Mass text messaging for schools allows for easier communication between teachers, faculty, parents and students. Since the majority of people have a cell phone, a school SMS service is an excellent way to send bulk messages to ensure everyone has access to crucial information. No longer do schools need to rely on paper flyers, bulletin boards, or emails getting lost in inboxes.
Fast - Especially when it comes to information about their children, parents want to know what is happening right now. Whether you are communicating about weather delays or alerting them to an increased law enforcement presence on school grounds, families will feel more comfortable knowing they heard it from you first.
Digital - Whether you serve elementary, middle, or high school students, depending on them to carry important notices home is unreliable. Oftentimes notices don't even successfully make it in the backpack to leave the school. By utilizing school SMS messages you are able to turn your information digital. With the average individual spending 3 hours per day on their device, these digital notifications stay with the recipient and will not get lost.
Engaging - According to research, customers are 5 times more likely to respond to a text message than an e-mail. This means that when you send volunteer or fundraising requests out to your school's community by text message they will be much more likely to respond back.
Control - With school text message marketing, subscribers are required to opt-in and are also given the option to opt-out. This develops a level of trust because it gives subscribers a feeling of control over their notices.
Diverse - Studies show that 96% of people have mobile phones. Many schools operate in areas of poverty where outside of school, internet access for email is less accessible. However, they are still very likely to have an SMS capable phone and this will encourage communication.
Whether you are a parent in the PTA or a parent fundraising for a student group, a school sms service can save you a ton of time relaying all of the details to make things happen.
From entry fees to fairs and field trips, transactional sms texts for schools are necessary and help prevent missed deadlines.
Students in special programs, after-school groups, or sports can use sms texts to speak with their teams on updates, assignments and scheduling.
Sms to parents from schools is the most common educational text. If the weather is bad, there's a medical update, or your school is looking to simplify their general announcements, schools can contact parents using mass automation at the click of a button.
The responsibility of a teacher is great and they deserve great tools. SMS texts for teachers will enhance parent-teacher and parent-student communication. Need to communicate with other staff members? Create a group text message for your school.
This stands for "Short Message Service". It was the original form of text messaging and remains the most standard. All major cell phone systems support its use.
This stands for "Multimedia Message Service" and is a message that contains some type of multimedia such as image, video, or audio.
Keywords are unique combinations of letters and numbers that a subscriber would text to opt-in or interact with your messaging service. Keeping your keywords short and memorable helps ensure successful subscriptions, such as:
Text the keyword HESPARENT to 202020 to subscribe.
A campaign is a specific push to get your subscribers to interact with your service, such as an initial outreach asking them to text to subscribe.
Your subscribers are all contacts that have opted-in to your messaging.
A segment is a portion of subscribers that have been grouped based on certain characteristics. For example, parents for individual classrooms can be assigned to specific segments to get updates that pertain to their student's class and teacher.
Templates are standard messages that you can choose to customize or send as is to your subscribers.
Autoresponders are the messages that you send back to your subscribers when they text a keyword. The most common type of auto-response is a welcome message sent back after the initial opt-in keyword is texted.
Research and sign up for a text messaging platform like Textedly to make sending school text messages seamless.
Have a list of users who are already subscribed to newsletter services? Feel free to upload them to the marketing platform with their consent.
Developing text templates that you can use over and over again saves you the hassle of having to create a new text message from scratch every single time you need to send an SMS.
Carefully select a relevant campaign keyword to have users text-in to subscribe.
Spread the word about your campaign keyword to collect more text subscribers.
Start sending school texts, whether it's instantly or scheduling them out.
PTA notices
Emergency alerts
Weather-related delays or cancellations
Parent conference notifications
Relaying forms
Cafeteria menu updates
Sports games
Homework tips
Fundraising links and events
Report card reminders
Field trips
Now that you understand what a school message system has to offer, it is time to select the right platform for your school. The experts at Textedly, a leader in the mobile messaging industry, understand that school administrators have enough on their plates without the added burden of creating a new communications system.
That is why Textedly offers a robust platform that is easy to use and takes the guesswork out of sending SMS alerts to parents. For features such as unlimited subscribers, free incoming messages, comprehensive analytics, and many more, start your free 14-day trial today.
