USTEXTALERTS
Engaging (Extremely) Busy People
Engaging with and mobilizing your members is key to the power and success of your union or association. But in today’s world of information overload, how do you ensure that your message is heard? Your members are busy people, often juggling work at one or more jobs, family, and community activities. They want to receive your communication -- indeed, it is potentially critical to their livelihoods -- but they’re also being pulled in several different directions. Email is lost, phone calls are missed; you need to a communications channel that cuts through all that and reaches your members wherever they are, whatever they are doing.
Mobilize with Text Messaging!
SMS text messaging, with its 99% open rate, is unsurpassed in reaching people on the go. Need to assemble members quickly? 90% of those text messages are read within three minutes. There is simply no more efficient means of outreach. Use text messaging to send up-to-the-minute news on labor negotiations, meeting reminders, schedule or venue changes, and more. Use it to poll your members, or even for casting and collecting votes. The applications are nearly infinite.
Power in Numbers...and Effective Communication
Your union’s strength comes from its ability to engage and assemble its members. If your members are out of touch or otherwise unaware of current issues and developments, or if they fail to receive communication directing them to mobilize, even the best-intended efforts will fail. Use text messaging instead of other more expensive and far less effective channels to reach your contacts. And rest assured that your message will be heard.
It's Time to Evolve
Relying on traditional communications channels to reach busy, on-the-go union members is destined to fail. In addition to email’s poor open rate and tendency to get stuck in SPAM filters is the fact that many union or association members do not have regular access to computers during their work day. While those with smartphones may be able to access email while they’re out and about, only 68% of Americans actually own smartphones (versus 98% who own cell phones). Phone calls, and even phone tree-driven calling campaigns, are time-consuming and frustrating -- how many of those calls are actually answered by a live person? None of these methods is effective for reaching people immediately.
Your Members Want to Hear From You
Think about when you receive a text message. You notice that message, and -- if a response is warranted -- likely respond very quickly. You appreciate the timeliness of text messaging, the fact that you are receiving information in near real-time. There’s also an intimacy to text messaging that is not found in other means of mass communication.
Your members rely on your activities and outreach to improve their working lives. They want to hear from you...and they want to be confident that communication coming from you won’t be missed. And they -- like you -- almost certainly use text messaging in their daily lives. With text messaging, you can assemble your members at a moment’s notice, which is particularly effective if you’re seeking a powerful response to ongoing salary and benefits negotiations. You can also rely on text messaging just to keep your members engaged, with updates, inspirational messaging, and more. Divide your contact list into groups representing specific demographics or locations for more targeted outreach.