Your Employees Are Everywhere. Your Wellness Communications Probably Aren't.

Your employees use six, seven, or eight channels throughout their day. Email. Text. Slack. The breakroom bulletin board. A quick scroll on an app during a coffee break.

Your wellness program probably shows up in one of them. Maybe two.

That's the gap, and it's why the same conversation happens in benefits team meetings every Q3: "We built the program. We promoted it. Why aren't people using it?"

Programs that reach employees through three or more channels consistently see higher participation. More than 85% of organizations report that multi-channel communication improves engagement and internal coordination while reducing administrative burden. But knowing that and doing it are two very different things. The question isn't whether multi-channel works. It's whether your team can pull it off without burning out.

Multi-channel engagement doesn't start with technology. It starts with knowing how your employees actually move through their day and where wellbeing support fits (or doesn't).

Too many organizations treat employee data like a checkbox: gather demographics, build personas, move on. That's how you end up with beautiful engagement strategies that nobody engages with.

Demographics tell you who your people are. Behavioral data tells you what they'll actually do, when they seek support, what barriers they face, and which channels feel accessible given their role, shift, or work environment.

Most employees still prefer email for non-urgent information but are increasingly receptive to text messages for timely nudges. The programs seeing the biggest engagement lifts treat SMS as a strategic layer, not an afterthought. Others rely more heavily on mobile apps, especially frontline workers who don't sit at a computer all day.

The key is understanding when and why each channel makes sense. Before sharing information or outreach, consider:

• Is this message informational or supportive?
• Does it need to be saved or referenced later?
• Is timing critical?
• Is this personal or group-based communication?
• Does it invite a response or reflection?

These questions, paired with segmentation capabilities, guide thoughtful channel selection far better than defaulting to one mass email to the entire organization.

💡 Pro Tip: Pick one employee persona, such as a warehouse associate on second shift or remote worker, and map their Tuesday. Where are the natural windows for a wellbeing nudge that doesn't feel like noise?

Your employees aren't going to sign up for a biometric screening because of one email. You already know this. The mistake is treating each interaction as a standalone event instead of a thread in an ongoing conversation.

A strong multi-channel communication strategy includes five elements:

1. Set Goals That Actually Tell You Something. Move beyond "increase engagement." Focus on outcomes: "Increase participation in mental wellbeing check-ins by 20%" or "Reduce drop-off between email open and sign-up."
2. Deliver One Message, Adapted Thoughtfully. Your tone should feel consistent across platforms. A message via email, app, or portal should feel like it comes from the same organization employees already trust.
3. Choose Channels Your Employees Actually Use. Not the ones you saw at a conference. A dispersed, multi-location employer has very different channel needs than a single-site office.
4. Connect Systems to Create Continuity. Someone who completes a health assessment flagging stress shouldn't get a generic wellness email the next week. Rather, they should get resources that reflect what they just told you.
5. Keep Resources Organized and Accessible. Think of your program as a front door: well-lit, easy to find, and connected to everything behind it. One big brand saw great success integrating nine vendors into one central platform with WellRight, maintaining the brand identity integral to their company. 

💡 Pro Tip: Start with two channels you can genuinely do well. A flawless two-channel experience beats a mediocre five-channel one.

You can't improve what you're not tracking. But tracking everything creates noise, not clarity.

Look for gaps, overlaps, and friction points that confuse or overwhelm employees. Metrics that matter most: employee feedback and sentiment, engagement across channels (not just single touchpoints), time between outreach and action, and drop-off points in enrollment.

Beyond usage data, qualitative signals help complete the picture. Are employees telling coworkers about the program? Are managers mentioning it in team meetings? These insights reveal which channel combinations truly reach people, not just which ones generate clicks.

Small, intentional experiments like shifting send times, testing shorter subject lines, or trying a different tone in SMS versus email compound over time. Plus, some employees may require a different send time than other (i.e. night workers versus day shift). The programs that improve fastest aren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones that treat every touchpoint as a learning opportunity.

Multi-channel engagement isn't about being everywhere. It's about being useful in the right places, at the right moments, with the right message.

Your employees are already navigating a maze of touchpoints. They don't need another notification. They need the right one, from a program that actually knows who they are and meets them where they work.

That's not a technology problem. It's a partnership problem. And it's solvable.

At WellRight, we work alongside our clients to build annual communication plans that actually reach employees — not just check a box. From strategic channel selection to integrated messaging that adapts to your workforce, we approach multi-channel engagement as partners, not vendors. Because the best wellness programs aren't just well-designed—they're well-delivered.