Ron Kinkade
Nothing can delay, complicate, or even ruin activities and plans quite like extreme weather can. From road closures to hazardous conditions, the consequences of inclement weather often impact dozens, if not hundreds, of people at once.
If you run a business, school, or other organization, sending text alerts for inclement weather is often the most efficient way to provide as many people as possible with the information they need to stay safe and in-the-know.
When inclement weather strikes, time will be of the essence. You’ll need a quick way to communicate with large groups of employees, students, or clients, and you won’t want to waste time by importing contacts, collecting new phone numbers, or testing your alert system.
Why Text Messages Are Ideal for Inclement Weather Notifications
In cases of inclement weather, organizations need to communicate quickly with their students, employees, or other stakeholders to make sure everyone is safe and aware of what’s happening. That means it’s extremely important that your audience not only sees but actually reads each alert or update.
Sending text alerts for inclement weather is preferable to other methods for a few key reasons, including:
- Immediacy and accuracy: Text messages are delivered immediately, directly to their intended recipient.
- High open rates: Text messages have open rates of 98%. This is sky-high when compared with 20% for email.
- Accessibility and reliability: In many emergency situations, overwhelmed networks can make phone or video calls difficult, and email notifications may be delayed or ignored. Texts are more likely to reach their intended targets, even in chaotic conditions.
- Discretion and clarity: Text messages can be sent silently and are accessible even for users who cannot speak, reducing the chances of miscommunication during inclement weather or other emergency conditions.
Extreme weather text alerts are a delicate balance of clarity, comfort, and counsel. Their content can be essential and even life-saving, but the format in which that content is delivered is equally important.
Best Practices for Sending Inclement Weather Text Alerts
The benefits of using texts for inclement weather alerts are clear. But to truly make the most out of your notifications, it’s important to follow a few best practices.
Keep Messages Clear and Concise
In emergency situations, getting your message across quickly and clearly is critical to ensuring safety. Here’s how to do it:
- Use straightforward language that can’t be left up to interpretation.
- Only give need-to-know details, like closure dates or contact information.
In other words, if you need to announce a closure, don’t waste time discussing the storm that caused it. Hoping to get the word out about emergency relief services? Mention them right off the bat.
Prioritize the Essentials
Just as it’s important not to bog down in the nitty-gritty details, it’s also necessary to include all relevant information.
- If the message concerns closures or delays, include dates and times.
- If contact information or additional links will be useful, make sure they’re in there.
- If a situation is temporary, be clear about that. If it’s evolving, be honest about that, too.
Basically, emergency text alerts must include all the essential information — and nothing extraneous.
Personalize and Segment When Possible
Not all inclement weather demands the same types of adjustments or reactions. Different members of an affected population may need to know different information. In the case of campus closures or “shelter in place” announcements, for example, facilities staff will have different questions than students living on campus.
Segmenting audiences for emergency text alerts will ensure the most relevant possible updates are provided to the right individuals.
Time Your Alerts Appropriately
Sending extreme weather text alerts is as much about timing as it is about providing information. For instance, evacuation warnings for a hurricane won’t keep people safe if they arrive too late. To that end, it’s important that alerts containing actionable advice are sent early enough for people to prepare and strategize.
Additionally, make sure to provide continuous updates as inclement weather develops or intensifies. When conditions change, text alerts can provide real-time information and guidance.
Use Text-Em-All for Automated Alerts
Ultimately, inclement weather texts need to get a lot done in relatively little space. Text-Em-All’s tools and features—from user-friendly automation to app integrations and on-demand analytics—streamline the process and make it easier to share evacuation notices, shelter instructions, all-clear updates, and more.
Text Alert Templates for Common Inclement Weather Scenarios
Each extreme weather text alert will need to be tailored to its specific situation and audience. Property managers communicating with tenants, for example, will have very different needs from college deans announcing campus closures.
However, it’s a good idea to craft several basic templates that you can apply in a wide range of future situations. Here are a few succinct and clear messages to start with:
Winter Weather Closures
Emergency text alerts announcing closures of offices, campuses, or other facilities during extreme winter weather should make sure to note the first date of closure, as well as information on how to stay updated. Here’s an example:
“Due to snow, [Business/School Name] will be closed on [Date]. Stay safe and check [link] for updates.”
Delayed Openings
If your organization needs to announce a delayed opening due to inclement weather, a well-timed message such as the following can get the job done:
“[Business/School Name] will open at [Time] on [Date] due to icy conditions. Please drive carefully.”
Emergency Shelter Information
In more severe situations, notifying as many people as possible of where they can find shelter and emergency assistance is of paramount importance. Take a look at the following example:
“Emergency shelters are open at [Location]. For assistance, call [Phone Number]. Stay safe during the storm.”
Employee Safety Instructions
As with delayed openings messages, text alerts that provide specific employee instructions must be sent early and give clear guidance to those who need additional information:
“All employees: Please work remotely on [Date] due to hazardous weather conditions. Contact [Manager Name] for questions.”
Weather-Related Safety Tips
In certain instances, sending text alerts for inclement weather is more about providing basic tips than it is about urgent advice. In these cases, you can keep it short and sweet:
“Winter Safety Tip: Avoid unnecessary travel during icy conditions and keep an emergency kit in your car.”
Send Faster, More Effective Alerts with Text-Em-All
Sending text alerts for inclement weather is crucial to ensuring the safety of your employees, students, clients, or other stakeholders. Fortunately, Text-Em-All makes it simple. Easily import your contacts, broadcast your message, and engage with your audience in moments. And with our detailed analytics and reporting, tracking results and responses has never been easier.
Don’t wait until extreme weather throws a wrench into your plans. Sign up for Text-Em-All today and send better, more valuable emergency text alerts.