It's a brand- new year, and school bells are getting ready to ring all around the country. As parents are not-so-secretly celebrating the end of summer and teachers are preparing for the smooth transition to school time, there's no denying that the back-to-school season can be stressful for everyone. From the first day of kindergarten to the first day of college, August will likely be full of checklists and schedules. If you're trying to find a solution to help simplify your schools communication needs, automated text messaging might be the answer. Let's take a more in-depth look at text messaging tips for a stress-free start to the Back-to-School season.
1) MAKE IT PERSONAL
Texting has evolved into something rather personal. Part of what sets today’s texts apart from those spammy, unwanted, “interrupt-your-dinner calls” is that they provide the opportunity to give meaningful, personalized information.
At Text-Em-All, our platform offers a personalization feature that inserts custom fields (First Name, Last Name, Event Date, etc.) into your text broadcast by automatically filling in your contact’s information. Adding a little bit of personalization in your text shows your recipient that they aren’t just another number. (Trust us, parents love it!)
2) KEEP TEXT MESSAGES SHORT
In a day and age where over-communication is more rampant than ever, it’s as equally important to carefully choose the content in your broadcasts as it is to utilize them for your school. Let’s be honest; we’ve all received that never-ending, rambling, and pointless text or voicemail. Not even 3 seconds in and we’ve already lost interest.
A big part of the appeal to texting is that messages are generally straight to the point and less formal than emails. Because parents, students, teachers, and faculty aren't expecting a long-winded message via text, it it important to keep the message clear and concise.
3) NEVER TEXT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
Texting is not the channel to convey delicate or sensitive information. As with other digital communication, be careful about what you type - remember that your words can live on forever. Once you hit send, it’s out of your control.
4) REPLY TO TEXT MESSAGES WITH CONVERSATIONS
Just like you wouldn’t leave a voicemail unread, you shouldn't ignore your text replies. Those replies could be a meaningful message, like a teacher telling you they are available for substitute teaching or a parent you're waiting to hear back from. Also, download our mobile app to manage replies on-the-go.
Bonus Tip: Be careful with the wording of your message. Always be clear about the action you want contacts to take. If you don't want a response, make sure your message is detailed enough to answer common questions - or don't ask a question when you don't intend to read the answer.
**HERE ARE SOME TEXT MESSAGING IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED: