In Top 10 Ways Social Media Will Impact Employee Development and Training in 2010 I said that text messaging (sometimes called SMS) will become one of the key ways corporate trainers contact their learners. But where do you start? How do you get your team to buy into the text message hype? Here are the five text message facts you need to know and how they can help you enhance your educational programs.
1. How to create and send text messages
(Okay, so this is more of a series of facts rolled into one, but understanding the basics is important.) Cell phones are always sending and receiving signals even when the phone isn’t in use. Users can type a text message into their cell phone and instruct the phone to send the message to another cell phone number. Text messages can be generated by a user and sent to a single cell phone number or a group of numbers. While cell phone to cell phone text messaging is the usual way to create and send a text message, online services have been created to allow users to generate a text message online. This means you can send a text message from your computer instead of having to organize all of this from your cell. Additionally, some companies have even launched software that allows you to schedule when a text message will be sent. If you would like more information regarding the technology behind text messages, check out How SMS Works.
2. In stark contrast to email, only 10% of text messages are spam
The limitation of spam in text messaging provides you with a clear line of communication. People pay attention to their text messages because they know that when a text comes through it more than likely contains pertinent information. Many will more than likely stop what they are doing to check their phone when the text message alert goes off. As a matter of fact, most text messages are read within 15 minutes of being received and responded to within an hour. But, this can be a catch-22. If you use this medium correctly and only send key information then text messages can be a huge advantage. However, if you begin flooding learners with a series of text messages in a single day you will find they will tune it out very quickly. If your training session is optional, send a text message the day before to remind them to be there. The day after your session send a text message emphasising the main take away point and then send a follow up text message every two weeks for the next couple of months. This will help keep the information fresh in your learners’ minds during the notorious “use it or lose it” time.
3. Text messages are limited to 160 characters
Since you have a limit of 160 characters, your text messages must be short and to the point. One of the best ways to use text messages in learning is as a reminder. The reminder can be reinforcement of a key point made in your training session or a way to remind learners of an upcoming session. Either way, in order to get the best results make your text message reminders actionable. Sending a message like “remember to include the coversheet on your TPS reports” isn’t as good as “check to make sure you included the new coversheet on your latest TPS report!”
4. 72.2% of US wireless users have paid for a text message plan
As almost three quarters of US based wireless users have a text message plan it means this is a tool you can use without building additional funds into your budget. Additionally, as many companies pay for their employee’s cell phones, this is a way to maximize the potential of an existing company expense. Since text messaging is more than likely included in their plan ask your learners to send you back a text message. For example, you can use it to tack outcomes by asking a question about the training material three months later. Send a text message that says “first five people to text back the correct answer to this question win a prize…” and add a question about your key content. You will be able to see how well people retained the information or knew where to access it.
5. 65% of people who have sent a text message are over 25
Many people equate text messaging to the hours upon hours that their teenagers spend typing away on their tiny little keypads. However, according to this statistic teenagers aren’t the only ones using this technology. According to data collected half way through 2008, the average wireless user actually sends more text messages than places phone calls. This means that learners will be familiar with text messages. You won’t have a steep learning curve like with some other forms of technology.
As you can see, text messaging is becoming an accepted mainstream form of communication. In order to start using this tool you need to begin collecting the cell phone numbers of your learners. Add a cell phone number field to your registration form and add text messaging to your next training session. You will see a difference!
Best,
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Hi Renee,
Great article! In addition to collecting cell phone numbers on a registration form, there are cheap SMS marketing tools out there you can use, there are even free ones such as: http://www.itexty.com that allow you to capture cell phones by having your learners text in to win a prize, etc.