Engaging, active communication significantly speeds up family adoption of a new school payment system. Before everyone can realize the benefits of a simpler payments tool, families need to register and learn how to use it. The faster families take action, the sooner school staff starts saving time. Effective communication from the start can eliminate months of additional follow-up phone calls, texts, and email deployments.
Read on for helpful tips on best communication practices to improve school payment adoption. These guidelines can help whether you’re implementing a new system or welcoming families at the beginning of the school year.
The Dos and Don’ts of Effective Communications to Support School Payment Adoption
DO:
Talk often about the benefits of adopting the new school payment system.
The Marketing Rule of Seven, a theory developed in 1930s Hollywood, suggests people need to see a message seven times before it sinks in. Today’s digital world inundates us all with constant streams of information, so your message needs to roll out with frequency and consistency. Regardless of the message itself, a single deployment can easily get lost. Reminders and re-sends to those who didn’t reply are critical. Reinforcing messages helps your message be seen. As a general guide, over-communicating is always better than not reaching out enough.
Post about payment system adoption in the places you interact with families.
Post messages and alerts encouraging payment adoption on your social media pages, in your weekly newsletters, at school events, and in your announcements. LINQ Connect gives you an additional place to reach parents by sending notifications through the system. It’s always a good idea to meet users where they are. Some families may prefer reading email while others get most of their information scrolling their social feed. Post your messages in more places to ensure they’re seen and read.
Use the LINQ Connect school payment system adoption marketing toolkit.
LINQ customers can access a library full of ready-to-use resources, including LINQ Connect instructions, email scripts, social media images and content, printable posters and postcards, web buttons, and more. The kit minimizes the time your team spends preparing family communications so you can focus on responses and answering questions.
DON’T:
Make it hard to find the information families need.
Offer links front and center on your website for actions and resources families need most. Whether they’re looking for an easy way to pay down meal debt or they’re gearing up for the new school year, you can save them a search. A quick scan of various school websites reveals that many schools put their meal payment link on their nutrition page. It sometimes takes 7-10 clicks to find it. Instead, add important links like this to your navigation bar as an option under your student or parent drop-down menu.
Assume they already know about digital payment security.
Some parents may not realize how safe and secure online payments can be. They may not understand your provider’s commitment to industry-leading standards and that your team vetted the tool for security. Additionally, inform families that PCI compliance rules protect their credit and debit card data and personal information. It’s never too often to talk about digital payment security.
Send too many payment adoption messages in a single day.
While communicating frequently and consistently is key to driving action, dumping several emails within a single day overwhelms inboxes. This is especially true if you have multiple providers for school expenses. A better practice is to create a newsletter where parents can get in the habit of looking for information in a condensed, consistent format—once a month is typically a good cadence. If you do have to send out multiple messages, make the general subject clear and concise. It’s easier to take in information in bite-size chunks.
Apply these dos and don’ts to get more engagement in programs, including digital payment adoption. We offer additional information in our helpful Resource Center.