The Penn State Center for Economic and Community Development defines community engagement as the practice of “[Preparing] the community to achieve long-term and sustainable outcomes, processes, relationships, discourse, decision-making or implementation.” We’d like to include one more necessary component to that answer: omnichannel messaging.
Over the course of this article, you’ll come to understand how omnichannel messaging can help you mend, multiply and mobilize your community. Though we don’t have all the answers, we guarantee that if you implement our omnichannel customer service research, your adult community engagement services will flourish.
Though we don’t have all the answers, we guarantee that if you implement our omnichannel customer service research, your adult community engagement services will flourish.
Omnichannel Messaging 101
Omnichannel customer service incorporates every communication channel—including phone, email, social media, live chat and more—to connect with the customer. Though customer and community engagement differ, omnichannel messaging research proves without question that people prefer more modes of communication.
According to a 2021 Omnisend review, customer purchase rate is 250% higher with businesses that feature omnichannel than with those that feature only single-channel. And that’s just the start.
Omnichannel Messaging Market Research
If you want event RSVPs, you’ll be interested in internal research from Google that reveals business omnichannel messaging drives an 80% higher rate of incremental store visits. If you want to reach a younger demographic, note how nearly 80% of Zoomers report using social media to communicate directly with brands.
Next time you ask, “What is community engagement,” consider the change you could create by reaching out to people across channels.
Omnichannel Messaging Case Studies
Here are more specific examples of how omnichannel messaging can help you mend, multiply and mobilize your community.
1. Mending
The Associated Press partnered with the University of Chicago to study the communication styles communities used in disaster response. They found that “reliable and accessible communication systems are key to a community’s resilience.”
As you increase your communication channels, you increase your communication reliability. Consider, in the graph below, the varied communication methods used by New York and New Jersey community members impacted by Superstorm Sandy in 2013:
Even in the most critical situations, if you were only reaching out by cell phone, 40% of the community aged 65+ would never hear your update. To console your entire community, communicate across channels.
2. Multiplying
Pew Research shows that even across demographic strata such as religion, race, age, education and more, American community involvement rates are more similar than different. Consider the similarities seen in the involvement rates of the following groups:
Though stratified demographic groups feature similar levels of community involvement, different communities prioritize different communication styles. America is segmented and organizations like the Journal of Applied Communications explain exactly how our communication styles are segmented, too.
Omnichannel messaging provides an avenue to access diverse demographics, innovative ideas and precious perspectives. If your adult community engagement services multiply your communication, you’ll multiply your community.
3. Mobilizing
We’ve asked “What is community engagement,” but the Health Communication Partnership asks and answers, “How do we mobilize communities for health and social change?” They explain:
- Sustainability of social change is more likely if the individuals and communities most affected own the process and content of communication.
- Communication for social change should be empowering, horizontal (versus top-down), give a voice to the previously unheard members of the community and be biased towards local ownership and content.
- Emphasis should shift from persuasion and the transmission of information from outside technical experts to support for dialogue, debate and negotiation on issues that resonate with members of the community.
Without a question, omnichannel messaging will assist your adult community engagement services. But we can only take you so far. To truly mobilize your community for health and social change, you’ll have to shift internally, amplifying your community’s smallest voices and unearthing their most important conversations.
Our question is, are you ready for the challenge?
Coordinate Your Community Engagement with AnswerNet FineLine
Today, we asked and answered, “What is community engagement?” Though AnswerNet FineLine can’t engage your community on our own, we can give you the tools to begin the change you need. Before we can connect you to your community, we’d like to connect with you one-on-one.
To give yourself the tools to mend, multiply and mobilize your community, reach out here or click the button below to get in contact.
