t mean you have to give up on your newsletter, your videos, or even your emails. In fact, you can use texting to amplify your other forms of outreach.
For example, you might text a reminder to read your HR newsletter each month, with a shortened link for accessing it. Or you can promote your latest benefits webinar with a well-timed mass text.
However, the critical thing to remember with employee texting is not to go overboard. Employees may become annoyed and opt out (as is their legal right). Moderation and relevancy are the keys to a successful employee SMS strategy.
5. It’s Simple to Get Started Mass Texting Employees
All you need to start mass texting employees are their phone numbers and a texting platform. The best workforce texting platforms allow you to create and broadcast your messages quickly, with advanced capabilities that enable tracking engagement in real time, sending multimedia messages, scheduling, and segmenting your audience into groups.
WorkforceTXT®, by Flimp, is a leading employee texting platform. Easy to learn, use, and set up, WorkforceTXT includes powerful analytical features for planning, monitoring, and optimizing an employee texting campaign. Workforce TXT is a natural complement to Flimp’s full suite of employee communications tools.
With WorkforceTXT, you can send your first mass text within 48 hours, but you may want to see it yourself before choosing. Click here to learn more about WorkforceTXT and to schedule a free demo.
