With many millennials and younger people in today’s candidate pool, it makes sense to communicate with them in a modern manner. This means communicating via text in some cases.
There are many advantages to communicating via text. The top benefits of communicating via SMS/MMS are speed, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility.
With the right etiquette and understanding, you can make the most of them.
Like any communication method or platform, there are things to learn and best practices.
Following are the main differences between SMS and MMS:
- SMS method allows users to send short text message up to 160 characters long.
- MMS method allows users to send multimedia text messages that include pictures, logo, video or html formatted text similar to email.
With that in mind, here are our ten tips for communicating with candidates via SMS/MMS text messaging.
Tips to Properly Communicate via SMS or MMS:
-
Use an introduction
Don’t be taken for spam. It’s important to appear legitimate. That means introducing yourself properly from the start.
-
Personalization
One sign of spam messages is their impersonal nature. Or that they get the personalization completely wrong, such as misspelling the target’s name. Show that you have done your homework by including the candidate’s name or referring to their specific skillset.
-
Be brief
Make your message appropriate to the medium. When text messaging, this means keeping it to the point. About 150 characters should be your upper limit.
-
Lean Toward Simplicity
Keeping it brief doesn’t mean including all the information in a single text. Convey the most important information. Ask the most important questions.
-
Edit Your Message
Communicating via SMS/MMS can tend to be sloppy when people are chatting with friends. This is not acceptable in a professional scenario. Spelling, grammar, and simple etiquette rules, like not using all CAPS, apply. Avoid abbreviations like “U” instead of “you.” These will come off as unprofessional, even if the purpose is to shorten a text message by a few characters.
-
Allow an Instant Response
Make the most of the immediacy of text messaging. Redirecting a viewer to another platform means that you are more likely to lose some candidates along the way.
-
Ask How the User Would Like to Communicate
It’s great to connect with users via SMS/MMS, but note that it may not be their preferred platform. The best way to find out a user’s preferred method of communication is to ask.
-
CTA
Often, people need to be told what they should do after reading your message. Include a brief, direct, call to action so there is no doubt about the reader’s next course of action.
-
Do Not Text Repeatedly
It can be tempting to resend text messages to increase your yield, but this tends to look unprofessional. Put your energy into your initial message. Then consider other candidates to approach while you hope for a response.
-
Text Candidates via your ATS system if possible
Most ATS Companies offer text messaging, this will provide you with better tracking and eliminates duplicate text messages from multiple recruiters. At StaffingSoft, we offer MMS text messaging so that you can communicate with your candidates easily; you will have the option to communicate individually or in a bulk format.
SMS and MMS text communication are great ways to get in touch with modern candidates and get a swift response, but don’t get lost in the sea of spam and other recruiters. Stand out from the rest by applying these ten tips and making every word of your message count.