Schools Find Creative Ways to Use SMS for Updates

Too often, mobile marketing practices are associated solely with retailers and other businesses who use the types of service offered by the likes of EZ Texting to promote special offers and issue reminders, ignoring that there are many creative ways to use SMS for updates.  SMS marketing can be used for more edifying purposes than mere commerce.

Local and national governments already rely on texting to communicate with staff and voters. SMS allows them to streamline their communication process and keep people tuned in to the latest events. Now, schools and colleges all over the world have followed suit. Educational institutions are signing up to mobile marketing programs that help them improve the lines of communication between students and staff. In the process, they are creating a new culture of applying cutting-edge technology to a civic context.

A typical application of SMS in schools is notifying parents of a school closure due to extreme weather. Another use is minimizing truancy by sending texts to the parents of absent children. Other schools are using mobile marketing strategies to inform pupils of upcoming events.

In Scotland, Fife Council recently introduced bulk SMS messaging across all schools in the area. Their system reaches out to supply teachers in a staffing emergency, sends closure notifications and notifies parents of upcoming events. The rollout was so successful, Fife has won several awards for their innovative use of mobile marketing technology.

Cash-strapped schools with small admin teams are, arguably, some of the most well-suited organizations for harnessing the power of text messages. Firms like EZ Texting, with their affordable SMS marketing plans, are opening up the possibilities of this technology to groups of people who are not in the profit-making game. The example set by Fife Council demonstrates that the latest mobile marketing trends are not just for business – they serve the common good as well.