Texting parents can be very tricky and hard to decide if it is the right form of communication at that time. Not sure how to approach using texting as a form of parent outreach? Check out these general tips when texting parents to ensure best practices.
#1: Do Not Use All Caps
NOBODY WANTS TO READ A TEXT LIKE THIS. It looks like you’re screaming. Also, this is an indicator for phone companies to mark you as spam, and we definitely don’t want that.
#2: Don’t Text During Off Hours or on the Weekend
Calls can be easily ignored but texts can’t, so be mindful of your parents by texting them during work days and hours only. Texting late at night or during weekends can actually harm your efforts more than they will help.
#3: Use SMS Software
This completely depends on the size of your school and how many parents you’re reaching out to, but if you don’t want your staff sending texts one by one to different parents you can always use software such as TextMagic, Tatango, or many others. Currently Schola is working on integrating SMS functionality into your Marketing Dashboard, so please reach out to us if you would like more details.
#4: Include Links
The number of characters in an SMS is limited (160) so it always helps to link out to a page where the parent can get more information, book a tour, or start the enrollment process online (all which can be done on your Schola profile). Beware though, many parents aren’t technologically savvy so don’t assume that they’ll be able to figure this out easily.