Your carefully crafted all-company update just landed in your employees' inboxes. It's sitting next to 47 unread emails, 23 Slack messages, 12 Teams notifications, and countless app alerts buzzing on their phone.
Welcome to the attention economy, where your most important messages fight for space in an overcrowded digital world.
I learned this lesson the hard way three years ago when a communication about a major policy change got buried under routine notifications. Only 12% of employees saw it within the first 24 hours. That's when I realized we weren't just competing with other companies for talent — we were competing with every app, platform, and notification for our own employees' attention.
Start with the channel, not the content
Most communicators craft the perfect message first, then figure out where to send it. Flip this approach. Ask yourself: Where do your employees actually look? For your sales team, it might be their CRM dashboard. For warehouse workers, it's the break room bulletin board. For remote employees, it's their morning Slack standup.
Map your audience's daily digital journey. Then meet them where they already are instead of asking them to go somewhere new.
Make it scannable in three seconds
Your employees make split-second decisions about what deserves their attention. Use these techniques to pass the three-second test:
Lead with action-oriented subject lines that create urgency without panic. "New health benefits start Monday" beats "Important update regarding employee healthcare options."
Use bold text for key dates, deadlines, and next steps. White space is your friend — break up text into short paragraphs of two to three sentences max.
Add visual cues like colored headers or icons to help different employee groups quickly identify what applies to them.
Layer your approach strategically
Don't rely on a single touchpoint. Instead, create a communication sequence that builds awareness without overwhelming. Start with a brief heads-up through your employees' preferred quick-check channel. Follow up with detailed information through a more formal channel. Then reinforce key points through managers in team meetings.
This isn't about sending more messages — it's about sending the right message through the right channel at the right time.
Measure what matters
Track engagement, not just delivery. Open rates tell you nothing if people delete your email after two seconds. Look at click-through rates, survey responses, and behavior changes. Most importantly, ask your employees directly: "How do you prefer to receive important company updates?"
Your employees are your best amplifiers, but only if you make sharing effortless. Include pre-written social media posts, email templates, or simple graphics they can forward to their teams. When our office relocation announcement included a shareable FAQ document, managers forwarded it to their teams without being asked. That single move tripled our message reach.
Test before you blast
Send your draft to three employees from different departments. Ask them: "What's the main point here?" If they can't answer clearly in 10 seconds, rewrite it. This simple test has saved me from countless confusing communications that would have created more questions than answers.
Remember: your message matters, but only if it gets through. Strategic communication isn't about being louder — it's about being smarter.