Communicating important information to stakeholders is a huge responsibility for public sector organizations. In order to do this effectively, the method of sending those communications must be up-to-date with current technologies. Failing to do so can have a detrimental impact for any organization trying to efficiently reach its stakeholders.
An example of an outdated technology still in use in government today is the listserv. A listserv is a basic tool that gives an organization the ability to send an email to a group of people. Here are some of the many reasons why a listserv is no longer the best option for government digital communications.
Sending emails through a listserv is a good way of making sure the email ends up in the Junk folder. It has been shown to dramatically increase the chances of getting the email marked as spam; sometimes even causing the email address to get blacklisted.
Who has the time to manually manage an email list anymore? Using a listserv guarantees extra time will be spent on manual list maintenance. Switching over to digital communication platforms allows for the use of automated list management, saving time that would otherwise be spent manually managing emails.
Digital communication platforms have the ability to detect new content, such as a blog post, on a website, and from that create a message and send it to a list of people subscribed to receive an update from you. This same process can be repeated with daily social media posts. Listservs, on the other hand, have none of these automation capabilities.
Communication between you and your audience should be easy. Listservs offer communication via one channel. Using multiple channels of communication enables you to send emails, social media posts, and text messages, along with other modes of communication, all at once.
As listservs are on their way out the door, robust digital communication platforms are on their way back in. For any organization looking to better serve its stakeholders, upgrading to keep up with current technology is a necessity. Find out more of the benefits your organization will receive by transitioning from listservs to digital communications.
