Emergency situations can happen at any time or place. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a system/technical fault or an unexpected change to business opening hours, time is precious when it comes to crisis communication. When you need to keep customers and employees informed about an ongoing situation, mobile messaging channels can be a great addition to your emergency comms strategy.
Here are some of the top reasons why you should use mobile messaging in your crisis communication plan:
- Send real-time updates – thanks to the accessible nature of mobile messaging, it’s easy to keep customers and staff informed with real-time, accurate updates.
- It’s accessible – 91% of the world owns a mobile phone and 86% of that figure owns a smartphone. There are few channels more accessible than mobile messaging channels.
- Reach a wide audience – in addition to the majority of people having access to a mobile phone, messaging channels like SMS and WhatsApp allow you to reach a wide audience, especially when used alongside your existing communication channels (e.g. email, phone calls).
- Have natural interactions – meet your customers where they already are. In this case, it’s a mobile messaging channel where they’re already talking to their friends and family. Why not give them a chance to receive critical messages there too?
- Send messages people will actually engage with – email inboxes are becoming saturated and physical letters are difficult to track in terms of engagement. Ensure your mobile messages are remembered when you send texts with links to personalised landing pages, interactive buttons, images, attachments and more.
How to use mobile messaging in your crisis communications plan
Here are some text template examples of the different alerts and notifications that can be sent via mobile messaging.
Weather and natural disaster
Hello, please be aware that [WEATHER/THREAT] is set to affect the [AREA] from [DATE]. We will be sending updates as the situation unfolds. In the meantime, check out our preparation checklist [LINK]
Evacuation
This is [ORGANISATION NAME]. There is a [THREAT] alert issued for the [AREA] from [DATE]. Please prepare to evacuate the area from [DATE]. Here is our preparedness plan: [LINK]
Public safety
[THREAT] is still ongoing. If you are close to the evacuation zone, you may be asked to evacuate so please be ready to go. For now, stay indoors and stay safe. More info: [LINK]
[ORGANISATION NAME]: Due to [THREAT], there have been new rules enforced. More info: [LINK]
Public health
There has been an outbreak of [DISEASE] in [AREA]. Please avoid travel in and out of this area, if possible.
Traffic
[ROAD] from [AREA] to [AREA] is experiencing heavy congestion.
There has been an accident on [ROAD] going [DIRECTION] between [AREA] and [AREA], which is causing longer than normal delays. Please allow extra time for travel.
Utility-related
[ORGANISATION]: We will be conducting scheduled essential work in your area from [DATE] to [DATE]. You may experience brief outages during this time. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience.
IT security/data breach
Unauthorised access detected on your account. Please change your password immediately.
[COMPANY NAME]: We have recently identified and shut down a security incident involving your account. None of your financial or personal information was affected. More details: [LINK]
System disruption
We are conducting some essential maintenance from [DATE] to [DATE], so you may experience intermittent service during this time. We apologise for any inconvenience.
School-related
Due to the [WEATHER], [SCHOOL] will be closed today. Regular school hours will resume on [DATE].
Product recall
For partners, distributors and retailers:
[PRODUCT] is being recalled due to [ISSUE] as outlined in the guidelines [NAME]. Please stop distributing or selling the product and inform customers.
For consumers:
We have recalled [PRODUCT] due to [ISSUE]. Please stop using the item. More info: [LINK]
Feedback
What did you think of the updates you received from us regarding the [INCIDENT]? Your thoughts will really help us to improve the quality of our future responses. Reply with Y and we’ll send you some questions.
Keep your customers, employees and the business safe with mobile messaging
In an emergency, timeliness is everything. Streamline your crisis communication plan with mobile messaging channels like SMS, RCS and WhatsApp. These tools can help you to rapidly deliver real-time information to the right people at the right time.
But it’s about more than using mobile messaging. It’s about working with a reliable and reputable messaging partner, like Esendex, that can help you choose the right messaging channel, integrate it with your existing systems and get more out of mobile communications as a whole.
Want to find out more about what we can do? Give our platform a try for free today or reach out to our expert team.
Mayzin Han
Marketing strategist with 8 years of experience, 5+ of which in B2B tech. Currently the Senior Marketing Program Manager at Commify, I work closely with field marketing teams who sit across EMEA and APAC to strategise and create campaigns that meet customer and prospect needs. My background in content marketing means that I'm passionate about all things words, grammar and punctuation. In my free time, I like to run, box and torture myself at spin class because lots of cardio means you can eat what you want!