With some reports showing open rates as high as 98% compared to 20% for emails, SMS text messaging is an increasingly important tool for businesses of all sizes. The interesting development, though, is that the above stat does not apply to just marketing, but SMS text messaging for internal communications.
Some examples of how businesses are using SMS text messaging within their operation include everything from company meeting reminders and links to newsletters and news to emergency notifications, schedule changes and staff alerts.
If broken down by category, two main divisions of a business can substantially be enhanced by SMS text messaging.
Human Resources (HR)
Efficiency is one major objective of HR professionals, many of whom struggle to get employees to respond to department emails. If employees do not open emails, that is a serious issue, one that can be circumvented with SMS text messaging.
For HR departments looking to send our real-time alerts, SMS text messaging offers a way to quickly and efficiently communicate with employees, regardless of their respective location.
Open enrollment is often communicated via email, but the common complaint of HR managers is no one responds. Satisfaction surveys are also routinely ignored when buried in an email. With SMS text messaging, satisfaction surveys and links to benefits plans can be sent with just the click of a button.
Safety is another important consideration for HR departments, which are often charged with sending out all-staff alerts in the case of an emergency. For businesses with employees out in the field or across multiple locations, email is simply not going to work, as some reports estimate the average American worker receives over 120 emails daily.
For safety alerts, it makes significantly more sense to connect with staff through the device that is always in their possession — their phone.
Internal Communications
For companies of any size, internal communications is a bit of a ubiquitous term, but it applies to any sort of communication sent en masse to employees.
Oftentimes, communications or business development departments are charged with the responsibility to focus their attention on updating employees on company successes, for instance.
Two examples of such internal communications could be sharing a press release that announces a product launch or new strategic partnership. Newsletters are another key organizational culture building tool.
In these cases, SMS text messaging is a simple and effective solution to distribute important company updates.
SMS text messaging can also be automated, monitored and adjusted to suit diverse goals and objectives. For instance, recurring meeting reminders can be set by a department manager and scheduled far into the future. If a meeting time is changed, SMS text messaging can provide this same manager with a way to communicate in seconds as opposed to minutes.
Final Consideration
If businesses are looking for a way to inform, engage and educate staff, SMS text messaging provides a streamlined solution that enhances critical facets of operations. With retaining employees a primary concern for many businesses today, it is important for leadership and managers to consider a technology that has been in front of us for years at this point.
SMS text messaging is here to stay, and the speed with which companies adopt this technology to enhance their operations will go a long way to improving their bottom line.